"Uhrkk...let...go…" Arion choked out his words as he frantically gripped the boy's wrist. He felt like his neck was held in between iron clamps. That was how firm his grip was, and with his feeble body, he stood no chance against a Defier like him.
The boy's eyes flickered, and he let go of Arion's neck, seeing that he was too rough against a disabled person.
"Cough...cough...I...saved you, and you try to kill me in return?" Arian asked in an aggrieved tone.
The boy cleared his throat and said in a defensive tone, "I-I had no choice. Who knows if you are a friend or foe. I only woke up a few seconds ago, and the last thing I remembered was getting hunted. So, it was only natural I put my guard up. Anyway, where am I? Where is this place?"
The boy asked as he looked around, especially out the window, trying to see if he was familiar with the place.
"You are in the Fok Grove Ward of the Rimefall Village. Which village or ward are you coming from? And how did you end up falling from the sky?"
"Huh?" The boy twisted his head around with a confused expression. "Fok Grove? Rimefall Village? I have never heard of such a place. Where is that?"
"Huh…" It was Arion's turn to be confused, wondering whether this boy was coming from a different village.
Still, he answered, "Rimefall Village is one of the villages in the Ingerna Isle."
"Ingerna Isle?" The boy's expression became even more confused, seeming as if even that place made no sense to him.
Arion narrowed his gaze seeing his confused expression, "Don't tell me you don't even know that since that's quite impossible unless you are illiterate."
The boy's nostrils flared, "Illiterate, my foot! I am a genius! So, the last thing I will be is an illiterate person."
Arion rolled his eyes, "All self-proclaimed geniuses say that. Anyway, are you trying to mess with a disabled person like me by pretending not to know Ingerna Isle? Even if I assume the hypothetical case where you are from another island, there is no way you won't know the name of our island."
The boy waved his hand, "Of course not. I don't bully the weak, especially a disabled one like you."
Arion's eyes twitched, 'Hey, you don't have to rub it in...tsk, what a cheeky kid…'
The boy continued in a thoughtful tone, "I am not lying. I really don't know any of the places you mentioned. This village or island, I am hearing it for the first time.
Arion squinted, "Fine. But you didn't answer my question. How did you fall from the sky?"
Everything about the boy seemed puzzling to Arion since he felt that the boy was not pretending, but he really didn't know this place or even the name of the whole island. And the way he fell out from the sky was so surreal. He had only seen such things in fantasy movies.
The boy had a blinking expression, "I fell from the sky?" He asked in a surprised tone and muttered, "How is that possible...is that why my back feels sore…"
The boy then finally inspected himself and seemed shocked but relaxed after taking a good look at his clothes and body, "My injuries...who healed me?"
Arian said in a smug tone, "I did."
The boy looked at him with an are-you-kidding-me look.
Arian said with a defeated sigh, "My sister did."
To the outside world, everyone saw Mei and Arion as siblings, with Arion being her little brother, and so he had to maintain such an impression no matter where he was.
The boy raised his brows, "Oh, she must be not bad in using her healing skills. Still, only if I had a…."
Arion wrinkled his nose, "Not bad? She is the best. If you are not satisfied with her healing, go and injure yourself again and heal on your own."
For some reason, Arion felt very pissed off seeing the boy brush off Mei's skills as 'not bad'.
To him, she was like a magician who could miraculously heal wounds or injuries and save lives.
The boy's lips curved, "Oh, seems like you are really fond of your sister. It's not like I looked down on her abilities. I just told the truth. There is no reason for you to get so upset about it,"
"Hmph, as if you have better healing skills," Arion scoffed.
The boy said with a shrug, "I don't, but there will always be better ones."
"No shit. Sister Mei is the best,"
"Yeah, whatever," The boy chuckled, but suddenly he grimaced as he felt a stinging pain in different parts of his body, making him sit back on the mattress.
"Damn, my injuries are acting up…" The boy mumbled in frustration.
"Ha, that's what you get for being cocky," Arion said with a hint of schadenfreude in his tone.
"You annoying ughh…" The boy glared at him and extended his hand towards one of the wheels of Arion's wheelchair.
"HEY!" Arion shouted as the boy started to shake his wheelchair by wildly shaking one of his wheels.
"Stop it, kid! You said you don't bully the weak!" Arion shouted out as he started feeling dizzy being shaken around.
"Kid? Look who's talking, hmph," The boy finally let go of the wheel and sat back since he felt that he shouldn't move around too much before healing his injuries completely.
"Pheww...what a mean brat…" Arion mumbled as he recovered from his dizziness.
"You said anything?" The boy asked with one of his brows raised.
Arion smiled and said, "I was saying how well cultured you are to bully the one who saved you. I have never seen a more grateful person than you."
The boy's eyes twitched. However, he pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "Fine, I am sorry. Thank you for saving me."
Arion was surprised. But he pretended not to hear and perked his ears as he said, "What was that? I didn't hear you."
The boy gritted his teeth, "I said thank you!"
"Good boy," Arion nodded with the pose of a master. He then asked, "By the way, what's your name?"
After a brief moment, the boy said with a focused gaze, "My name is Shun. Shun Asilla."