CH.55 Sleep is for the Weak

CH.55 Sleep is for the WeakBut the weak die young, therefore we must sleep.[Brian POV]

Where am I? What do you mean I should say ‘unfamiliar ceiling’? A ceiling is not going to tell me where I am.

My eyes are fuzzy. My head is spinning. I feel something cool traveling across my body. A wave of water? But I’m in a building, right? Or perhaps I’m in something like a boat shack. No. I’m clearly lying on a bed. Who would put a bed in water?

The waves rolling on my body disappear and a bit later, something damp is placed on my forehead. A wet towel? Am I in a sick ward? What happened? I remember we were taking the wyverns down. The armored guards appeared. I think I was talking with Christina, and then, nothing. That’s it.

(Laura?) I called out in my head.

I heard no response. What? Where is she?

(Laura? Where are you Laura?)

“Lau,ra?” A weak sound comes out of my mouth.

“Oh, you are awake?” I heard a female voice say. I recognize that voice. But who does it belong to? “Please just try to stay still. You’re not ready to get up yet.” She told me.

Rest? In this situation? Well, maybe I should, but I don’t know if I can.

“ca,n’t.” I try to tell her.

“Oh, I’ll help you fall back to sleep then.” She said to me. How will she do that?

I can feel the wave of something cool going around my body again.

“I’ll give you a little prick now.” The female voice said. Seriously, why can’t I remember who that voice belongs to?

I feel a little pain in my left wrist, just below the founder’s terminal. Did she inject some sort of sleeping drug into me? Am I back on Earth? In a hospital? Waking up from a coma I spent dreaming of another world?

[Alice POV]

“He is getting better.” She answered. “I’ve gotten his temperature under control, and he was half awake a bit earlier. By the doctor’s orders, I put him back to sleep with blood magic.”

“Did he say anything? You know, while he was awake?” I asked.

“He was muttering about Laura.” She answered. His system support? Why would he?

“I see. Can we stay for a bit?” She asked.

“Don’t bother the others.” Lucia told us. “And if his temperature rises again, tell me.”

We stayed there for a bit. I was holding Brian’s hand. I hope he won’t mind. I think he won’t. He didn’t get mad at me when I snuck into his bed after all.

—

In the yard of the manor, I was practicing magic with Mana. This is what I know, so I want to do it. Now that my level is a little higher, and now that I gained the dark magic skill, I could go on for longer than I could before.

But Mana was also more strict as a teacher. She would punish me when I made a mistake and make me repeat the exercise until I got it right. This was especially tough as Mana began to teach me other spells.

She was now teaching me ‘Dark Bind’, a spell to, well, bind my enemy with. Mana said it makes a good combo with that ‘Dark Press’ spell. She also said the spell her teacher used to hold down the wyverns yesterday was a combination of these two spells.

I got the concept of the spell, but I just couldn’t do it. She really needs to teach me these spells with chants. Doing it with ‘quick chant’ is too difficult. The mana control becomes so much more challenging with ‘quick chant’.

In the end, I couldn’t do it successfully before Mana’s time was up. I was both happy and sad as I let her go. I hope tomorrow’s training will go better.

I feel like I can’t focus as well as I should be able to. Is Brian’s situation really weighing on my mind that heavily? It makes no sense. I just met him. But then again, I’ve gained so much thanks to him. I don’t know what to do. I ate my dinner with my mother and father and went to bed with my head filled with thoughts and worries.

What if Brian won’t wake up? What if the behemoth attacks while he is still sleeping? Will I ever be strong enough to go against a lesser behemoth? Will I ever even have to?