Just as I slide off the window sill and look down, I stare at the ground, far beneath me, with a blank, very unfitting expression for the situation. As if time froze, I stay still in the air while my brain runs post haste to process my visual information, the neurons passing their electrical signals through each other, to the brain by the millisecond.
Shit.
After the initial response, the instructional electrical signals surge from my brain to my arms, traveling through the neurons like lightning, until my muscles react, and respond.
"Eep–"
A sound escapes from my mouth, my head turned downwards, as my arms hang from the ledge.
That was way too close! Why is this room so high up?!?!
Continuing to stare down at my legs as they dangle through the air, taking one long inhale, and a heavy exhale afterward.
As my breathing begins to stabilize, a noise comes through the room that I just exited.
"knock– knock– knock."
I release one of my hands from the ledge, and hastily cup it over my mouth, as my eyes widen in fear, too stunned to return back to normal.
I was too relaxed since they've never reacted before. What should I do? If I say I'm fine, would they leave me alone, or would they come in to check up on me because that's what Martha told them?! On the other hand, if I don't respond, then they could barge in because of the lack of response, but they could also just leave me alone because I might just be asleep! Whatever it is, just do something quickly!!!
Too internally conflicted, I try to calm myself down by shutting my eyes to the world, and wait.
One second passes, nothing.
Two seconds pass, nothing.
Three seconds pass, nothing.
Nothing's happening, I don't hear anything. Did they decide to leave me alone, or did they use their stealth skills, and are just staring down at me with amusement from above the balcony while I pathetically hang on for dear life so that I don't fall?
I hope it's the first option, they would be really evil if the second option was true. Ahh, I don't want to open my eyes, but there's only one way to find out. I'm running out of time to choose, my arms are giving out; damn this shitty body!
My eyes under their eyelids tremble in fear, as I try to get the willpower to open them. But just as I muster the courage to open them, the muffled sound of a voice travels from the room, down to my ears, the shaking in my eyes ending as I hear it.
"Why did you knock?"
A low, deep voice whispers.
"I don't know, I thought I heard something."
Another, higher pitched voice anxiously exclaims.
The man with the deeper voice sighs while keeping to his low quiet whisper.
"Haa… you probably just imagined it, don't get distracted from your job, and keep your voice down, let the boy get his sleep."
A soft, almost non-hearable thunk comes before the younger guard speaks again in a lower whisper.
"Yes sir–"
All comes to silence as the vibrations from their voice dissipate.
Holy crap, that was almost really really bad. Thank Pyro for that other guard though, he saved me. If they had searched the room after hearing that grunt, I would probably have ended up in that prison-like room that I was previously in. The only difference would be that it would be for a good reason this time, and that I would be strapped down to that operations bed.
I let my right hand drop down from my mouth, as I turn my head up and stare at my pale left hand, that I barely have feeling in.
Speaking of grunts, I should make sure not to do that when I pull myself up right now.
After I carefully grab the ledge of the building with my right hand, I close my eyes and solely focus on my breathing.
Slowly breathe in–
I take a long breath inward through my nose, continuing to hang off the ledge without pulling myself up just yet.
And slowly breathe out.
As my long breath inside stops, it immediately transitions to an even longer exhale, draining the carbon dioxide out of my enlarged lungs as I begin to pull myself up.
As I continue to exhale, I finish raising myself, and finally open my eyes.
I can't exhale for much longer, but once I finish exhaling, I can't gasp for air, I have to make sure I control my breathing.
As I feel my mouth begin to narrow, my lungs nearly emptied, I manage to bring my right foot up onto the ledge, though being held in a weird, awkward position.
Now!
Just as my mouth empties the carbon dioxide out of my lungs, I swing it open, widely, and start inhaling slowly. Despite the suffocating feeling I felt, I kept my slow inhale steady.
Taking a leap of faith, I bring my other foot up onto the ledge and bring both legs together, pushing the rest of my body up with it, as I begin to breathe heavier.
Wow, it really is scary being this high up when I don't have flight magic, or a durable enough body that can withstand a fall from such a height.
As a breeze of wind brushes past my back, I quickly open my arms out, and tightly hug the smooth marble wall.
Ha– just a few days ago I was fighting a being that surpassed the gods, but now I'm scared of heights. How ridiculous.
After another second of hugging the wall, the gust of wind stops, and I turn my head to the right, now looking at the balcony I had just jumped out of.
Hmmm… it wouldn't be too late to go back into the room now, no one would know, and William will probably have my ingredients tomorrow anyway. I'm in no serious rush, it's not a life or death thing for me to get the ingredients right now. I could probably recover in two weeks with just my regular human body regeneration and another Body Cleansing meditation or two.
I stay still, staring longly at the balcony, and its curtains, swaying with the wind.
Staying in bed would be nice too, that warmth sure is better than the makeshift bed of books I made for myself in the Grand Library.
I then turn back down to the beautiful fields of stones arranged into a pavement of art that surrounds the Mint Estate, further surrounded by a green grassy plain.
As I stare, calculatively examining the area around me, my mouth suddenly turns to a smile.
But there is one thing I missed more in the Grand Library than a comfortable bed. Seeing the bright green leaves of trees, and smelling the sweet smell of flowers and morning dew, instead of being holed up in a dull room full of the same books, written hundreds of years ago by old men, that fill the bookshelves of the library with its antique, dry, paper smell, along with the stench of pungent old ink.
I've read books in that dark room for eight years straight before I stayed in that meditating position, while seeing nothing but darkness for nearly two years without moving an inch from my position in the physical world.
Even after I left that terrible library, I hardly had even a few moments to myself before I was teleported to an even more desolate location, and lost all that I had left in the world, dead in my own hands.
If I am to save this world, I must see it for myself, in all its glories that I've read about in books, why Terminus would wait seven hundred years just for the possibility that who he was waiting for, might show up. I want to know why he loves this world so much, why everyone loves this world so much. Pyro and Terminus both pitied me, and at that time I did not take them seriously, nor have I ever believed it until now. But I think I finally understand what they are speaking of now, I feel like I have lost a memory, and I will definitely rediscover that feeling.
My hands begin to sweat over the smooth marble, my grip on the wall beginning to weaken.
But– let's just get off this ledge before I accidentally fall off, or someone sees me–
I stare down from the ledge of the building and squint intensely.
Normal Senses, activate!
I pause to process the information, and look up at the floor above me, then back down.
Okay, it looks like I'm on the fifth floor, the second highest aside from the top one. Each floor other than the top floor seems to be equally spaced apart, the ledges are about 12 feet away from each other. Which means that if I fall down, it would be a 48 feet drop, directly onto hard stone. RIght now, in my current body of being comparable to the body of an Advanced Rank Swordsman at best, and a Intermediate Rank at worst, which would basically just be the body of a regular human adult without mana, I should expect broken legs at the very least.
It would be fine if I broke my legs since I'd be in walking distance from the entrance of the Mint Estate, where the best physicians in the capital supposedly are, but I'm trying to not get caught, and even if I don't get caught, having broken legs for my journey gathering herbs in the mountains would definitely not be a fun experience.
I turn my head from facing downward to the left, gazing across the side of the wall.
Hmm… since this clinic was so meticulously built, every single one of its rooms and windows are symmetrical and evenly spaced. I can follow the ledge along until I drop down to another balcony, and keep doing it. But the final drop would still be pretty painful, a 12 feet drop in my condition could break one of my legs.
Luckily for me–
I look over to the far end of this side of the estate, where a large bush resides.
There seems to be a cushion for me over there.
Just as I feel the sweat begin to cover all the surface between my hand and the marble wall, I begin sliding to the left, making small movements over to the next balcony.
Just before I arrive at the balcony, I bring my left hand closer to my chest, lean my neck over, and peek inside the room.
Okay, it looks like they're sleeping, perfect.
I carefully climb over the balcony railings and grab the bottom of the balcony rails, gripping them tightly with my hands, before letting my feet down, closing one eye as I look down at the balcony below me, trying to calculate the distance and location.
This looks about right.
I let my hands off the railings and sway my legs to the front a bit, before landing directly on the railings of the room below me.
Great, now I just have to do that two more times, and another time over there.
As I crouch down to do the same thing once again, I come face to face with a relatively old man wearing a light blue patient gown, who holds a hot cup of coffee, staring at me with his baggy, tired eyes.
"Oh– sorry!"
I exclaim in surprise, almost falling off his balcony, but managing to regain my balance after swinging my hands.
The old man takes a sip of his coffee from his mug and continues staring out the window without reacting.
Ah, he must be blind, I should just leave before I disturb his calm morning any more.
I climb down the railings and begin to repeat the same steps down.
"I must not have taken my medicine today."
The old man says in a deep voice, walking away with his loud footsteps.
So he wasn't blind! Well, at least he won't tell anyone. I hope I don't have to meet anyone else, otherwise I'll cause a whole commotion all over the clinic.
But the interactions I have do not improve beyond that point.
"Ack– sorry!"
I exclaim as I hurry down the balcony of an old woman who chases me out, throwing her medicine and glasses at me.
"I'm just going to go over there, have a good day!"
I say as I come face to face with another woman who doesn't freak out as much, seeming to just have woken up, with her messy bed hair. She pokes her head out the balcony, staring at me as I awkwardly make my way over to the far side of the Clinic where the bush is.
Please– no more people…
After passing by two curtain-closed rooms, I reach the end of this side of the second floor, and jump down into the bush.
"Whoosh, rustle... CRACKLE... rustle…"
I poke my head out of the bush, and step out with my leaf covered, but otherwise fine clothes.
Hey, that wasn't so bad. My legs feel pretty fine, or as fine as they have been since ingesting that poison.
I look back up at the balconies above me, and see the woman on the 2nd floor still looking at me.
Oh god, why is she still staring at me? Is she going to tell a nurse?
We just stare at each other without saying anything until I finally raise my hand, and wave at her, before quickly turning the corner and hurrying out of her sight.
What weird interactions. Now, where is that mountain?