I was lying on the ground, with mud under my chin. The somewhat dry ground turned into a paste with my blood mixed in.
"Hurry it up, Viviii... Or I'll actually just die." I gasped for breath.
"Just wait a- min- Here you go." As big as a boulder and neck snapped in half. Vivi threw a monster right in front of me.
'Is that a boar? How is it so big?!' I could barely keep my thoughts together. My mind was going numb.
I extended my left hand as it started to pulsate. The mild pink branding started to turn a burning red. From the monster's broken neck, a vortex of blood started to form, slowly building up towards a huge crimson ball, while on the side the monster started shrinking into a husk. The ball was gyrating and the blood droplets started falling to the side.
Even though I could barely see with my fading vision, my hand felt every sensation around me. With every second my hand got hungrier and hungrier. It was like I had another stomach in my bicep.
The ball continued to get larger until there was no more blood to extract and in one go, it streamed right into my hand. The amount was so large that it started to not only enter through the tattoos but also seep through my nails and pores. My entire hand had essentially turned into a mouth.
It was like air flowing through the gaps in the leaves. It was natural and fulfilling. My eyes immediately started to work like they was supposed to.
[ Sufficient Blood content achieved. Activating (Regeneration - D) ]
My entrails started to form themselves inside my abdomen as I felt my spine getting rebuilt. Every individual bone got stronger after its second creation. I turned over and arced as soon as I could to make sure no debris went into my body.
And they didn't.
Within minutes I was healed. But the lingering sense of extreme pain persisted. As if my body was longing for a pain that wasn't there.
[ Proficiency increased. (Regeneration - D) has evolved to (Regeneration - C) ]
I lifted my torso up and tried to breathe. I breathed hard but nowhere near enough air entered my lungs. There was always just some air missing. Like I had been locked up in a chamber with barely enough air to sustain me for minutes.
I wasn't suffocating but it was a really bad feeling.
"GAAAH!" I panted hard but it still took minutes to get my breath back.
[ Unable to summon (Boar Lord - A) due to lack of **** ]
"You okay?" Vivi held my shoulders after I stopped flailing around.
"Yeah..." I sighed one last time.
"Then what the hell was that?!" With my shoulders still in her hands, she shook me around.
"As if I know! I woke up one day and I could heal my own wounds. Anyways, go take care of Anino, I kicked her to get her away from that succubus bitch." I promptly switched the topics. It was already a pain that she knew that I had healing powers.
So I had to control the damage by not letting her know any more than this.
"But, El, tha- UGH!" She ran away after choosing her responsibility over her curiosity.
After getting Anino back, we decided to put our journey on a one day break.
###
"So what happened while I was gone?" Vivi leaned against a rock. By the time we were done fixing each other up and feeding ourselves, it was already dusk and we were gathered around a freshly lit fire.
"A demon hired by that 'organisation' that Anino mentioned showed up." As soon as I said that Anino's face darkened as she coiled herself.
"Tch. Just the moment I was gone. Talk about unlucky."
"You dimwit. It was because you were gone." I mumbled. "Anyways, can you still pick her presence up?" I definitely couldn't. She was nowhere near here. If anyone had a shot at discovering her it would b-
"Nah. It disappeared after a hundred or so meters." She promptly replied.
"Wait so you felt it leave?"
"Uh-huh..."
But why? She had the upper hand, did she not? Or wait, no. She couldn't kill us or take us back anymore. After knowing that we were getting hunted down, there was no way we would let Vivi get some distance on us.
We would always be under her protection. And the only person who could shut her down was Vivi.
That can only mean... Reinforcements.
In that case, we have to hurry up. If we can make her lose her way now, we'd be set. But this wouldn't have happened if I kept my senses all the way up from the beginning. Damn it.
"It was my fault. I probably noticed and ignored her as an adventurer." An actual blunder on my part. I should have actively gone out of my way to look at every person in my senses.
The succubus was incapable of going past my senses. Even during our little battle, the only advantage I had over her was my superior senses. Yet, I failed to use them beforehand.
She couldn't get past my senses, unless... Nah, no way.
Just as I was wallowing in self-deprecation the 3rd member of our party spoke up.
"No, it's my fault. If it weren't for me, that monster wouldn't be chasing us in the first place." She said while rubbing her wounds from getting kicked all the way back.
Anino apparently didn't get hurt a lot. Just a bruise or two from bouncing around while falling.
"Well, there's no point in blaming each other." I sighed. "There is the added danger of her finding out our location in our hometown… But that's preventable if we keep our heads straight and hurry up. If any of you feel her presence, tell Vivi. Although I doubt she'll make herself visible on her own. I also doubt that that 'organisation' that you mentioned would chase all the possible routes just to find one girl."
It would be a completely different story if she was the first one to escape their grasp. That incident might give hope to the others in the city and I'm sure they would do anything to combat that.
"I thought that Rottheim was the last I would see of them, but now that we've gotten involved, I should at least tell you their name. Only the people who are native to the city know it and even knowing it brings more problems than not because their existence somehow managed to slip the eyes of any other national offices that met Rottheim. That's why I only referred to them as the 'organisation' until this point, simply because it's forbidden knowledge."
"Rottheim is a complete shit show, huh?" I scratched my head. Knowing the organisation would do more good than harm. If the pursuers persist, I can report them at the town's office. The old man there could hit the main city and call for protection. Maybe. I wasn't sure. "What is it?"
"A while ago, that group used to be called Rottheim Con. Co. In fact, that's the name of the company they operate under. If you want news on that company and its officers, then that's whom you should reach out to. But recently their official underground name changed to... Luoris." Anino said with visible disgust.
"Luoris? As in the God of Prosperity?"
"Yes. They wanted to change their public image so they struck a deal with one of the 32 churches, the Rottheim branch."
"Hmmm." That was unnerving.
A business colluding with a church. I didn't know that a God's name could be that fickle.
God's were supposed to hold all the authority over this world... And their entire power lies with their persona.
The two Deities were supreme. And all 32 main Gods worked under the two Deities. But it was more of an institution looking over a set of people than a normal hierarchy. Deities judged Gods and set boundaries for them.
The straggling God's went around the world preaching their beliefs and performing miracles to one day dethrone one of the 32 Gods and take their name. That was how important a God's name was.
'After seeing what happened in that church, I wouldn't be surprised if a God really was involved in all this.'
The company being called Luoris seemed more than just a fluke, especially because the Church exclusively had the right to use Gods' name.
And if they really were colluding, we were in deeper trouble-
"Turns out we can't rest tonight. Vivi, let's hurry it up. We need to get back to my town tomorrow. Before that succubus bitch comes back again."
"But Anin-"
"Get on." I squatted next to the injured girl.
"HEY! ELYAN!" Vivi shouted.
"Shut up, get the back and pull out some skewers."
Anino hesitated while climbing onto my back.
"Regenerate." As I said that, my back pulsated and my mana entered her body. Clearly, as her body wasn't a part of mine, regeneration wasn't as efficient. But it worked.
With all of that out of the way we left for the final stretch of the journey.