Grit your teeth and bear it-Sa

"it hurts ..sob-"

I slowly limped away. An arrow is stuck to my left thigh, it hurts every time I move and is starting to feel really numb, my right arm is also bleeding a lot, and my forearm is drenched in blood that is now cold instead of warm.

I'm also sweating a lot and my vision is getting blurry. Is it because of the blood loss or was that arrow poisoned? I'm not sure, but I feel horrible. I looked back only to see a crimson trail behind me, I panicked when I woke up here and ran forward, only to get my leg skewed and my elbow almost cut in half by a sword that came out of the wall...I'm such a fucking idiot.

Nothing else flew at me, so I stopped and sat down. My hand reached for the healing vial in my pocket but I stopped before I could bring it to my mouth, I looked at the arrow piercing my arm with worry. I've seen Nayuta healing herself from worst injuries with a single vial, but if I heal myself with the arrow still in my body...it sounds painful, I'm not very smart but if it incarnates then I don't think I will be able to take it out, and even if I am, it will hurt like hell.

"Do I really have to do this?"

What would Nayuta do? Take out the arrow in one go without caring about pain...or maybe ignore the arrow and just keep going? 

It doesn't matter even if I knew, I can't possibly do either of them, no, she wouldn't have been hit by an arrow like I did in the first place, so there is no point in trying to guess.

There really isn't any other option, I could die if I don't remove it and drink the vial. I took a deep breath and grabbed the arrow, I don't think I can take it out in one go, that sounds too painful, so I'll do it slowly.

I took another breath and pulled, even though I didn't use much strength an electric sensation traveled through my leg and forced me to grit my teeth, in all honesty, I wanted to cry and scream, but there might be something here that could hear me and attack me, so I had no option but to swallow the scream.

The arrow didn't even move much, it was stuck so deep that a single half-hearted pull couldn't take it out. Maybe if I twist it first it would come out easier...but that sounds way too painful. With tears threatening to come out, I pulled once again and didn't stop. Sharp pain coursed through my leg as the arrow slowly came out, the arrowhead scrapped and cut the inside of my leg every time I pulled and blood gushed out from the wound.

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes in pain. My leg was numb and my entire body got goosebumps, it hurts so frickin much! I don't understand how Nayuta gets hurt like this all the time and acts like it's nothing, I feel like I'm dying here. My fingers and back curled in reaction to the pain as bilis was accumulating in my throat. I swear that at some point I could no longer feel anything other than pain, not the cold hair that flows through this place or the wetness of the blood in my right arm. Not long after I could feel my consciousness starting to slip away, like falling asleep, but the pain brought me back.

I wish I could be in the commodity of my home, enjoying a warm meal with the AC on and watching anime on the TV, not in this scary place on the verge of unconsciousness and death!

With a last and particularly painful effort, I finally managed to pull out the arrow. I couldn't contain my scream or tears anymore, nor could I stop my body from trembling. The arrow was broken in two as my entire body, including my hand, tensed up. Luckily the splinters didn't pierce my hand...or I don't think so, not that I can really feel anything other than that horrible pain in my leg.

With tears still falling down my eyes, I grabbed the healing vial once again and drank it in one go. The taste is...not good, but I'm used to it already. A tickling feeling coursed through my body from my leg and arm as the pain started to subside slowly, the image of the open wound closing down and bone and flesh regenerating to heal my sliced elbow was utterly disgusting, but not painful. It was fortunate that it didn't leave a physical scar, but my mind sure is scarred both from the sight and the experience.

I'm healed now, but I'm still dizzy, and cold and my vision is getting more blurry with every passing second. Looking at the hideous amounts of blood around me, is easy even for me to guess what the cause is. Apparently, the healing vial can't produce blood...Touji would be interested in that information.

Ahh...am I really gonna die from blood loss? If I'm gonna die at least I wanted it to be like...I don't really know how I would like to die, I never thought about it, but at the very least, not like this. I can't distinguish anything right now, my vision is so blurry that I can't distinguish my body from the floor...

"I'm scared...I don't want to die"

Not only was my vision getting blurry, but my hearing was worsening too. The sound of my ragged breathing, my falling tears, and my slowly beating heart, all of them started getting quiet, until I was barely able to hear them, even though it didn't hurt anymore...uhm?

"Is that sound...wings?"

I'm not too sure, but I heard a sound similar to that of a bird flapping its wings. I didn't have the energy to turn my head and search for the cause of the sound, but I didn't need to. A flying red thing appeared in front of me, discerning its identity seems impossible but...at least it doesn't look like it wants to eat me.

Its movements seem erratical, like it has trouble flying...ah, I think I know what this thing is. Seeing all blurry like this made it hard to identify, but it must be one of those weird flying eyes. They never tried to attack us so I'm not too worried... I'm gonna die either way.

Fuck this...I can't laugh in this situation. What is the point in trying to be lively and happy if I'm gonna die like this... wait, what is this thing doin'-!

"Ugh! Ahh gag!"

The eye suddenly flew right into my open mouth! I tried spitting it out but it was of no use, soon a metallic taste filled my mouth as I tried to bite the damm thing, but for some reason, I couldn't kill it despite these eyes being weak. The eye kept on creeping deeper into my mouth until it reached my throat and I couldn't breathe.

This feeling was way worse than what I was feeling before, dying of blood loss would be better than this! 

I thought I would be asphyxiated to death, but suddenly the eye just melted in my throat, I felt its excessively warm blood falling into my stomach. It was a gross experience but....it made me feel better.

The cold receded and was replaced by a warm feeling sprouting from my stomach to my heart, and then to the rest of my body. Both my mind and my vision cleared, and the weakness that I had been feeling disappeared as well.

It was...awesome. I don't know what happened but is definitely something good. looking back at it does it seem like the monster sacrificed itself for me? I looked up as soon as I thought that and I saw another three flying eyes there, looking at me. One of them approached me, staring at my face barely half a meter away from me, I still think they're ugly as hell but well, I survived because of one of them. As I was thinking this, the eye suddenly tried to fly into my mouth!

"No no, wait, I'm fine now, I'm really fine!

I managed to catch it before it got into my mouth but it was still trying to get inside me. It wasn't until I said I was fine that I felt the eye calming down in my hands, so I let it go and it flew back to where it was before. They don't produce any sound other than the flapping of their wings, but I feel like they would be chirping like small birds if they could... they're still gross though.

Since I felt healthy again, I stood up and looked at the long hallway. I don't wanna go there again but there is no other place where I can go, behind me is just a dead end, so I have no option but to swallow my fear and advance.

Naturally, I wasn't so stupid as to just walk into a trap-infested hallway as I did before, instead, I walked slowly with the short sword that Nayuta gave me in hand, I'm not sure if I'll be able to block the arrows or swords but is better than anything I guess...how I wish I had Nayuta's guts, Touji's senses, or Harutos's body right now...

The eyes were flying behind me, following me. Even though I wanted to scare them away because of how unnerving they looked, the fact that I was saved from death by one of them prevented me from doing so...even if the experience was close to traumatic.

Suddenly I heard a weird sound, I hadn't heard it before but for some reason it seemed dangerous. As if confirming my thoughts something flew directly at me from far away, I was barely able to raise my sword before something crashed against it. 

I felt a weird sensation flowing through my veins, like bugs creeping inside them, it wasn't a nice feeling but alongside it was a weird kind of strength, as if instead of coming from my muscles it came from an unknown place, it was disturbing, but not unwelcomed.

My entire body trembled at the impact and I almost dropped the sword, however, the object, an arrow, was deflected successfully. My body feels... different, more energized and strong, it was barely enough for me to protect myself but I did nonetheless.

The sound of agitated flapping wings made me turn to the three monsters, who were flying agitatedly, almost as if they were dancing with joy.

"I feel like being with these things is gonna turn me mad..."

Still, I'm not so stupid as to not realize where this sudden strength came from. The eye did something to me when it melted into my stomach other than restoring my blood...or maybe it was just caused indirectly because I absorbed its blood and was not done purposefully? Either way, the cause is those eyes, and they seem happy about it.

Regardless of the reason, this strength should allow me to survive here right?...well I'm not sure, but at least I should have better odds than before, after all, my strength isn't the only thing that seems to have changed. The barely illuminated hall became brighter to my eyes after I ate the monster, the cobwebs and water stains that I couldn't see before were barely visible now and I even felt more aware of the humidity in the air.

"Alright, let's try this one more time, all I have to do is ignore all fear and charge forward as Nayuta does..."

I'm not good with complicated thinking like Touji, so I'll just run forward and regret my decisions later!