"I was so scared… when we found you on the floor at the edge of the forest, we thought…"
I could hear her sobs. I tried to turn around, but it was clear that she didn't want me to turn around and see her crying.
"Sorry for making you worry…"
A little silence followed just broken by Hope's cry.
"… you said the edge of the forest?"
I kept healing Dante. I remember that we fall in near the swamp how did we get to the edge of the forest?
"Yes, you were there hugging Rose… Dante and the weird guy were laying near…"
"Weird guy??"
"The one we met the first day here at Mr. Ryan's job."
That explains a lot. Stan came back and somehow managed to take us out of the forest.
"How do you feel? Your wounds look pretty bad…"
My wounds…?
Rose didn't have any wound on her, so I didn't think too much about it, but now that she mentioned it Rose and I also should have some injuries like Dante.
For the first time, I checked myself… I noticed that indeed I had some bandages in some parts of my body, pretty nasty burn scars could be seen on my arm, there was still raw skin on it…
"I didn't notice… why this part is not bandaged?"
"The same reason you and Rose are in the same bed… you didn't let her go… I think that you were using time healing on her subconsciously because she is unharmed…. can't you heal yourself?... that seems painful."
I focused on my own body to check my current state… my left arm and leg, also a part of my back was burnt. Healing myself would be easy, but right now my priority was Dante who was in a worse situation than me.
"I'll heal Dante first. I'll find a way to get rid of the scars when all this is finished… they don't hurt that much either way."
"I'll go look for Isabella and tell the others that you woke up, everyone is worried for you…"
"Thank you… by the way, how is Stan doing?"
"Who?"
"Stan, the guy that was lying at the edge of the forest with us…"
"…Oh, S**t!"
Hope bolted out of the room leaving me alone… I don't know why but I have the feeling that he is fine even if they forgot him there… probably he woke up in the rain and came back by himself either way …
The two missions weren't the only results from the assault to the swamp… The number of beasts I killed is over 200, and with that, I got a bunch of system points and other stuff.
First, that called my attention was the improvement in resistance.
[Heat Resistance Level up, Lv.0->Lv.2]
[Damage Resistance Level up, Lv.2->Lv.3]
[Pain Resistance Level up, Lv.2->Lv.3]
I wasn't that surprised… I mean I was running in the middle of a forest on fire and fell unconscious in the middle of it… If that didn't help my resistances skills grow, I don't know what would do it.
Besides this, I discovered that there were a bunch of other items.
5 F-Rank tickets.
2 E-Rank tickets.
1 evolution ticket.
1 low tier surprise box.
1 Material box
Also, I got an achievement
[Master Hunter
Are you planning to extinct all the beasts in the area?
Kill 250 beasts
Rewards: 250 System Points, System function: Fusion]
[System function limited to 5 in the trial version, can't be used to obtain tickets from the C-Rank or higher]
A new feature?
'System what does the Fusion do?'
[User can use 5 tickets from the same tier and exchange them for a higher tiered one.]
[5 F-Rank tickets --> 1 E-Rank Ticket]
[5 E-Rank tickets --> 1 D-Rank Ticket]
[Does the user wish to use the Fusion system? (Y/N)]
This is the second function that I see in the system. The first was the party system that is still locked, but he already recognizes the people that are part of my group.
Let's try it.
'Fuse the F-Rank tickets.'
[5 F-Rank tickets used, 1 E-Rank Ticket obtained]
… now I have 3 E-Rank tickets… just like that… I expected something more flashy, but this was a fantastic feature.
I was tempted to use them but knowing that I was just 2 E-Rank tickets away from getting a D-Rank ability, I decided to save them…
Besides all this, I also got some skill points, attribute points and an absurd amount of system points…
'Holy S**T'
2215…
Should I use these points?
Maybe…
'System can I buy just the E-Rank tickets?'
[User can buy a spin at the roulette but not the tickets]
'What if I buy a power and I don't use it right away?'
[User can do that, but it doesn't count as a ticket for the fusion function]
There is no way around it then…
Should I buy powers anyway or should I wait until the system is upgraded?
There is another battle near, the Alpha Cow is still out there, and I was clear that there is no way to tell how strong it is, as far as I know, it might be immortal too… but would new E-Rank ability make a real difference? I don't see myself getting something better than time distortion…
Unlike before I could see the upgrade happening soon, and I know that the new stuff will be more expensive than the current offers… even with the update in the system, the way I get points might be the same, and there is no way to know if I will be able to get so many points this fast.
As I thought what to do the door opened again, Hayley came running to hug me with a relieved face followed by Isabella, Hope, Gerhard, and Milo.
I returned her the hug with my free hand. She didn't say anything and just tightened the embrace as if she was scared of me going away.
"Don't worry I'm fine."
I looked at G's smile, but it changed the second he saw his sister still in bed.
"She is sleeping right now, she should be fine but needs a lot of rest…"
It was clear the reason for Milo being here was that he needed the information, so, despite his reluctance to interrupt us, he had to.
"I'm glad that you are okay, and I know that you are still recovering, but… we need to know about the status of the west invasion…"
I nodded and started to narrate everything that happened after we left with Dante.
The situation with the first wave and how we worked together to scare them away… I didn't mention the Resonance, but the idea of amplifying each other power was there.
After that, I mentioned that I went to the swamp and planned the fire to stop the invasion … at that moment I recalled that Stan was there too and that he was the one that ignited my trap.
I described my fight with the beasts and how I ran in the forest, then I mentioned Rose sudden appearance and that the Alpha disappeared after that, it was the most unbelievable part of the story, but no one doubted me. After that, the effect of the anger work in a stronger way than they were before, and the beasts ran away in fear… then I fell unconscious in the swamp and awakened here. I didn't mention that I saw the beasts in the east gate running too, so I asked about it.
"How is the situation in the east gate?"
All of them gave me a wry smile and explained to me how mid fight a whistle started to sound, and the beasts ran away… they haven't heard or seen anything more from them since then.
Milo thanked me and left the room to talk with the others, I told him to tell me if something happens. G was tired, so he took the chair. Next to the bed and sit there next to his sister…
All of them were looking at Rose trying to understand what she did to eliminate an Alpha.
After Milo left, I told them the things that I hid before, how we achieved resonance, the completed mission and that I could feel with my link with Rose that she was weak, but she was going to be fine.
They in return told me the details of what happened on the east gate while I healed Dante and Isabella treated my remaining wounds.
"By the way, do you know what happened to Stan?"
I didn't expect it, but it was Isabella the one that responded.
"He arrived heavily wounded about an hour ago… he woke up alone at the edge of the forest because of the rain. He is in the intensive care unit right now."
The guy is annoying as hell, but I'm glad he is okay.