Chapter 39: Marsh Battle

While I was recovering my health, the ground beneath me began to crumble, as if composed of tiny grains, gradually sinking into the swamp.

"Sasha, help me," Adele said, grabbing me by the collar.

"Right away," another girl's voice echoed.

A few seconds later, they joined forces to drag me to another patch of land. There, other wounded lay, some preparing to aid in the ongoing battle. I was placed on a chalk bed while Adele continued to heal me with her ability.

"You mentioned having painkillers," I uttered, struggling.

My thoughts wandered, grappling with the inexplicable. Adil helped me, rejecting my initial disbelief but appearing at the crucial moment. It was hard to fathom. I believed they had gone far away, so I fought with all my might, yet...

"Take this cautiously," Adele said, delicately placing a tablet on my lips. I opened them, and the tablet went in. Then she handed me a water bottle, which I drank.

"The effect will kick in after half a minute," Adele stated.

So, I had thirty seconds to restore a significant portion of my health.

"Every second deducts 2 health points, and the effect will last another 2 minutes," Ever announced.

"But there was no such message on the information panel," I exclaimed in shock. Already in pain and feeling debilitated, now I was informed of a health debuff.

"Upon healing, approximately ninety seconds will cost you 180 health points. Am I correct?" I inquired, trying to grasp the situation.

"Yes, that's correct," Ever replied stoically.

"My main question: Can my health drop to zero due to this debuff?" I asked, a mix of panic and acceptance in my tone.

"Of course. Once your health reaches zero, you'll die," Ever affirmed.

"Is the 'protective veil' still on cooldown?" I asked, holding onto hope.

"Yes, it's recharging. It activates every ten minutes," she replied.

It seemed that after her words, any hope in my eyes faded. I felt like a mortal resigned to his fate, and all positive feelings deserted me.

"You can still receive healing from Adele or use your healing ability at a certain moment," Ever unexpectedly interjected, her tone conveying shock and irritation at my foolishness.

Yes, I admit I forgot about it. My primary shock was learning about a debuff that, for a moment, threatened my life. I'm not making excuses; I just want everyone to know.

"Then everything is fine," I said, feeling the pain dissipate.

"Has the tablet taken effect already?" Adele suddenly asked.

"Yes, surprisingly. It's as if there was no pain," I uttered.

"That's how it should be, but don't forget, you're still wounded," she cautioned, a hint of concern in her voice.

"Did I understand correctly that Adil is currently battling the spider?" I stated my question, likely sounding more like an assertion.

"Yes," Adele answered briefly.

"Then I should help him finish off that spider," I declared, rising from the ground.

"Ever," I said mentally.

"Yes?" she responded.

"Can we say that I'm healthy now?" I inquired.

"Thanks to the game mechanics embedded in the system, your health is directly linked to your health bar. As long as your health bar shows more than 80%, you won't have any injuries or fractures," she explained.

"So, I could break all my bones, but if I restore my health, I can immediately continue the fight?" I asked skeptically.

"After fractures, bleeding will be applied to you. The more severe the fracture or wound, the longer the debuff will last and the stronger it will be," Ever explained in her teacher-like tone.

"Understood," I muttered mentally in response to her, and out loud, I said, "Well, I'm going. I used a shadow jump towards the swamp."

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Story from Adil's Perspective:

Perhaps I was biased against him, but trusting the yellow-toothed awakened in our lives... It just felt wrong. Arman himself mentioned that Temir had just reached Rank B and decided to help us, but as far as I remember, he spent his entire life running through D-rank dungeons. What could he possibly help us with? With these thoughts, I walked with him in the group. Maybe I would have changed my mind, but literally after 10 minutes, he declared that we urgently needed to go to the aid of the wounded group, which I couldn't tolerate, thinking he just wanted to seek shelter with them for safety.

Yes, perhaps I treated him unfairly. After our verbal quarrel, he disappeared into the shadows. Damn it, he disappeared right before my eyes. Maybe he does have abilities that haven't been seen in other awakened. After that thought, I sighed heavily and turned to Sasha. She was, essentially, a newcomer, having been in our guild for only a few months, but she was already my comrade, unlike him.

"Tell me honestly what you think," I said, relaxing my face.

"About his words?" she asked in response.

"What else," I retorted a bit aggressively.

"Well, I believe him. Why would he lie to us, especially when Arman was persuading him not to come? He's here only because of Arman," she said.

"That's why I don't trust him. Maybe he just decided to take advantage of us... Well... ugh... What should we do?" I asked, calming down.

"We can continue, but the two of us won't achieve anything, Arachne. I think it's better to go back and help them if, of course, something really happened there," she said, sounding like she was supporting me, but I felt something off in her tone.

While I was thinking about what to do, suddenly in the distance, where Temir disappeared, there was a flash of red. There were several flashes, maybe about five. Only after them did I finally decide to head towards the injured group.

We moved as fast as we could. I think it took just over ten minutes or so. As we approached, I felt strong tremors in the ground, as if something heavy was constantly falling on the ground. The closer we got to the group, the stronger the tremors became, accompanied by the roar of a monster.

Only now did I realize how wrong I was. Emotions overwhelmed me; I had to hurry. If the group perished, I would be guilty. It would be MY FAULT. My heart pounded wildly, and I no longer felt my legs, only the wind brushing against my cheeks. I put all my strength into running; I needed to make it... make it.

Repeating the same word, as if making a wish, I ran. After a few more minutes, we were there. Right in front of me, a huge spider was falling on Temir. The spider lacked a leg, and an unknown substance was oozing from it. I saw Temir trying to escape from the white mass flowing from the spider's abdomen, but suddenly he froze, and the following occurred. The spider pressed Temir with its entire body, and I almost thought he was dead until I saw his contorted body writhing in pain. Before the spider attacked again, I rushed to him, pulling him out from under the spider's abdomen and leaving him aside for the battle I started right after his rescue. I need to finish his fight. It's my duty.