CH 137

“Ugh! Ahh…”

What the hell is this? Why is there blood on my hands? What the hell is going on?

I was so upset by the sudden coughing up of blood that I couldn’t think straight, and various thoughts took over my mind.

“No, be calm… I have to think calmly.”

As I calmed myself down and examined my body, I found a strange feeling deep in my chest. There was no pain, but there was a strange heaviness.

“Deep in my chest…”

“—Normally, you can’t go on,” that’s what he said. The Death Dust is so thick that it kills you from inside your chest.

I remembered Borok-san’s words.

I slowly ruminated on those words in my head. Then I gather my thoughts, including other possibilities.

After all—

“There’s a good chance that it’s the adverse effects of death dust… most likely…”

But why now? …No, that’s fine. What matters is what do I do next.

There are many things I can do. The first thing to do is use [Holy Light]. It’s a healing spell, but I don’t think it’s the right one for this. Next is [Purification]. I was able to neutralize Death Dust with [Purification], but can I purify Death Dust inside my body?  No, before that, the white particles generated by [Purification] would be created inside my body, and I don’t know how they would affect my body, so I’m holding that off for now. Then there is the medicine that Lizzy had given me. I don’t know what that medicine is, so I’m putting it on hold for now. Well, there’s also…

“Holy Wind, I think…”

[Holy Wind] is magic that neutralizes abnormal conditions. Based on its effect, it would be suitable for my current state. There would be no problems even if I use it. There is no loss in trying it for this moment.

I’ve come to a conclusion. I took out the magic power from the depths of my stomach, circulated it within my body, and chanted the spell.

“Sacred wind, surround him. [Holy Wind]”

I put my right hand on my chest and activated [Holy Wind]. The magic power that gathered in my right hand flowed out, and the wind that came from my right hand gently enveloped my entire body, making my clothes and hair sway with a flutter. I took my time to use the magic, being aware that I was trying to heal my body.

After a few seconds, I felt the heaviness inside my lungs disappear.

“…am I cured?”

I didn’t have any obvious symptoms until I started coughing up blood, and it was hard to tell if I was cured or not in my current state. My chest feels better than it did a while ago, but… I’ll just have to wait and see.

After thinking about it, I lay on the bed and closed my eyes.

“So, are you ready?” (Borok)

As he said this, Borok-san held a wooden sword in his right hand. Looking at him, I also readied a wooden stick about 2 meters long.

When I woke up this morning, I stretched and checked my body, but I didn’t feel any discomfort. I wanted to believe that I was properly cured, but I couldn’t say for sure at this point.

While I was anxiously having my morning meal with Borok-san, he said to me,

――Would you like to try sparring?

So now we are at this moment.

“All right. I’m a monster… something shorter than you, so you’d better think of me as a goblin.” (Borok)

“Goblin?”

“That’s right. I’ll tell you the reason later.” (Borok)

With that said, Borok-san swung his sword.

Hmmm, it’s hard to think of him as a goblin… the height is the only thing similar? There is nothing else similar to both. The length of the limbs and the thickness of the are completely different.

“Ready, come on!” (Borok)

“I understand.”

The first thing I did was to take a step forward and thrust my stick. Then Borok-san lightly parried it with the wooden sword.

I knew this man was strong. His hair and beard were starting to turn gray. He may have already retired, but I could still feel the strength in his every movement.

“Here, what’s the matter? Come and get me.” (Borok)

“If it was against a goblin, it would have ended with that single thrust.”

“…Hmm, well, details later—your hands have stopped!” (Borok)

While saying that, he avoided the stab that I released as I stepped back.

I stabbed again, he deflected it, I avoided his downward swing, I thrust again and it was deflected. After clashing several times, the distance between the two of us increased.

“Hah!”

The next moment, Borok-san dives towards me and swings his wooden sword down from above. I thrust while avoiding it during a sidestep. The blow was thrust into the space on his side and it was flicked by his weapon, making a light clacking sound.

“Hmm, it’s as expected.”

As he said this, Borok-san relaxed his stance. He then continued with his words.

“Your technique. I now understand what the problem is.” (Borok)