Austin was taken to the infirmary after the battle since he was gravely injured during the battle.
Naturally, the same could be said about Parkinson.
Austin had been in a slight daze since the moment he received a few notifications from the system. And he vaguely remembers whatever happened after that.
Inside the infirmary, the instructor told him to rest there for the time being until the nurse allowed him to return back to the room.
"Ou!" He winced as the nurse applied medicine to his wounds. It stings!
The nurse huffed, "You kids don't know restraints even while sparring."
Austin chuckled, "Blame my opponent for going so wild."
The nurse frowned, "I heard what happened. Why didn't you back out?"
Austin heaved a sigh, "Having the capability to defeat the opponent yet surrendering? Quite unbecoming of a warrior I would have been."
The nurse didn't say anything after that and continued to patch up his wounds.
It was rare for Austin to get injured this much. He generally heals himself in his office since he doesn't incur more than a wound or a shallow cut, during training.
"Get up….I need to remove your shirt." There were some wounds on his torso and back, which she needed to clean before applying bandages.
Austin was about to get up when suddenly someone interrupted, "Let me take care of him."
The nurse turned around and raised her brows seeing a frowning Valerie standing there.
"You can manage it, right?" The nurse asked as she got up from the seat.
Valerie nodded before the older one walked away—heading towards the patient which needed much more medical attention at the moment.
Valerie has seen several wounded persons in the past—given she has gone on a few excursions with the battalions to get some field experience.
She has been severely wounded multiple times in the past as well, during training and hunting. However, none of those wounds ever made her this shaken up as she was at the moment.
Her hands trembled when she unbuttoned his shirt and looked at his wounds.
"Hey…I am fine, you know." Seeing her shed tears, Austin assured her.
Valerie wordlessly picked the wet clothes
before bringing it near the slit at his waist.
She softly cleaned the blood before taking the cotton pad and applying it to his injury.
"Val…" Austin held her hand and made her look at him, "Will you say something? More than my injuries, I am more troubled about you now."
He cupped her cheek and saw the girl closing her eyes and weeping in silence.
She nestled her face in his warm hand, allowing her aggressively beating heart to attain some much-needed peace.
"You do know that I will continue to get injured in the future, right? After all, I want to become stronger…so I can stand beside you." Austin told her and someone who encouraged her Lord to participate in the tournament, Valerie knew he surely would get injured while trying to develop his skills.
However…at that time she didn't think she would feel so much grief seeing him like this.
"...I know…and I apologize for behaving so unreasonably, my lord. However, I just can't…seeing you like this…makes me…"
Austin pulled her to sit beside him and wrapped the lady in his arms.
It might be the first time that someone cried for him over some injuries. In his previous life, his parents never cared about him enough to get worried over his pain, and even in this life, Austin was awarded with some irresponsible parents.
So yes, Valerie was his first.
"You know Val…during my battle, there came a time when I thought I should give up," He confessed,
"However, when I remembered that my fiancée was watching me…I decided that I can't have her see my lame side."
Valerie couldn't stop herself from giving a soft chuckle even while she was weeping, "You won't have looked lame even if you have faced defeat."
"Yeah, but I wanted to impress you. So tell me, Val…" Holding her shoulders he looked her in the eyes, and asked,
"Are you proud of me?"
Valerie fondly smiled, feeling a sudden intimacy with her Lord when he asked that.
She placed her hand over his, squeezing it gently as if to reassure herself as much as him before she honestly answered,
"Yes, Austin, I am proud of you."
—-------**-------
After things calmed down and Valerie finished applying medicine she went to bring something to drink.
Left alone, Austin checked the notifications which the system sent during the battle,
[Ding!]
[A new index has appeared!]
[Durability: 11/100]
[Ding!]
[Upon reaching the first tier, the Host is awarded with the skill 'Adapt'!]
[Adapt: Allows the host to learn and copy the ability of their opponent for a short duration!]
[Time limit: 3 minutes]
…
Austin heaved a sigh. Now he understood what happened back then.
The reason he suddenly was able to utilize the same technique as Parkinson and strengthen his body using Aura was that the system activated 'Adapt.'
'Good timing, buddy.'
He would need to ask more about that skill, which sounded extremely useful, but for now, he rested back and thought about Parkinson.
During the battle, Rhea cheered for him, which wasn't in the plan, but she did. Considering she was displeased by Parkinson's demand to spar against Austin and how the Protagonist mutually supports all the people she considers her friends, it wasn't unnatural for her to cheer for him.
After all, if she cheered for Austin then she came to stop him as well, when Austin was going out of control.
Parkinson lost his cool mid-battle and swore to kill him…and that was extremely helpful for Austin.
'You have dug the perfect hole for yourself, Parkinson…now I just need to give a slight push, and you are out of the game.'
—-------**-------
A/N:- Thanks for reading. Drop a comment and add a review. People have stopped saving the book!!!