Arthur's Point of View

Dwardew

After being blown out of Tor’s portal, I remained in the sand on the outskirts of Dwardew. The dust settled, and it would seem everything had finally been settled. It was doubtful Thana would try to push much further. I was also hopeful that a little show of strength and confidence would dissuade her from any more invasions in the near future.

Unfortunately, all of this had a cost. “Guh.” I grunted out as my arms and legs kept falling off.

On top of the poison, which I could still feel in my body, Tor’s sudden ambush, and my run-in with Thana, I was not in the best condition. Plus, the help from the Sun while all being initiated by me as a last resort, probably wasn’t the best idea. My new limbs struggled to stay attached as I returned to my human form.

Blood soaked the sand as the entire nearby area was coated in my own personal crimson. Bursts of blood would come and go as I tried to forcibly keep the limbs connected. However, my eye was also struggling to reform, and my head felt breezier than I ever thought possible. Whether it was from the poison or the sun, I was also unsure.

Focusing all my energy on healing was difficult, but it was the best I could do. I could create a few Gravity Pillars to move. Although, many would likely be horrified seeing my body falling apart as blood dripped down on them from above. Without both eyes intact, it was no longer possible for me to create portals. That was unnerving, but the wounds were just harder to heal. They were recovering ever so slowly.

Not to mention my chest. Fucking Tor did a number on it, but Thana really fucked it up. There was a hole through my body with my heart struggling to regenerate. Whatever blood it was pumping was struggling to actually move through my body because of the situation with my arms and legs. That also made it impossible to talk, which meant I had a worried group of people heading right for me.

Elincia and Kheri were the first ones to approach. Both looked absolutely horrified. Naturally so. Even the Dwarves that were approaching could tell I wasn’t in the best condition. Both the Zugal and High Elf landed near me, but I gave them a glare to keep them at bay.

Elincia cried out, ‘Arthur!’ That seems to be all she does these days.

Not that I could hear her due to the brain damage and missing ear. Combine that with probably an impressive number of burns covering my body, including my other ear, there was no sound I could hear. That meant their scream of worry fell on deaf ears. Literally.

Putting up a Gravity Pillar to keep them away, both looked at me like I was crazy. Then again, they hadn’t seen the extent of my injuries. I was covered in so much blood, and I was near the point of healing completely, but every time I got to this point…

Again, feeling like my body is breaking down and exploding at certain parts, all my wounds reopened. Blood splattered across the area and across the two women. My arms fell off again as my legs started to slip off. The side of my face was coated in fresh blood as I felt it flow down my neck while my chest reopened. My heart was once again visible, or at least, what was left of it. Both women backed away from me as I essentially turned into a sudden blood bomb.

Both women pushed against my power as I glared at them with my one eye as blood poured from my mouth. Both began to pound their fists against my powers as I panted in an irregular manner. I imagine I sounded horrible as it felt like I could barely breathe. My body shuddered as it would start to shut down before I began pouring my energy into the wounds once more.

The Dwarves began to approach with several Druids. Many of which began to slow down at the sight of blood and the two women trying to reach me. After all, they weren’t getting close, and the spray from my blood was probably out dozens of feet from how violent it was. This was becoming tedious. At this point, I’d likely have to keep my energy output constant for quite some time for the wounds to completely heal. Keep my energy focused on those areas and hope for the best.

My gaze drifted to everyone who was now trying to get closer to me. Many looked at me with tears in their eyes, while others looked confused, conflicted, and upset, along with many other emotions. They should know better by now. Although, they weren’t the only ones concerned.

Thankfully, I’d had a week to recover, but the poison was still in my body. Since I was constantly battling against that, my energy output wasn’t full when Tor attacked. This attack will definitely set me back more than a week.

However, if I were to die this time, would that finally be the end? The Star Creature’s words rang in my mind. Finding happiness was one of the conditions to be free from all of this, but I still needed to solve the riddle she gave. Am I happy? A foolish question to ask as I sit here in my own blood. Although, there were things I cared about now. Would that prevent me from coming back to life?

Gritting my teeth as I realized it didn’t matter unless my energy completely vanished like last time. As long as I had even a flicker of my energy remaining, I wouldn’t need to worry. Coating myself entirely with my energy, which wasn’t low, but trying to continually heal these wounds would take a lot out of me. Especially depending on how long I had to keep it up. Thankfully, I could test it periodically on one of the wounds.

Putting my body back together as I stood almost forcibly, many backed away in shock at the sudden recovery. Unfortunately, all their cries immediately began to ring in my ears.

“Arthur!” Many shouted.

“Bunch of loud fuckers, aren’t you?”