Several kilometers away, Bloed and Aya were resting inside an old and ruined building.
"… Are you alright?" Aya asked while looking at Bloed's pale face.
"I'm alright…" Bloed nodded with a wry smile. "I just need to rest for a while." He then sat on the ground with his back against the wall.
Aya furrowed her brows, but she did not insist. Instead, she sat down beside Bloed.
In fact, Bloed condition was not as bad as it looked. Although the batkin's attack had caused him several internal injuries, most of these injuries could be healed with a bit of rest and the help of the cell-regenerating fluid he injected himself before.
Bloed was sure he would be back in top condition in less than half an hour.
However, this battle once more put afloat Bloed's weakness.
His body.
In the end, although Bloed was a B-Grade ESPer, and his abilities could be compared with the strongest B-Ranks of this world, his body was far weaker in comparison.
Bloed's body was equivalent only to a peak C-Rank practitioner. And that was with the help of the body-enhancement surgery.
In the B-Rank, this disadvantage was not too obvious yet, but if things continued like this, Bloed was sure the situation would be even worse at A-Rank.
Bloed sighed inwardly. At the same time, he strengthened his resolution to find a way to strengthen his body.
The easiest way was to use the Body Enhancement Surgery again. Unfortunately, there was a reason because Bloed had not done it yet.
The Body Enhancement Surgery strengthened the bones, muscles, organs, and cells forcibly. It was initially a method used by the Human Confederation to bring the bodies of their soldiers to the next level.
But the Body Enhancement Surgery had a drawback. You could only use it once every ten years. Five years was the bare minimum.
Otherwise, you ran the risk your body rejected your organs and crashed down.
And even if you waited the ten years, using the Body Enhancement Surgery thrice was the limit. More than it created the risk of genetic collapse.
In other words, that option was not viable now.
Thus, Bloed had to think of another way.
The problem was, Bloed had been unable to think of a good way until now.
Constructing a stronger armor to strengthen his body even more was a good way, but it only treated the symptoms, not the problem.
Plus, his current armor, Tito, was already the best he could do with his current abilities. If he wanted to make a stronger armor, he needed to sacrifice some things, like making his armor slower and much bulkier.
That was not the result Bloed wanted.
Sighing inwardly, Bloed decided to stop thinking about that and instead closed his eyes to rest and wait for his injuries to heal.
Half an hour later when his injuries were healed, he opened his eyes and stood up.
Aya had been sleeping beside him, but she woke up as soon as she felt his movements. It was obvious she had remained alert even while they were resting.
"… Are your injuries alright already?" Aya asked with a frown.
Bloed smiled.
"They are. It looks like it's time for us to resume moving."
Aya nodded. Then, as though remembering something, she took out a badge from her clothes.
"… The badge I got from the raccoon…"
"You take it," Bloed said generously. Anyway, Aya had been embroiled in that fight due to him, so that badge could be considered as her remuneration.
But Aya shook her head.
"No… I took the last badge. It's only fair if you take this."
Bloed was stunned. But soon, he smiled jokingly.
"I guess I just got an even better impression of you. Javelin sure has a great little sister. I'm so envious."
Aya blushed slightly.
"… You don't have siblings, Bloed?"
Bloed stiffened.
Aya immediately realized she asked something she should not have asked. But when she was about to apologize, she saw Bloed smile bitterly and shake his head.
"… Siblings, huh… Well, before I would have told you that Regina is like my sister, but if she hears that she will become angry… As for my other siblings… I'm not sure if I have one yet."
"… You are not sure? What does that mean?"
Bloed did not reply immediately. Instead, he thought of the beautiful little girl with black hair and black eyes.
His twin little sister, Eres…
It had been more than five years since the last time he saw her.
And according to Sebastian, Eres had been searching for him for the last five years.
To be honest, she was the only one Bloed did not resent in his former family.
Bloed sighed and smiled apologetically to Aya.
"… Sorry, I don't want to talk about that."
"N-No, it's my fault… I should not have asked about your private life."
Bloed shook his head.
"No, it's normal for friends to ask about things like that. It's just that my circumstances are a bit special."
Aya nodded and blushed slightly. Bloed could not help but think she was blushing a bit too frequently.
Once more, he got a bad presentment.
Quickly, though, he got rid of that thought. Even if he considered himself handsome, there was no way a girl he just met could fall for him so quickly.
In fact, it was a stretch to say Aya liked Bloed. At most, she had a good impression of him.
However, Bloed was the first male acquaintance besides her family that she had hugged, even if that hug was nothing romantic.
Moreover, due to her upbringing, Aya had very few friends, let alone male friends. Bloed could be considered her first one.
That, combined with the fact that Bloed helped her before, made Aya's impression of Bloed very high.
Bloed knew nothing about that, though. He just focused on guiding the way for Aya and him through the city ruins.
Thanks to Oculus, the group did not meet any other difficulties during the rest of the way. In the next two hours, their travel was smooth.
Bloed and Aya met some other candidates during the way, but the pair ended them easily, getting two new badges each.
And when it was almost night, Bloed and Raven finally arrived at the center of the city.
Unfortunately, they were forced to stop there.