I can't fight my way through thirty feet of Rank-D monsters with a skewer through my shoulder. The math doesn't work. Not at this rank. Not in this body.
I don't have time for Scales…
I shift Eventide to my right hand—the good one—and reach into my inventory with the left. The shoulder screams. My fingers barely close around the OXI Candies.
Three of them. I shove all three into my mouth and bite down.
The effect is a cold flood. Not gradual—instant. Like swallowing a fistful of ice that melts directly into the bloodstream. The pain doesn't disappear, but it recedes behind a wall of chemical clarity. My vision sharpens. The trembling in my left hand dulls to a vibration I can work with.
[OXI: 874 -> 1,474/1,600]
Move.
I take the first step toward Oliver.
Eventide drops.
Not out of my hand—it stays in my grip. But the weight triples. Quadruples. As if the blade suddenly decided to weigh as much as an anvil.
