'Elara!'
Jin immediately stood up when he saw him and reached him within moments. 'What happened to him, for God's sake?!' His shock was evident on his face.
He looked at Elara's pale face, his body and clothes soaked in blood, and couldn't help but shudder.
"B-But how?" Jin spoke in disbelief.
Unfortunately, the soldiers carrying his body didn't give him enough time to assess his friend's condition. They continued walking towards the vehicle in a hurry.
"He's in very critical condition. His survival depends on whether he gives up or not." One of the soldiers gave a brief report to Jin, out of respect for his strength.
"But even if he recovers completely, there's no way to reattach his leg." Jin's expression collapsed when he heard the end of the report.
Just moments before he was transported to Cassian, Elara was in perfect condition, having defeated a war machine with ease despite just breaking through.
'What happened when I was transported?!' Jin gritted his teeth, looking down, blood seeping from his clenched fist.
He watched as Elara's form disappeared into the carriage, feeling deep sorrow and regret. 'What should I do? He will become disabled even if he survives… How can I compensate him for losing a limb?'
***
"What happened to him?" Cassian frowned as he looked at Elara on the bed, unconscious and extremely pale.
Unlike with Jin, the soldiers paused to let Cassian take a better look at him.
"Can't his leg be reattached?" Cassian asked, recalling what he did in Mountain of Fog.
"Only if it were intact. It was brutally severed and fell from a hundred-meter height without mana to protect it. It happened to land on a pile of sharp stones. If we reattach his leg, it will only be a hindrance." The soldiers explained the situation briefly before continuing towards the medical room.
"We will provide the best medical care soldiers like us can offer, but unfortunately, we must part ways afterward." Lucas placed his hand on my shoulder as he spoke, consoling me.
I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty seeing what happened to Elara. "Do we have anything in the family's stock that could help him?" I asked after some hesitation.
Lucas looked at me with a bit of confusion and lowered his hand from my shoulder. "Yes, of course, but why? If it's to win him over, there's no need to do that! There are plenty of -S rank warriors in the family, many of whom will gladly serve under you once you command it!" Lucas explained with a bit of agitation, wondering why I was putting so much pressure on myself.
"You don't understand…" I turned my gaze away from Lucas and went to rest on a nearby seat. Only Jin and I knew the real reason behind Elara's injury.
If I hadn't been in such a dangerous situation, Jin wouldn't have been forced to be transported to me against his will, and he would still have been with Elara when the enemies attacked…
If Jin had been with him, he would have at least come out in one piece… All because I put myself in a dangerous position…
Although I don't consider Elara extremely important to me, I still see him as an ally. And my personality, which I decided not to abandon, tells me I need to compensate him.
Even though he's a stranger to me, he had to endure significant pain and injury partially because of me. I don't want to just pass it off as if it happened without any relation to me.
I placed my hand on my head and closed my eyes for a moment. I need to rest a bit and then take a bath.I need to get my mindset ready, as I'll be reaching the city today…
"Regardless of how important he is to you, the clan's stock only has one legendary potion left! You need to rethink this!" Lucas's voice was quite annoying to me now.
Why do I have to bear everything, for God's sake… My mind might explode soon from all these pressures…
Mountain of Fog, the puppets society, Jin and Elara, the inheritance war, Eldrick's enmity towards me… Why do I have to endure all this?
I sighed loudly. "We'll discuss this later…" After saying that, I stopped caring about anything around me.
Maybe Lucas continued talking, but I didn't care, all I wanted was mental rest.
Before the end of the day, I need to heal my body, deal with Elara's situation, explain everything to everyone, and convince them again to help me in the inheritance war.
'Darian and Loana… You make everything really complicated..' I frowned a bit, remembering my early days in this world.
That paper that turned to ashes, former Cassian's curse, the strange journals.
'Is Alfred still there, I wonder? I'm sure Loana told everyone about my death. I wonder how he'll react when I return?' I smiled a bit, remembering that old man's face.
Although I didn't stay in that room for more than four days, it was still the best place I had spent my time since coming to this world.
It's really ironic that I haven't visited any places I've created myself despite being here for half a year.
Places created by artificial intelligence like the eastern and western villages, natural lands, the puppets society can't be counted.
Hope Academy, Red Moon Pond, the other wonders of the world…
Some demon cities and other races' territories, the beautiful and dangerous northern mountains, the southern markets with their cheap prices and monthly competitions. I haven't visited any of those places I created myself…
In fact, this seven-month journey was just to accomplish one task and obtain a legendary martial art.
'Is all this worth it, you little scoundrel?' I thought as I looked at my sword inside my inventory.
The sword trembled slightly when I directed my gaze at it. 'Did my words bother you?!' I felt a bit tense when the sword started tearing the fabric of space inside the inventory.
'Speaking of which… The battle with Eldrick and the dwarves increased my mastery level a lot.'
I looked at my status screen.
---
Name: Cassian StarHold
Title: -
Class: Swordsman
Legacy Skill: Beast Form
Status: Cursed / Unable to Breakthrough.
Level: C+
Stats:
Strength: C
Speed: C-
Endurance: B-
Intelligence: -
Senses: C
Wisdom: B+
Luck: F-
Charisma: C+
(Note: Charisma and Luck stats do not count towards level evaluation)
Skills:
Mind Improving: F
Combat Arts:
Commandment of Sloth (1/5): 91%
Sword basics: 99%
---
Ever since my mastery level surpassed the 90% threshold, the sword has been vibrating strangely, even responding to some of my words unlike before. I looked at the blade, which had become cleaner. Did some dust disappear too? This can't be an illusion.
I hope the next level of Commandment of Sloth solves my current problem… I can't fight people with a martial art that only has big moves.
To explain it more, Commandment of Sloth relies on manipulating the enemy's mind to feel drowsy, then eliminating them with one powerful but costly move.
But against enemies who can shield their minds like the dwarves, the mental effect isn't very useful. And against people like Eldrick, single powerful strikes don't have a significant impact on him.
However, looking at Daristan's Moon Dance, which relied more on a series of small moves, he managed to corner Eldrick and force him to retreat within a minute.
Although victory would have been Eldrick's if I hadn't told Daristan the essence of the 'Sky/Lightning' formation, the main reason for Daristan's success in the end was Moon Dance.
I need to solve this problem soon…