Chapter 181 - Days DXVI - DXVIII

I was dreaming about a sapling, rapidly growing into a gigantic tree, nourished by the blood of my friends, by the blood of people who died during the battle. Countless bones surrounded that tree, as I was looking at it, struck by how majestic it was.

I cried in that dream. Over the corpses of people who sacrificed themselves. Over the corpse of Nadia.

Then I was woked up by words I couldn't understand, but I knew the voices of people who spoke them. I could hear Hatta, I could hear Will. I could hear more, but those were unknown to me.

Then I dreamed again. About the same very thing. About the tree.

And then the voices...

And then the dream...

I lost track of what was real, and what was just my imagination.

At some point, I opened my eyes and the first person I saw was a woman, leaning over me. She had long face, and curly, brown hair. I also remember her amber eyes.

- Peter? Are you awake? Can you understand me, Peter?

- Where am I?

- You are safe. Can you move?

I tried to move my hand. I could, although it brought me an unimaginable amount of pain. I just gasped.

- Ok, try not to do that... Hatta! Hatta!

I closed my eyes because it was not easy to keep them open. I felt like I'm fading away again.

- Hey, Peter... Stay with me, hey! - she gently patted me on the cheek.

I opened my eyes again to see as Hatta came running.

- Get him to the device! Hey, you! Move! - he started hiving orders as soon as he saw me with open eyes.

Suddenly more people got to my bed, and they picked it up and started walking. Shortly after they put me down, and Hatta grabbed my hand and moved it until my fingers touched the device. It was incredibly painful.

I closed my eyes and immediately paid for the full recovery. I don't even know what was wrong with my body, but their list was long. I just paid those 50 thousand points.

Just like that, I was fully healed. I sat in the bed and looked around. We were in a big tent filled with many beds. I saw a bunch of my friends lying there, being nursed by those who were healed. There weren't many people.

Hatta laughed, and I felt his hand on my shoulder.

- Ha ha! You are alive! I thought you are gone... Holy shit Peter!

I looked at him.

- What the hell happened? - I asked him.

- We killed the boss. It's kinda ridiculous how we did it, but it worked. It's thanks to Jayadeva. He got a bit paranoid after what we did to him and tried to look for a way to defend himself. He tried to work on gun powred, and build a canon. It was never tested, but it worked. He dragged it out of his workshop, then shouted for help. We helped him and aimed at the boss, as he was to... Kill you... Then we tried to save whoever we could. Many people died. We thought you are not going to make it, but Marcella could heal you a bit. Enough that you didn't die. She did her best, every day, for you and others.

- Nadia... Is she...?

- Yes. I'm sorry Peter.

I nodded.

- What about others?

- Nobuo has many broken bones, but he is alive. Still unconscious. Martin broke his spine and can't walk. He didn't have enough points to heal that. Boris lost an arm. Will is fine, he is actually helping to keep alive those who are unconscious, just like Marcella. Juan is also fine. Zora is in terrible condition, but she is somewhat holding on with the help of healers. Vitya is dead. Nil survived, but his leg got crushed, and he can't walk. Otis and Miyajima both are good. Blue is alive too...

- What about Amit?

- He is fine. He returned with the people he took after killing those mages. He has a few burn scars, but that's it.

I started to get out of my bed.

- Wait, wait, wait! Hold on, Peter! You should rest.

- I rested enough.

He sighed as I stood on my own two legs. Barefoot on the cobblestone. Then I walked outside. Our ruined city was in terrible condition. Many buildings burned down. There was also a crowd outside. Maybe around two hundred people, all sitting on the ground, talking mainly. Newcomers.

I saw Will among them, answering many questions. I also noticed Blue, doing the very same thing. I observed them for a moment, and then returned to the tent. I put my hand again on the device and bought a backpack, some food, and bottled water.

- No, no, no, no, no. You are not going hunting - said Hatta as I was picking up my things.

He was about to pull those things out of my hands, but I looked at him and said:

- I'm not going hunting. I'm going back to my house.

- You should stay, Peter. It's not safe to go alone. Some orcs are still roaming the city.

- I can take care of myself.

- Peter, please...

- How many days have passed?

- What?

- How many days?

- Three.

- Thanks...

He tried to persuade me to stay, but ignored him, packed everything, dumped all the heals I could into my friends, and left. I headed straight to my house with a blank mind. I simply was unable to think about anything. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw that damn tree from my dreams, but that was it.

After arriving, I sat on the piece of rubble, ate something, and drank a bottle of water. Then I went inside and lied on the bed. Upon closing my eyes I saw the same picture as before.

There had to be a meaning to this, just like the vision of a burning city. I started to feel angry, and then I thought about Nadia, and tears came out of my eyes. The anger turned into sorrow.

The long day came to an end with 5 438 640 points remaining on my account, and 1 class point.