CH.137 Healing after a Duel

CH.137 Healing after a Duel[Lucia POV]

“BRIAN!” Both Alice and I screamed as we watched Brian be consumed by an attack from a spirit tiger.

He had been in a summoner duel with another adventurer. And while the small dragon he summoned had made a complete fool of both the tiger and its summoner, Brian was now on the receiving end of an attack from the tiger. Not because the attack was meant for Brian, but because he just happened to be standing in the wrong spot when his dragon dodged an attack.

As the attack faded, I saw Brian standing there where he had been, with his hands covering his face. His clothes were almost completely decimated, leaving only his shoes (that were outside the attack area), underwear and some of his undershirt that was under his crossed arms intact.

“White Lightning.” I just barely heard Brian command his summon.

“Phew.” I let out a sigh. He survived. If he is alive, I’m sure we can heal him.

I looked as the small dragon let out a massive beam of light from its mouth. The beam completely enveloped the tiger.

I didn’t really realize its power until the attack ran out. The tiger was nowhere to be seen.

The beam had gouged out the ground and left a large channel into it. Thankfully, nothing else was standing in the way of that beam or they would have been annihilated as well.

The adventurer that had challenged Brian just stood still, with his pants soaked by ... well, urine.

Then the small dragon and the book it had appeared from disappeared, as Brian fell face-down to the ground.

“BRIAN!” I yelled as I ran over to him. Alice followed me just a step behind and another two behind her was Alex.

As I got to him, I immediately checked if he was still alive by holding my hand to his back and to my relief, I could still feel his heartbeat. I then carefully turned him onto his back, so I could get to work. I checked his breathing, but it was extremely shallow.

He wasn’t looking good. His skin was badly damaged all around his body, but especially on his arms, it had completely burned away, to the point where I could see his muscle tissue.

“Lua? How is he?” Alex asked.

“Alive. For now. But not for long if I don’t do something.” I responded, before starting a chant. “Water, the liquid of life, help this wounded body in this time of need, Aqua Heal.”

It was the best I could do right now. There are more advanced water spells for healing, but I can’t use them. And using blood magic on someone who is hurt this badly won't help.

As I was pouring more mana into my magic, I could feel it not take effect. My spell isn’t strong enough. I need more power.

“Let’s use this.” Alex said as he handed me one of Brian’s cards. Red Medicine. I knew of it, but had never used it myself.

“Yeah. Activate it please.” I said as I focused on my spell. I had to keep it going, so that Brian wouldn’t die.

“Red Medicine.” Alex said to activate the card. A potion bottle with red liquid appeared as the card vanished. “So... how do I use this? Do I just make him drink it?” He asked.

“No. Give it to me.” I said as I took the potion bottle.

As Brian is passed out, there is no guarantee that he’ll be able to drink the potion. If I use water control, I can make sure it gets into his stomach, but I’d have to cancel Aqua Heal for that.

FUCK! What do I do?

As I thought that, a small box that looked like a status screen appeared before me. It only had three words on it.

Summon Water Spirit

Summon Water Spirit. A skill I gained when I was with Brian and a greater water spirit gave us its blessing. I had never used it as I wasn’t sure if I deserved it. But now, I have no choice but to use it.

“Summon Water Spirit.”

As I said that, I felt a massive surge of mana flow through my body. I recognized the feeling from when we were blessed. The power of spirits had surrounded me.

(Let me help.) I heard a voice in my head say. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t tell who it belonged to. (I’ll take over the Aqua Heal, you do what you feel is correct.) The voice added.

I felt my spell operate with no input from me and decided to trust the voice. I knew if I didn’t, Brian would just die. I need to get this potion into him.

“Water, Move as I command, Water control.” I chanted. I used it to pull the potion liquid out of its container and then slowly fed it to Brian.

I felt the potion settle down in his stomach and let out a small sigh.

With the spirits now helping me and the potion in his stomach, I feel like this is going to work.

But I know I need to keep pushing. Until Brian is for sure fine, I won’t stop. And with that potion now inside of him, the next step is spreading it. And I have just the magic to do that.

As Brian’s left arm still had that ... thing for his cards, I moved so I could take his right hand into my own. And as I did, I noticed that his right hand was tightly holding onto a card.

Monster Reborn. The card that can resurrect the dead. Perhaps he thought that something might go wrong in the match and had it on hand.

I took it and held onto it, before I bit his wrist. It is necessary for what comes next.

True blood magic. An evolved, or perhaps cured, form of blood magic. I haven’t had it for long and I’m not fully used to it, but as it’s just a slightly more powerful form of blood magic, I feel like I can manage.

I used blood magic to accelerate Brian’s natural digestion so I would get the potion into his bloodstream. Then I used Blood Scan to search for any abnormal locations and focused the potion over to those areas. And as I did, I felt the Aqua Heal that the spirits controlled move around with it.

Individual Lucia has saved System Support holder Brian Wood.Rewarding individual Lucia.Removing the Blood Curse from Individual Lucia.Failed. Individual Lucia does not have the Blood Curse.Searching for alternative rewards.Alternative reward suggested.Getting permission.Alternative reward permission granted.Granting Individual Lucia Basic System Support.Basic Support System UnlockedName: LuciaRace: Dhampir ?Level: 44HP: 1240Mana: 2100Strength: 320Defense: 400Magic: 1160 True Blood Magic LV.5 (Racial) Card Summoner LV.1 (extra)Summon Water Spirit (extra) Water Magic LV.5Mana Control LV.7Magic Boost LV.2Quick Cast LV.5Fast Mana Recovery LV.4Knife Technique LV.1Staff Technique LV.3 Blood Sucker (Racial)Water Spirits Blessing (Greater)LifesaverLifesaver: Doubles the effectiveness of all healing done by magic or skills.

Clap, Clap

With two loud claps, Timothy took control of the situation.

“Then we will do this. As Brian is out, because of you, and Lucia is extremely low on mana, because of you, I’ll have you join our escort party until we reach Sawyer city safely. If you manage to do that, the guild doesn’t have to know about this little incident.” Timothy said. “Are you three fine with that?” He then asked us.

“I think that’s letting them off easy.” Alex said.

“I... I want to wait for Brian’s opinion.” Alice said.

“If Brian thinks it’s fine, I’ll let it be.” I said. I don’t think Brian would hate him for something like that, but I want to hear him out first.

“T-Thank you. We’ll make sure nothing can hurt you!” They said in unison.

With Saber Fang (that is their party’s name) keeping the night guard, we would be able to sleep through the entire night.

I’m really glad that that is the case, as I really am tired after using all that mana.

Our sleeping arrangements were a little different from last night, as Brian was sleeping between Alice and I. I didn’t mind doing it and Miss Alice outright demanded it. She said she doesn’t really trust these adventurers, and by sleeping with Brian she would make sure they don’t try to kill him in the middle of the night.

I also agreed, as I wanted to make sure to stay close to him, in case his situation gets worse.

Brian’s magic waist bag, I think he calls it a fanny pack, hadn’t been decimated, as he took it off before the battle, so we were able to get some spare clothes for him from there.

His sleeping bag and travel pelt were also there. I don’t know why he has two travel pelts, especially of such high quality, but I don’t mind at the moment. I stacked the two pelts on top of each other, before carrying Brian to it.

I also removed the two cards Brian had on his ... summoning thing. I should ask what it is when he wakes up. But anyway, I took the two cards for safekeeping, and after I removed them, the large thing disappeared, leaving only a simple bracer behind.

There was also something strange with the Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon. The glass-like thing on it had been colored orange. The Toon World didn’t have that. And neither did my Vampire Lady, or the two cards Miss Alice has.

Well, I can probably ask about it from Brian tomorrow.

Assuming that he wakes up tomorrow.

Please, wake up tomorrow.

Before falling asleep, I heard my mother’s voice in my head.

(Connection made with System Support ‘Laura’. Making a telepathic link.)

(What does that mean?) I asked my System Support.

(Oh. Miss Lucia. I made a connection. Thank you so much for saving Master.) I heard a female voice in my head.

I don’t know whose voice it is, but it brims with reliability and ... big sister energy?

(... Who are you?) I asked.

(Yes. I should introduce myself. My name is Laura and I am Brian’s System Support.) She said.

...

...

So... not only did I get a System Support of my own, I can now also speak with Brian’s System Support.

...

I’m not sure how to handle all of this. I just. This is too much. I need sleep.

No! I need one thing before that.

(Miss Laura. Is Brian alright?) I asked Brian’s System Support.

(Yes. Thanks to you he is fine. He is just sleeping and should wake up by tomorrow morning. And if he doesn’t, well, I’ll make sure he does.) Brian’s System Support answered with a more mischievous tone.

(... don’t be too hard on him. He went through a lot.) I said.

(Don’t worry. I know what he likes.) Laura said.

(Shut up, both of you. It’s Lucia’s bedtime and I won’t let you bother it, even if you are a superior level System Support.) My System Support told Laura off. I have to say, having my mother argue against the big sister-like Laura is quite funny. Like a mother telling the kids having a sleepover to go to bed already.

But I did as instructed, and soon found myself fast asleep.