97 This Hero Recovers!

"W-We're back!" Yuna jumped up and shouted. "We're alive! I can't believe it!" She began giggling. She was positively giddy.

"Haha! Amazing job kid! I can't believe you…" Jaq trailed off. The life had returned to his face as he spoke, but when he looked at me his face shifted back to the pale visage that it once was.

I was lying on the ground, clutching at my abdomen. The Hell Guardian's blade had pierced straight through me and left through the other end. With every beat of my heart I felt an unbearable wave of pain surge throughout my body as my blood slowly seeped out. I can't even think straight anymore.

"A-Augh…" I let out. I tried to say something, anything, but I'm too weak. It's as if I used all of my strength to shout only a moment ago and now I am simply a mass of flesh. I can no longer stop myself from coughing. I tried to look down at my wound, but even doing so much as tilting my shoulders proved astoundingly painful.

Jaq looked around the room quickly, searching for anything that would help me. Eventually, Jaq's eyes landed on Ron. "A-Ah, okay! Ron, get on it!" He shouted. Ron scrambled in response and gave a quick "Okay!" As he began to raise his holy symbol and chant a prayer.

The familiar golden light began to encompass Ron, just as it had before. I could feel the sensation of something soft and warm being wrapped around me before it suddenly shattered into pieces as Ron's spell ended. My pain continued.

Yuna ran towards Ron, panic was visible in her eyes. "Ron, what the hell? Help him!" She shouted, shaking Ron heavily as she did so.

"I-I-I cast the spell! He should be fine!" He quickly retorted. The atmosphere of the room grew tense as I continued to bleed onto the stone floor.

"Cast it again!" Tael shouted out. His eyes darted between myself and Ron.

Ron began to shake once more as he stared at his holy symbol with confusion. "I can't! I used the last of my mana on that spell! We poured everything we had into the teleport! The spell should have worked the first time!" He shouted.

Erana ran up to me, clutched her tree branch, and pointed it towards me.

"Cure Wounds!" She shouted. I was bathed in a dark green light as her spell encompassed me. Just as I had felt before, there was a soft and warm sensation as my body was covered by the magic before it shattered like glass. The pain, and my bleeding, still remained.

As she finished giving orders, everyone in the room except for Jaq, Kilin, Erana, and myself left.

I coughed out more blood. Tears began to leak out of my eyes as I struggled to breathe. I sputtered in pain and anguish as every time I coughed I moved and every time I moved I felt another wave of unbearable pain. "A-Ah…" I was able to let out. I must look pathetic right now.

I could feel myself growing colder as I felt a warm pool begin to form beneath me. My breathing is getting shallow and my vision is getting hazy. It was quiet now, but I heard a shout from nearby. "D-Damn! Why isn't it stopping?" The voice yelled out. I… can't tell who that is anymore…

My body is so cold. Everything aches. I'm so tired. The last time I died it was instant. Is this what it's truly like? I can feel the beat of my heart as it's gradually slowing down.

In the corner of my hazy vision, I saw her. Her light brown skin and dark hair. Her dark eyes that were gentle yet mature. She quickly stepped towards me and stopped as she got close to my head. She got onto her knees in a pool of my blood and held my blood soaked hand with both of hers as she spoke to me. "Kenji… Look at me. Look at me, please. Don't look at them, look at me." She quietly begged, like a mother reading a bedtime story to their child. "It's going to be okay…" She tightened her grip onto me. I could feel her warmth as it transferred to my hand. "You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." She repeated. Her voice was barely a whisper.

She continued to repeat this line, as if praying to a god that isn't listening, begging them to help me or to change reality to make her words true. I could barely hear her speak now as I continued to cough out more blood. The taste of iron permeated my mouth.

She held onto me so tightly, as if trying her hardest to ensure that I wouldn't be able to go anywhere. It's becoming hard to focus my vision at all and I can barely hear her anymore, but I know that I'm looking into her eyes. I can feel myself fading away.

I took as deep of a breath as I could and tried to speak. "E-Erana I…" I began, before I could continue, Erana shut her eyes and looked downwards.

"Don't talk!" Her sudden scream reverberated throughout the room, even causing Kilin and Jaq to tremble slightly. Though her bedside manner has been kind and motherly, it was in this scream that her true feelings were laid bare.

She's terrified.

I was too exhausted to notice before, but her hands are trembling as she clutches onto mine. "...Please…" She whimpered. It was only now that I could tell just how scared she truly is. "Please… Kenji…" She opened her tear filled eyes and looked at me.

I don't understand this feeling. It's as if I know what is going to happen, but I want it to stop. I can't prevent what is happening from actually happening. All I can do now is look into her eyes as I fade away.

It's a good thing I was already crying.

In the last vestiges of my hearing, I could hear shouts and a muted "Not me, HIM!" from someone off in a far away place.

"Greater Break Curse!" A scruffy voice yelled out. Something surrounding my body flew out of me and shattered like glass. "Heal!" Another voice yelled. The pain in my abdomen faded away as I felt a gentle caress across my body. This sensation, along with Erana's hands gripping onto mine, were the last things I felt before my vision faded to black.

…

I feet awful. It is almost as bad as the day I woke up in Mulbik. I have a splitting headache and my gut hurts. I feel lethargic. Underneath me I can feel what seems to be a soft padding of sorts. I think I'm on a bed. Actually, I think a blanket is covering me...

I opened my eyes slowly as my vision was filled with white light and the interior of what appears to be a medical room. To my right and left there were white curtains that were drawn. In front of me I could only see what appeared to be an empty bed that sat on stone.

"A... Hospital?" I muttered to myself. I leaned up in my bed before I felt a shocking pain in my abdomen once more. "A-Agh… Right…"

A scuffling in the room began as I heard the pitter patter of small feet rush towards me. I made for my weapon, but it was nowhere to be found. Before I could begin to use any of my combat abilities, a figure pushed aside the white curtain to my right and stepped towards me.

It's a dwarf. Though their eyes are completely covered by thick glasses and what I assume is their beard is covered in a clear material, their size and stoutness gave away what they truly are.

"Ah! Kenji-san, you're awake!" They looked up towards me. Their voice was squeaky, like a dog toy. Their face was absolutely beaming with positivity. "Quite a nasty situation you were in! It's good to see you're alright! I'm Bita by the way." He nodded his head up and down quickly as he spoke.

"W-Where am I? Where is everyone? Are they okay? How long was I-"

"Okay okay okay." He held out his hands to stop me, pouting as he did so. He checked a clipboard he brought out from behind himself, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "I was warned about this by your wizard friend…" He put the clipboard away as he looked towards me once more. "Here's the long and short of it. Basically, you're in a private medical wing. Your friends are safe and sound. They're actually all asleep outside. They passed out while waiting on a bench for you. As for the other party, the muscle guy was healed up and they said they were heading to their place."

"What time is it? How long was I out?" I began to sit up in my bed, clutching where I had been stabbed earlier.

The dwarf pulled out a small rock. It began to glow as he inspected it before he put it back away into his pocket. "It's currently 8 in the morning. You were out all night."

"What happened?" I held my head softly. Moving too quickly causes my head to spin, so I had to be careful.

"Well, it seems you were stabbed by a cursed blade. From what I was told, people were screaming bloody murder down the halls looking for someone capable of fixing you! You're really lucky that General Maduso was here or else you would be toast!"

"Uh… you're probably not the right guy for this, but what about our payment?" I slowly looked around the room, checking to see if there were some sack containing money somewhere.

"It has been delivered to your rooms!" He was positively beaming as he said this. "You even got a little bit extra because…" He pulled his clipboard out once more and began to read off of it. "You went above and beyond the call of duty in fighting a Hell Guardian… Wait, what?" He dropped the clipboard onto the ground, making an audible banging noise as he did so. "YOU fought a Hell Guardian? Seriously?"

"Fought is a… strong word. It was more like stalled." I shrugged my shoulders as I began to laugh.