For the first time in decades, Kyle could finally do a 6-7 move his body again.
It almost felt alien to move his body, and he had to get used to moving it again.
As he was finally freed, he saw someone hovering beside him.
Surprisingly, there was almost no metal around him anymore. It seemed like the person beside him had taken most of the metal away.
The person hovering beside Kyle was a man with black hair wearing the uniform of the Array of Stars.
The man was looking at Kyle with brows raised in surprise.
Where did this guy come from?
"Thanks!" Kyle said with a smile. "I thought I would be stuck down there forever!"
The man looked at Kyle's uniform and his communicator for a bit.
"You are also a member of the Array of Stars?" the man asked.
"Yep," Kyle answered as he stretched his body. "Rarity Hunter."
The man scratched the back of his head in confusion.
"Okay, my work can wait," the man said as he took out a table, two chairs, and a couple of drinks. "I have to know what happened."
Kyle looked with surprise at the furniture and the drink as the man levitated a cup of clear liquid to him.
Kyle had no idea what this liquid was, but he downed it anyway.
"A bit greedy there," the man commented in surprise.
The next moment, Kyle's entire body started to heat up, and he felt like a fire was ignited inside his chest.
He became much more awake, and he suddenly got the urge to swing his hammer and destroy stuff.
"What is this?" Kyle asked, looking at the liquid.
"Burning Heart," the man answered. "It's made of a couple of different kinds of Energy. When there's a good story to tell, it's common for the teller to drink a bit. The exciting properties of Burning Heart simulate a battling mind."
The man smiled. "Now, tell me! What happened?"
"Bro, you won't believe what I experienced," Kyle said as he drank more. For some reason, he wanted to tell his story so badly.
He just had to share his excitement with someone else.
"So, we got this Planet as our first target. New team and all," Kyle said.
Over the next couple of minutes, he narrated everything that had happened.
The man listened with interest. "You wanted to sacrifice yourself for your team?" he asked when Kyle said that he ran towards the whales.
"Kinda," Kyle said. "It's more that it's my job. We are a team, right? If I'm not willing to bet my life, how can I expect anyone else to? I kinda have to do it."
The man chuckled. "No, you don't," he said. "It is expected of you to do your best in a team. You are supposed to help your teammates, yes, but if you're dead, you can't help them."
The man also sipped a bit of Burning Heart. "What would have been expected of you was to rely on your team. Retreat obviously didn't work out. In that case, you three should have gathered together to fight the whales."
"Manny should have manipulated the beasts around him, while you should have attacked the distant beasts. Sure, you could have still died, but the chances of survival would have been higher."
"I don't agree," Kyle said. "We would have entered a Dimensional Collapse in that case, and we would all have died."
"You survived precisely because of the Dimensional Collapse," the man said. "The Dimensional Collapse should have been your goal all along. A Dimensional Collapse sounded better than your current situation back then."
Kyle furrowed his brows. "It's too risky. I can see where you're coming from, but I just don't agree."
"Why not?" the man asked.
For some reason, this simple question made Kyle a bit uncertain.
"It… just doesn't feel right," Kyle said.
He took another swig of Burning Heart.
"I don't like it!" Kyle said with conviction.
The man looked at Kyle with interest, and a small smile appeared on his face.
"Guilt?" he asked.
"No!" Kyle shouted, but at the same time, he felt like he had just lied.
The man shook his head with a smile. "Okay, not guilt," he said, but his tone sounded like he wasn't convinced. "Let me ask you something else instead."
"Are you a good person?" he asked.
"No," Kyle answered immediately.
All the things he had done shot through his mind.
'I'm just a rat,' he thought with annoyance.
"Do you want to be a good person?" the man asked.
Kyle wanted to answer, but for some reason, he couldn't.
Many answers had popped into his head at the same time.
"No."
"I can't."
"How could I?"
"Why would I?"
All of these answers had shot through his mind, and his mind was stuck.
He started to think about Swamp Dragon.
Kyle hadn't had issues with betraying all kinds of organizations.
If he had the choice, he could betray the Cult or the Array of Stars.
Sure, he wanted to pay back the things they had invested in him, but since they were on two opposing sides, he had to betray one of them.
If he only owed one of them, he wouldn't be a big fan of betraying them, but since he owed both sides, he was fine with betraying either one. Even more, he was so weak that his betrayal wouldn't even hurt either of them.
In the end, Kyle sighed.
"I'm not a good person," he said.
Maybe it was the Burning Heart.
Maybe it was the man's strange aura.
But for some reason, Kyle said something he wouldn't normally say.
"I'm just a rat."
The man didn't seem surprised.
Instead, a small smile appeared on his face.
"I don't know you very well," the man said after a bit. "I can't make too many character judgments with only this small conversation."
"However, I know rats."
The man drank more Burning Heart.
"And you don't look like one to me."
"You seem more like a weasel."
Kyle raised a brow. "A weasel?"
"Alternatively, we can also go with eel," the man said with a smile. "A rat wouldn't sacrifice themselves for a comrade. More importantly…"
"A rat doesn't say they're a rat. They either say they're a stag or an eagle."
"Okay," Kyle said, "this animal metaphor is getting a bit out of hand."
The man chuckled a bit. "I just saved you from being buried alive. Let me have some fun."
Kyle rolled his eyes. "Sure."
"A rat is opportunistic and greedy. They easily discard loyalties for their personal gain."
Kyle nodded. That sure sounded like him.
"Since a rat is only interested in its own gain, it will never say that it is a rat. After all, people don't like to give any benefits to rats. Instead, it will show itself as the reliable and morally stalwart stag."
"And when the rat eventually takes something, it sees itself as an eagle. It is strong. Because it is strong, it deserves to take things for itself. It has worked hard for its strength, and it deserves to take the things that rightfully belong to it."
"A person who other people would call a rat tries to display an image of a stag, but in their mind, they're an eagle."
"You don't seem like a rat."
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