Teruki is tired. I am beginning to worry about her. I wonder how much mana a world edit requires if Teruki is exhausted. Unlike Adrian, she keeps drifting in and out of consciousness.
Rei jolts upright when Viri comes to speak with Shino. She rushes off to check on Teruki.
Rei stays by her side almost day and night. We all hope she wakes up. The event we are all not looking forward to draws closer, yet one of our star players still is not awake.
I hear Valen and Rei arguing about something, but I am not in the mood to listen to any arguments.
Viri shows Shino how several of her skills work. Shino copies them almost instantly. Her mana shifts each time, fluctuating based on whoever she is copying. Something like that should not be possible.
I think back to a question I was once asked. Shino proves it. You can manipulate the tiny amount of mana that exists within the world instead of manipulating the element itself.
It gives me some comfort that only someone with infinite mana could ever do something like that.
"Yo, Adrian," Viri calls, catching his attention.
Viri tosses a small black eyepatch at him. Adrian catches it without effort.
"An eyepatch," Adrian sighs. "A little too soon, no?"
"Do you not want it?"
Adrian puts on the eyepatch. He looks older than before. A small smile crosses his face as if the light bothers him. He is dressed in simple black and gold pajamas.
"Thank you," Adrian says. Then he pauses. "Wait. Who changed me?"
"Hey, Slime Queen," Viri asks. "What do you intend to do?"
"What do you mean?" Shino replies.
"I mean, surely you do not intend to fight monsters and climb the floors."
"Shino has a strong sense of justice. I would probably try to act as an impartial judge. The part of me that is the Slime Queen refuses to fight monsters though. Even if it is small, I cannot stomach the thought."
"Do you still want to see how magic has progressed?"
"Kind of. I really want to visit other guilds.. Yuto and Han mentioned some interesting ones."
"I would love to show you," Adrian says with a smile. "Though it is best I get out of here."
"What did I just say?" I yell at him. "You are staying until you are better."
"Nice try. I have been asleep for a week. That is more than enough."
"Then get up by yourself."
"Ok."
Adrian gets to his feet without effort, almost as if he is not injured at all.
"Listen, I appreciate what you did, but I am more than capa .."
Blood spills from Adrian's mouth, cutting him off.
"You are ruining our steps," I taunt.
Viri grabs something from her bag. She places it in Adrian's hand. He drinks the potion.
"How do you know that it's not poisoned?" Shino asks.
"They would not be dumb enough to poison me."
"Are you sure about that? It is Viri who gave it to you."
Adrian coughs again. The potion does almost nothing.
"Can you not heal him, Shino?"
"After the merge I lost all the magic I had stored. I am basically starting from zero."
"I know some small healing magic."
"I will pass," Adrian says. "My body will return to normal eventually. Remember what I said about being genuine."
"Invigorate_." I cast it toward Shino.
Shino smiles and copies the spell on Viri a few times to memorize it.
"Could you not edit that spell into a larger one?" I ask.
"I could," Shino answers, "but with my core the result would be pointless."
Adrian sits back down. He keeps coughing, though at least the blood stops. I look at his expression and feel sadness in it. His mana is more noticeable even with the rings. I can see it clearly. It feels warm. Almost lonely.
I look at the ring on my own finger, at the faint brown mana drifting from it. I am not sure why I can suddenly see the mana people give off. Is it an effect of the Queen's world edit?
A red rune forms.
CRACK.
A red flash.
A blue room.
Teruki lies against a headboard with a faint smile. She looks better. Valen is already there. He glances at us for only a moment before turning back to her.
"Sorry for the surprise teleport," Rei says. "It is easier than making Adrian walk back up."
"Thanks for looking out," Adrian says.
"Try not to cough inside," I tell him.
"Try cleaning your room sometime. Old lady."
I pull up a seat for Adrian. He sits beside Teruki's bed. A small smile crosses his face.
"I am glad you are awake," Adrian says.
I notice Viri and Shino are not here. Honestly, this room would be too cramped if all of us were inside. Teruki looks tired. Her eyes hold the same loneliness I saw earlier in Adrian.
"Well, the main players are here," Valen says. "In ten days the next summit will be held."
Valen's mana feels like a calm ocean. It's held under immense pressure. It's steady on the surface but powerful enough to shatter stone when released.
"Why are you going straight to business? Let her rest," I say.
"She will have plenty of time to rest in the next few days. As long as you don't climb the tower," Valen replies.
"Valen already told us the eleventh floor is cleared," Rei adds. "It is a beach, so we should go relax."
"I will not be going," Teruki says. "I am going to spend my time writing down every floor I can remember from the game."
"Why?" Rei asks.
"I want everyone in the tower to have easy access to information about upcoming floors and bosses," she says. "If we forget something, or if veterans remember things differently, at least the info will always be there. Even if the floors are not in perfect order."
"That makes sense," Adrian says. "Shared memory is the best option."
"I realized that after I almost died," Teruki adds with a small laugh.
Teruki coughs lightly.
"You would never be in this situation if you had listened to me," Valen sighs.
"Hey," Adrian interrupts. "They won the bet. It is time for you to honor your side of it."
"Adrian, I am not sure you realize this, but you are a failure," Valen says.
"Huh?"
"I saw the fight. I saw the footage. You are a failure, and I am tired of walking around you like you are made of glass just because you know Sho."
"Then tell me … what you want to say."
"Everything that happened, from Calder's death to the way the fight ended, is a tragedy. If it was not for Teruki, you would have died. G2 is a failure of a guild and you are a failure of a guild leader. You are all worthless."
Adrian says nothing.
"At least Calder died for a reason. If not, he would have been as pathetic as the rest of your guild."
"What did you just say to me?"
"Now what, Adrian? Are we going to fight? You cannot even stand up. You lost an eye. You only reached the top ten because of Sho. Your guild means nothing. If any competent guild challenged you, you would be wiped out."
Adrian's mana expands and fills almost the entire room. The purple mana from his rings strains to contain it.
"Say what you want about me," Adrian says as he pushes himself to his feet. "Say anything about me! But do not talk badly about the person who saved your sister's life! You are an awful brother! Anyone with a sister would never care what guild she joins! You just want control! You want your hands over her life! Me and my sister aren't even on good terms, but I would never expect her to join my guild just for protection!"
"Because you can't even protect your sister," Valen retorts.
"I am sick and tired of people like you."
"Then forfeit your rank," Valen snaps. "People look up to you? You are proving you mean nothing!"
"I used to think the same," Adrian says. "I used to think that if I was not an S rank, people with low mana would have no one to look up to. But I was wrong. If I am not S rank, someone else will take my place."
He steps forward. His mana sharpens.
A faint yellow light surrounds him.
His hand reaches for a sword that does not exist.
Adrian coughs.
"I owe everything to G2. Say what you want about me, but don't you dare make your sister feel bad. Don't make my friend feel bad just because you want to control her life."
Valen steps forward too.
"Say it again, Adrian. Sure, I am an awful brother. Sure, I want control. Say whatever you want. But it is undeniable that if she had joined my guild, she would not have been hurt. She would not be in this position. She wouldn't feel this guilt."
Rei steps between them.
"Enough! Both of you calm down. Mister Valen, Teruki does not want you arguing inside her room."
Teruki's expression twists with guilt. I cannot tell who she feels guilty for, but she feels every word.
"I want Adrian to apologize," Valen says.
"You're not getting one," Adrian scoffed.
"You are such a child," Valen replies. "Fine. I will see you at the summit."
Valen teleports away in a blue rune. The room stays quiet for a moment, making sure he is truly gone. I look at Adrian. He looks sad. He looks in pain. I recognize the expression. A feeling of being angry at the world and at yourself at the same time.
Adrian did so much for us and for our guild. It is undeniable that without him and his guild we would have lost. He did everything he could. I do not know what Valen meant when he said he saw the footage. Maybe memory magic recorded something, but even then none of us would willingly show that to the world.
It finally clicks. The flashes I saw. Even with a recording, Valen is wrong. If Adrian had not been there we would have fallen to the queen's mana.
"I am sorry about my brother," Teruki says.
"It is fine," Adrian replies. "I overreacted and pulled you into it."
"He is right," Teruki whispers. "I am a failure."
Teruki extends her hand and Adrian takes it. A soft blue rune forms above his palm and a warm glow spreads through his wounds. It eases pain.
Teruki coughs.
"Thank you, Tenshi."
"You can call me Teruki if you would like."
"Why don't we let you rest," Rei says gently. "Tomorrow we can go to the beach."
"I do not think so," Teruki says. "I need to write the book."
"Why not write it at the beach?" Adrian asks.