"Ahhhh!" Unable to contain herself, Sakura leaps at the guild master with a shout. The blood in her throat makes her voice hoarse.
"That's more like it."
'Whomp!'
Jezabel lodges her fist into the little girl's stomach. All the energy leaves Sakura's face as she collapses to the ground.
"If you're more concerned with revenge than helping your friends, you don't deserve this power." Jezabel digs into Sakura with those words before walking to the door. "I expect you all to be cleaned up and ready to go by the time Travis leaves for the forest."
"K, thanks," I respond sarcastically. My whole body aches, but I've recovered enough to move my arms, so I down a stamina potion and a health potion. Cool energy flows through my limbs, giving me the strength to stand. To my left is Shinobu, still lying in a weird position despite having woken up. I move her into a more natural position and check her breathing before moving over to Josh.
"Hmmph, huff" Sakura is struggling to hold in her tears while she lies defeated on the ground; I'm sure what Jezabel said cut pretty deep. Josh trembles a bit as I roll him over, which is a good sign. I feel his pulse and check his breathing as well. They both seem normal, so now we just need to wait until he wakes up. Lastly, I walk up to Sakura. She's curled up in the fetal position, clutching her stomach. Her face is red from choking back tears.
"Josh is okay. He's just unconscious. He should wake up here shortly." She doesn't react. "I know you're upset, but you should take some potions to recover your strength."
She turns to me, and her eyes light up with rage. I can feel the heat radiating off of her from where I'm standing a couple of feet away.
"Are you mad at me?" I ask. Her glare narrows. "I think it's pretty clear you're projecting your anger onto me. What Jezabel said was harsh, but you wouldn't be so upset if you felt she was wrong."
"Shut the hell up already!" Sakura shouts.
"Josh is pretty badly hurt. Why don't you take a couple of potions and check on him." I take my last health and stamina potion out of my belt and lay them on the ground near her head. The belt I currently have can only hold two of each, so it might be good to get a more extensive belt when we get new equipment.
"Grrr," Sakura growls at me, but I ignore her and move back to Shinobu. She groans as she wakes up and rolls over. A number of bruises are visible on her face and arms.
"Are you okay?"
'Cough'
She spits out some congealed blood in response.
"I'll take that as a no." I ruffle through her belt and pull out the same combination of potions that I gave to Sakura. "Can you drink these, or do you want me to feed them to you."
"I think I can…." She tries to sit up but quickly collapses back to the ground.
"Relax, I'll do it." She recovers quickly after consuming the potions.
"Thanks, Nick." Shinobu smiles.
[Despite having recently gotten her ass beat, she's surprisingly cheery.]
"Let's check on Josh."
"I don't think that's such a good idea…." Shinobu says hesitantly.
"Why not?" I instantly realize the reason as Sakura is sobbing violently behind me while clenching Josh's hand. From her behavior, you would think he's dead, but I can see him looking around, trying to get his bearings. "Oh."
"Yeah…"
"Let's head inside. I think they need some space."
"I agree." We step inside and wait for the newlyweds to recover. I give myself a once over to check for any visible injuries. A few bruises are scattered about my torso, but none looks too serious. I then check all points of articulation to ensure my joints are working, which appears to be the case. While sore, I feel pretty good, given the circumstances.
[Status]
Niccolo Drake lv 7
Sponsor: God of knowledge
Job: Commoner lv 13
Possible jobs: Militiaman, Tradesman
Skills: Ironflesh lv 3, Shock Resistance lv 1, Anchoring lv 2, Flash step lv 2, Paralysis Resistance lv 1
Titles: Index, Friend of the Fairies
Unassigned points: 151
Health: 86/114
Stamina: 106/192
Vitality: 52 (+7)
Strength: 66 (+16)
Agility: 71 (+23)
Endurance: 88 (+18)
Perception: 38 (+8)
Resilience: 32 (+5)
Mana Capacity: 0
Mana Bandwidth: 75
Knowledge: 488 (+3)
I've grown quite a bit over the last month. I managed to pick up the Paralysis Resistance skill after getting paralyzed by the Polyporta the first time we entered the dungeon. Ironflesh, Flash Step, and Anchoring have increased in level as well. While my health and stamina aren't full, I'm still feeling pretty good. I'll grab a couple more potions before heading out into the forest.
Now that I've discerned my condition, I check on Shinobu. Oddly enough, she seems to have almost enjoyed the fight. A light is twinkling in her eye, and a warm smile fills her face. She stops checking herself when she notices me looking at her and gives me a weird look.
"What are you looking at?" she asks with a smirk.
"Why are you so happy?"
"I am?" She moves her hands to her face to check her expression. "I guess I am."
"A lot of hormones are released in the brain during an experience like that; endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline. I'm sure it was exciting."
"Umm, okay..."
"Are you having any problems moving anything?"
"No, I'm alright." She says. I hear the door open behind us. The first thing I see is Josh's face. He looks terrible. Of the four of us, I think he was hit the hardest. Sakura's small figure appears below his armpit to support him. Based on his wobbly steps, it's clear that he wouldn't be walking otherwise.
"Let's all take a seat. We still have a few minutes before class." Normally, we work out for the full hour, but Jezabel beat our asses so fast we actually have some time to relax.
"Okay." Josh moans. Sakura half carries him to our table and sits him on the bench across from me. Now that she's out from under his arm, I can see her tear-stained face. My heart drops seeing her condition.
[I can only imagine what she's going through right now. I didn't think she would take it so hard. I should apologize even if she just blows me off.]
I try to put myself in her shoes and imagine what she's feeling.
[Inadequacy? Fear? Anger? What is the root of these emotions? I know she's sponsored by the god of wrath, so it must be close to anger. Is she angry at herself? I feel like there's more to it, but I can't put my finger on it. The fact that she was crying so hard makes it almost feel like she was despairing, which wouldn't make much sense considering how quickly we're growing.]
I allow these rough emotions to roll around inside me while I ponder them.