Chapter 18: Isolated and Alone

Chapter 18: Isolated and Alone

Luke groaned in pain as he stumbled onto his feet. Desperately scanning the room for threats, and for the moment ignoring the arrow lodged firmly in his thigh through sheer effort of will. Gritting his teeth in pain as he raised his sword, on guard against a potential enemy.

He sagged in relief when he found none, his vision swimming, he collapsed onto his knees as adrenaline left his body.

Fuck yeah! I made it!

That was insane though. A current of pain surged through his body. And Im mostly intact too. He strained his neck in an effort to look at the wound. Grimacing in disgust, as he saw the arrows shaft sticking out of him.

He gripped it as gently as he could, and cussed in pain, when it moved, just slightly, in response to his touch. With a flex of his will, he sent it to his inventory. Blinking away tears, as the now empty hole in his thigh flared with heat, and hot blood oozed out of it. Read latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

Another benefit of the Seed. Its a pro at surgery. He thought morbidly. Blinking even more tears out of his eyes as he did. Lets see what I have though.

Summoning a strip of cloth from his inventory, he wrapped it around his wound tightly, using it as a makeshift bandage, and scrolled through every item he had stored away. Most of it was food and water. Hed stocked even more of it in the week since he got his current quest. Packing enough to survive even months in the wilderness.

Status | Quests | Inventory

Capacity: 278.3 kg of 1520 kg

Items:

Healing Potion (x6)

Tier - Mortal

Aid in recovery

Healing Pill (x7)

Tier - Mortal

Aid in recovery

Blood Pills (x6)

Tier - Mortal

Replenish blood

Stamina Pills (x5)

Tier - Mortal

Replenish stamina

He was happy to see his capacity had increased to well over a thousand kilograms. At this point in time it was more than he needed, and would continue to scale rapidly. Far beyond what he ever imagined using.

Reading over the description of the various medicines hes accumulated, some purchased and others pillaged, he withdrew a vial of the healing potion, and one of each pill. A grin came over his face as he pinched one between his fingers.

Popping pills and dropping bodies. I should write a rap song about it when I have the time. Or when I'm not cleaning out a wound, bleeding to death in a tomb.

Errantly, he tossed the pills in his mouth, and washed them down with water. Undoing the hastily done bandage on his leg, he cleaned the wound as best as he could with a wet cloth. Making faces of disgust every time the blood soaked rag came into his sight.

This is exactly why I didnt want to be a doctor. I hate blood. Well, blood and the thought of performing prostate exams. Mostly the latter.

Uncorking the vial of healing potion, he spilled it all onto a fresh piece of cloth, and fastened it around his wound.

A sigh of relief immediately slipped through his mouth as the efficacy of the medicine became apparent. The pain leveled off to tolerable levels moments after the bandage was applied. And a few seconds later, his whole leg started to feel numb. Providing even more comfort.

Why did I ever doubt honest to god magic medicine.

Probably because it was so cheap. Still, this is amazing. Nothing on Earth came this close. Wait? Am I high? Why cant I feel my leg? Should I amputate it

No! Whats going on? Why is everything so colorful?

He waved his hand in front of his face.

Has my hand always been this pretty? So many lines. Evolution really is

He blinked.

Why are my eyes getting so heavy?

Slumping against the wall, he fell asleep. The toll of the day mixed with the effects of the medicine knocking him out instantly.

Rate: 15% per hour

Strength: 40 > 41

Agility: 35 > 44

Constitution: 38 > 40

Arcana: 32

Stat Points: 3

Bloodline: Locked. Conditions not met. (1/10 000)

Charges: 7/10

Thats wow. He tallied up all the points that hed gained. Thats definitely more than I was expecting. Three free Stat Points, thats more than I ever got before. Unless I got them from killing stuff, but I already spent those particular ones. Which means that I got these points the normal way. Except, why so many? My other Stats went up a lot too. Five points altogether, if I dont count the points I put into agility after killing that guy, and combined with the free points, thats eight in total.

Which is nearly double what I usually get by working out and sparring to exhaustion every day. I shouldnt have that many but I do. So, there's definitely something that Im missing. All the fighting was exhausting, but I was only really exerting myself in short bursts. It was intense, no doubt about it, but nowhere close to how hard I pushed myself in the Society.

He shook his head.

Ill put the free points in my Constitution stat for now. More points in there should help me heal a bit better. He prompted the Seed. Fuck, that feels good. He thought, as added points took effect. That feeling is never going to get old.

Whatever the mystery behind the extra points is, I'll save it for another day.

His wound throbbed with pain once again. Pulling him from his musings. Cleaning it out again, he soaked another piece of cloth with a healing potion and wrapped it around his thigh. Then for good measure, popped another set of healing and blood pills.

Cant hurt, and who the fuck knows whats next. The medicine will be hard to replace now that Im not returning to the Society, but its better than dying because I cant walk straight. The note said we cant kill each other, but with how loony these trials have been, I shouldnt bet on it.

He picked up the note once again.

14 hours 29 minutes and 52 seconds.

So much time to kill.

ARGGGGG!

Would it have been too much to have a puzzle or a magazine? O Great Hero and Empress. He tossed and turned in the bed.

Hey Seed. What can you tell me about this trial? Whats coming next?

He frowned when it didn't answer. I should have expected that.

Getting up from his bed, he paced around the room. Is there really no washroom? Really Emperor and Hero, you can make insane and deadly obstacle courses, but you cant put a bucket in a room. Bitch.

I wonder though He focused, and his eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and relief. Okay, that is wild! I never would have guessed that I would be able to send shit and piss straight into my inventory. Best feature ever.

Luke stared at the countdown on the note. Watching it impatiently as the seconds ticked down, one excruciating second at a time.

He was grateful for the down time. He really was. Another set of pills, and another potion soaked bandage had seen him make a speedy, bordering on miraculous, recovery. The hole had, at some point over the hours, sealed over leaving only a faint scar in its place.

It still hurt when he placed some pressure on it, but since he could walk and even jump with little to no discomfort, Luke was confident that it wouldnt hamper him going forward. And even if it did, Luke was confident that it wouldnt be more than a minor inconvenience.

All that aside, sitting alone in a quiet room, with nothing to do had been torture. So when the walls finally opened up with the oh so familiar mechanized whir, the second the timer on the note hit zero, an anticipatory grin made its way onto his face.

He drew his sword, and raised his shield, ready for any surprises that may come his way, carefully making his way down the torch lit corridor.

Making it to the end, he was surprised when it opened up, and instead of a monster, what greeted him was a small crowd of people. Haggard with tousled hair, and torn robes emerging into the same room. Most of them dressed in blue robes, marking them as Inner Disciples and at the late stage mortal-tier, with a smattering of black robed individuals.

Luke! You made it! I was worried about you.