"Ouch! It hurts!"
Rex woke up the next day to a severe headache.
He could not even open his eyes as the headache felt so biting like a thousand needles were poking at his brain. He could not concentrate at all, the only sound that filled his head was that of his living sword.
"Shing!" "Shing!" "Shing!"
"Quiet already!"
"SHING!!!"
"Ok, I give up, which deal are you referring to".
"Shing!"
"…" Rex was left speechless.
"All this pain and noise in my head is just because I failed in fulfilling my promise of feeding you martial arts daily yesterday?"
"Shing!"
"…"
Rex felt indignant. "What of the fierce battle that you got to participate in alongside me against the mystic beast, that doesn't count as anything?"
"Shing!"
"F*ck, that's cheating!"
"Shing!" "Shing!"
"Ok, ok, I'll go feed you now before you cut my head off".
While feeling indignant about the disturbance, Rex tried to get up from the hospital bed and to his surprise, he felt no pain as he was able to sit up easily.
"Huh?" He chuckled in confusion. "What voodoo is this?"
He still vividly remembered his battle against the huge mystic beast pig. Though he won in the end, he suffered, even suffering broken bones and it was weird for him to have healed so fast.
This remained true despite the advanced medical methods of this era.
Puzzled, Rex could only associate this with his mystic energy and his specialness. Awakening mystic energy did not just grant manipulation over the energy, it also increased the physique and basic attributes of its wielders.
Though Rex attributed this anomaly to his mystic energy, he still had doubts since he had already seen numerous other mystic warriors.
He didn't have the luxury to think too much about it though, his living sword was hungry and he needed to feed it.
"F*ck!" He felt even more scammed. "Why does this feel so much like a mother breastfeeding her baby?"
As he cursed, a knock was heard on the door.
Knock! Knock!
Rex froze. "Come in".
A nurse dressed in blue hospital attire poked a head in, presenting her brightest smile to the injured mystic warrior. "Is everything ok?"
Rex coughed. "Yes, um, I mean, see, nothing's wrong". Rex smiled back at her. "Don't worry, everything is absolutely fine".
"Ok…" The nurse dragged her reply before waving and leaving. "Refrain from doing anything dangerous, your body still needs to heal".
"Roger that, nurse!"
The nurse smiled and left.
"Phew! Time to go feed this nagging living sword".
"Shing!"
"Ok, you're not nagging, I'm the nagging one".
It felt weird living with a living sword, even more so when it lived inside your head but Rex was slowly getting the hang over living this way.
He pulled his living sword out before going outside to the hospital grass field.
He took deep breaths before starting his daily sword practice routine.
…
Knock! Knock!
"Come in". A familiar vibrant voice answered.
Cassandra took that as her cue as she pushed the door open and entered the hospital room. In there, she saw Ben who at this moment was being attended to by one of the nutritionists and recovery nurses.
The only problem was that the nurse was not the only one here. 5 girls of different shapes and complexions were currently inside, flocking around the hospital bed.
"Ben, do you know how scared I felt when I heard the news?"
"I'm so glad that you are ok". Another one chipped in.
"Eat your food first Ben, you need to recover your strength".
"Hehe". Ben laughed heartily while chomping on an apple fruit. "It's nothing, I completely thrashed the mystic beast".
"This…" He pointed at his bandaged abdomen and waved his hand nonchalantly. "This is just a surface scratch, nothing more, no need to be afraid".
"Don't you know me? I'm superman!"
Ben turned to face the nurse. "I find it a pity that I'll have to be discharged today, leaving all this free food behind leaves me feeling a little guilty".
"You know, I still feel some pains in my abdomen, can I not just stay a day further with you here? I'm pretty sure you need the company of a great and jovial guy like me to prevent your work from becoming boring".
The nurse smiled. "Mr. Ben, the decision belongs to the lead Doctor".
"Oh! What a boring guy he is then".
All the girls chuckled at that lame joke, finding it extremely funny.
"Um, it seems I am intruding". Cassandra who found herself isolated and ignored after she entered the room could not help but interject.
This was when everyone in the room turned to look at the newcomer who had just come, and Ben was pretty surprised.
"Oh, Cassandra, I didn't know it was you".
"Finally! You're here, cheer up girl, we paid Mr. Butcher his money". Ben grinned as he expected some praise, he even added some appetizers. "You know, I ripped the mystic beast to shreds with my bare hands".
Cassandra laughed. "That's really awesome, congratulations!"
"Thanks". Ben grinned.
"I'm really relieved that you're finally feeling better, but do you happen to know which room Rex is in?"
"The room opposite this one". The nurse answered and once Cassandra thanked her, she directed one last glance at all the unfamiliar girls that were in the hospital room before leaving.
…
Knock! Knock!
"Rex! Are you in there?"
Cassandra knocked some more before she pushed the door open. On peeping in, she was not surprised to not see Rex inside. It was between 6:00 am to 7 am now, this was Rex's daily martial art training time.
The only problem she had with this diligence was that he was freaking injured. She felt annoyed already at the stupid antics of her friend.
Puffing in anger, she stormed outside.
"REX!"
"Holy!" Rex tripped mid-motion of practicing his hazy steps technique.
"What are you doing?"
"Haha". Rex smiled. "As you can see, I'm practicing".
Cassandra did not answer that, she simply started storming closer in his direction. The closer she got; the more dread Rex felt.
Cassandra got close and picked him by his ears.
"Do you know you're injured?"
"Ouch! It hurts!"
"Answer me!"
"Yes, I'm injured, sorry".
"Don't tell me sorry, I don't need it, it's your health, it's your body".
A frustrated Cassandra released her friend's ears as she glared at him. Daily sword practice was not bad, but doing it too much was bad.
At times, Cassandra wished that Rex could change but when she imagined Rex turning into someone like Ben, she could only shudder in dread and reverse her wish. Life was really such a weird phenomenon with infinite facets and personalities.
While she glared at him, this was when she saw the sword. Her curiosity was aroused immediately as she directed a suspicious glance at Rex.
"When did you get that, I don't remember you ever having that?"
Feeling her intense gaze, Rex coughed. "It's not what you think".
"I really do hope so, now tell me".
"Later, please".
"Ok".
With that, the 2 friends finally went back inside the hospital. Though Rex failed the promise of getting back home before 6:30 pm, Cassandra still prepared his best food to compliment his efforts.
Cassandra really knew him best. After taking the first bite, Rex transformed into a glutton as he finished the food to the very last bite.
It took about an hour more before the Doctor finally came to visit them. After they underwent some routine checkups, they were discharged.
The 3 friends left the hospital together, Ben's girlfriends left a while ago.