Chapter 222: Waking Up
Jenni awoke to the sound of her own groans. Without noticing anything in her surroundings, she jerked upright and vomited whatever was brewing inside her stomach. A foul, acidic stench filled her taste buds as she coughed multiple times.
"Those wretched mushrooms," she muttered. Her entire body groaned with impaling anguish, even under the duress of minute movements like that. Cautiously, she lay down again, clenching her teeth.
At least she wasn't cold anymore, and even the bed was softer, cushioned, and... it appeared she was in a small tent.
"Those two imbeciles aren't that bad, then," she thought out loud to her misery.
To be honest, she couldn't even recognise those two fellows, but she remembered them bickering about her dimension cube, even when she was sprawled on the cold earth, literally half dead. Well, it was to be expected; a dimension cube was essentially worth the entire fortune of dozens of common soldiers like them. Not everyone could have a Master Runesmith for a father, or be an Adept on their own.
She lamented on that thought, her weakness imbuing her with a sick feeling.
Then the flap of the tent flipped open, and in came a familiar face. "Good, you're awake." Even in the dim light of the bonfire outside, she hadn't mistaken Captain Agnes's face. "You had us worried for some time. It has been over half a day since I found you."
"Captain Agnes," Jenni could only say, unsure how to greet the woman. She then noticed another person peeking from behind. She couldn't recognise him in the dim light, but he looked like a robust figure of a man. "What happened?"
"You know, I should be asking you that question," Agnes said. She entered the small tent and sat to her left, where she had vomited not long ago. Jenni jerked to tell her, but Agnes shushed her. "Don't move..." A dark, chilling energy rose from Captain Agnes's body and disintegrated the disgusting vomit into nothing. "So, how are you feeling?"
"Cold and feeble," she paused, noticing the other man entering the tent as well. She tried to narrow her eyes at his face, which seemed obnoxiously hard to discern in the dimming light. But she thought he resembled a figure she knew. "Warden?"
The man said nothing and placed his palm over her forehead. It was warm, the touch soft, but Jenni wasn't about to let some foreign man touch her like that.
"Hey," she began complaining, but then a soothing golden light flowed from the man's palm and spread throughout her whole body, driving away the icy burning feeling in her channels. A healer? So, not the young sadistic Master Runesmith then.
"How did you fall into that stream? I reckon it wasn't out of curiosity?"
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Jenni was still assessing the foreign man when she heard the question. "I fell off the cliff," she said. The warm power still surged within her, making her all sweaty, yet it had a reassuring feeling against the chilling cold. "There was a fight, with trolls, goblins, orcs, and a huge wolfish creature.
I hid for the most part, but when I decided to run, a monstrous tree was shot at my back and threw me off the cliff. Well, that's how I remember it.
"I thought I was going to die when the dark, chilling water gripped me. I did my best to swim my way out. But by then, the cold essence had infected my system completely... Thank the silent gods that I somehow managed to open my dimension cube and brought out a nasty fire-attributed mushroom... wait do you have my dimension cube?
I mean all my wealth was inside, not to mention the cube itself worth a small fortune. Thank god, you found me."
Without waiting for an answer, she continued, knowing she was a problem of going into a spiral when she talked at length. "Regardless, the mushrooms, disgusting and inedible may they be, probably delayed my downfall to some degree. I wasn't conscious for a long while, mostly in and out... But I do remember seeing the silhouette of a couple of fellows... What happened after?"
"She found them carrying you, and brought you here, and we did the best treatment we could," the man said. "Your luck wasn't half bad that she found you. Nobody else than her would have had a good time draining those dark essences out of your system."
"If my luck wasn't bad, I wouldn't have fallen into the stream," Jenni muttered.
"As long as you're alive," the man said, smiling as he retracted his palm from her forehead. "Don't worry about losing some attribute points; you can regain them in due time... Now try to relax and rest, you'll be alri—"
"Losing some attribute points?" Jenni reiterated. Instantly, she summoned her status page, and her eyes widened and became bloodshot.
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[Savant Scriber]
Race: Human
Title: Spirited.
Unlocked Aperture: [The Gate of Spirit (Wrist, Heart Vein)] [The Mind Palace (Back of the head)]
Bonded Artifact: Runic Pen of Oscillation (Epic)
Disposition: Lawful, Good.
Rank: Iron
Attributes:
[Strength: 84.4] | Efficiency: +25%
[Dexterity: 91.3] | Efficiency: +25%
[Perception: 119.4] | Efficiency: +50%
[Spirit: 82.2] | Efficiency: +50%
Abilities: [5/6]
[Imbuing: Iron 99%] [Spiritual Perception: Iron 99%] [Metallurgy: Iron 65%] [Enchanting: Iron 52%] [Runesmithing: Tier-3]
Boon:
. . .
_________
"Nooooo!" Jenni screamed and then let out a pained groan. All of her attributes had been close to the peak of the Iron grade, 150 points, yet now, she had lost so many points. "Spirit is like half of what it was before... It will take me years to gain them back..."
She wailed, and both people in the tent looked awkward about how to encourage her. "At least, you haven't lost a rank," the man said, trying to help. "Happens to the best of us."
Jenni glared at him. She knew her anger was unfounded; the unknown man had helped in her healing. But she couldn't help it, not after her years of accomplishment and hard work were written off just like that.