Chương 88: Chapter 76. Injured

John Ericsson's Point of View Why am I so tired? I feel like I'm floating... I look around and all I see is darkness. I hear people talking. but it's like I'm underwater and I can't clearly hear any of the voices. Pain... Why does my back hurt so much? Where was I even? Come on, think! I know it was something important! Think! What's the last thing I remember? It's in fragments. I was fighting Jessie! I beat Luke, then he came and attacked me. He had me on the ropes. Then.... Sarah. Sarah came and saved me.

She wanted to fight him. She was angry at Jessie for almost killing me. I told her we should just leave, but she didn't listen to me. She said she'd fight him by herself if she had to. I gave up and decided that if we were to win, we had to do it fast. The first exchange was in our favor. I cut his back with a large gash. Then we went for the finish. That's when his expression changed. I felt a surge of mana in his sword. It was too dangerous! I cast reflect on Sarah. Then... Then.... RAISE!" SARAH!!!!" What? Wait!

I'm... I'm in a bed? It's late at night... The room is dark except for some lit candles. I search the room, I'm alone for now. I try to move. Stiff! Pain!" Ow!" My back is killing me. Wait, I'm wrapped in bandages! Well, let's not waste time." Holy Heal!" Oh no. I have no mana! Why? No wait. I have a tiny bit. Not enough to cast any Spells, but enough to where I don't pass out from Mana Exhaustion." Little One!"" Partner!"" Julia! Scarlet! Are you guys okay!?"" We're fine, John!"

Scarlet answered for the both of them. Thank God they're okay!" Guys, what happened?" They were both silent for a few moments. Then I heard sobs." Little One, I'm so sorry!"

"Julia... Why are you apologizing?"" She believes that she is responsible for your current state, John. She thinks that if she could have somehow strengthened the Armor, you wouldn't have been injured." Scarlet informed me of Julia's current state of mind. I took a few seconds to process everything. I looked at myself and noticed that the bandages from the neck down that I was in, were red from blood. I turned slowly and saw that there were spots of blood on the mattress I was laying on as well.

I had some range of motion thankfully, so I think I could stand and walk still. I stand up and notice I feel a bit weak at the moment. I start to speak softly to Julia who was still weeping." Julia, can you manifest yourself in front of me please?"

"Hm?" Her sobs stopped for a second as she was surprised at my request. Without a moment passing, Julia appeared in front of me like I asked. I could see that she had been crying for quite some time. Big puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks were 2 of the stronger indicators. / step. / wrap... I closed the distance between us and wrapped my hands as best I could around her giant frame. I slowly start to talk to her." Julia, I need you to hear me clearly. This wasn't your fault. In fact, it's my own in a few ways.

You told me that I should've run from Jessie and I decided not to. That's what has left me in the state that I'm in now. Regardless of all of that, Julia, I'm still alive. The Armor took the brunt of the damage and I got away with only a few injuries. That's not bad considering I took what seemed like a bomb going off to my back. I can walk away from something like that because your Armor was protecting me. So, thank you, Julia, thank you so much for protecting me."

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it." Little One..." Wrap! Julia silently listened to me and wrapped her arms around me. It's warm and reminds me of when I was a kid and my Mom would comfort me when I was crying. My Mother's hug helped relax and calm me down then and Julia's hug is doing the same now. I waited for when Julia felt satisfied with the hug. Before she had her fill however, I felt weak and lost my balance. Tip... Fall... Stop! Hold!"

Little One!" Julia's strong but gentle arms supported me and kept me standing." Sorry, it seems I'm not at 100% yet. Heck, I don't even have much mana. I wonder why? Before I passed out, I still had a decent amount left after all." Julia helped me back to the bed and made me lay back down. She began to speak to me after she had tucked me in." Your mana is nearly gone because of my Armor, Little One. Because my Armor is made of many different types of Magic Metals, as long as there is mana, it can reform itself.

The self-repair takes a large amount of mana to work however, so the Armor will not be able to be used for about 4 months' time. It will continue to take your mana from you every day. If I had to give a rough estimate, I think it will take around 40% of your total mana every day now."" That's a lot to take in. So, basically, the Armor will repair itself and 40% of my mana will be taken daily as a fee to have it repaired. Is that correct?" Julia nodded her head to me." Okay. I'm okay with that.

I hope you'll continue to help me in the future, Julia. The same for you, Scarlet. I'm sorry for losing this time guys. I plan on working on myself so we all never have to experience something like that again."" I've chosen you as My Partner, there's no way that I would deem you unworthy because of one little loss. Besides, you beat a Hero and lasted far longer than normal against an opponent you were outmatched against and then you nearly beat him anyways!"

Scarlet seemed a bit panicked at my words and manifested next to Julia and began to hurriedly try to give me a pep talk. Pet.

"..." Pet I simply pet her head. Julia didn't verbally respond to my words, but she proceeded to pet my own head. It's strange to be on this side of the petting, since for the past 3 months, I've been giving them out. A thought crossed my mind and I began speaking just as small talk for my comrades to hear." So, it seems I'll be stuck in this state for the rest of the day. Do you guys know what happened after I lost consciousness?"

Scarlet and Julia looked at each other and Scarlet began to speak to me after I stopped petting her." Well, after you lost consciousness, Sarah seemed to want to fight that man Jessie by herself. But then she heard your breathing and went to you. She was so focused on you that she didn't notice Jessie was about to strike you both down with his sword."" WHAT!?"

"!"

"!" I scared both of them when I yelled. I was too angry to care." Why would he do that!? I get that we're enemies, but attacking injured people from behind! How cowardly!"" I agree. As he was about to land a strike on Sarah, King Warrick stopped his attack."" Warrick showed up too!?" I was shocked at the new information Scarlet gave me. She continued on however." Yes, Warrick stopped Jessie's attack and began to speak to him.

It was hard to listen in over Sarah crying over you however, so we only were able to hear bits and pieces. The one thing we both heard for sure was Warrick confirming that Jessie was the first prince of Promethia."" Are all strong individuals from special bloodlines or something?"" Not necessarily. It'd be more correct to say that the special bloodlines try to keep all the talented individuals for themselves. Granted, I'm not sure how it's done in Promethia, but it is how it's done in Diablos."

I took a minute to fully absorb all of what Julia had told me. In time, I went back to a state of mind that was ready to hear more. Julia took over from Scarlet from here." After they spoke, Warrick let Jessie take the Hero and leave. Not long after that, A medical team arrived and took a look at Sarah who was a little banged up, but fine for the most part. Her biggest problem wasn't her body, but her mind. She was constantly concerned for you. She urged the medics to check on you and not her.

She didn't leave your side the entire way back. Holding onto your hand and stroking your hair with tears in her eyes." I was saddened to hear about Sarah. But with that explanation, I had another question." Where is Sarah? And Anna as well?"" Sarah was with you up until they took you in for surgery, they removed shards of my armor from your back with Magic. They then patched you up. Sarah and Anna were with you until around an hour ago.

They were requested to leave and report their side of the battle to the military along with Warrick and Aqua."" I see. Seems we just missed each other." Drowsy... Julia and Scarlet nodded at me. As I started to think about everything, I felt the urge to sleep come onto me strongly. Seems I'm more tired than I thought. I looked at them both and started to speak." I'm beginning to get sleepy. I have one final question I'd like to know, how long have I been asleep for?"

Julia looked too sad to answer and Scarlet wasn't too far behind her. In time, Scarlet bit her lip and answered me." 3 days, John. You've been sleeping for 3 days."

"I see. Well, thank you for explaining all of this to me. You both must be tired also. So please rest yourselves. If not for yourself, than for me. Please. The meeting will take some time. So, I'll rest now to. I'm struggling to keep my eyes open if I'm being honest. Are you guys okay with that?" Scarlet and Julia nodded and dissipated. I let the drowsiness take hold of me and passed out not long after.