Klein's vision began to blur as he panted. He attempted to focus on recovering his mana, but even that was done with much difficulty.
He remained there, sat on the road, looking at the family he had decided to travel with. His eyes made their way to the back of the car where those kids still somehow remained sleeping even after the piercing sounds of gunfire.
Breathing heavily, but careful to maintain his smile, he used the last bit of his mana. It was insufficient to cast another 'Detoxify', but sufficient to maintain [Soul-Link] for a moment, and he spoke.
"Right piece of work that was. Ha" He chuckled at the wary couple and looked back at his foot.
He wasn't sure, but it seemed to be getting better. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to cut it off.
"Imagine that..." He whispered to himself, "Returning to Mr. Weathers as a down-and-out one-footed mage, asking him to regenerate my missing limb" He couldn't help but laugh at his joke. Even as he felt weaker, his laughter intensified.
He could barely see more than a blur now, and he was unsure if he heard the sound of the car open, or if that was his imagination.
---
Amelia approached the soldier who was cackling to himself, even as he grabbed his foot in obvious pain.
She crouched in front of him, observing him closely, then asked gently.
"Sir, can I see your foot?"
He didn't seem to hear her, his breathing turned shallow, and his grip slowly loosened on his foot.
"Are you okay?" She asked, not receiving a response.
Her eyes widened, before grabbing her husband's attention, quickly turning to the boot of her car.
"Harold! First aid kit!"
Harold reacted quickly at his wife's urging. He quickly ran to the boot of his car and found what he was looking for.
Meanwhile, Amelia lay the soldier on his back, tilting his head, and immediately began to perform chest compressions.
Harold ran over with the first-aid kit, asking his wife.
"What do you need?"
---
Klein found himself in a hazy world of colors. He was unsure what had happened to him, but he instinctively knew something was off.
It wasn't just the pain of poison from his foot - that had mostly been contained with several uses of 'Detoxify'.
However, he had felt it the first time, but he could now be certain of what he was experiencing.
Today was the first day he had used anything from [Petra's Soulspells] in actual practice. He had also used [Soul-Link] almost non-stop for the better part of the day, due to unique circumstances.
He ordinarily wouldn't have considered using something so nebulous simply in order to communicate, but he was glad that he did. He had managed to communicate with and learn from aliens without arousing any suspicion.
'None whatsoever' he smiled proudly.
An ordinary mind scan would not only be harmful to the psyche of the recipient and user but also did not guarantee success.
Though now, he was wondering if his momentary excitement-fueled decision was a little too hasty.
He felt... strange.
His perception and thoughts began to become hazy, almost as if they were being filtered through several barriers of mesh.
He vaguely noticed that his sense of self was amalgamating with the world, slowly vanishing into the ether.
He suspected that if he embraced the comforting sensation, he would be lost forever, roaming this incomprehensible place with his memories faded blank and his aspirations erased.
Yet, wasn't there something...?
Something he wanted to do?
…
… What was it?
Something seemed to scream at him in rage. There was no longer any laughter.
'Laughter? Why would I expect...'
The Scream continued, clawing into his soul, filling its grasp with intense rebellion.
'Damn, it's so noisy. Just let me sleep' Klein felt an uncomfortable pain from somewhere deep within himself.
What was it?
Klein wondered if there was anything keeping him awake. If there was, he couldn't seem to recall it. But what he did know was that...
It felt so good to sleep...
The Scream dug into the very depths of his soul, its reluctance palpable, and the pain Klein felt intensified, causing his consciousness to convulse.
It was the most intense pain he had ever felt.
No. No, it wasn't...
He had felt this before...
He had felt this always...
The moment he had that thought, the world of colors broke like shattering glass, returning him to the realm of the living.
---
Amelia watched as the soldier's breathing returned to normal. She put a sleeve on her forehead, wiping away the sweat.
She and her husband had switched several times, performing CPR, and they both found themselves tired.
Luckily, it seemed to work. She observed the soldier's face and couldn't help but bite her lip.
'How young...' Amelia thought with surprise and sadness. She hadn't observed him properly before, but now, being so close, and with the usual vim and vigor of the young soldier gone, she was able to better assess the man.
No. That wasn't a man. It was a boy, probably under the legal age of drinking.
'A soldier experiencing so much at that age...' She couldn't help but think of Harry, her nine-year-old son, sleeping soundly in the car without a care. The two were probably not even ten years apart.
She turned to her husband, her eyes enough to convey her slight distress at the thought, and he placed a comforting arm over her shoulder.
They remained like that for a while before the soldier stirred. He opened his eyes and looked at them with a smile and a knowing glint in his eye as he observed the closeness of the two.
And for the first time, Amelia smiled back at him.
It was a comforting smile.
Klein's eyes widened slightly in surprise before he let out a chuckle, and without thinking, he spoke in Common.
"What's this, are you thinking of leaving your husband due to my irresistible charms?" He was halfway through another boisterous laugh before he realized what he had done, his laughter turning into one of nervousness.
The couple looked at him in concern and bafflement.
Then Klein, quick as ever on his feet, recalled his experience with the language during the day and managed to string together a barely coherent phrase in English.
"Umm... Me Wizard" he said, scratching his head with a mischievous smile, casting a simple 'Illuminate' spell with the little mana he had naturally recovered.
As his outstretched finger began to glow in the darkness, the bafflement of the couple deepened.