I wake at some point past daylight. Or what I assume was daylight. The storm-shrouded sky made it hard to tell sometimes. There was a strange ache in my back. I sit up and notice a bit of blood staining the white sheets where I had been laying on the bunk that the cultists had left behind in a side room of the basement. Had there been a knife hidden in the sheets or something? And there was the feeling of hair on my tongue. Had Shadow climbed into bed with me? That’s usually the culprit for that.

I push myself off the bed, fetch my clothes and Shard; sitting on top of the pile of my torn and tattered hoodie.

I should probably do something about this...I wonder if Seth has any clothes I could use. They’d probably be too small, but it’d be something other than the tattered clothes I wore now...no, that’d be too rude. I already drank most of his beers and tore through the snacks he had in his kitchen. I’ll search the cove for any extra clothing that might fit. There were some pretty big satyrs there, right? And they mostly wore clothes. For now, I slip on my tattered hoodie and form the shard over my wrist. Perhaps I should take a shower. Haven’t really had one in ages, and I was beginning to be able to smell it wafting off of me.

I push open the door and take the stairs up to the main house; passing Shadow who slumbered on the staircase beside me. Jenna’s at one of the sinks, taking a drink of water.

“How’s the head?” She asks as she takes a long drink.

“Better than expected,” I answer. “Do you happen to know where the restroom is? I want to take a shower.”

“Up the stairs and to the right.” She answered, “Ah, right, before I forget, Nyt brought you a bundle of clothes she thought might fit you. She said that yours were in bad shape.”

She bent down and handed me a plastic bag full of clothing. Blue, gray, and white cloths that look much like the robes that Fen wore.

“Where is she?” I ask, “I want to thank her.”

“She and Dylan went back to the cove.” She took another drink as she leaned against the edge of the sink, “So, how was it?”

“What? The video? It was okay.”

“No, I mean…” She snickers.

“What?”

“Never mind, enjoy your shower.”

I nod awkwardly and proceed up the stairs into the restroom. Once the door is closed and locked, I remove my hoodie, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Taken aback by a second I look again. My hair is thicker than it was when all this started, and no longer resembled thin strands of rotting grass. Instead, it began to take more of the natural curl that I had a long, long time ago. I had already felt the inklings of it, but a small beard had begun to grow. I run my fingers through the short hairs. I look up to my eye; forcing the left lids open, and grimace. Where had I put that eye patch?

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Instead of the usual overhang of my stomach over my waist, it’s remarkably flat. Beneath the hair, I could see the beginning of the ridges of muscle beginning to peek through what fat remained. My hair was also thicker in place than I had seen it last. I turned to the left to view my side profile to see if what I was seeing was something my mind was conjuring, or if I was seeing things correctly.

On my left arm, staring from my elbow, and stretching to half of the back of my forearm, and up the side of my triceps, there was a black pattern like the curling of smoke emerging from a central black spot. Was this the result of the contract I made with Igni? Interesting. I turn to my right and wince. Wrapped around the middle of my forearm was a pair of scars. I twist my arm and look down. Sure enough, though barely visible over the pale skin of the underside of my arm, the scars nearly perfectly cut through my entire arm; stopping a little before they connect. There’s still a bit of residual pain whenever I try to clench my fist. One scar of many. I trace my fingers over the scar still visible on my thigh. Though the pain no longer remained, I still refused to heal it completely.

I finish taking off my clothes and step into the shower. I take my time. It had been ages since I last took one. The hot water rolling off my shoulders eases the countless tense knots in my muscles. The grime, dried blood, and mud wash away in dirty rivulets that spun down the drain. I take my time, and once I’m finished, I contemplate shaving the burgeoning beard...nah. I’ve never really grown a beard before, but why not?

I dry off and then step out. The robes were a bit tricky to put on, but I managed to get them on just right. When the light caught the folds of the cloth, it glimmered slightly. Interesting. They came with a pair of slip-on black boots. They fit comfortably. Too bad they’d be destroyed the first time I used Lightning Step. I wonder if there are any other movement-based abilities I could learn that wouldn’t utterly destroy my shoes whenever I used them. I’ll look for one next time I level up. They were even kind enough to include a small bit of cloth; the same dark blue color as the robes, to go over my eye. I wrap it around my head a couple of times and look back into the mirror. Not half bad, Lawrence.

Now, there’s something I have to do. I have to get back into Efra to search for Monica. It was going to be long, and would probably take the whole day; that’s why I wanted to rest before attempting it. Sitting still for the period it would take me to reach that city from the cove in the Land of the Giants would probably take hours, and it would drive me crazy if I had to do it right away after recovering and would drive me even more crazy if I failed to find anything about her.

The stairs creak as I walk down them. Jenna waits by the sink.

“Are you heading back to the cove?”

I nod.

“Good. I asked Laura if I could borrow some clothes, both for me and Dylan.”

“Okay…” how else was I supposed to respond?

“Well, I don’t have a way back in.” She said, “Seth is busy with the construction of the temporary temples, that fox thing is carving something, and Nyt took Dylan and Clio back to the cove, but hasn’t come back yet.”

“Why not?”

At that Jenna just snickers.

“So anyways, can I walk back with you?”

“I don’t mind,” I answer, and so we head back to the cove. She carried with her a baggie of clothing items and some food.

As we step out of the door, a black cloud of gnats, biting flies, bees, and a whole host of other flying insects fall upon us from the overhang of the alcove in a swirling swarm. This isn’t natural. I grab Jenna’s shoulder and pull her close to me as I cast Gust.

The raw wind mana, unaccompanied by a medium, threatens to rip apart the channels of mana carved through my body through continuous use as it pushes through my skin and forms a dome of whipping wind. The flying insects get caught up in the howling floes. I step forward away from the door so that the winds wouldn’t batter the house, and as soon as I’m down the last steps off of the porch, all at once, the flying insects explode in a volley of light that staggers me. If it weren’t for the distance maintained due to Gust that could have ended really badly.

Before I even have a chance to process this, a gunshot rips through the shell of wind and slams into my shoulder.

“Get into the basement,” I tell Jenna. “Now!”