Chapter 49: Drink It Nerd

    *Ding*on, Feiden, Umara, and Tana all heard a sound from their Aerials.

    Umara’s eyes widened.

    “It’s John!”

    “What did he say?”

    “It says, I have risen.”

    “What’s that supposed to mean?”

    “Oh, he told us to bring some food too.”

    “Let’s go see him!”

    Umara was the first to jump up, running over as the others followed.

    ......

    I heard four people barge into the hospital.

    “John!”

    “Watch the stomach.”

    I spoke as Umara dove over, wrapping me in a hug.

    I couldn’t help but chuckle at how much she worried.

    “Are you okay? How are you feeling?”

    “You probably know better than me. I haven’t gotten an update yet. But I feel fine.”

    “That’s good.”

    She continued to hug me for a while longer. As she did, I looked around at the others.

    I reached out with a free hand toward Vetsmon who walked over smiling.

    “Glad to see you well, John.”

    “Likewise. How long have I been out?”

    “About a day. We leave tomorrow morning.”

    “Good. I’m eager to get the hell out of this place. Oh, is that food?”

    I looked over to see Feiden approaching with a tray of food.

    He smiled and placed it on my lap.

    “I just grabbed what they had available.”

    “Thank you. This is definitely something I’m not going to miss though.”

    I spoke as Umara separated, allowing me to eat.

    I engorged myself for about a minute, finally giving my empty stomach some fuel.

    At some point though, Umara perked up and reached for something.

    “Oh, I grabbed your items.”

    “Ah, shank you.”

    I mumbled with a half full mouth, taking the cigar case, the pill bottle, and my coat.

    They all went into my spatial sack, except for the cigar case.

    I opened that and took out a fresh stogie, cutting the end and lighting it.

    The smoke I inhaled felt like a wave of rejuvenation that spread through my whole body.

    “Hahh, so nice. If only we got paid for our kills. I bet that gorilla was worth a lot.”

    “The Kingdom only does that for stronger beasts.”

    “A shame.”

    I sighed at Umara’s comment. I was used to getting paid by the job. Now, I wasn’t getting paid at all.

    At that moment, I saw a nurse walking over.

    “John Cooper?”

    “Yes?”

    “Since you’re awake, I needed to talk to you.”

    “Oh, go ahead.”

    The others took a step back, letting the nurse over as she read off a clipboard.

    “Well, your injuries have been mostly healed except for the worst ones. You’ve thankfully lost no organs or limbs thanks to the timely intervention of Instructor Vizen, but in total, there were 54 different injuries. Six of your ribs were cracked. Your femur had a surface fracture. We found 31 lacerations across your hands, face, chest, stomach, and legs. And on top of the major bleeding caused by 12 stab wounds, there were some infections caused by the poison of the monkey claws. You also lost three fingers that we were able to reattach with no issue. You’ve recovered from everything very nicely. The only thing you need to worry about will be the scarring.”

    “Oh... Well, I’ve got enough scars anyway. Who cares about a few more.”

    “Healthy optimism.”

    The nurse chuckled a bit before writing a few things on her clipboard.

    She then set it down and reached over.

    “I’d like to take off your bandages. The injuries on your face should have sealed by now.”

    “Okay.”

    I nodded as she started undoing the white wrapping that covered half my head.

    It quickly fell off, so I took out my Aerial and turned on the camera, looking at myself.

    Before, the only scars on my head had been on my left temple beside my eyebrow.

    But now, there were a few others.

    There was another on the left side, going from my cheekbone to my ear, drawing across it almost like it was cut in half.

    That wasn’t even the most obvious one though. By far the most noticeable were the two deep scars running down the right side of my face.

    They ran in parallel, going from my forehead and down my eyebrow, slicing across my eye and cheek before ending at my chin beside the corner of my mouth.

    What shocked me the most was the fact that I even still had my right eye. Even the nurse spoke about it.

    “You’re lucky, Mr. Cooper. Even your eyelid was split open, but those claws still missed your eye by a hair’s breadth. Otherwise you’d be half blind right now. I think a few prayers are in order for that miracle.”

    “...I think you’re right.”

    I let out a long breath, thinking how devastating it would be if I lost my good eye.

    Inwardly, I gave a quick thanks to my guardian angel before smiling.

    “Well, that’s a few more for the collection. How do I look?”

    I faced Umara while pulling her onto the bed with me. Other than those two across my eye and the one across my ear, there were a few shallow scars that would fade with time. All of it was enough to call my face disfigured, but I didn’t mind that much.

    It didn’t seem like Umara did either as she gave me a shy smile back, her face a bit red from my bold move in front of everyone.

    “It looks good... You’re still just as handsome.”

    “Hehe, you’re cute when you’re embarrassed.”

    “...”

    She went silent, placing both her hands over her face. I could almost swear some steam came off her burning ears.

    “Yes?”

    “I’m sorry!”

    She came crying, her face entirely flushed and her blonde hair a little messy.

    “You almost died because of me! I’m sorry I couldn’t do my job!”

    “It’s okay, Tana.”

    “No, it’s not!”

    “Watch the snot.”

    I raised my arms as she came crawling over on the couch. Umaara was quick to dodge out of the way, so I was stuck with Tana all over me, a crying mess.

    “I’m so sorry!”

    “It’s fine! Get off!”

    “I just want a hug! Am I still your friend?”

    “Yes, now- AH! Watch the knee!”

    I jumped as her knee accidentally snuck into my precious place. I almost threw her off, but couldn’t because of her weight.

    “Alright, time to go! You’re too heavy!”

    “What?! I’m not! You take that back!”

    “Ack!”

    As I tried to stand, I was yanked back onto the couch, being put into some kind of arm lock.

    I reached out to Umara who watched, but all I received was a faint smile as she just stood there.

    Damn, she’s going to get it later.

    And so I struggled, only being freed several minutes later when Vetsmon wrestled Tana for me.

    I laughed as they went to the floor, Tana seeming to completely forget about her apology to me.

    Well, I guess that was our proper talk. Whatever to ease her mind.

    I wasn’t able to find Umara after straightening myself out, so I went to the bar where Feiden sat, looking like he was brooding.

    I pat his shoulder and sat next to him.

    “So I have you to thank for saving my sorry ass.”

    “There should never have been any saving.”

    “But there was. And thanks to you, I get to go home.”

    “...”

    He was silent, obviously not wanting to accept it.

    And I understood. It was a given to save your dying teammate, but the situation should never have devolved to that point in the first place. So saving me was, in a weird way, actually something to be ashamed of.

    We were both silent while I ordered a drink. After taking a sip, I spoke again.

    “Look, I’ve taken full responsibility for everything that went wrong.”

    “But you didn’t do anything wrong.

    “Au contraire, my brother. I quite literally walked myself in that situation. I misjudged several things and took it upon myself to take unnecessary risks when there was no need to. I should’ve been more careful, and then even Tana wouldn’t have had anything to do.”

    “But you were supporting us.”

    “Irrelevant to the point. If I had simply made better decisions, then there would have been no problems. Plain and simple. Trust me, I got an earful from the Puppet Master too. Since I’ve been kind of acting as the leader of our squad, it was my actions that led to this outcome. So even though it was me, I’m responsible for what could be considered the near-death of a squadmate. That’s also why I’m going to take a step back."

    I explained, taking a sip of my drink as Feiden thought about my words.

    Then, he looked at me weirdly.

    “What do you mean, take a step back?”

    “I mean I’m going to drop the whole leader thing. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be Vetsmon anyway. He’s got more experience and a better grasp on how things work, so for all our sakes I’m going to make sure he’s the one giving orders from now on.”

    “...I see the logic, but I’m not sure if I like it.”

    “It’ll be fine. It''s not like anything major is going to change. Regardless, I just want to make sure you aren''t worrying about anything. There''s no need to, because we''re doing just fine. So relax.”

    “Mm.”

    He smirked a bit. I could tell there was still a bit on his mind, but it seemed I had reassured him somewhat.

    After that I turned around, looking around to see all the Elites having fun around me.

    With curiosity, I suddenly tapped Feiden’s elbow.

    “Hey, who’s Rank 1?”

    “Oh, he doesn’t do anything with the Magisterium. He’s basically a student in name only.”

    “Too good for us, huh?”

    “Kind of, yea. He’s a Duke’s direct son, so his royal blood is as thick as his biceps. He’s the strongest person that I’ve seen in our generation. Last I heard, he’s pushing into Authority 6.”

    “Shit. Alright. Now, which girl do you have a crush on?”

    “...I’m suddenly remembering my youth school days.”

    Feiden muttered while turning his gaze away, making me smirk and motion toward all the people in the car.

    “Come on now. Which one has your fancy? Just about all of them are pretty. Don’t tell me you haven’t talked to any of them."

    “...I haven’t.”

    “Oh goodness. My friend, you are wasting the tools you’ve been given.”

    “Tools?”

    “The looks, the charm, your status as what may as well be the highest ranked Elite. You’ve got everything you need to make any girl in this room fall for you.”

    “I-I don’t know about that.”

    He scratched his head shyly, causing my face to go placid.

    If Vetsmon was a man who radiated pure testosterone, then Feiden could be considered a bit of a pretty boy. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and he was built lean. But lean by knight standards meant that instead of body builder muscles, he had slim muscles that rippled with fibers.

    And not only was he was the most powerful person here, but he was the son of a Marquess while still being humble and reserved. This man was damn near perfect. What girl wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to date him?

    Of course, the only way anything would happen was if he had some confidence and actually talked to a female. So it seemed I would need to help this poor man out of his shell.

    “Alright, time to get you buzzed since I’m not even sure if you can get drunk. Once you’re a bit looser we can bring some females over for you to talk to.”

    “I don’t really think there’s a need for that? A relationship would only get in the way of our training, right?”

    “My god. It’s even worse than I thought. Here, drink this entire bottle.”

    “B-But my parents will be waiting upon arrival. I can’t be drunk for that, can I?”

    “Feiden, my good friend.”

    I looked the man in the eyes.

    “Let it be known now that I’m not a good influence. However! Life is not all about training and doing what’s right. It’s also about having fun, which can often involve being a little naughty from time to time. So long as you don’t knock a girl up, you’ll be just fine. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? Daddy grounds you for having fun with your friends? I think the trade is worth it.”

    *Cling*

    I put a bottle in his hands and clicked my glass against it, taking a swig.

    He stared at the bottle for a few seconds, and seeing his hesitation, I yelled.

    “Drink it nerd!”

    “Fine!”