Clara opened her eyes with a groan. She was back in her room on Cloud X, the ship gently rocking back and forth. A bit of sunlight was streaming through the blinds, lighting up the room. The bed under Clara was warm and cozy, making her not want to get up ever again and simply go back to sleep.
Clara blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things and tried to reach towards her head. Her whole body screamed in protest as pain traveled everywhere, making her wince. She lowered her arm again and switched her attention to the left arm.
She tried to move her fingers and felt a tap on her thigh.
Oh thank goodness. I thought I was going to lose my arm.
Wincing again, she brought her arm closer to her face to get a better look. The bone wasn't sticking out of her skin anymore and a lot of bandages covered her whole arm. As a matter of fact, she felt bandages covering her entire body. Even her head had a bunch of bandages tied over it, as well as a wet towel.
Clara looked to the bedside cabinet and saw her clothes, now clean of all of the blood and monster guts, neatly folded next to her. She even had a new uniform and underwear as well. A bottle of water and a few sandwiches were set up next to the clothes, with a small card that had something scribbled on it. She grunted as she picked it up and brought it to her face to read.
[(?) Clara, please (?) (good?) (?)!]
Clara grumbled as she still couldn't understand some of the words, but a simple drawing of a smiling Reiya at the bottom put a smile on her face.
It's a get well soon card! Thanks Reiya.
Clara took a deep breath and pushed herself into a sitting position, reaching for the food. As she moved the blanket to the side, she saw that her chest, stomach, and legs were covered in bandages as well. Other than that though, she didn't have anything else on.
Well… better to be naked but healed instead of dressed and… in pain. My body still feels so sore though.
Clara sighed and wrapped the blanket around herself before taking a bite of the sandwich. Despite being a simple sandwich, it tasted absolutely amazing after days of nothing but a bunch of autocrafted food.
When she was about half way through her food though, she remembered about the timer, waves, and all the events that happened in the forest came flooding all back at once. Clara began to cough as she almost choked on her food and she quickly checked the timer. Her jaw dropped and her face paled.
"IT'S TOMO-*COUGH*."
Clara couldn't even finish her protest as she began to cough violently. Her throat hurt as well and she could feel a headache approaching. Her body started to feel cold and hot at the same time. Her stomach churned and felt like she was about to vomit.
Yet ignoring all this she saw that the wave was in a little over 24 hours. Despite her grinding session, she was only level 66! Panicking, Clara tried to reach for her clothes, but just ended up dropping to the floor, her body trembling from the pain and cold. She had to teleport to the forest and finish leveling up before the wave, but the cabinet seemed so far away, despite being less than a meter away.
Damn it damn it damn it! Get up you stupid body! Get up! Please!
Clara tried to push herself up and get on her feet, she really did, but her limbs barely had any strength behind their movements, which ended up with her just pushing herself against the cabinet instead.
"Miss Clara!" Reiya exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere and startling Clara, forcing a scream out of the girl. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"
She mumbled an apology and ran to Clara's aid, gently picking her up and putting her back in bed.
"You shouldn't be getting out of bed yet! You were really hurt yesterday," Reiya explained, her soft hands pushing Clara's head onto her pillow and quickly tucking the girl into bed like a child.
"Reiya…" Clara croaked out, her voice so raspy that her plea sounded like a grunt.
"Big Sister Laura said it would take a bit to recover so you shouldn't move around too much. You were so badly hurt that Laura spent the whole hour bandaging you up," Reiya continued, ignoring Clara.
"R-Reiya," she tried again, attempting to stand up, but Reiya simply pushed her back down and poured some hot water into a cup.
"Do you have any idea how worried everyone was?! First you disappear with nothing more than a badly written note, then you don't show up for days, and then I find you being eaten by vultures! What were you thinking, Miss Clara?!" Reiya yelled, her face red with anger.
"Yeah," Clara whispered, coughing again.
"What would have happened if I found you a minute later?!" Reiya finished, slamming the teapot down onto Clara's cabinet with a loud thud.
Reiya looked at the cup in her hand for a moment before turning back to Clara. However, her anger seemed to disappear, instead replaced by concern and a bit of guilt as she saw Clara's eyes looking away from her with tears brimming in her eyes.
"M-miss Cla-," Reiya began, reaching for the girl's shoulder, but Clara turned away from her.
"I wanted to level up, okay?!" she choked out, her voice barely audible. "The wave is soon and I want to be ready."
"But why go alone?! You could have let me come with you!" Reiya protested.
"Because I didn't want to get carried! I wanted to fight and be able to protect myself! I was leveled and carried by Ellis and Hol and now one is dead and the other left me!" Clara explained in between coughs, her voice getting louder.
"But neither was your fault!"
"But he shouldn't have died!" Clara shot up from her bed, tears rolling down her face. "What's the point of being summoned to protect people if everyone dies around you?! I wanted to level up to stop that! To be strong enough to fight back!"
Clara paused, coughing several times, but Reiya simply stood there, waiting for Clara to finish.
"I wanna go home but I have to beat the waves to get back and I'm scared that I won't be strong enough to survive. What if I can't do it?! What if I'll never see my mom or dad or brother again?!" Clara screamed in between sobs and gasps. "I'm scared, Reiya, and I don't know what to do! If it's this hard so early on then how will I make it past wave three?!"
Clara's shoulders dropped and she covered her face with her hands.
"Why *hic* was I summoned? I just… wanna go *hic* home," she whispered, her voice dissolving into sobs. Reiya didn't say anything. Instead, Clara felt something warm and soft wrap around her shoulders, warming her up. Clara looked up to see Reiya looking at her, her gaze filled with worry.
"Then let me help you get home, Miss Clara," Reiya whispered. Clara let out a choked sob and a wail before letting her body drop onto Reiya's chest, bawling her eyes out into her stomach. Reiya leaned down and began to softly pet Clara's head with one hand and hold her close with the other.
She began to gently rock Clara side to side, letting the girl cry into her stomach in silence. A soft glow began to emanate from Reiya and spread across Clara's body, but neither girl seemed to notice. They simply continued rocking back and forth slowly, with Clara's sobs slowly dying down bit by bit.
Several minutes had passed before Clara managed to calm down, her eyes running dry and exhaustion taking over her body again. Reiya gently lowered Clara onto the bed and picked up a cup full of liquid.
"Please drink this. Big Sister Laura said it will help you recover and it also helps with a sore throat," Reiya said, gently raising the cup to Clara's lips. Clara took a few sips of the warm liquid. It tasted a lot like herbal tea but without any sugar in it. However, even the few sips she took already made her throat feel a bit better than before so she wasn't going to complain.
"Feeling better?" Reiya asked, gently pushing Clara's hair away from her face. Clara nodded and took another sip of her tea. Clara looked down at the cup and pondered for a moment.
"How did I end up here?" she inquired.
"Hm? You don't remember? I found you getting eaten by vultures and brought you to Big Sister Laura's boat!" Reiya reminded her.
"Big Sister Laura?" Clara said in a confused tone.
"She taught me some magic. I can now shoot green lasers!" Reiya said excitedly.
"Oh, that's great!" Clara said, trying to hide the jealousy in her voice. "But how did you manage to find me?"
"I asked Wolfy to help me find you! But I had to make an agreement after. And I need your help for it when you get better," Reiya mumbled the last part, lowering her face.
Wolfy?
Suddenly, Reiya perked up and pulled out a tablet. "I have to message Big Sister Laura that you woke up!"
As Reiya was typing away, Clara tried to recall the events that unfolded before she passed out. She remembered some glowing figure standing over her, but everything past that was a blur.
"He he, Miss Clara called me an angel," Reiya snickered, causing Clara to spit out some tea.
I did a WHAT?!
"THANK GOD YOU'RE AWAKE!" Laura yelled, pulling the door off its hinges.
"You know, I think I need a stronger door," Clara grumbled. However, Laura ignored her and grabbed Clara by the shoulders.
"WHAT THE F*CK WERE YOU THINKING?! ARE YOU SUICIDAL?!" Laura hollered, violently shaking Clara.
"Ow ow ow OW AGH!" Clara screamed out in pain, making Laura recoil. Clara dropped onto her back and wrapped her arms around her bandaged chest.
"Ow~, that hurt," she winced.
"Big Sister Laura, please take it easy on her," Reiya exclaimed, standing in between the two.
"Take it easy?! She rushed into the Nightmare Forest on her own during the night! She is lucky to be alive! Veteran adventurers die there all the time, even as a team!" Laura yelled, slamming her fist into a nearby wall, cracking it.
"I already chewed her out, and she is very injured!" Reiya insisted. "Please let her rest a bit before you do anything."
Reiya cupped her hands together and looked up at Laura. The woman's anger seemed to melt and she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Dang it, that's cheating! I can't be mad at you with that face," Laura pouted, patting Reiya on the head. Then she turned back to Clara, a fraction of the fury from before. "But I can be with you! What if you ran into a crescent wolf or a golem or a hydra!"
"I-I-I did r-run into a golem… that was on fire and shooting lasers… and four crescent wolves… and a half moon wolf… and I got bit by a branch snake… and almost dissolved by black slimes…and almost blew up in a mine…" Clara listed, each event making Laura progressively more horrified than before. By the time Clara finished listing them all, Laura had sat down on the bed and grabbed her face.
"Please tell me how the f*ck are you alive?" she asked. "Because you should be dead 10 times over."
"I got lucky?" Clara shrugged.
"LUCKY MY ASS! Any one of those things could kill several people! AND YOU MET A HALF MOON WOLF?! AND F*CKING LIVED?!" Laura screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking Clara again until Reiya pulled her away.
"Please calm down! She won't recover if you keep shaking her!" Reiya yelled, holding Laura away from Clara. Laura took a deep breath and sat down on Reiya's bed, with the ghost girl quickly standing next to Clara.
"Sorry, it's just a lot to take in. I fought a golem before and I couldn't destroy it. Though mine was covered in lightning and sending off emp attacks," Laura explained. "While the crescent wolf is strong enough to take on an average adventurer, a half moon wolf can kill trained veterans."
"Oh… I guess I just got lucky with the wolf then," Clara mumbled looking down at the ground.
"It stops being lucky after the second time," Laura said. "I guess that's the benefit of being a hero. Casually defeating enemies normal people won't dare face."
"Yeah…" Clara muttered, looking at her knife.
"Um, Big Sister Laura, did we tell Goron that we found Clara already?" Reiya suddenly perked up. Laura paused and pondered for a moment, before shrugging.
"We can tell him later. Now tell me everything in detail. What did you do?"
"Well…"
Clara listed off everything that happened in the forest, while Reiya and Laura listened, though Reiya eventually got bored and began to tap stuff on the tablet Laura gave her. After Clara finished her explanation, Laura sat silently pondering over the information.
"Wow… I'd say you did pretty good for your first couple fights. Well, exploding yourself was a bit much, but you did use skills to minimize the impact. And you thought up a plan to deal with the golem. That's actually pretty impressive for someone who is new to adventuring. Being able to think of plans while stressed is not something everyone can do," Laura praised the girl.
"Thank you. But what are the golems? You said yours used lightning but mine used fire," Clara inquired.
"That's the crystal golem. Through their life they eat materials, especially ores, to raise their stats. Over the years they also absorb a specific element and it changes their attacks and physical appearance. For example, earth golems are near indestructible, while wind types are incredibly fast," Laura explained. "But I have just one question. Why didn't you reply to my messages?!"
"Your… what?" Clara asked, confused.
"I gave you the small tablet and tried to message you several times. Yet you ignored me completely!" Laura exclaimed, pulling out her tablet and showing several messages sent to Clara. The girl tried to remember where she put it, but Reiya was already ahead of her.
"I found it in Miss Clara's pocket when I brought her to the ship," Reiya said, pulling a broken in half tablet with the entire thing being covered in cracks. A piece of the screen was missing, and a rock was logged in the hole. Clara paled while Laura's face quickly reddened.
"CLARA WHAT THE F#CK?!" Laura yelled, reaching for Clara.
"I'M SORRY!" she exclaimed, ducking under her blanket and trying to guard herself with a pillow.
"BIG SISTER LAURA, WAIT!" Reiya shrieked, trying to stop Laura from shaking Clara into oblivion.
It took a while to get her to calm down, and no girls were hurt in the process.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Goron screamed, raising a Drevo over his head and throwing it at several monsters that tried to run away from him. "CLARAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
His screams echoed through the forest, alerting every monster in the area. The smarter ones began to quickly run in the other direction as fast as their still existing legs let them. The dumber ones, however, quickly found out the wrath of the chef was not a joke. He bashed through the skulls of the monsters that dared approach him and ran through the forest like a bear on cocaine. Sherone and a few other adventurers followed after him.
"Um… shouldn't we stop him? He's gonna destroy the forest at this rate," one of the adventurers suggested, as Goron ripped a tree with its roots out of the ground, launching it at another monster.
"You think you can stop him?" Sherone asked, glancing at the adventurer.
"Um… well… no…" the adventurer relented, sighing and looking at the ground in shame.
"Eh, don't worry about it. Just let Goron get it out of his system, he's been cooped up in the kitchen for way too long anyway. This might give the guy some exercise and let him blow off some steam. Plus, the level gains are insane," Sherone remarked, as his vision was filled with exp notifications. The fools that ran at Goron, and the ones that weren't fast enough were all slaughtered equally, raising Goron's killcount of innocent(?) monsters. Those poor souls should have evolved better.