"Come on! Ghost Emperor something-something will still be there for you to read tomorrow, let's go!"
I looked up from my phone, staring at Richie blandly. "Bro, it's Ghost Emperor Wild Wife, GEWW, not that hard to remember."
My best friend rolled his eyes. "Whatever. It's a C-novel with a female lead. I prefer Age of Cosmic Exploration even if the science is bullshit."
My eyes narrowed and I sniffed in distaste. "Yeah, you're about the only one."
"Hey, don't judge my— Don't change the subject! Let's head to that house party already."
"Go yourself, man." I just wanted to read tonight, was that too much to ask?
Apparently, it was.
After being threatened with having my phone hacked so all my notification and ringtone were suggestive moans (and mute function disabled), I just resigned myself to following the shorter university student to this house party.
This is what I do for friends who are too chickenshit to go to a party where his latest crush said she'd be at alone.
Arriving at the fraternity house this excuse to get drunk was happening at had me going to grab a drink while Richie not-so-subtly tried to find someone in this mess. I rolled my eyes as Richie noticed his latest crush (what was her name again? Natalie? Sara?) and utterly failed to act cool when greeting her.
Taking my cup of some dubious concoction that involved beer, juice, and an energy drink, I moved to an out of the way spot to get comfortable. Leaning against a wall, I pulled out my phone, fully intending to read like I wanted to tonight. Nope, not going to let the location bother me.
I pulled up the app and resumed reading for a good three chapters before I was interrupted.
"You're Chris M. Blackwell, right?" was asked by a feminine voice.
I blinked, staring up a smoggy expanse of black smoke mostly hiding the sky with a vague impression of smiling red-painted lips in my mind before the smell re-orientated me back to reality.
'Ugh. Thirty-Seven?'
[Nori, you're awake.] The AI sounded relieved.
I twitched my fingers, wondering if it was a good idea to move.
[You managed to heal from your worst injuries. There is only bruised ribs and a few cosmetic scratches to deal with. Along with a light sunburn.]
That—
I managed to catch the Level listed above my HP and mentally skidded to a halt. That was probably why my healing increased even more. Because I sure as hell knew it hadn't just been bruised ribs when I was smacked by the concussive force of the explosion. I had heard the crack in my body.
'What's the situation?'
[You were unconscious for a few hours. The wind drake died but the last explosion had been rather big, so more than half the town is damaged. But more than half the citizens survived and they're putting out fires and rescuing others right now.]
Slowly standing up, I saw that I landed quite far. They probably haven't had the time to look this way if it's just been a few hours.
I took the waterskin out and rinsed my hands before wiping my nose and upper-lip since the metallic tang of blood was creating a rather noxious combination with the smoke and smell of half-cooked lizard.
Gritting my teeth from the pain of the bruised ribs, I stiffly checked my body and saw that everything was mostly in working order. I wonder how badly off I was and how many times my healing speeds have increased.
[You suffered a brain hemorrhage which was prioritized when you healed.]
Blinking, I tilted my head. Nope. No pain at all, barring the sting of my face. Not even my neck hurt.
Satisfied with my check and giving my health a "good enough" pass, I lifted off the ground and flew up to check the damage of the town.
"Oh, damn."
Seeing it for myself made me wince. I think I did more damage than the drake's breathe attack did.
The half of the town that had been closer to the lizard and consequently the explosion was simply flattened. It was only debris with not a single building standing. The remaining part was also a mess, with buildings damaged or threatening to collapse from flying debris from the half that had been closest to ground zero. Only the far-edge looked like it was untouched.
That… was a lot of property damage. The cost and effort to fix this would make me wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper to just build a new settlement.
[Nori, are we going to help? There are still people trapped under collapsed buildings.]
I slowly started floating farther away from the town.
'Uh, I think we helped enough with getting rid of the drake, Thirty-Seven.'
[But—]
'Yeah, let's leave now like we planned. Don't want to be blamed and held responsible for the destruction of the town!'
[Nori!]
I booked it. I was not made of money like Tony Stark.
[Nori, you're going the wrong way! Crown City is in the opposite direction!]
'Right.' Well, I was Level 98 but I guess my sense of direction was still shit.