Melchior heaved a huge sigh of relief when he reached the other side of the mountain where the caves were situated.
His knees wobbled weekly, eventually giving in and collapsing. The boy fell to the ground and then took in a deep breath. It turns out he wasn't all that strong. Adrenaline had kept him alive and running for the most part.
As soon as that wore off, all the pain that he held at bay returned at 10 times the original force.
"Well fuck," he groaned, turning over to the side painfully "I should have taken things a lot more easy for my first time using Bonded Abilities,"
He just hadn't expected the situation to escalate quickly.
'That spiralled out of control too… too quickly.'
Mel closed his eyes to digest most of everything that had happened in the past half an hour. From that first man in the white mask to the three assassins that ambushed him, and then to his father chasing him. It was all too much.
He didn't delude himself into thinking he'd have survived otherwise. He got extremely lucky with this body's incredible muscle memory and talent for fighting. All that, coupled with his abilities, he survived those experienced bonded and even managed to defeat one of them.
'I didn't beat that first guy at all.' He shook his head as he recalled that man, 'That dude was on a whole other level than me. Luck played too much of a role in deciding that fight'.
Then his eyes furrowed when he remembered the arrow pointing at him. It seemed he was rather naive to think that person would let him go. It was obvious who sent the assassins.
'Speaking of that, I think Dad should be able to handle that Hawk guy.'
From all the information he gathered, he concluded that all opponents he faced were invaders from an army. Leaving them unchecked was dangerous, but it wasn't as if he could go over to the town council and tell them what he found.
'They'd have me hung before anything else,' Melchior mused.
But that wouldn't remain for much longer. Melchior was one step closer to reaching his goal. It was a rather small step, but considering the incredible ability he had obtained, it was only a matter of time before he grew stronger.
Damjan and Tirun had already proven to be a great help, and he was only two days into this world.
"Back then… what was that?" he muttered. "My fighting style changed entirely when I switched from Tirun to Damjan. Will it be like that for all the spirits that fall under my command?"
If so, it would be a trick up his sleeve that none other could replicate. That essentially meant he would be able to one-up his opponents constantly and adapt to all the different fighting styles as well.
The only drawback was that he was limited to only one connection each time. So he couldn't use Damjan and Tirun's abilities simultaneously.
Finally, it came down to one last thing. Was he in any condition to fight still?
No. Not at all. No matter how weak the bats were, his situation was already bad enough with multiple internal injuries.
"That Hawk fellow was something else. Those attacks were sharp blades of wind that did so much damage to my insides. Spirits are quite interesting indeed"
Whatever it was, it had rendered him completely useless at this moment.
"I need to get back to Damjan so he can heal me. The longer I wait, the quicker I die,"
Before leaving, Melchior marked out the area and tried to figure out what ways he'd be able to reach there without taking the route in front of the mine shafts. After he did that, he was on his way. He had to take the longer way, just in case Zale or any of the warriors were still lingering in the area.
Luckily, they weren't, and he was back into comfortable territory once more. He reached Damjan's lake and collapsed as soon as he got near the water.
"Heal me." It was a command, one that came out as a series of grunts. But the serpent understood without him saying any more.
A blue ball of light wrapped around Melchior's entire body, filling him with warmth and easing all the pain in his body. Minutes later, he could finally sit up without feeling as though he was about to faint any second.
"What happened, sire?" Damjan asked hurriedly, leaning in closer than he had ever done before.
Melchior shot him a glare at the honorific added at the end but answered, regardless.
"Assassins in the forest. A bit too powerful for me to handle,"
"Assassins?"
"Soldiers, to be precise," he added, "They spoke of a lieutenant. Possibly part of some sort of covert operations squad. Point is, they were powerful and ambushed me when they spotted me."
The snake bowed humbly. "It is only a pity that I am unable to accompany you."
He shook his head, flexing his muscles. "It's fine. Your abilities were quite instrumental in my final escape."
"It is not 'fine', sire." Damjan hissed, losing his cool-headed tone for the first time. "The king's protection is paramount to anything else. Your death would be a loss that even a million of me wouldn't be able to replace. That is why the king ought to be accompanied by at least two attendants."
Melchior paused to process the information, then waved it off as soon as he was done.
"Don't sweat it. I'll be fine. I just need a while to get used to it all."
His attendant gave a reluctant sigh, then backed away without speaking anymore. Seeing that, Melchior stood and stretched his muscles.
"I'll be back here at the same time tomorrow. Good work on today, Damjan."
"It is my eternal pleasure to serve you, sire." Damjan bowed, then after some hesitation, added, "Don't move around more than necessary for the rest of the night. Your injuries aren't fully healed, especially the internal ones. A good sleep should fix everything completely."
"Understood, I'll do so."
And then, without saying any more, he left.
Today, he had learned Spirit Energy. Tomorrow, well… it was about time to proceed with his plans.