Nando's POV
I woke up in pain.
For me, this was nothing new; since entering adolescence, it was rare that I didn't wake up with pain somewhere, usually in my legs or back.
But today was particularly bad.
'Am I still alive?'
I tried to move my arms to check if I still had a body, and a shock of excruciating pain shot through me instantly.
'Ufffff, considering the pain, then yes, I'm still alive... That's a good thing, right?'
Honestly, I didn't know what to say.
I tried to get up, but as soon as my head lifted a few centimeters off the bed, a wave of excruciating pain shot like lightning from my body to my head, almost making me faint. Everything below my neck was hurting unbelievably, as if they had thrown me into a grinder and given up halfway through.
With few options, I tried to use only my eyes to look at his body; the most I could see was his arm, almost completely torn apart, with practically no trace of skin, still attached to his body by some muscles.
The rest of my body (that I could see) wasn't much better either; my clothes (or what was left of them) were worse than rags, barely covering any of my skin, where there was any left. Although not as bad as my arm, the rest of my body also had several areas without skin; my face probably wasn't much better either.
'Okay, the serious question is, how am I still alive?!!!!!'
...
'Ah yeah, there's another way to see how things are now. Status!'
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 17
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 8
SP: 40
AP: 18
HP: 2/180
MP: 0/145
Condition: exhausted, semi-dead*
Str: 15
Def: 12
Agi: 18
Int: 10
Mag: 9
Res: 7
...]
'...'
....
'This is highly concerning.'
Seriously, in how many games is there a "half-dead" condition??? (No jokes about me being a dhampir now, I meant status condition, not species condition). Only 2 HP?? How did hypothermia not finish off the rest while I slept???
It was only then that I realized my head and part of my back were warm, and the unmistakable smell of dog finally reached my nose. Turning my head slightly, I confirmed what I suspected.
'Okay, now that I didn't die of hypothermia even without a blanket and almost without skin, it made sense.'
Nawa was sleeping behind me and using her body to warm me up; how she managed to do that without wrapping herself around me, I had no idea. But I imagine it had to do with some kind of ability of hers.
Looking at my head on her stomach again, I tried to remember what had happened.
I was on night watch and took a nap after the "shift change." Then, Mari said she'd received a message from our parents, saying that the two of them were stuck at a gas station near a construction material store a few blocks from our house.
To get out, they wanted to use our Eco Sport, which Dad modified to run on mana, to drive over the horde of monsters surrounding them, which had formed thanks to the idiocy of some survivors.
But to do that, he still needed cold iron, which I found mostly around the house, and a large magic bloodstone. Luckily, there was one (relatively speaking) near the house that I discovered had been left behind after a fight between two enormous creatures, probably a Myrmidon queen (giant ant) and a juvenile stone Drake.
Using determination, strategy, and teamwork (and a hefty amount of dumb luck), Impeto, Lumi, and I managed to defeat the Drake, who was still somewhat wounded, and his army of kobolds and get the stone... At least I hope so, I fainted right aft—
"WHERE'S THE MAGIC STONE????!!!!!"
The panic of having lost the object for which I and the others had fought so hard made me jump out of bed abruptly, and I immediately regretted doing so. The pain caused by the sudden movement was so great that my vision instantly went dark; I could literally see stars in front of me.
I collapsed hard onto Nawa's stomach, startling her awake. She looked at me, I looked at her, she kept staring at me for a while, then she got up very fluidly and shook herself beside the bed. Her drool splattered on me a little, and my head hit the mattress.
To be honest, it hurt a little, and the drool was disgusting.
"Eeewwwuuu, not your 'mommy'. Didn't she teach you not to treat patients like that?"
I said sarcastically. She ignored me as she often did, shrunk in size, and went to the door.
Usually, she would whine and scratch at the door to get out, but thanks to the mana that made her smarter, she opened the door without much difficulty. For the first time, I would like to thank the entity that made mana flow into my world; now I no longer have to listen to the whining and constant scratching at the door.
It was only when she left that I realized I was in the upstairs bedroom.
'Wow, I'm really out of it for not noticing this before.'
Like, I was lying on a bed, and the one in my room had been stolen and broken, not necessarily in that order. How did I not notice before?
'Okay, but what now? What should I do?'
With my body like this, forget about going to help Dad, and even breathing is a bit more complicated. And I doubt I'll be able to muster the energy to recover.
'So my only option is to stay here vegetating until Nawa returns, probably with Mari, so we can decide what to do?'
It seems like that's the only way, but I weigh less this way, so I have time to distribute the points I didn't get during yesterday's fights.
[....
SP: 40
AP: 18
HP: 2/180
MP: 0/145
Condition: exhausted, semi-dead*
Str: 15
Def: 12
Agi: 18
Int: 10
Mag: 9
Res: 7
.....]
Hmmmm.... For someone at level 17 (my personal level), aren't my stats a bit low? Of course, I still have to distribute the points, but even so, it would be around 80 without counting the bonus stats from my job.
Okay, let's begin.
Agility, obviously, has helped a lot so far, let's increase it by 10 directly.
Strength, I think around 7 should be enough.
Defense, definitely, besides reducing the damage I take, it also increases my HP by about 5 points. So to combine, why not increase it by 5 as well?
Intelligence, which, like defense, increases MP and improves my cognition (from what I understand) so I will increase by 5 too.
Magic, which lets me activate my spells faster and gives me more "flexibility" in how I use them, increase by 6 points. (Author: actually not the second thing, but...)
And resistance.... for me it's kind of ambiguous thanks to my unique ability, but just to be safe I'll add about 3 and leave it at 10. Leaving 4 SP as reserve.
Now my stats look something like this.
[Name: Fernando Martins
Level: 17
Race: Dhampir (half-vampire)
Job: Fighter Lv. 8
SP: 4
AP: 18
HP: 4/205
MP: 0/170
Condition: exhausted, semi-dead*
Str: 22
Def: 17
Agi: 28
Int: 15
Mag: 15
Res: 10
.....]
Hmm~, it's not so bad now. Honestly, I find it annoying that my physical stats aren't whole numbers like my magic stats, but to improve my chances of survival, I won't complain.
If it bothers me, why not complete it with the 4 points I set aside?
For strength or agility it might work, but they would still be partially broken, plus I still don't know with absolute certainty what the safest path is for me, a mix of magic and physical abilities, or specialization. Well, I still have time to decide that... probably.
Hey, my HP went up a bit... But was that due to my recovery capacity, the skill (which I still don't think should be a skill) [antisocial] that increases recovery when at home, or a combination of both?
Wait!, if that were the case, shouldn't I have recovered during sleep like last time?
'Aaahhhhh!!! This is a headache.'
I wanted to rub my head, but any movement of my arms (even just my little finger) sent a shock throughout my body.
Ahhhhhh~, ok, there are still the skills and— Ah!!!, now I remember, weren't there some messages that appeared after I killed Drake, or was it an illusion?
Well, I didn't have time to check, finally Mari appeared when I was about to check my skills.