The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 134

Chapter 134: A Goal?
“Groan!” Reid let out as his eyes slowly fluttered open. For some weird reason, he could hear heavy wings beating against the wind.

His eyes cleared up and he immediately realized the reason for the sound.

He was high up.

How did he know this? Well, judging by the fact that the clouds were a lot closer than usual and the air felt thinner and colder.

“You’re awake” a familiar voice rang out “how do you feel?”

“Like I got run over by a freight train” Reid groaned out, as he tilted his head a bit to the side where Lisa sat “what happened?”

They were currently sitting on her wyvern high up in the air.

“You tell me,” she said “we found you passed out in a cave.”

“I see” Reid groaned out but was suddenly hit by a wave of nausea.

“I suggest you keep laying down” Lisa advised “we’ll arrive at the camp soon.”

“Camp?” He asked.

“The others were setting up camp while I and Marcus set out to find you” she answered.

“I thought we were all separated” Reid asked again.

“Yes, but we were able to regroup thanks to Ethan tracking down the others” Lisa explained “but for some reason, he couldn’t track your watch so the others decided to setup a temporary base”

She took a small pause before continuing “while Marcus and I split up to search, and I was the one who found you.”

Reid frowned, piecing things together. “How long was I out?”

Lisa hesitated. “A few hours maybe more considering it took a couple of hours before I found you.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were injured, but since you were breathing fine, I figured you’d just pushed yourself too hard.”

Reid let out a tired chuckle. “That… might not be too far off.” His body still ached, but it was more of a deep exhaustion than actual pain.

Synergizing with Rusty had taken a toll on him.

[Rather than synergize taking toll, your exhaustion has more to do with the fact that you almost completely used up all your soul power] Evo clarified.

‘But I didn’t feel this exhausted when I merged with Beel’ Reid pointed out.

[There’re two reasons for that.] Evo explained. [First, Beel’s abilities while powerful didn’t require you to control concepts like you do with Rusty’s time abilities.]

‘That makes sense’ Reid thought.

[And Secondly, when you merged with Beel, before synergize wore off your past self and future self merged.] Evo continued [since your past self had barely used any soul power, the effects were minimal.]

Reid nodded and went quiet. Back in that cave, he had learnt exactly how weak he was without his forged beasts.

Yes, he could take on weaker primals and enemies but when he was faced with a truly strong opponent, he was essentially helpless.

Maybe he grown so reliant on Evo that his personal strength mattered no more, or maybe he was like this because he didn’t have a goal.

At first, this was about proving his family wrong. He wanted them to regret casting him out, but that didn’t matter now that they had seen worth in him.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lisa’s concerned voice broke him out of his gloomy thoughts.

“Sigh!” He let out before trying again to get you.

“Why do you want to get stronger?” Reid asked, finally forcing himself into a sitting position despite the nausea.

Lisa blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question. “Huh?”

“Why do you wish to get stronger” he repeated “unlike me, you have nothing to prove to your family, they love you regardless, you could choose any other thing to do and they will support you.”

Lisa went silent hearing contemplating his words. She took a moment before answering.

“You know, after our run-in with Line,” she started, “I was so scared, but it also shattered the rainbows-and-unicorns world I had created for myself.”

She paused briefly, and Reid paid close attention to her words.

“Living with my family always made me think the world was nothing but sunshine and happiness—until that day,” she continued.

“I was terrified of the thought of dying, I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to see my family again” her voice was a bit low “terrified of the fact that I hadn’t gotten the boy I like to like me back.”

“I don’t want to experience that feeling ever again” she said in a determined tone “I don’t want to be put in a situation where I’m hopeless ever again.”

Reid studied her for a moment, watching the way her hands clenched against the reins of her wyvern, the way her usually bright expression had hardened with resolve.

“I want to protect myself and those I care about,” Lisa continued. “I want to be strong enough that no one can take anything away from me—my family, my dreams, my life. I refuse to be helpless again.”

Her words hung in the air between them, carried away by the wind. Reid found himself thinking about his own reasons.

At first, it had been about proving his family wrong, showing them that he was worth something. But now… was that enough?

“What about you?” Lisa suddenly asked “what’s your reason for getting stronger?”

Reid’s eyes met hers as he thought about the answer.

“I…” He hesitated “I don’t know.”

He really had no idea why he was trying to gain strength. His first motivation had been quenched with his father’s apology.

He could claim that he was getting stronger to protect his mom but that didn’t really feel like the whole truth.

Yes, he wanted to be strong enough to stand by her side, but was that enough to push him forward? To make him fight through exhaustion and pain like Lisa had just described?

He let out a frustrated sigh. “I thought it was about proving my family wrong. But now that they acknowledge me, that fire inside me feels… dimmer.”

Lisa stood from where she sat and slowly approached him. Before Reid could process what was happening, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a warm embrace.

Reid stiffened for a moment, caught off guard, but he didn’t pull away. Her hold was firm yet gentle, as if she were trying to convey something words couldn’t.

“You’ll figure it out,” she murmured, her voice softer than usual. “And when you do, I’ll be right there beside you.”

Reid felt warmth spread through him and his heart skipped a beat.

Before he could properly name what he was feeling, Lisa abruptly pulled back, almost as if she had just realized what she had done.

“Do—don’t misunderstand!” she blurted out, her voice a little too rushed. “I was only trying to motivate you as a friend.”

Her face spoke the opposite.

A deep blush surfaced on her cheeks, creeping all the way to the tips of her ears. She avoided his gaze, suddenly very interested in counting the scales on wyvern.

There was an awkward silence between them before Reid suddenly broke it.

“Thank you, Lisa” he said in appreciation.

Lisa froze for a moment before slowly nodding. “Yeah… don’t mention it.”

She turned her attention back to the wyvern, but the way she fidgeted slightly gave away her lingering embarrassment.

Reid let out a small chuckle, shaking his head. He leaned back slightly against the wyvern, closing his eyes for a moment.

Despite the lingering exhaustion, he felt a bit lighter—like Lisa’s words had lifted something off his shoulders.

Lisa, still red-faced, cleared her throat. “We should be landing soon.”

Reid opened one eye, glancing at her. “Yeah?”

At this point the sun was already going down so the forest below was a lot darker. He sat back up again and looked down.

A distance away from them, Reid spotted what seemed like a camp fire.

“They’ve been busy” Lisa said.

The closer they got, the more Reid wondered how the wyvern would land since the place was covered by trees.

“Excuse me” Lisa suddenly said when they were directly above the camp fire, confusing him.

But before he could ask or make sense of what she meant, the wyvern suddenly shrunk causing them to free fall.

Propelling herself forward, Lisa caught Reid in a princess carry mid air and glided down a spiral tree that safely delivered them to the ground.

“My, my Lisa” a voice rang out as soon as they touch the ground “I didn’t know you were that bold.”

Clara was the one who spoke up. The others were standing close to her, looking directly at the two.

In her embarrassment, Lisa immediately dropped Reid to the ground causing him to let out a pained groan.

Which in turn caused Clara, Marcus and even Ethan to chuckle.

“Sorry, sorry” she immediately apologized and helped him up.

The embarrassment from earlier, Clara’s sudden teasing and her dropping Reid all stacked together, increasing the clumsiness.

So instead helping Reid, she somehow crashed into him, sending them both to the ground with her on top of him.

Click!

The sound of a camera sound, followed by its flash.

“That’s a keeper” Clara said as she looked at the picture with a mischievous grin.

Where she got a camera from? No one knew.

“Wait, delete that” Lisa got off Reid and started chasing Clara for the camera.

Reid was too stunned to say anything so he just kept laying there, added to the fact that his lack of soul power made him not feel like even getting up.

“Do you need help up?” Marcus approached him and asked, outstretching his hand towards Reid.

“Thanks” Reid said and took his hand.

But as soon as his palm touched Marcus’, the tattoo on Marcus’ body immediately reactivated.

“What?”