"The hell was that?" Erveine came running.
Furious-
But also concerned.
"Infusion… didn't know I could do it…" Flint leaned against his sword. Panting- "At least not again…"
The blue aura had left him and he felt like lying down on the ground.
But life wasn't so easy and he knew it.
Which was why-
He was still on his feet.
Determined.
"That's not what I meant! You took a direct attack from a troll? You know they can break through walls? They can clobber armored fiends! And you- you're still standing!?"
Oh?
"Oh, they broke me alright." He chuckled. "Besides, I told you, didn't I? If you can use a shield properly-"
She groaned- "Idiots- you don't even know what you did!" She yelled- quickly sucking in the corpses- and- forcing Flint to drink his cheap potion.
Terrible….
It tasted terrible-
But-
They warped.
Straight back to the Magus guild- "Meri- get here!" Erveine yelled.
"Mam!" A young girl- black robe- glasses, short whitish hair. Third year.
"Heal him- and tell me how much damage he's sustained-"
She looked at flint- eyes glowing green…. "Three fractures on his left arm and one broken rib… it's amazing he's still standing despite the pain."
"But that's it?" Erveine felt a bit faint so she took a seat. "Seriously… that's it?"
A lot of students were looking this way- totally confused as to what was happening.
Not just students, some attendants and teachers and even just random people…
"I'll begin correcting the bones-" Meri said, grabbing and forcing Flint's bones to rejoin together while the young man just groaned like he was dying- "Please don't lift anything heavy for the rest of the week and just rest."
"Can't-" Flint said. "I have to hunt." Breathless-
The pain was making him bite his jaw down- so his voice was coming out a bit grindy.
Yet-
He didn't writhe- he didn't shriek- he just stood there, staring. And maybe groaning a bit.
"Hunt? You want to be bedridden? Forever?" Meri snorted.
"No-"
"Then you're not doing anything for the rest of the week." Definitely a commanding tone-
A sigh- "Alright."
"I'm sorry to ask so much of you but could you at least walk him to an Inn? It's already getting so late-" Erveine said- "I'll give you two bonus credits."
A mild sigh. "Three-" Meri said- "And please don't ask me to do this again."
"Thank you- both of you-" Flint said.
"Sure- I'll come visit later," Erveine said.
***
Meri offered her shoulder, but Flint refused and just walked side by side.
The sun was nearly setting- still loads of light.
Shops were closing and most people were about to head back home- or the pub.
The day was officially over.
"Doesn't it hurt?" She said.
"It does… a lot. But nothing I can't take. My master used to break my bones all the time saying it was special training or something."
Meri looked at the young man with pity- lots of pity… "How did you get so hurt?" she asked.
"Trolls…"
"But wouldn't taking a hit from a troll mean almost dying? In that sense, I suppose you did come out lucky."
Calm- slow voice.
She didn't have any sense of urgency and she didn't really seem all that concerned either.
Just talking for the sake of talking-
"I guess…"
It hurt-
It really did.
His chest burned- his arm felt like it was about to fall over.
Yet- he-
Somehow-
Still stood there-
Without flinching-
Sheer will? Or sheer ideocracy?
He walked.
"It's the lord-"
"The lord!"
Words-
Words!
And bows-
Solid bows on the knees-
Before he knew it- almost everyone just bowed, making space, and the road quickly became empty.
"What the-"
"Bow-" Meri forced him to bow. "That's the lord- and I'm not sure who the rest are…."
"The Duke of Brooke?"
A man in fancy clothes- walking behind three people followed by a lot of soldiers-
"And then I blasted them all!" One of them said- "Kind of fun."
The aura almost pressed down on Flint- almost making him quiver.
'Just from the aura alone?'
"To think you'd be able to slay such monstrous beasts in a mere spectacle- truly wondrous!" The lord declared- passing by Flint and Meri- clearly flattering.
Monstrous beasts?
"I heard they killed twenty sea dragons in an hour-"
"I heard they killed nine in ten minutes!"
Whispers-
Lots of whispers.
Sea dragons?
And in minutes?
The three- did look all powerful; so, he thought about it-
'But in that case, they couldn't be here that day- then-' He thought of the possibilities.
Right now, he needed to grow stronger.
And someone killing sea dragons with ease had bound to be super powerful right?
Surely, they could spare an advice or two-
"But I heard they also destroyed the capital in a single day too-"
'Wait what-?'
Destroyed the capital?
"Meri?"
"Yes?"
"Are those the overlords?"
A man-
Handsome- blonde- well clothed.
A woman- beautiful- revealing clothes- and a perky smile.
And the third large man- two axes behind him- lots of scars on his face-
Yeah- Flint had heard thousands of such of details over and over…
And though his teeth shook, his hands shook- his whole body shook-
It clicked-
They were the overlords-
The pressuring aura-
The rumors-
And the raging thoughts-
'Right now- I'll just be killed-'
Flint was calm-
Flint was rational-
Flint was-
"Thurga Boleo-aqua…" He muttered slowly.
"What?" Slightly confused Meri stared at the boy next to her- and saw-
Not a boy-
Eyes furious- veins bulging-
And a face-
She could only deem as someone's who was prepared for death….
A man.