Chapter 628: Day ??? – Waking Up

Chapter 628: Day ??? – Waking Up

I felt like I was choking. I couldnt breathe. Michael calm down, Doctor Katz said as he looked over me. My breathing grew a bit easier and my panic went down.

Cant. Breathe, I gasped out.

You took a heavy injury. Your stats were impacted. You need to focus on correcting them, Doctor Katz said. I tried to focus on them, but I got a splitting headache.

Cant. Headache. Bad, I gasped out.

Subconscious interference and possible damage, Jacob said. I heard the sound of rushing wind, and we were on an airboat from what I could tell.

A restore from the store, might help, Doctor Katz said.

Unlikely. His base energy is heavily damaged. He might not register. And what is worse, is that you cant reregister. Once you lose access, that is it. The System only checks in one direction, Jacob said.

Then what can we do. I can stabilize his breathing for now, but with his stats going haywire, that isnt something physical, Doctor Katz argued.

Win? I gasped out to ask. Clarissa was leaning over me then to explain what was going on.

We did win Michael. But you took heavy damage. You have been unconscious for a day and a half. Right now we are taking the airboat I had arranged to pick us up with, in case any of us survived. Purgatory was stilled shielded, so I decided to head to the Forbidden City, Clarissa explained.

I felt myself calm down at that. That was good. We had won. Clarissa moved out of the way as my two doctors stood back over me. I felt them poking my chest, which really hurt. Also, my right arm was gone. I could move the rest of my body thankfully. It is the lingering contamination of the energy in the air, he wasnt able to resist drawing in the energy, Jacob said.

That would make sense. Okay, Michael. You just need to hang on, until we clear the zones with fallout. It is going to take about a day. Just focus on breathing slowly. I need to space out the use of my skill with what energy I have left, Doctor Katz said.

Kay, I replied quietly. I focused on steadying my breathing. Each breath was a struggle to breathe in. Like there was an elephant sitting on my chest.

We should be clear by nightfall, and get back just before mid-day tomorrow, Jacob said.

Do you think we should over aim? Captain Francis asked.This chapter is updated by nov(e)(l)biin.com

He is stable. Saving a little bit of time wouldnt be a huge help, Jacob said.

Better to get back on the ground sooner, so he can recover. As long as things remain stable. We cant stress his heart or breathing, Doctor Katz said.

And he will be able to recover then? Clarissa asked.

Maybe. It is all variants of curse damage and it is massive. Best bet, we clear the spheres energy field, and he can draw in energy, and repair the damage. If he cant, then things get a lot more complex. The biggest issue is fixing the disruption of his stats, Jacob said.

For what purpose? Michelle asked.

To target the System in some way. But linking two things between our layer and the lower layer, locks them in positionally. It was drawing massive amounts of energy. Since we were blocked from looking at the lower layer even after the spheres destruction, there is something hiding there, Jacob explained.

Can a person make that trip? Clarissa asked.

It is questionable. I would need to run more tests. But it would be gear dependent, for breathing, and other things, Jacob explained.

Like what? Clarissa asked.

Skills, energy regeneration. There are a lot of details that need to be checked and prepared for, Jacob said.

I will expedite any requests. We need to get things working again, especially the monsters in the zones, in order to generate revenue, Clarissa replied.

My breathing continued to be a struggle as I lay there listening in on the conversation. The airboats were too small to try and hide anything from other people on board. I focused more on myself, and the damage I had taken. It was immense. Punching the sphere and getting in close had been stupid. But it had created an opening for the Avatar.

At least the immediate threat was over, but there was still something out there causing problems. A loss and now a partial win. If we truly were capable, we would have immediately launched a follow up assault on this lower layer. Now we had to retreat and regroup once again. While it was a strength that helped me in the past, it had also hurt me. The Ritualist was a prime example of an enemy that got stronger with time to prepare.

The sphere was intelligent, and it would probably carry a grudge against me and be ready for my skills next time. I brought my left hand up and felt my chest. There were a lot of bandages there. I could feel that a good chunk had been removed, or I couldnt feel it. I wiggled my right stump, that wasnt good either.

Store? I asked out loud quietly.

What was that, sorry, we were discussing other things, Jacob said.

Store, I struggled to repeat.

Getting a restoration is a bad idea. I have done experiments in the past. And your energy is scrambled enough to be registered as a non-valid person. Your stats need to be fixed first before you try and access the store. The System only checks in one direction when you use the store, if you energy is altered, Jacob explained. I was sure there were countless bodies behind that piece of knowledge. But their sacrifice wasnt in vein, since it provided key information for my situation right now.

There is a non-standard option I dont think you want. We could vat grow a new body, but it would be a copy with memory transference, and you would lose all your stats, Jacob explained.

No, I said.

That is fine, but it is an option. The damage is immense. If you cant repair it, then there is nothing any of us can do to fix it. And using the store would be a very bad idea, while you are in such a state, Jacob explained.

There is no immediate urgency. I suggest we return to the Forbidden City, and Michael can make attempts to fix himself there while I keep an eye on his health, Doctor Katz said.

Yes, I replied to that suggestion. Hopefully I would be able to sort out whatever had happened to me and get back on my feet quickly. I didnt like feeling this weak and helpless. Curse that sphere, curse them all.

There didnt appear to be mental corruption or weird thoughts, which was a huge plus. That would have created a massive disaster if that were the case. I couldnt afford to have my brains scrambled.