"ugh..."
A young man with light brown hair held his head in pain. His vision was blurry and it took him a few minutes to relax and get rid of the headache that plagued him. Sweat lingered on his forehead but he was more concerned about where he was.
He found himself in a familiar room with another sense of Deja Vu. His entire body felt like he had been hit by a truck, then the truck backed up and ran over him again. He had a really bad crick in his neck and it hurt to open his eyes and mouth.
It was the same with his arms, especially his left arm, which still had a shield and sword stuck to it.
He laid his head back on his bed and sighed. He then spent almost 30 minutes just trying to sit himself up. By the time he managed to do so, he was covered in sweat again.
He panted as he used his right arm to move his left over his knee. It hurt a ton to move it and he gritted his teeth from the pain. His arm was in really bad shape but saw that it was covered in a thin layer of ice.
He was unsure who did it but it seemed they froze his arm a long time ago. His arm was covered in water that fell off when he moved in his bed and he couldn't feel his fingers. He analyzed his arm carefully and found that none of his skin seemed to have turned black, which was a good sign.
He soon found a tray on his nightstand that caught his eye. It was full of medical supplies like the ones he practiced with. He could only sigh in defeat. He knew what he had to do.
He shuffled over to the nightstand near his bed and grabbed the things he needed. He put them next to him before he slowly tried to clear as much of the remaining ice crystals on him as possible. It hurt like hell ripping off parts of his skin but he pushed through the pain.
He may not have remembered everything from his fight with Alan, but he knew that this couldn't compare. He couldn't get everything, like the stuff that was deep in his wounds but they were melting already so he just waited another 30 minutes or so until it turned into water.
He took several deep breaths as he calmed himself. His right hand slowly and carefully gripped the hilt of the sword. It hurt just to brush it but he needed to get this out of him. He once again took his time to ready himself before he gritted his teeth and braced for impact.
With one swift pull, he tore the sword out of his arm. Blood squirted out on the floor and he couldn't help but scream in pain at the top of his lungs.
This caused the patrons and workers in the dining area to jump and look up the stairs in worry.
Alex acted quickly despite the pain. He first quickly pulled off the broken shield that dug into his arm as well and even had to fish out pieces of broken metal in his skin. When he felt he got everything metal out of him, he then took a pitcher of ice water that was on the tray and poured it into his fresh wounds.
"Ahhhhh!!" He screamed again and decided to tear a piece of his bedding off and stuff it in his mouth.
It hurt so much that he felt ready to pass out from either that or blood loss. He was unsure how he was able to withstand all the pain Alan dealt to him but just this much was already too much for him. He shook his head to get rid of his headache and then took a clean rag and got rid of any other dirt he saw in his wounds.
This hurt worse since he had to find little bits of dirt and ended up hitting his tender arm too much. The bedding in his mouth was soaked with drool and began letting drool drip down. He continued forward anyways.
He then got the bottle of disinfectant that was on the try.
"I could really go for some alcohol right now." He mumbled as he looked at the bottle.
Although it was alcohol, this bottle wasn't safe for consumption since it was specifically made to be a disinfectant. He tore off the cork on it and poured it into his wounds.
"NNNNNGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Alex screamed into his bedding and his body shook violently from the pain. Tears came down his face but he couldn't stop.
It took him almost another hour just to finish this part since the pain was so bad. Now that the worst was done, he relaxed a bit and fell back on his bed. He felt like he could fall asleep at any moment.
Before he was knocked out, he sat up again and finished his first aid. His blood had already stained the carpet below but he already planned to clean his bedding so what was one more thing.
He took a surgical needle and threat and tied it together the best he could with his teeth and one good hand. After, he slowly sunk the needle into his skin and began creating crude sutures.
He never realized how much he took for granted the anesthetics of Earth. The best thing this world had was alcohol or getting knocked out. Doing surgery on himself was even worse. Their only version of anesthetics were some local ones but could only be made using rare natural materials that weren't found on the main continent, Novanna.
Eventually, he was able to close up the wound. Although his skin would probably form a really nasty scar, it was better than losing it. He had seen that this wound didn't involve many serious parts and was mostly just fleshy.
He was very glad he didn't need to reset any bones. It seemed Sharla most likely had healed him, considering he saw remnants of serious wounds all over his body. Certain patches of his skin were much lighter than others, probably where skin grew rapidly.
Now that the painful part was over, he took some gauze bandage and wove it together with two strips of metal he found on the tray and used it to create a splint. He fell back on the bed and sighed in relief.
He had successfully done first aid on himself... and then directly fell asleep again afterward.
He was only asleep for about another 40ish minutes before his empty stomach woke him up. He was low on energy after his fight and his body was trying to repair itself.
He eventually got himself downstairs after kicking the broken shield and sword away.
When his feet became visible to those eating, the entire room quickly became silent. Those who were there last night still remembered their favorite cook carrying a half-dead body upstairs. They then later saw their overlord bartender on the floor cleaning up the blood.
They quickly found out who really was in charge. Most weren't sure about what happened, but another rumor soon went around that Alex was killed by the healer and cook of the inn. Many laughed at his pathetic strength but those who were there only felt pity.
They could feel how strong Sharla was and knew Alex was no match.
Alex also paused when the room strangely went silent. He furrowed his brow as he descended slower before making his way to his normal seat with all eyes on him. Many stared at his bandaged arm as he sat down and a plate of food appeared in front of him.
He didn't even bother to look at the man who gave him food before he used his one good arm to grab a fork and dive into his food. He never thought food could taste this good before. Of course, it was the normal meal that was served in the mornings but Alex didn't pay attention.
After having his life flash before his eyes, everything felt more colorful. He quickly finished his entire plate as the room stayed silent as if they were looking at a ghost. When he dug into his second plate, the place slowly got back to normal.
When he finished his second plate, Alex finally looked up at Alan. The bartender was doing his normal jig sliding drinks around the counter with just the right amount of strength and shaking or stirring others when needed.
"Can you get me something strong?" Alan heard the young man call out to him.
Alan raised an eyebrow in his direction before giving a light nod. He went to a cupboard under the nicely stacked bottles behind him and took out a normal-looking bottle.
Since Alex still couldn't read with 100% efficiency, he couldn't read the brand but after seeing the gaping mouths of all those at the bar, he realized it must be a good liquor.
"Kid, you are one lucky bastard." An older man with a full gray beard commented as Alan put an ice ball in a glass and carefully poured the liquor.
He was, of course, over 21 in age, but in this world, apparently, you could drink as early as 15 since that was the legal age. Alex nodded to him as he waited patiently for the drink. When Alan was done, he slid the drink towards him and everyone at the bar watched him carefully.
He was a little weirded out by it but still lifted the cup up gently. He gave it a good whiff, smelling an almost sweet wood smell. It also smelled of apple and raspberry mixed in to give it a bit of a fruity smell.
He took a small drink and was surprised at how savory it was. It felt like his dehydration disappeared and his thirst, thoroughly quenched. In the next moment, he got a strong earthy taste that made him blink in surprise. It was like he got a mouthful of rich dirt, but instead of tasting bad, it was full of nutrients and sweetness like he was a plant himself.
The fruity smell and taste seemed to compliment the earthy taste and prevent it from overwhelming the drink.
However, what surprised him the most was a light green screen that popped up in front of him.
[You have gained +3 Health from the Heartwood Whiskey.]
Alex opened his mouth in shock.
"There it is!" The same old man laughed starting a chain reaction with all the others at the bar.
Apparently, this drink was very expensive since it was a brand that had the ability to increase stats by a small amount. It couldn't increase stats indefinitely, but you could get maybe 10 stats by drinking a whole bottle before the effects would no longer work for that brand.
"How are you feeling?" Alan soon spoke to Alex as the men at the bar laughed.
Alex smiled wryly, "Better with this," he said shaking his glass, "but I still feel like shit."
Alex soon downed the rest of the drink and began eating a third plate of food. Alan also gave him one last refill on Heartwood before putting it away.
Alex savored this drink a bit more than the last one before he was stuffed. He felt a bit tipsy just from the two drinks and his belly was full.
He was ready for a long winters nap but felt itchy from all the crusted blood on him. He got up and headed through the kitchen door.
"You should go see that girl, she was worried sick." Alan said causing Alex to pause in the door.
He nodded and went through. The kitchen staff gave him weird looks after what happened yesterday but he ignored them except for one however.
A girl with tied up blonde hair and green eyes. She looked worried as she saw his slightly black and blue body and a bandaged arm he didn't seem to move.
"Are you alright?" Kaya asked him.
Over the last two months, he had gotten to know her better and they became friends. Of course they were no where near as close as Alicia, but it was nice for Alex to have one other person to care for him.
"Yeah I'm fine. Just tired and need a shower." Alex responded with a smile.
She breathed out a sigh of relief before furrowing her brow.
"The state you were in yesterday was awful, I can't imagine what you must've looked life before Mrs. Setter healed you." She added.
"Also go and see Alicia, she's been depressed and bawling her eyes out since she found out."
Alex softened his gaze and nodded. He said goodbye and went straight towards the employee dorms.
Just as he was opening the door to the dorm area, it opened and a middle aged woman with black hair and matching eyes appeared.
Immediately Alex narrowed his eyes in clenched his jaw. At the same time, the woman did the same and furrowed her brows.
'This bitch!' 'This bastard!' They thought at the same time.