Ryuzio got out of the fancy four-wheeled vehicle that he learned was called a kineticar. His new squadmate followed, the Wavecrash duo carrying out Hitryel. They'd parked the car outside a single-storey building, so they made their way to it on foot.
"Whoa!" Ryuzio said in fascination as he saw the neon logo of the dojo. It depicted a giant wave crashing against a boulder. "This is YOUR dojo?" The building wasn't small by any means, which let Ryuzio know that the Wavecrash duo were rather rich.
Jasue and Rivbe carried Hitryel inside.
"100%," Rivbe said. "Now let's not wait out there. We need to heal Brother Hitryel."
Ryuzio nodded, following them, the pink-haired girl trailing behind. Upon entering the brightly lit room, they were immediately welcomed by two Nonagons to their either side—thought these ones were much smaller in size than the one in Victor's Domain. A series of machines were all around them and above each were instructions on how to use them. Ryuzio even got to see the many different kinds of punching bags hanging from the ceiling.
"Impressed?" Jasue said. "You better be. It took us 5 whole years to do this right."
"There was a time when we couldn't even pay the rent for a dojo a fifth of this one's size," Rivbe added, pride and passion leaking through his tone. "But now we have more than a hundred students who take lessons from us on a weekly basis."
"We've indeed come far, Rivbe," Jasue said, leading the group toward a door at the far side. "But we must never forget who made it all possible. All the work we put in is ours. But we would've never started if it wasn't for the man we're carrying right now."
Ryuzio smiled, looking at them as they walked ahead. He decided that the Wavecrash duo were good people. They were extremely grateful for what Hitryel had done for them—whatever it was—and they were kind enough to pay back the favor.
The masked girl leaned closer to Ryuzio, whispering, "What makes you think they won't call the skyguards on us after we heal up Hitryel?"
Ryuzio gave her a smile. "They won't."
She sighed. "That's what I am asking you. How do you know that?"
Jasue pushed open the door, revealing a set of stairs. "Our living area is underground. If skyguards come to search, I'm pretty sure they'll be satisfied just by examining the training area."
"A secret base!" Ryuzio said with excitement. "That's so awesome!"
"Both of you are 100% correct," Rivbe said with a nod, inviting Ryuzio and his squadmate inside. "The sloppiness of those fools cannot be overstated. I've heard all of them have different jobs, so even if a criminal may be in the presence of a particular skyguard, if it's not their job to apprehend said criminal, they'll simply sit on their ass and wait."
"That's some messed up logic, man," Jasue said with a shake of his head as they climbed down the flight of stairs. "Isn't their ENTIRE flucking job JUST stopping criminals?"
"Can you two heal?" the masked girl asked out of nowhere.
Jasue and Rivbe shook their heads. "We're just good at passing down the knowledge our masters have passed down onto us."
"Exactly, it's not that simple," she said, referring to the duo's comments regarding the skyguards. "Master of one is better that master of none. The Regime has split its manpower into different forces for efficiency. Those who don't apprehend Volants may not be the best at that job, that's why the Hazard Combat Force exists.
"But just BEING part of the Combat Force does not mean that skyguard will do his job. I can tell you that for certain." She spoke this last bit in a different tone than a simple explanation.
Ryuzio's eyes lingered on her for a moment.
"We get it now," Jasue said, turning to a lit area as the stairs finally ended. "But let's move away from this and focus on the main thing." He took off his shoes before a shoe rack and wore some indoor ones, guiding the others to do the same. He also took out Hitryel's shoes.
Ryuzio quickly followed behind after doing as the owner said, entering the underground living area. He found himself inside a well-lit kitchen with a room to its either side. Inside the kitchen, the counter was straight ahead, the dining table was a little to the right, and a small couch was to the left, indoor plants placed on two corners of the room.
The Wavecrash duo carried Hitryel inside the room to the right, Ryuzio and his squadmate following behind. She immediately took charge.
"Lay him on the bed," she ordered. "Get some warm water, a sanitizer, a clean towel, and a knife."
The Wavecrash duo didn't dillydally and quickly got to work, exiting the room swiftly. Ryuzio took this moment to look around. There were two beds in this room and a video screen on the same wall as the door. Indoor plants were present in the corners of this room as well. And in one corner…there was a funny-looking chair. Ryuzio had to sit on it. So he did. As he settled down, it rocked back and forth. It was so fun—
The masked girl smacked him. "You're playing around while your friend is dying?" she asked loudly.
Ryuzio fell off the chair, rubbing his head. "Hitryel won't die."
"And why do you think that?" she asked loudly again.
Ryuzio climbed to his feet, resting a hand on her shoulder with a smile. "Because you'll heal him. We're squadmates, after all, yeah?"
She kept looking at his eyes with wide ones of her own for a moment too long. Then she turned away. "Moron."
Ryuzio tilted his head. "Heh?"
"Here's everything you asked for, sis," Jasue said as Rivbe and he returned to the room. "We made sure the water isn't too hot to the touch."
"And this sanitizer is of a top-class brand," Rivbe added. "But we don't have an appropriate knife. Will this kitchen knife work?"
The masked girl nodded, pulling up her sleeves and accepting all the things that they'd bought. "Positively."
A smile formed on their faces…
"It's actually better," she said, visibly grinning at the sharp edge of the wide knife from under her mask. "Small knifes make cuts painful. I'm planning on only cutting once."
They Wavecrash duo embraced each other, horrified. "What's she planning on doing?" Rivhe asked, paling.
"Will Brother Hitryel be fine?" Jasue asked, paling.
Ryuzio's eyes were fixated on the purple-eyed girl's naked forearms, or rather at the scars that ran along their length. It seemed Jasue and Rivbe were too concerned about Hitryel to notice. What were they even worried about? After all, they had…
Ryuzio's mouth opened, realizing he didn't even know the name of his new squadmate. "Yo!" he said, sliding beside her. "I'm Ryuzio, the man who's gonna be the Sky King. What's your name?"
Jasue and Rivbe pulled themselves away from Ryuzio, throwing their hands high up. "S-Sky King?" they said in unison.
She put a finger on her lips, indicating to maintain silence. "If I lose sight, all this goes to waste." But she'd healed Baru's men amidst all that chaos in the intersection not too long ago. Was it different this time? Whatever it was, her focus was solely on healing Hitryel.
She scooped up some warm water in her palms…
Jasue and Rivbe gulped. "She's going to wash the wound—"
She rubbed the water on her hands, cleaning her forearms as well. She looked in confusion at the Wavecrash duo that fell.
Ryuzio was rocking on the chair…silently, to not break her focus. 'I'm hungry…'
She picked up the towel…
Jasue and Rivbe got up, gulping. "She's going to wipe the blood—"
She rubbed the towel along her forearms and hands, drying them. She again looked in confusion at the Wavecrash duo that fell once more.
Ryuzio kept rocking on, picking his nose. 'Flying in a skyjet must be awesome…!'
She picked up the sanitizer…
Jasue and Rivbe got up again, gulping. "She's going to disinfect the wound—"
She sprayed it on her own hands, rubbing them together afterward. She looked in confusion for a third time at the Wavecrash duo that fell again.
Ryuzio rocked, swinging around his head. 'I'm getting bored now…' He got off the chair, getting closer to the masked girl.
She picked up the knife…
Jasue and Rivbe almost jumped on her with frustration, but Ryuzio grabbed them by the collar, holding them back.
"You didn't even know how to use those simple things," Jasue said loudly. "I highly doubt you can use a knife!"
"Why is a knife needed to close a wound anyway?" Rivbe said loudly. "Are you sure you can even heal—"
She clenched her left fist and cut the underside of that forearm, a line of glittering scarlet blood dripping out.
Ryuzio's eyes widened when he saw this. He let go of the Wavecrash duo, immediately getting closer his squadmate. "Are you dumb! Why would you cut yourself!"
She met his eyes, reaching inside the pouch above her hips with her right hand, pulling out a…weird-looking hammer. "To heal your squadmate." With that, she spun the hammer, bringing it down on her left forearm, stamping it softly on the blood… However, not with one of the faces that were shaped like an "X," but instead with the base of the hammer that—if looked from below—was shaped like a "+."
Then she gently pushed the "+" side of her blood-soaked hammer on the bare abs of Hitryel, beside the stab wound on his gut. A "+" of her blood got stamped on his skin as she lifted her hammer off him.
"Blest Cross," she said softly. "Guardian's Heal."
By the next moment, the scarlet of the bloody "+" on Hitryel's body turned into a glittering pink "+" that glowed brightly. This was the exact thing that Ryuzio'd seen her do before, when she'd healed Codix.
She reached for the knife pierced into Hitryel's belly, then grabbing the handle firmly, she pulled it out in one go.
Jasue and Rivbe clenched their teeth, making searing noises. "Ow…!"
"Whoa…!" Ryuzio said in sheer amazement. It hadn't even been close to five minutes since the glittering plus was stamped onto Hitryel's stomach and the healing effects had already started taking place. The stab wound on his stomach was closing in front of their eyes.
Hitryel's eyebrows furrowed, his expression tightening, and before too long he was awake.
"Hit!" Ryuzio said loudly. "You're okay!"
Hitryel lifted his back off the bed, scratching his head. "Where are we?" He looked around. When he saw the masked girl who'd just healed him, he quietly looked past. "Wait…you guys—?"
Jasue and Rivbe jumped on top of him, tears flowing from their eyes. "Brother Hitryel—!"
Hitryel stopped them by his feet before they got too close. "How come you two are here?"
"You don't look even a single bit happy on seeing us, bro," Jasue said, frowning.
Rivbe wiped his running nose. "100%, man. You should not kill the vibe."
Hitryel looked at them with disapprovingly thin eyes. "Why do you talk like that…?"
Ryuzio embraced the masked girl. "Yeah! Hitryel is all okay again thanks to you—!"
"Don't touch me, you pervert," she said loudly, slapping Ryuzio away as her cheeks flushed. "If you want to thank me, do it from afar!"
"Ryuzio," Hitryel said, looking down at him from the bed. "She just hit you. Are you good with that?"
"She's a girl, bro," Jasue said. "What're you talking about?"
"100%, man," Rivbe said with a nod of agreement.
"Huh?" Hitryel said in confusion. "What are YOU talking about? Anyone who hits you is an opponent and all opponents are equal. I will never disrespect my opponent by not paying them back in full!"
"But she's not our opponent, Hit!" Ryuzio said with a big smile as he climbed back onto his feet. "She's our squadmate!"
"You told me that," Hitryel said with a nod. "But don't tell me that you haven't even asked for her name yet, like you did with me."
"Oh, yeah," Ryuzio said, turning to the masked girl. "You never told me when I asked you, so what's your name?"
All eyes fell on her.
The pink-haired girl reached behind her ears with both hands, taking off that black mask, revealing her hidden face.
She smiled as she looked at them. "I'm Joysaleen, a Healing Artist. So if you get hurt, come to me to get well until you can risk your lives again. For me, obviously."