I woke up with a slight ringing in my ears, the white ceiling staring back at me as if it were the most normal thing in the world. At least it wasn't padded. That was something. I moved slowly, testing my joints. Slight pain, a strange weight on my shoulder... but my hand was still there. Whole. Functional.
I sighed. Fantasy world, right? Here, they say, even if you just turn into a head, they'll find a way to plant your body again as if it were a magic potato. Or a cucumber, I don't know.
I heard a light snore. I turned my face and saw her: Mika. She was asleep, sitting on a chair, half curled up, her hair messy from the uncomfortable position. One of her arms fell to her side, the other rested on her lap. She was there, by my side, like a faithful puppy waiting for its owner to wake up.
My throat was dry and my stomach rumbled. On the opposite wall, sunlight streamed through a window and illuminated a tray on wheels - those mobile hospital tables. Breakfast. Or something that looked like it.
I stretched out and picked up the tray. Vegetables with indecisive shapes, some pieces that resembled meat, and a greenish porridge that I didn't want to identify. I ate it all. Because, after all, hunger is a powerful spice.
As I chewed, I looked at Mika again. What was she doing there? Was she just waiting for me to wake up to collect the debts? Maybe she wanted to make sure that if I died, she'd be the first to catch my stigmata. Or maybe...
Oh, that's right. The wolf cores. The mana cannonballs, as the healer called them. They must have collected everything after the fight. And my share must be included too, right? Crystals... or stigmata, if I'm lucky.
I hope no one "forgot" about it while I was unconscious.
But you know what? If Mika's been here all night... maybe she's on my side for other reasons.
Just maybe.
As a thousand thoughts ran through my head, a slight noise coming from the direction where Mika was suddenly snapped me out of my reverie.
Mika yawned, stretching like a kitten that had just woken up from a too-good nap. When he opened his eyes, our gazes met. We stood there, locked in each other's eyes for a couple of silent seconds... until I saw moisture starting to collect in the corner of her eyes.
I was confused. Very confused.
"Éééé..."
Before I could say anything, Mika threw herself on my shoulder, burying her face in the fabric of my clothes. And started crying.
I froze for a moment. I literally didn't know what to do. But then I remembered something the old man used to say: "Affection calms girls, son. Just gently pat them on the head and they'll be fine."
So that's what I did. I stroked her head, my fingers sliding between the messy strands, while she sobbed:
"When..." I sobbed. "...hand, I was afraid..." sob. "...you fell, then..." sob. "...I laughed, I was worried..." sob. "...then Leah healed..." sob. "...and you died!"
I stood there, listening to everything with a certain mental delay. My brain trying to put the pieces together.
Ah... so she was worried about me.
I was silent for a while. I looked at my hand - well, it was there. Whole. Not the original, of course. But a new one, firm, with all the fingers in place. No pain. No marks. Healed. With "body control", probably. And purple... or black, since they managed to regenerate an entire limb from someone else.
And if Mika said "Leah healed herself"... then that colored girl must have used her own mana - or maybe more than that.
Donated her own arm? That's crazy. And at the same time... what a gesture.
I'll have to thank her. Even if I'm not sure how.
But now it wasn't about Leah. It was about Mika. Whose face was wet with tears on my shoulder, trembling slightly.
And even though I still didn't know everything that had happened... one thing was clear:
She stayed. By my side. Until the end.
"Mika..." I called softly. "Calm down. I've come back to life, everything's fine now. And... I don't want to die anymore."
My voice sounded firmer than I expected, but maybe that was what she needed. I stood there, waiting, carefully stroking her hair until the flow of tears slowed down. She sniffled, let out a shaky sigh and... then seemed to realize where she was. And with whom.
Her eyes widened, and in a fit of embarrassment, she choked on her own tears, took a step back and, in one clumsy movement, ran to the door.
"Give up for now and recover!" she shouted, without looking at me, before disappearing down the corridor.
I stared at the door for a few seconds, a little lost. Then I let out a sigh, sank back onto the bed and muttered:
"Yes, yes, tell me to shut up and rest... typical"
I rolled my eyes with a half-smile, but I obeyed. I mean, in parts. I stayed in bed just long enough to do an internal check-up. "Body Control" gave me the full reading: the muscles in my legs were burned from the inside, fibers still regenerating. Okay, maybe sending fire mana to the limbs during hand-to-hand combat was... too bold.
I reconfigured the muscle fibers, adjusting the microstructures one by one, restoring everything to its original state. I got out of bed, moved my toes, took a few steps. Perfect. Functional body again.
I approached the mirror on the wall and pulled up my shirt sleeve to look at the runic tattoo on my arm. The hexagons had multiplied. Several new marks glowed in different shades, organized with almost artistic precision. I assessed each one, identifying the elements:
Attributes:
Power: OrangeDexterity: YellowStamina: Yellow-greenReasoning: YellowMagic: White (level 1)
Skills:
Body Control: Blue-greenMana Breath: BlueConcentration/Focus: GreenAbsolute Dissection: YellowSword Mastery: YellowHand-to-hand combat: OrangeThrowing: WhiteArchery: Red
I also noticed a new detail: three of the skills - Breath, Focus and Cut - were now connected by thin runic lines, forming a perfect triangle.
Synergy.
I stood there, looking at the glowing triangle for a few moments, as if the mark was telling me that something inside me had changed. Evolved. It wasn't just a set of skills - it was a style, a solid foundation for what I was becoming.
I smiled, slightly. The world almost killed me.
But I came back stronger.
My efforts, coupled with the knowledge I had inherited from my mother's book on Feng Shui, were finally bearing fruit! "Breath inhaled the mana of darkness. I needed to see if it would do any harm to my body. I dipped my finger into the dark mana and, to my surprise, nothing bad happened. I then channeled the mana throughout my body. My vision became black and white, but clearly detailed. In this altered perception, my hand seemed to be engulfed in black flames, burning and drenched in dark mana.