I'm forced awake my Magiya's shouting and rapid shaking of my body.
"Maria! It's Leon! He killed the demon but needs help badly! His muscles and bones have exploded, if you don't repair them, he'll die!"
He drags me by the arm to where Leon was, lying in a puddle of his own blood.
I feel my heart stop as I kneel down next to him and manipulate his blood back into his body to keep him stable.
"I can't do anymore than this, we need someone with healing magic from this point on."
"You're a vampire, aren't you? Fix him."
Wait how does he know Oh well no point denying it now, I'll ask about it later.
"Well that might be true but I'm a failure, outside of blood my body manipulation is pathetic."
"So what, you can learn right now, that is unless you want him to die. Just try it."
He's right, I should at least try, even if it is pointless.
I extend my magic towards his flesh and bones trying to force them back together, only for them to stubbornly stay still.
"See, it's no use."
"It's because you're trying too hard. Blood is a liquid and your trying to force muscle and bone to move the same way you would for blood. Instead of trying to make them flow, be more forceful, force them to move to your will."
The result will be the same but I'll do it just to get him to stop staring at me so intently.
I try manipulating the body in a forceful fashion rather than acting as a vessel to allow for movement, and to my surprise it worked.
I spend the next few minutes reassembling his bones and muscles, slowly fixing his body in ways even the best doctors in the world couldn't dream of.
When I'd finally done, I broke down and cried for a few minutes.
I'm so pathetic, I let my lover shoulder the burden of fighting something well beyond his capabilities and I wasn't even there to help.
I looked back up at Magiya and saw his smiling face.
"Say, Magiya, your hood."
Magiya looked confused for a moment before realising, his hood wasn't up.
He hurriedly pulled it back up to cover his face. It's clear he doesn't want anyone to see he's an albino, or those scars.
"Thanks."
He muttered his appreciation.
"So, how did you know I was a vampire?"
"How could I not? It's pretty easy considering only vampires are capable of such perfect blood magic and body manipulation and your regenerative abilities are rather incredible. On top of that you hide from the sun, like me."
"What does the sun have to do with anything?"
"Don't vampires turn to dust in sunlight?"
"No, that's just myths from stories hundreds of years old, while we are sensitive to the sun it's only a little more sensitive than a person from the highlands in Alba. You're far more at risk from the sun than me."
"Then why the hood?"
"It's to hide my face."
Magiya just accepted this and stayed silent.
We sat in silence whilst waiting for Silen and Leon to wake up.
"You know, we're a lot alike, Maria."
"How so?"
"We're both intelligent, talented mages, and we both have talentless idiots to back us up. Yet despite that, our idiots are still special to us."
"I'm not talented, Magiya. I never would have learned body manipulation if it hadn't been for you. And despite my race, I have incredibly low stats. Compared to everybody else back home I'm pathetic."
"Then don't compare yourself to them. The only person you should compare yourself to is you from the past. It's the only way to see how far you've come."
"But how will I know how far is left to climb if I keep looking back?"
"You don't need to worry about how far is left to climb, so long as you keep moving forward, you'll get there eventually."
The idiots he mentioned both stirred as if they knew we were talking about them.
"We better wake them up, we'll need to rest up and eat before heading back to the guild hall."
I went over and shook Leon awake.
He groggily opened his eyes and gazed up at me.
Immediately after he closed them again and rolled onto his side.
Such a child. Well he has been through a lot so I suppose I could humour him just this once.
Magiya and Silen watch as I pick him up in my arms and carry him like a princess.
"Could one of you guys carry his sword please."
Silen picks up the sword and secures it on his waist, while Magiya stifles his laughter at Leon being carried by me.
We made our way through the door on the other side of the room to where we came in and are teleported back to the entrance of the dungeon.
Looking back the cliff has returned to normal and the dungeon has been destroyed.
We made our way back to the village and check back in to the inn.
I can't believe we spent a whole day down in that dungeon.
I place Leon in bed before getting in myself and going to sleep.