Chapter 9

After the bear ran away, a group of hunters came rushing towards the area where the explosion was seen from their position. The sound it produced shocked them from the core that they wanted to see what happened for it to cause that sound.

These hunters were originally hunting for a certain type of plant on their quest. The pay was high and considered one fast money maker. But the said quest is also dangerous as the requested flower was located just outside of the 4th circle of the Darvian forest. It is said that the forest houses the most dangerous beasts from all over the empire. The forest is so large that it occupies a part of Grisaia's and Briyanka's territory.

The forest was believed to be housing a dragon and other mystical beasts who are found in the books. It is told in the book that those beasts were living in the depths of the forest. The said forest is divide by circles because of how large it is. 1st and 2nd circles just near the town and the outermost circles, were safe to be in because the monsters inside those circles were easy to handle and was called 'Beginner's Ground'. While the 3rd circle houses beasts who are dangerous but is not that powerful enough that veteran fighters could not handle.

4th circle is considered 'Forbidden Zone' because of the threatening monsters living in that area. Only stage 6 warrior or mages are allowed to go in if they ever goes in. But some noobs that like to prove themselves were always killed or gravely injured upon stepping into the said circle. Thus, making the 4th circle the 'Forbidden Zone'. And the Fifth? No one ever goes in the centermost of the forest. If the 4th circle is already labeled as one of the dangerous area to go in, what does the 5th circle makes? No one wants to know.

After the group of the hunters in the area near the outskirts of the 4th circle harvested the flower, they suddenly heard a loud 'Boom'. Taking their attention into the inner parts of the 4th circle were a huge smoke is coming in. Thinking that some newbies are inside the said circle, they rushed inside the circle to save what is left of them.

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I woke up after the explosion occur. Dizziness flooded my eyes making my sight in a state of blur. I tried to stand up only to drop on the charred ground again. The ringing in my ear won't stop. The blast that came from the bear's attack and 18's made a huge explosion that even the very point of this forest was in a state of a mess.

The trees was either blown away or torn to shreds. The ground has a hole in the center where the collision met and cracks could be seen coming from the hole up to who knows where. The surrounding soil was burned to charcoal like state. And everything was left destroyed. Such a huge battle area would someone not believe that a child versus a humongous bear fought here.

After regaining my senses, I scanned my surroundings and myself. So far my body suffered from bruises and other collateral cuts after the attack. Other than that, my automatic self-healing kicked in.

And like a thunder strike my brain, I remembered 18!

His state is not good after creating such magic attack towards a stage 6 bear. His mana must be on the brink of emptiness after two consecutive powerful attack!

I looked around to find his body only to be lying around near by the grass that was cut from the wind force. I ran hurriedly by his side and checked his pulse. He is still alive but his pulse is very weak. His face is very pale, as if the blood never circulated to his head. The same goes for his body. I started to run a diagnostic scan through his body for any internal damages and found four broken ribs and a ruptured liver of his. Not only that, his mana veins were in chaos that the mana flows backward rather than circulating putting pressure towards his mana core as the mana gathered to it.

My face paled from the findings. And water began to gather in my eyes. I don't want to let him die after saving both of us from the bear. He cannot die just yet. 18 needed medical attention first so I directed my healing mana towards his body. I first supported his incredibly low self-healing with mine. Yes, he knows how to heal himself as the institution taught us how too. But his healing capabilities were only par to healing one's bruises and scratch. It is not enough to heal his ruptured liver and rearrange his four broken limbs back to normal.

After long hours of healing his liver and rearranging his ribs back, my body started to grow tired. 18's liver were finally back into shape to support his body while his ribs were not that intact as I focused on healing his liver. But at least, his ribs is not as shattered like a broken glass. Merely connected but enough to support his lungs for breathing.

I sat on the grass tiredly. Healing someone with grave injuries is currently not my league. My current mana reserves were low.

As I catch my breath, I was horrified to see my arms were covered with cracks. A distinct black line could be seen from my wrist towards to my elbows. And with that long black line, small lines formed from it looking like black veins in my arms.

'I guess my body limit was shorten from two weeks to days. If I am not wrong my body will last for a six or a week. I need to find a suitable host then'

After regaining some of my mana, I went back to healing 18's ribs and slowly filling his mana core of mana I gathered to slowly flow through his veins. Healing ribs is much easier task than gathering mana from the surroundings and directing it to flow through his mana core and gently guiding the raw mana into his veins. Slowly circulating the mana to his veins to correct the flow must be done with care because if one's mana is to flow into a vein where the blood flows it will surely cause pain towards the patient. And the mana that flowed into the wrong vein will push the mana out of the vein and the mana that was pushed out will flow into the organs and start to pressure it until it damage the organs resulting to either organ failure or death if not treated immediately.

As I am helping 18 to correct his mana flow, the bushes behind me started to shake. And sword slashes cutting the tall grass. I stopped from what I am doing and readied my fighting stance. 18 is not in the shape to fight neither I am. But I have no choice as I am the only person here who is still active.

My heart is pumping fast. I admit I am nervous as hell, and I can't afford to fight right now. Hell I don't even know if I can escape from the attacker alive with 18.

As the sound of the sword swinging through the grass neared, I gulped a huge amount of saliva and my cracks covered arms started to shake. I pursed my lips tight and readied my fist to punch the hell out of whoever it is coming our way. Then I heard some voices talking to one another. I can't quite hear it because the way they are talking is in a whisper state.

"Hello! Is anybody in there?", a sudden shout came from the tall bushes in front of me. My muscles relaxed as I heard a human voice. But then a sudden thought flooded my brain. 'What if it is only a monster who is trying to lure me in and give it our current location? What must I do then? I..I can't afford to fight right now, my mana reserves and 18, everything is messed up! But what if it is really a human? An adventurer at that! what should I tell them? Are they willing to help us? I can't just trust a person!'

As those thoughts run through my brain, a pair of armored legs came up from my view. I look up only to see a man wearing an armor from his chest down to his feet holding a sword on his right hand while a silver plated shield from his left hand. His eyes was in shock eyeing me from head to toe. He then relaxed and put his sword and shield away and kneeled in front of me.

"Are you alright?", the man asked. I subconsciously shake my head and my eyes began to water.