More time in bed...

* * *

I've been in bed a few days since the stair incident and I've decided that I will stay here... at least, until I feel confident walking again. I'm a bit too scared to try again, failure is scary. On the upside, Mom drops by a lot more often. I'll probably ask her to take me downstairs the next chance I get... I'm sure she can lift me. I'm not exactly heavy when I'm weighing in at like 96 pounds.

I've been thinking about a lot of stuff lately... like about how I'm supposed to beat this whole Blight thing or how I'm supposed to get strong. To get strong, the best bet is to go to the academy that the original Arthur mentions in the journal, but they probably wouldn't admit someone with Blight...

Regardless, I'm still hoping to think up some solution and make this life have meaning. Since I don't have a cheat system and I'm not the son of heaven, I have to get by with hard work or luck... probably both. It's not very smart of me to hope I'll find some magical blight curing herb, so I probably have to just deal with the symptoms. What currently concerns me is becoming as durable as a normal person, so I can walk and stuff.

"System, system appear, system summon..." I mutter, looking at the open air in front of me. I'm not fully convinced that I don't have a system in this new world, so I've just been muttering phrases that they use in novels sometimes.

Just like every other day, it doesn't work. Maybe if I do this every day for the rest of my life, it'll eventually work... maybe. I had a hard enough first life, can't you just give me a cheat skill or something? Take pity!

* * *

I'm finally downstairs after 2 days of asking! This is the furthest I've been since I got here! I take a look around the room, giving a cursory glance to the features. It's a nice house, albeit medieval. The walls are rocks compacted with some kind of mortar, wooden beams supporting where necessary. There's a table, fireplace and pot to my left. The window to my right shows me what I'm really interested in.

"I think we should take it slow with the movement, Arthur..." My mother says, supporting me by the shoulder. I'm pitiful, having to use both the sword as a cane AND my mother's shoulder to properly walk.

I look up at her and then out the window. Part of me knows she's right, but the rest of me wants to be outside. To not be confined to a room or an office and breath an air unpolluted, that is what I want most.

"Outside," I say quietly, looking back at my mother. I had never been particularly meek or quiet, but I definitely feel the self esteem issues shining right now.

My mother sighs, looking at the ground. She seems tired, bags under her eyes and all. She seems reluctant to comply, but hesitant to deny me due to my condition.

"... Fine," She says, helping me walk to the door. She opens it, allowing me to catch the feeling of my first proper breeze. Green fields, bright sky, nice day... it's all I could've asked for at the moment. 

I walk with her out into the yard, maybe 7 feet from the door. I can see the rest of the village in the distance, the place that hates me for being Blighted... but I don't need to worry about that right now. I look up at the sky and close my eyes, simply taking in the feeling of the wind on my skin. It's a nice wind, not too soft that I can't feel it and not too hard that it will blow me down. I feel a remarkable sense of peace, like my mind cleared up.

"This is... nice," I say, the words escaping from my mouth before I can realize to stop them. My throat still hurts, but not nearly as much as on the first day.

I feel like some of the symptoms of Blight have been lessening, but I'm not sure how. The throat scratch is an obvious one, but my muscles haven't been decaying anymore, although still basically nonexistent. My head hasn't been nearly as cloudy as the first day either. Is it possible that I'm recovering on my own?

"Mom... can we walk?" I ask, lifting my arm and pointing in the direction of the path to town. Her expression shifts, looking concerned and worried. Why is she reacting like that?

"Maybe another day, Arthur. You're still..." She doesn't finish the sentence, her breath hitching slightly. It feels like she's still resigned that I'll die... I guess it makes sense since, according to the journal and Marsha, Blight has an extremely low survival rate. "We can walk tomorrow, I promise..."

I nod and look back down, my breathing shallow as always. I look back to the horizon, releasing her shoulder. I slowly lower myself to the ground, sitting down on the grass. I have a blank expression on my face, the sword that I use as a cane at my side. My mother's dress flutters slightly, although I can't see the expression on her face since I'm not looking at her.

"... Ok," She says swiftly, turning around and going into the house. I think she was crying as she left. I hear the door close a little too forcefully behind her.

For a time, I just stare at the horizon. I don't know her that well yet, but I still feel bad that she was crying. It's not that I can apologize for the fact that I'm slowly dying.

The wind on my skin feels so nice, the view is relaxing... I lean back and lay down on the grass, looking up at the sky and the clouds. It's so peaceful out here that I could just fall asleep... and, as it turns out, I end up doing just that.

 * * *

I open my eyes, drawing in a breath and sitting up. It's maybe 4 in the afternoon judging from where the sun is. Man, I gotta stop with all of these power-naps. I turn around and look at the house, more specifically the window. Through the window, I spot my mother passed out with a bottle in her hand. That... feels odd. I didn't expect her to be drinking so much that she passes out before 5 O'clock, but we all have our ways of coping, I guess.

I look back to the horizon, letting out a sigh. I can notice a speck on the horizon, slowly coming closer over time. The closer it comes, the more of it that I can see. It looks to be a tall man, matching the memory of Dad. Dad has his axe in his left hand, coming back from a day at work.

I stand up, having to use the sword to get up by myself. I walk back to the house, going to lean against the wall as I wait for him to arrive.