Chapter 17

Chapter 17

She is quiet the entire time. No questions, no bothering me. She just slowly cleans my wound as best as she can without water and with just a small piece of cloth.

She always knew me too well. I guess that's why I always felt comfortable around her.

The wound looks terrible even after some healing thanks to my constitution.

While she does her stuff, I drink the last few drops of water remaining in my bottle. I store the empty bottle inside my bag.

"I don't know what else I should do. Pour alcohol over it? I don't have any. Burn it? I've only seen that in movies, so it might not work. And someone already took the first aid kit from the bus."

Her face remains calm throughout, and I noticed she put her long hair into a pigtail resting on her back. She is also not wearing her skirt anymore and is wearing leggings instead.

I look up from the ground.

She is looking at me with an indescribable expression on her face.

I pause.

Why is it so easy to understand her?

"You can come with me next time I go into the forest."

I don't have to say more.

Slow nod.

[Name: Nathaniel Gwyn]

Difficulty: Hell

Floor: 1

Time left until forced return: 4y 364d 20h 9m 59s

Lvl 3

Strength: 6

Dexterity: 8

Constitution: 10

Mana: 4

[Primary Class: Unavailable]

[Sub-class: Unavailable]

Skills:

- Focus Lvl 3

- Mana manipulation Lvl 2

- Mana Perception Lvl 1

[Skill Points: 0]

To be honest I did expect each skill to be unique to a person so this surprised me a little bit.

Some people even started with 3 points in Mana. Weird.

Mana is usually a resource used to cast magic, enchant items, create spells, and is used as some sort of fuel for magic items.

And it fascinates me.

A lot.

If I could, I would most likely spend hours just experimenting with it.

It just feels like I'm a kid once again, and I got something amazing to play with.

Something very few have. Mysterious and so full of opportunities.

Unfortunately, I have no such luxury.

Tess is almost done smoking a cigarette when Hadwin appears. He is followed by two men who both seem to be around 30-40 years old. I noticed them before, and they seem to be fairly close to each other, probably two friends or coworkers.

Still limping Hadwin opens his mouth and closes it after taking a look at my wound. I can see that he is fighting inside, and in the end, he decides to be shameless.

"Nat, I will need you," he shrugs his shoulders and moves awkwardly.

At least he knows how shameless he is. But it's not like I can blame him. I'm sure I'm more useful than most people, even in the state I'm in. And it's not like I didn't expect him to come.

"When I was walking back with Damon..." he pauses for a second and continues after taking a deep breath "I saw the river down the valley. Probably 5 minutes of walking away from the place where we met them..."

At the moment, I am not sure if it's all just an act, or if he really feels bad for asking me.

How many bullets does he have left? It can't be many. One magazine? Two? Or is he already at the last one?

"Cassian and Dominic are going to join us."

Cassian is a shorter man with black hair, while Dominic has dark skin and curly hair. Both of them are in good shape, having figures that come from doing hard manual work.

I find it weird that they would want to join, even after seeing Damon's dead body.

I think it's better to go, but people rarely use logic in such situations.

Maybe...

I look at Sophie, who is standing nearby with her sister.

Whatever.

I slowly stand up. I try to calculate Cassian and Dominic's reach by looking at their arm lengths, and I assess their mobility by observing the way they move.

Let's see how you'll do.

"I'll be taking Tess with us, but I'll need a bit longer to rest. One hour should be okay. Oh, and give her one of the spears."

As I enter the bus, I hear Cassian and Dominic complaining.

I can't trust anyone.

Not Sophie, not Hadwin.

So I have to push, forget about my wounds, and get the last bit of energy from my body.

Because I am sure I will die the moment they become stronger than I am.