Time Off

By the time I woke up, it was well past noon. My whole body ached, but I forced myself out of bed anyway. As much as it hurt, moving would flush the toxin out faster.

After opening the curtains to get some light into the room, I stumbled over to a small table and plopped my arm onto it, inspecting it more closely.

'I should have done this last night…' The venom had all been absorbed into my skin and for those spiders, that was what caused the silk to be sticky, so it was easy for me to remove the packed webs and check the wounds.

My hand was completely black and blue from the intense pressure of the warg's jaws but it didn't actually pierce my armor, so even though it was hard to move I wasn't too worried about it. As far as I could tell it probably wasn't broken or anything.

My arm though… The bones were intact there too but… The skin was stained with a tinge of red, and even with the healing properties of the spider's silk, the wounds were deep. The bleeding had stopped, but that was only because of the web's venom closing of the blood vessels to the wounded area. it wasn't the kind of thing that was going to heal that quickly, much less without a scar. One that, Ironically, looked more like a web than a bite mark from how the flash had been torn.

'Well… I just woke up from a long rest, so I can try my magic…'

The first tier Gold magic spell [disinfect] at least made the wound look a little cleaner. That much I had to do if I didn't want to lose my arm. Afterward, I conjured some water to wash and clean the wound.

When I was convinced I wasn't dying, I went to grab some food, taking three servings back to my room and chowing down. 'My body's still in a starved state, so enhancing my own recovery probably won't do much aside from wearing me out more.' 'Right, now all that's left is the healing magic…' I was hesitant to use it. All true healing spells were divine arts. They required you to have divinity or holly favor. The more you had the more effective your divine arts, and the more often you could use them.

It wasn't like we were praying to god or idols, it was more like calling in a favor from an angel or being best friends with a saint. At least that's how I saw it.

The only problem was that I could only use one miracle a weak. It was kind of my last resort. 'I have over 3000 talons… At this point, and with a steady income from that party, I can take a week off… '

I leaned back in my chair with a heavy sigh. 'But the moment I take time off isn't that the same as quitting… Well, either way having my arm is better than not.' I slowly lifted my hand over the wound, "Plutia… You listening?"

My whole body started to feel warm as the energy coursed through me. "If you don't mind, I could use a hand."

I focused the energy into the wound on my arm and it slowly closed over, the tissue forming from the inside out and regenerating itself. It stopped early though. It was now no more than a few scrapes, but even with magic it still left deep scars.

'Well, I guess that's what I get for not paying my respects at the shrine… It's a bit disappointing but…' "I am… Grateful… For the power you lent me."

The warm energy lingered, slowly wrapping around me even more before vanishing to the wind. 'Lesser heal… It's not the best miracle, but I certainly prefer this to some of the other divine arts people have like a small endurance boost or a cure desies. Especially since I can use magic from the Gold element tree.'

I leaned forward hanging my head and untying my hair. 'It's too early to be thinking so much…' My head pounded, partially from the toxin, exhaustion, and mana deficiency from the previous day, but also from the drink I had. Letting out a long groan I decided to clean myself off before anything else. Each room had a large wooden tub up against the wall, so it was just a matter of conjuring up water to fill it and heating the water with fire magic. The lesser known reason why all parties had at least one person that could use each.

While I soaked, I conjured another water ball throwing all my clothes and gear into it. Then to clean it off I added a disinfecting spell and used wind magic to spin the water. When I was finally done I used a combination of water, air, and fire magic to fully dry it.

I'd be lying if I said it made all my gear shine like new… But at least I wouldn't feel gross putting it back on. Of course, doing all that actually felt pretty draining… So by the time I was done washing my clothes, I stretched out, heated the water again, and fell asleep in the bath. 

…

"Hey Chika, you in there?" I heard a knock so loud I thought my door would get broken down. I wasn't sure how long I was out, but by the time I woke up the water was cold, and any sense of relaxation I had certainly left in a hurry, letting out a loud groan as I held my eyes closed just a bit longer, pretending as it counted as a few extra seconds of rest.

"I'll take that as a yes then!" The man said laughing.

I could tell from the voice it was Ted. He may have been a dwarf but he was still a man, and quite frankly speaking at all while I was in the bath was uncomfortable and awkward, even if it was through a door.

"I-I'm here yeah!" I yelled out, probably louder than I needed to. Letting out another groan as I heated the water again and splashed some on my face to try and shake off the dreariness. 'Where did I leave my towel, is it still in storage?' 

"Are, you available? Or… Should I come back?"

My body ached, still feeling sore as I moved around, ultimately sinking deeper into the water as it warmed up, instead of getting out. "Well… Uhm… I'm kinda taking a bath right now so…"

He laughed again. "Ah! I got ya, well. No one wants to see that so I'll go ahead and wait for you downstairs!"

'No one wants…' His comment hurt a bit more than it felt like it should have… Making me only sink deeper into the tub and wrap myself up in a ball. "Yeah… That's fine…" I muttered.

"What was that?"

"I-I said that's fine!"

I heard his footsteps walk away, and only after they turned silent did I finally feel myself relax again. "Aghhhhh…" I raised my arm up to my eyes. The water ran down my pale skin, glistening off the light from the sunset that peaked through the window. 

'My arms are getting thicker again. I wonder how long it will be before I get all my muscles back… Eh… Maybe I'm being impatient, even with magic it's only been a day. Well, whatever, let's go see how many corpses I get to carve up.'