James woke a little while later to gentle hands moving along his chest and stomach. James let out a moan. His eyes fluttered open to see someone new. With a start, he tried to sit up.

The young woman who was tending to his dressings laughed. "Expecting someone else?" she asked knowingly.

"You startled me. You must be the healer?" James recovered. He noticed that Jones and Veronika were in the room as well, but Rocko was absent.

"Glad to see that the poison didn't dull your powers of deduction," the healer sassed. "Your wound is healing better now that you are awake. The necrotic element of the poison is almost gone now, and soon we will be able to use some actual healing to repair the physical damage."

James made the mistake of looking at the wound. Almost a quarter of his stomach and side were missing. "Jesus Christ!"

"Easy now," the healer tried to reassure him, placing a hand on his shoulder. James kept struggling, sitting up and looking at the wound more.

"Help me hold him down. He will open up the wounds again." the healer instructed the others. Veronika came over the bed and put a hand on James' shoulder, using her weight to hold him down and her breasts to distract him. The real champion of the cause was Mr. Jones, who just put a hand on James' chest and pinned him with ease. "Stay calm," he said calmly.

"Easy for you to say. Most of my guts are gone," James yelled.

"This is temporary," the healer reassured him again, her voice calm. "Once the Necrotic poison is gone, I can use magic to repair all this damage in moments. I can't do it now because the necrotic poison prevents most healing. Please rest easy."

By this point, the distraction of breasts in front of James' face was starting to work and not being able to fight against Mr. Jones sapped his strength. With a grunt, he lay still.

"Thank you. There should be no pain. I numbed the whole area. You should be healed by this time tomorrow." Again the healer's voice was calm and reassuring. James wasn't sure if she was using some charm on him, but he had to admit, he did feel calmed and reassured.

"Thank you. Sorry about that. Not used to seeing my guts." James apologized.

"No need to apologize. I should have covered up your wound when you awoke. I am not used to dealing with your race." She began busying herself with packing the wound with fresh dressing and then wrapping the wound tightly. The smell of spoiled meat was almost gone, and he was glad he felt no pain.

"Can we open a window for some fresh air?" James asked.

"Of course," Veronika said, nodding her head to Mr. Jones, who then walked over to a window and opened it. The breeze moved the curtain away, and a ray of sunlight showed into the room.

"I will be back tomorrow to complete the healing. Until then, get some more sleep, drink plenty of fluids and avoid alcohol." It amused James that Veronika nodded her head to the healer's instructions.

With Mr. Jones and the healer gone, Veronika sat next to James on the bed, her hand lingered on his shoulder. "You are looking better, James," she stated demurely.

"I have you and your father to thank for that," James responded cautiously. He liked Veronika. She was a gorgeous woman. She was also the daughter of a Grandmaster of an Assassins guild. Perhaps she was an assassin herself?

"I can't help but wonder what you plan to do next?" she asked. She was certainly not a master spy, as her skills in subtlety were non-existent.

"I need to finish my mission," James explained.

"Oh."

James thought for a few moments. He had not considered advising Veronika that he was a Champion. It was bad enough that her father knew. Making her aware of his secret put the mission in jeopardy. Mission integrity was always important when you were out of the wire. You didn't know who to trust or who would betray you. James did not want to lie to her and damage any chance he had at a relationship. James paused in thought for a moment. Was he considering having a relationship with someone? It had been years since he had been married, and having a relationship in this world was ludicrous. Especially considering he may not survive the next nine months. And if he did survive the Challenge, what would happen to him then?

"I don't wish to lie to you, but I have secrets I can't share," James said.

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Veronika leaned back and folded her hands on her lap, "I understand that all too well. As much as I like you, there are secrets I have as well."

James gave her a nod, "Then you understand. Please understand that my secrets are not dangerous to you. Only to me."

Still, Veronika nodded, "I hope you can trust me enough to share them one day."

James groaned, "That's not fair. It is not about trust. It is about secrets being kept secrets for a reason."

Veronika smiled, "I understand." She moved to the end of the bed and got up. "Rest well, James."

James watched her as she walked out of the room.

"Wow," Rocko said from the bedside table near James, "She could give lessons to my second wife. Now she was a manipulative little..."

James interrupted him before completing his sentence, "Good to see you too, Rocko."

Rocko looked over at James and smiled, "A good day to be alive."

----------------------------------------

The next day, James woke up early and had Mr. Jones help him use the chamber pot. He also found out that Mr. Jones preferred to be called Jones. James had tried to use the chamber pot on his own once before but failed miserably. Since then, he had Jones help each time. Fortunately, his body was not producing much waste. His food was mostly broth, some bread and water. His need for help was due mainly to the fact that he was missing a large chunk of his side. Those side muscles were not weak: they were gone. The bandages did a good job concealing the loss, but he felt the loss when he tried to move and couldn't. At least Jones was a good sport about it.

By the time noon arrived, the healer was back and was removing the dressing. Veronika was there, along with Jones and the guild master. The guild master was pleased to chat with James about his recovery, but Veronika gave him the cold shoulder.

The healer looked the wound over and sprinkled some powder on the wound. Again, James felt nothing, but he made a point of staring at the ceiling. It had weird patterns he had never noticed before.

"I can detect no more necrotic poison in the wound. I can now reactivate your natural healing process and start healing the wound," the healer stated. James nodded his head but kept his focus on the ceiling.

"I will need you to drink this potion. It will suppress your Magic Resistance for a long enough for me to do most of the healing. Be warned that the numbing will wear off once the healing starts. When the numbing is gone, the pain will return. Please remain as still as you can." the healer turned to Jones and nodded. Jones walked over beside the bed and smiled at James.

The pain started as an ache as the numbing started to wear off. A burning sensation started in his gut and seemed to burn hotter and hotter. The discomfort went through his body in waves. He was aware enough to accept the Resistance - Pain Skill notification when it was offered. His Resistance - Poison Skill had levelled up twice more since yesterday. James had been shot and stabbed before, even blown up once or twice. But this pain was like nothing he had ever experienced before. Unfortunately, James remained conscious for the entire experience. Eventually, the pain subsided to a point where he could breathe without screaming. Sweat covered his body, and his throat was sore. Suddenly, the pain was gone, leaving his body trembling with the aftershocks.

Jones stood up and helped the healer to her feet. She was a little shaky from mana depletion, "I have healed you to the best that I can offer. The potion helped, but your magic resistance required me to use more magic than I should have otherwise. I am sorry for the level of pain. I did not have enough mana to reduce the pain and heal the damage. Again, I am sorry."

"Would a Potion of Healing worked better?" Veronika asked.

"No. A Potion of Healing is only Tier 1. The healing required for this level of damage was Tier 3. I would have loved to have had a Tier 3 healing potion, but those are very rare and expensive," the healer explained.

James was breathing heavily, but the trembling finally stopped. The pain was gone, and that was a true blessing. Looking to the healer, he smiled, "Thank you. I'v felt worse." It was a lie, a show of machismo, and also said to help alleviate the healer's guilt.

Jones escorted the healer out of the room, and Veronika took her place next to the bed. She wiped the sweat from his brow and chest using a damp cloth, "That must not have been pleasant. I am sorry you had to go through that."

"Indeed," the guild master agreed, "Almost makes me wish I could kill Master Rupert again."

James chuckled at that, although he was sure the guild master was serious. "I am glad to have that behind me. Now I can move forward without having to worry about the poison."

"Speaking of moving forward," the guild master started. Veronika frowned darkly but continued to wash off James. "I understand that Veronika was trying to guilt you into revealing your secrets."

Veronika stood up quickly and turned to her father, "Father, I was not!"

"Oh, sweetheart. Of course, you were. You do it to me all the time, trying to learn secrets that are not yours to know." he said gently.

"If two people care about each other, they should not have secrets between them," she stated.

"Do you care about each other?" the guild master asked.

Both James and Veronika looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak.

"Didn't you say that you had secrets you could not share with me?" James asked her.

"That is different. Those are not my secrets." She clarified.

"Bullshit," her father responded. "Everyone has secrets. It is up to them to decide if they wish to share them with you. Some secrets are just none of your business. I can think of at least four secrets you have, Veronica, that you would not wish to share with James until you were sure he would not judge you harshly. And as for your James, I know of two of your secrets you would not want to share with Veronika for the same reasons." The old man rebuked.

"Aren't we a knower of secrets," Veronika pouted.

"Yes, I am. You two need to spend some time getting to know each other. Now, I have some business to which I must attend. I will see you both at dinner." With that, he turned and walked out of the room.

When her father left, Veronica sat back down on the edge of the bed with a grin and picked up the damp cloth.

"What?" James asked.

"I have more secrets than you do," she said mischievously.

James laughed.