"My friends!" Willam shouted.
It took the boy a moment to figure out what he forgot about, but by now it was beyond obvious. In simple words, he had no idea where the rest of the group was!
"Guh! I'm too hurt to look for anyone… I'm used to Olivia looking after me, this feels so weird." The young one muttered.
It seemed uncharacteristic for him to care about anyone else, that was for sure. But those couple of snakezoids were the only creatures which he could consider friends, in this new world that is. So it wasn't easy to deny clear worry, he urged to figure out if they were alive.
Sure he didn't care much about the general, especially since that same man had practically forced William to step into mount triangulum… but that man helped obliterate one of the strange owls, it was difficult to hate someone who squashed an ancient bird!
"Maybe he made it, that bastard's as tough as a rock. But Olivia… she's probably monster food by now." He thought.
After that bit of contemplation, the urge to figure out what fate his friends suffered, grew even further! Yet it felt impossible to do anything right now, as he was far too beaten and bruised for action.
That aside, the boy was far too anxious as well. So any bit of peace seemed mandatory for now, its importance weighed like a boulder!
After a rough sigh he peeked up, and coincidentally noticed something unique. The night sky carried a horrendously beautiful scenery, great enough to encourage mental relaxation!
Such a result was reasonable. The naked eye could capture a few planets, along with what seemed like a purple space cloud. The whole sight was a great wonder, and the calmness it encouraged was luminous!
"Pretty bad this world is kinda medieval, it would be cool to walk on those planets." The young man thought.
Yet he couldn't enjoy this scene's positive effects for long, as a sharp reminder helped understand that pain didn't wait. So after a few flinches, his attention leaned back towards the punctured shoulder!
"Gah!" The boy whispered.
As this characteristic discomfort pointed out, a cure grew more and more necessary. If William wants to do anything, his overall health has to improve!
Likewise, it was necessary to be efficient with time. Every second had to be properly picked out, be it for the sake of health or stress relief. It required sharp calculations, but this need was quite awkwardly timed. He felt tremendously cloud-minded right now, so it was hard to fulfill such a tedious criteria!
Yet of course, he was stubborn enough to plot, "Gotta heal myself, shoulder first."
The motive was decent, but willpower wasn't enough to push forward, he needed strength. It wasn't easy to wake up from a practical twelve-or-more hour coma, so energy was another thing he lacked.
Fortunately, he spotted a handful of blue-coloured fruits. They seemed plumb, round and fist sized. Only the divine knew if they were poisonous, but at this point the boy was too desperate to be picky!
So he yanked one fruit off a thick, long vine and swiftly ate through it. Now as hope pleaded for that snack to grant a bit of energy, he slowly sat down and stalked the area for any other opportunity.
"Oh oh… that's kinda pretty." William muttered.
Although it was a bad time to do so, he got distracted by the night sky once again. The boy tried to stalk the greenery, just to force out any benefits out of them… but the eye-candy high above was far too great!
He was particularly focused on the biggest planets out of the three. It was dark-blue in colour and stretched big enough to make one paranoid, as this celestial body seemed like it was dangerously close.
"Wonder how much gold is stuck up there," He thought.
Yet within an instant, William understood that it was stupid to lust for wealth right now. He wasn't even sure if the people here used such currency!
"Maybe one day I can blow that planet up," He thought half consciously, and felt light-headed.
Anyway, a moment later the boy acknowledged the existence of a couple other planets as well. They both shared the same grey colour, and were smaller in comparison to their blue-bodied successor!
One of those same planets was almost invisible in this vast space, perhaps it was a dwarf? The details were uncertain, one could only depend on the naked eye from down here.
As for the other grey celestial-body, it seemed a lot like a moon even though it had a different path.
"Why didn't I see these big bitches before?" He thought.
It felt reasonable to ask such a question. He had been in this world for a few days, but hadn't seen the night sky until now. It was odd but understandable, as for a long while he had either been knocked out cold, or spent time in that big tunnel.
Under those circumstances, it surely wasn't easy to gaze at the dark sky! Perhaps such odds and ends could be pondered, but one particular thing enslaved his attention instead.
"Ouch ouch!" William flinched.
That punctured shoulder of his was in a sour state. It kept throbbing like a heartbeat, which utterly shattered his concentration in exchange!
Worse yet, this time the boy wasn't inflicted by just another layer of pain, but suffered through a river of white pus as well!
The infection on his shoulder had grown severe, so any flinch led towards an explosion of white liquids!
"What I'd do for Olivia's bite right now," William mourned.
And then he desperately pleaded, "System… you gotta help me, how can I heal my shoulder faster? It can't wait for rhino milk."
It felt tough to beg for help, but the young man could feel how his consciousness faded away. So he could either seek a swift solution or succumb to these odds, the latter option was more spooky than it sounded.
Thankfully the system didn't waste time, she pitched. [I highly recommend that you have a look at the new upgrades, they're oriented around the arcana arts.]
Before he could ask for details, the same woman weighed in. [One of these abilities circles the branch of magical healing, so call yourself lucky as this is very convenient.]
Considering how his consciousness spread thin by the second, the boy understood that it was a bad time to ask any questions. On the contrary, he was happy that a solution popped up on this desperate occasion.
So almost instantly, he demanded. "Get me whatever can save my ass, system. I'm buying the magic madness or whatever you said."
[Confirmed…]
Even though he was numb-skulled at the moment, William was capable enough to remember how pain tagged along with upgrades! This was a bad time to experience even more discomfort, but his options were truly limited.
Yet contrary to what was expected, the system announced. [Upgrade complete, you've attained the serpent-skin ability.]
A blink later, the same lady weighed in. [Six hundred system points have been consumed for this upgrade.]
That sum seemed great, but he didn't have enough strength to complain about it. The snakezoid was in no condition to be stingy, on the contrary he was happy how this upgrade didn't come along with a wave of pain!
Likewise he didn't care when the lady announced, [Six-hundred and ninety-five system points remain in your total sum.]
Unsurprisingly he pressured, "Okay, now what do I do? Help me system."
Through a vocal and visual explanation, she described. [You'll need to tamper with the source of any magical power, which is the veins. That's where any caster's arcana abilities are stored.]
Such an explanation barely made any sense, but thankfully the system continued. [Try to find a new bit of energy in your veins. Once you acknowledge its presence, you'll be able to cast a healing spell.]
Although those details were partially elaborated, the young man could only understand half of what the other said. Even the solution to this disaster seemed complex, but he was in no condition to wait for more answers.
The boy thought that this spell could be figured out through meditation. But that idea sounded stupid quite quickly, as how could a clear head figure out internal veins?
It didn't sound reasonable, so he went for a more simple solution instead. With the last bit of power he had left, William pulled a dark-leather sleeve up and proved a theory correct.
"There you are!" He celebrated through a powerless sigh.
What the boy referred to, was a patch of dark-pink coloured veins. they specifically stretched on the lower portion of his arm, right near the wrist. Apart from that, they seemingly sparkled as well!
"Okay now how do I use this…" He pondered.
And afterwards, with an admittedly scarce amount of strength, the snakezoid tightened his right fist and urged to activate this… new power.
What scared him almost to death, was how that pink glow disappeared in a blink! It became mostly transparent which seemed like a bad sign, but in actuality, this new addition finally cooperated!
As once its glow grew dim, it actually spread across the caster's skin. Reason stood behind this odd act, this new ability simply went into action!
A pale glow had risen an inch above every portion of his skin by now. Through a few seconds, he could feel how a bunch of tiny blemishes dried out and fell off like tiny pieces of debris!
It seemed weird how a bunch of branches, slowly and painlessly pulled out of his skin… The sight itself could spike up one's anxiety, but at least this method surely helped!
Eventually, he figured just how effective this magical power was against a true wound. William saw how this ray of transparent light battled his stabbed, and absolutely infected, right shoulder!