22 – The Stay in Quakan – REINA (3)

Ocien knocked down a 4-Star condor and pinned it to the ground with vines. But when he did so, the leader of the gang caught him by surprise and violently threw him to the ground.

My body was completely paralyzed

That scene made all my fears come true.

We had no way of winning that fight.

My eyes started to burn.

My head is throbbing.

When my left hand finally moved and the first thing I did was punch my leg.

"Move!" – I screamed at the top of my lungs.

At that moment I felt my body boil and I regained control of my movements.

Without thinking twice I ran towards the leader of the gang and brought my saber down with both hands in a direct cut across his open mouth. The blade touched the beak, but did not stop, it slid as if there was no resistance until the condor's entire skull had been split in half.

I was bathed in the beast's blood and with a crash his body fell to the ground.

My senses triggered a sense of danger. I prepared my left fist and used it like a hammer. As if I had planned, another condor had caught up with me after diving from the sky.

My fist made contact with the target planting its beak on the ground.

At the same time I heard another bang. The last of the condors that were in the air landed directly on an earthen stake.

The only noise now was from the condor trapped by the vines, but soon he screamed and everything was silent.

"Ocien!" – I screamed desperately, turning towards where he had fallen.

My body lost strength and I ended up kneeling on the ground before I could run to him. Despair and confusion took over me, my mind almost went blank.

Ocien was standing holding his right arm close to his body.

"Are you ok?" – he asked worriedly.

With a lot of effort I nodded my head in confirmation.

"We cannot take 5 Stars to avoid raising doubts, but others we can consider the mission complete." – he said, panting in pain.

I tried to get up and go to him, but my body didn't respond.

"That attack was not normal, you better review the system and find out what happened." – he suggested, seeing that I was weak.

Ocien began to move and place the condors inside the insulation bags.

We couldn't stay here long. I opened the system and checked each of the options.

[Library]

Historical knowledge.

Divine;

Equalant;

The game;

Techniques

Handbook of the Primal Sex Divinity;

Basic Warrior Breathing;

Basic Mage Breathing;

Skills

[Fury]

Exchange sixty seconds of power for thirty minutes of vulnerability.

Adds 4 Stars worth of physical attributes.

Level 1 (Maximum)

Finishing checking, I focused on Ocien again. He bagged the beasts and came to me, with a rope he tied my hands together and put them over his shoulder, huffing in pain he forced his injured arm between mine so that I was safe on his back.

With his left arm he grabbed the bags and began dragging them towards the clearing.

"I awakened a Combat Skill, but the penalty is too great to use often." – I said when I finally felt my strength returning.

When we reached the clearing he let me down and helped me untie the rope.

We sat for a few minutes and I could finally see the real situation of the arm. In addition to a deep cut, the bone seemed broken, it would take at least two weeks of rest for him to be completely well again.

I took my first aid kit out of my bag and started treating the wound. With sticks and all the willpower I could find in me, I straightened the bone while he held back his screams of pain.

I bandaged the cut, positioned the sticks and secured it so that the arm was straight.

I had already recovered my strength from here so as not to arouse suspicion I would need to carry the bags.

We rested for a few more minutes and started our journey back. The trip took two hours and the return took longer than that, the sun was already starting to set when we finally reached the Adventurers guild.

I took Ocien to the infirmary and went to the counter to find Nikolas to deliver the mission.

"Just you for delivery?" – he asked him, trying to be friendly.

I placed the bags on the counter and took a deep breath, putting all my feelings deep into my being.

"Ocien was injured, I left him in the infirmary." – I said trying to be friendly.

Nikolas didn't seem bothered by my words and with a shy smile he began processing the bags.

Surprise soon appeared on his face.

"Three four-star and two three-star Reptilian Condors." – he repeated a little in disbelief.

I nodded my head confirming and he got a little nervous.

"I only have payment here for four three-star condors." – he said embarrassed.

Forty gold coins was all he had, no wonder no one wanted that job.

"I'll contact the customer and the next time you come you'll get the difference." – he suggested hopefully.

The only reason we have weapons at this point is that Ocien's staff had been gathering dust for a long time and was sold for less than ten coins when its value should have been more than a hundred.

My saber cost another ten, but that was its normal value. Anything above the 1st circle would break it easily.

The twenty coins had been our savings during our time in Almage along with what was left of Ocean's savings.

In reality, only five gold coins were part of the savings, the other fifteen were never part of Ocien's emergency fund. His savings were spent on paying off my father's debt and the things we bought for the house.

I didn't wait long to get the coins and continue on my way. When I arrived at the infirmary, I found Ocean with the new bandage and a new splint to keep his arm in the correct position.

Being optimistic, my first aid was competent.

But now he had received adequate treatment and the pain was no longer visible on his face.

"Do you already know where you want to eat?" – he asked when he saw me enter.

I was disconcerted.

"Maybe we'll leave it for another day?" – I replied, trying to sound tired.

He immediately got up from the bed and came towards me, holding my shoulder, looking deeply into my eyes and smiling.

"We missed your birthday, we can't let any more time pass." – he said in a tone that made me crumble.

I gave up and accepted the proposal.

We ended up going to a restaurant near the inn where he ordered a real feast. I wasn't even hungry, but seeing all his effort I forced myself to try at least a little of everything.

We finished eating and returned to the inn and fell into bed.

Sleep didn't come and my mind started thinking more and more about what could have gone wrong today.

The guilt was eating away at me until exhaustion took over me.