Mad Hatter's Guide to Clearing The Game
Chapter 110: Ch108. Harder

Chapter 110: Ch108. Harder

Kurt turned a small luminous artifact, and Miles could finally see him again.

When Kurt looked at him, though, there was a note of seriousness in his eyes.

"Did you sleep at all, kid?" Curiosity coated his quiet tone.

"Yeah, why?" Miles tilted his head ever so slightly.

"I don’t know... You could have also wandered through the place and found something that gave you insight into something." Kurt scoffed, shaking his head slightly. "You just look... Different."

"Why didn’t you threaten me with your knife like before, then?" Miles’ lips curled upward ever so slightly. "If I’m different, how can you tell I’m not the Hatter?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, his silver eye shining with mockery.

"Really?" He tilted his head. "You’re not wearing the top hat, and underneath that stupid shadow you’re still wearing, there’s no sign of his coat. So, no, no Hatter around."

"Shit..." Miles huffed quietly, but before he could say anything else, one of his black coat’s sleeves detached from his arm and gave Kurt the middle finger, making Kurt’s eyes go immediately wide as windows, along with Miles’s.

"You little..." There was a small vein bulging on Kurt’s forehead.

"Wait! I-I didn’t know it could do... That?" Miles raised both hands in a placating manner.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, fuck you too." Kurt sat down again, ready to light up the blue fire and cook breakfast. "I was about to ask if you were hungry, but if your dark friend has energy enough to do that, I imagine you’re not."

Miles’ eyes went wide, and he immediately deactivated [Doppelganger], and his second shadow went back to the floor, accompanying Miles’ original one, but slightly not.

The second shadow felt like it was staring at Miles, its head tilted in blatant confusion, as though it was personally offended by what Miles had just done.

"What? If you can do things on your own now, go on and apologize!" Miles pursed his lips at the shadow, which lowered its head and shook it vehemently. "Come on! Kurt is a... Friend, I guess... Anyway, he controls the food supply, and we can’t travel without him through the Horizon, so go on, and apologize. Please?"

"Okay," Kurt broke the banter with a voice full of confusion. "I’ve seen plenty of weird things in my life, and very few of them weirded me out. But... Uh, how should I put it..." He paused briefly and then added. "You have two shadows. You’re talking to one of them, and it’s... Answering? Are you sure you’re not a puppeteer or a ventriloquist player?"

"Ha. Ha. Funny-ass." Miles rolled his eyes. "I myself didn’t know it could do that until, let’s see... Right freaking now."

Miles’ shadow raised its hands in a placating gesture, almost as if it was mimicking Kurt – in a way – and after that, Kurt just stared at it with a deadpan expression.

And then he burst out laughing.

His laughter echoed through the chamber, bouncing off the stone walls like a mocking symphony. It started as a short, sharp chuckle but quickly unraveled into full-bodied amusement. Miles just sat there, watching him, arms crossed, waiting for the inevitable moment when the guy would finally get it together.

It took a while.

"Are you-are you done?" Miles deadpanned, resisting the urge to tap his foot.

"Oh, man. That was the best thing I’ve seen in weeks. Your little shadow there really flipped me off? That was great." Kurt wiped an imaginary tear from his silver eye, his shoulders still shaking.

Miles exhaled sharply, shaking his head.

"Glad you’re entertained. But can we focus? I’m not even sure what’s happening right now." He gestured vaguely at the second shadow, which had the audacity to cross its arms and tilt its head as if it were also waiting for an explanation.

Kurt snorted, tossing a scrap of cloth into the blue fire to feed the flame.

"Look, kid, I’ve seen a lot of weird things in this hellhole and back in my world. But this? This is new." He waved his knife at the shadow. "That thing’s got a mind of its own, and don’t even try to tell me otherwise."

Miles pursed his lips.

"I’m not denying it. I just-" He sighed, rubbing his temples. "It wasn’t like this before. I could use [Doppelganger] to boost my stats, but it never acted on its own."

"Yeah? And when did that change?" Kurt’s smirk softened into something more thoughtful.

Miles hesitated, because the more he thought on it, the more he thought he already knew the answer.

The Hatter.

That damn nightmare. The chains, the deal, the realization that whatever had been inside him wasn’t just some legacy, that it was alive. And now, somehow, it had bled into his power, shaping it, changing it in ways he didn’t fully understand yet.

"I don’t know." Miles lied, too confused – and hungry – to pick apart the details just yet. "Maybe I’ve been using it too much. Maybe it’s... It’s evolving."

Kurt hummed, turning the meat over the fire, the sizzling sound filling the chamber.

"Maybe. Or maybe something else is evolving with you."

Miles didn’t like the way that sounded. He glanced at his shadow, still standing there, still watching. It shifted slightly, its form flickering, like it was waiting for something. The moment stretched between them until, finally, Miles exhaled sharply.

"Fine." He muttered. "Apologize."

The shadow slumped slightly – If a mass of darkness could even do that – before turning toward Kurt. Slowly, it raised both hands... And clapped.

Once.

Twice.

A slow, exaggerated round of applause.

Miles groaned. Kurt, meanwhile, stared at it with an unreadable expression before shaking his head and laughing again.

"That’s the worst goddamn apology I’ve ever seen."

"I swear, if this thing starts talking, I’m throwing myself into the nearest Revenant nest." Miles pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Don’t make promises you can’t keep, kid." Kurt smirked, finally tearing off a piece of cooked meat and tossing it to Miles. "Here. Eat up. You’re going to need the energy."

Miles caught it and, after a brief moment of hesitation, bit into it. The flavor was better this time. Either because he was getting used to it, or because Kurt had seasoned it more. He chewed in silence, his mind racing despite the lingering exhaustion weighing down his limbs. A sign that, even though he slept, his body did not rest for a single second.

That, or he was starting to miss his bed back on Earth.

The Hatter was quiet now, though. No whispers, no laughter, no taunts. It should have been a relief.

But it was not.

Because if the Hatter was not clawing at his mind, then what was he doing?

"What’s the plan?" Miles finally asked between bites.

Kurt chewed thoughtfully before responding. "We go out and scavenge for some more materials. I need new equipment from the crafters of Luna Sea."

"And after that?" Miles nodded.

"We see if you survive the next step." Kurt’s silver eye gleamed in the dim firelight.

"Great. Love the optimism." Miles swallowed his food, his throat suddenly dry.

Kurt chuckled.

"Look, kid, you’ve gotten this far, but you’re still too green. You need to sharpen those skills of yours. Especially now." His gaze flickered toward the shadow at Miles’ feet. "Things are changing, and you need to adapt and be ready."

Miles clenched his fists. He knew Kurt was right. The Horizon was not a forgiving world. It did not care about how much he had endured.

If anything, it was only ready to make things worse.

And if he wanted to get back to Earth, to Diego... If he wanted to make Sarissa swallow her words, and if he wanted to make sure the Hatter never had control over him again...

He had to become stronger.

Miles exhaled, forcing himself to meet Kurt’s gaze.

"Train me." He said, voice steady.

"I don’t know if you noticed it, kid... But I already am." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"No." Miles shook his head. "Train me harder."

For the first time in their entire conversation, Kurt actually looked surprised.

Miles continued, undeterred.

"I don’t just want to be strong enough to survive, Kurt. I need to be strong enough to win. So, push me. Break me if you have to. Just make sure that by the end of this week, I won’t be the same person I am now."

Silence stretched between them, the fire crackling between their gazes.

"What’s going to happen in one week?" Kurt frowned, not a single note of amusement in his expression.

"I’m going to leave for The Last verse."

Kurt’s eyes twitched ever so slightly. But then, slowly, Kurt smirked.

"Oh, kid..." He said, his voice carrying a dangerous sort of amusement now. "You’re going to regret saying that."

"I’m counting on it." Miles grinned, sharp and determined.

The week ahead was going to be hell, he was sure of it.

But that was exactly what he needed.