The woman clicked her tongue and hissed before she fled. It seems that the kingdom hearing of this incident was the last thing she wanted to happen. As she vanished like smoke and only Arthur, pixie-head and tall guy were left.
"Let's leave as well," The girl said, and they began to move.
They took a cab and Arthur realized they weren't going in the direction of the hotel he resided at. When he asked, they said it would raise suspicion if he went back like this. The group headed into a mansion, one of many, in a district beside a hill that was for residential purposes.
The mansion was gigantic, its façade was so tall and wide that Arthur could line a couple of houses similar to his in it. It had ash green paint that was contrasted by the gray pillars attached to it. The group walked inside and Arthur's expectations of finding an elegant house were ruined. It was chaotic.
The foyer of the mansion, where a dusty chandelier hung from the ceiling, had many planters of carnation and herbs lying about. There was an armor, a few pans and cooking utensils, blankets, and a heap of clothing on the ground.
"Uhm, don't mind the mess." The pixie girl coughed in embarrassment as she looked away.
"It's your mess," The light-pink haired guy supporting Arthur muttered. When the girl glared at him, he shut his mouth and started blathering to Arthur. "Let's take you inside, you need to heal your wounds. Ah, watch your steps, I'll clean the mess afterward." And kept going until they entered a guest room to the side.
Arthur lied down on a black couch with a velvet texture. When he groaned, the guy apologized gently while reassuring him he would be okay. Compared to his wounds, Arthur found the way he treated him more unbearable. He talked too affectionately and sweetly.
"Our healer will be here shortly. We call him Uncle, but you can call him Vihan, or Vi, or anything you like. I doubt he'll care. He might be grumpy, but he's good at his job. He'll get you fixed up in no time."
"Uh, okay. What about you?"
"I'm the best at my job, dear junior! I can deceive anyone under the heavens! Not that I'm deceiving you now, dear junior." The guy was suddenly enthusiastic and pounded on his chest in an assuring manner.
"No, I just meant your name." Arthur could feel his energy, whatever that was left of it at least, leaving him as he dealt with this guy.
"Oh… Call me Reece. Your name is Arthur, right?" Arthur nodded and before Reece could keep on talking, the pixie-cut girl cut him off.
"We call him wuss since he's such a coward." She sat on the chair opposite Arthur and unspooled her legs in front of her.
"You're the only one who'd call me that, vermin!" Race, or Wuss, or whatever he was called dramatically stood up and pointed. However, it took but a scowl from the girl for him to shrink back.
"Go and call the drunken bastard, this guy needs to heal before tomorrow." She ordered and Reece threw a few more threats while backing away and leaving the room.
It was only Arthur and the girl now. She had taken off her gauntlets, making her appear less threatening. However, her sharp glare kept Arthur at bay.
"I'm Ivy," She curtly said. Arthur was about to introduce himself but she cut him off while pointing at him. "And you'd be Dumb Newbie."
"Huh?" Arthur frowned, but his lack of strength made his voice appear weak. Even at this moment as he lied on the couch, his body was aching, especially in his chest area.
"Don't huh me, newbie." She spat. "If not for us, you'd have been dead. Long since dead. We would have to bury you in the nearest cemetery."
"I could've managed on my own," Arthur said with the little strength he had. "I never asked for your help." He would have used his Restore rune and either used the Dragon's powers or his Legacy Rune again.
"And we didn't offer it either, Si asked us. He knew you'd get yourself into trouble. Si is always right, but I don't know if he's right about choosing you." Ivy seemed unfazed by Arthur's displeasure.
"I needed to do this," He said, remembering his legacy quest. If he doesn't complete it, his powers would be gone. What would he be then? The slightly stronger than average neo-awakener?
"Of course, you did, I would've killed you myself if you did it for fun." Ivy paused and added. "Doesn't make you stupid any less."
"I didn't think I'd be caught," Arthur protested. He still had no idea how he was caught, but he attributed it mostly to the Ender's ability.
"But you were, and how did that end up? What was your back-up plan? Your escape routes? Did you have any traps in-case someone followed you? Did you have any protection-artifacts on you? Did you have a diversion? A decoy? Nothing. You had nothing. And when things went south, you started running away as they beat you up. You're impulsive and overconfident, and you'll die because of that." She blustered in Arthur's face; her face slightly too agitated.
Arthur found himself unable to say anything except clutch his fists until his knuckled blenched. He wanted to thank them before she came in, but now he couldn't bring himself to it. He lost blood and he was injured that he couldn't think about her words.
Seeing him go silent, the girl snorted and left the room. At the same time, Reece and a thirty-something man with dark green hair and a stippled beard walked in. The frustration in Arthur's heart left his body with a sigh, as he was too weak for it right now. He looked at the man who came in with Reece, he had dark circles under his eyes and looked nothing that an awakener should look like. His beard, what had grown of it, was messy and his lips slightly parted to hold a lit cigarette.
"Sorry Arthur, something happened before with Ivy that made her say these things," Reece said referring to Ivy. Arthur kept his silence.
"Is this the shrimp? He's younger than I thought. Do I also need to change his diapers too? Nowadays, anyone that shits Vihan needs to do the wiping." The man, Vihan, was as grumpy as Reece had said, if not more. Reece just put it more nicely. Vihan threw his leathered suitcase on the table and opened it while grumbling.
Arthur, lying horizontally, decided it was best not to antagonize this man whose body reeked of alcohol. He watched as Vihan took out black canisters from his suitcase. The man then butted out his cigarette and sat beside Arthur on the table and held his wrist.
Waves of gentle mana percolated through him, looking for the location of his injury. They gathered in his chest before Vihan let go of his wrist and started opening a few canisters.
An herbal aroma spread through the room instantly. Arthur saw Vihan more focused than a meditating monk as he started mixing some liquids in certain ratios.
"Undress," Vihan ordered, and Arthur tried to sit up but his chest ached badly. He knew he couldn't take off his shirt like this. Seeing this, Vihan sighed and called out for Reece. "Help the boy,"
"I'll be gentle,"
Arthur shivered at Reece's gentle tone. For some reason, he also felt a slight shiver from Vihan.
"Man, you're still creeping me out with this personality."
"That's rude," Reece grumbled while taking off Arthur's shirt. After some painful twists and grimaces, Arthur was topless and Vihan started his treatment.
He dipped his fingers in the chemicals and started tracing them on Arthur's body. His fingertips were unusually cold and Arthur flinched when it touched his skin. Vihan complained about that as well.
"You're lucky that Si saw something in you, my treatments are never cheap."
His chest was now covered in chemicals and Vihan wiped away the chemicals from his hand while lighting another cigarette. He then hovered his hands above Arthur's bare chest by a few inches and green mana started descending from them.
They crashed into Arthur's body like hot lava, blending with the liquid, and seeping into his body. Arthur's screams reverberated throughout the house while Reece held him down. He was in so much pain that he almost passed out. He could hear his broken ribs mending themselves while his injured organs were burning as a prickling sensation overtook them.
It lasted for a few minutes before it stopped. When it ended, Arthur's consciousness faded as he had no strength left in him. He slept deeply that night.
***
Waking up from sleep came just as peaceful as his treatment had been torturous. When his eyelids parted, the first thought he had was how warm and cozy it felt. He stood up and realized there was no more pain. A blanket had warmed him throughout the night, probably Reace's doing. He flexed his body and marveled at how fast it healed.
"Well someone came back from the dead," Ivy walked on Arthur, topless. However, she didn't seem to care as she examined him from head to toe. Arthur picked up the new shirt, probably also Reace's doing, from the table and put it on.
"I wasn't dead," Arthur rebuked but continued before she could say anything. "Thanks to you guys," She seemed taken aback with his gratitude. "You were right, I was reckless."
"Ooh, it's good that you realized your mistakes, but your nickname stays unchanged. Sorry~" Despite her mean words, Ivy was grinning.
"However, Si could've sent you guys with me before I was caught." He noted, looking at Ivy blankly. "He wanted me to feel grateful for your help, for his help. He wanted me to feel helpless and then you'd come to my rescue," Arthur could see Ivy's expression freezing before a playful and sly smile was painted on her lips.
"The Dumb Newbie is not that dumb, it seems."
