Re-opening his eyes, Astaroth was still standing before Kloud, whose eyes were in the back of his head, unconscious. Before pulling his hand out of his chest, Astaroth looked around to find Aberon.
The old man stood a few feet back, his staff still in hand, looking unsure. But seeing Astaroth's head turn, he twitched.
But once they made eye contact, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Seems you are still you, young Astaroth."
"Yes. The demon is also gone. But now we have another issue. My hand is still inside Kloud, and I'm unsure what organs I pierced. He's unconscious, for now, but I don't know how long he'll live when I pull out my hand."
Aberon rushed to his side, understanding the gravity of the situation.
"What stupid idea was it to shove your hand inside his chest, then?"
He knocked his staff lightly on Astaroth's head in punishment.
"It was the fastest way to contact Kloud's soul. That's how I could wrest control from the demon."
Aberon grumbled. His mana reserves were very low, and now he had to perform the type of magic he never improved in, healing magic.
"I'll do my best to make sure he comes out alive," the old man uttered.
Seeing the old man focus intensely, Astaroth got ready to pull his hand out. A few seconds went by, Aberon not saying a thing.
Flickering particles of mana started appearing all around them, yellowish-white, looking like fireflies on a hot summer day.
A few more moments went by before Aberon opened his eyes again. His eyes were slightly glowing in a greenish hue.
"I'm ready."
Astaroth nodded his head, pulling out his hand swiftly, and holding on to Kloud's body as he brought it to the ground delicately. Luckily for him, his hand hadn't pierced all the way through, and the blood that leaked out stayed contained to his midsection.
The firefly-looking mana in the air was already rushing to the wound, as Aberon guided it with his hand and staff, his eyes squinting. Big beads of sweat were already pearling off the old man's forehead.
Astaroth looked at the wound with worry until it eventually started healing up.
The surrounding blood receded into Kloud, leaving only slight stains on the man's clothes, before the flesh slowly reformed on the open wound. In a matter of seconds, the exterior wound was fully healed.
But Aberon didn't lose focus. His mind was already looking inward, inside Kloud's stomach, where he still needed to restore the damaged organs.
Luckily for both Kloud and Astaroth, the latter's strike had hit a space in between organs. It had only hit the top of the stomach, as well as the bottom of the liver, dealing only superficial damage.
Of course, if left untreated, those wounds were still mortal. But they were not an immediate threat.
Given Aberon was already healing them, they wouldn't cause future issues.
It took an entire minute for Aberon to heave a sigh of relief and drop his concentration. Once he did, his shaky legs buckled under him, prompting him to fall to his ass.
The old man chuckled at the weakness.
"I haven't been so close to fainting in ages, young man. You had to make me use the one magic type that I have the worst affinity for."
Astaroth chuckled before apologizing.
"I'm sorry, master Aberon. If I could heal as well, I would have. Unfortunately, I have yet to learn any spell or skill to help on that front."
Aberon waved his hand dismissively.
"Bah. It matters no longer. All that matters now is to monitor Kloud's recovery. We can only hope that the demon did not damage his mind permanently."
Astaroth nodded slowly.
He was about to ask what had happened again, but remembered Violette and Phoenix had asked him to contact them. Phoenix's message, especially, seemed to be urgent.
Calling her with the in-game chat, Astaroth waited for her to pick up.
Aberon felt the mana around Astaroth's head suddenly extend outward rapidly.
'He's learned telepathy? Who taught him that?'
But he would have to wait until the young man had finished his conversation before asking. Disturbing a telepathic conversation was ill-advised.
Little did he know, the adverse effects of a normal telepathic conversation did not apply to the players, as their bodies came naturally resistant to them. It was a characteristic the bodies of these abnormals all shared.
After a few moments, Phoenix finally answered the call.
'Astaroth! Finally, you called me back!'
'What's wrong? Is the Bastion under attack again?'
'The Bastion is fine. The issue lies elsewhere. Remember, Violette asked you to come back, because someone here had something to talk to you about?'
'Yes?'
'Well, he asked me to pass you a request. An urgent one.'
'I don't eve—'
'You are taking the request! The Ash Elf capital is under attack. It's a demon!'
Astaroth's face sank. He knew there were a few people in the kingdom's capital that could fight a demon.
But he doubted the king would send them out to fight it immediately. How many innocents would die before the king acted?
'Tell whoever asked for this that I'm going. I'll hang up now. I don't know how close I am to the capital.'
'Good luck, Astaroth. And be careful. I spoke to Khalor. He said dying to demons is the biggest way to get affected by their corruption.'
'Alright. I'll call back once I'm done.'
Hanging up the call, Astaroth turned to Aberon with a grave face.
"Aberon. I know I wanted to ask many questions, and so did you. But I need to leave right now. Can you tell me in which direction the capital is?"
Aberon looked confused for a moment, but still pointed North-East.
"It's that way. But we are deep inside the forest. Getting there, even if you forgo your security, will take you days…"
Astaroth looked in the direction the old man pointed, and leaned down. He had already stopped listening.
"I'll come back as soon as I'm done over there. I can't stay here any longer, for now."
Melding with Luna again, Astaroth launched upward, using sky steps to reach the high ceiling of the cave. Once there, he rapidly grabbed a root, suddenly getting sucked in.
Aberon looked on in a stupor, seeing the young man disappear into the root, as if he had teleported. He could already feel his aura getting away at an unnatural speed.
'Another new ability. Just how much has he grown?'
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