Chapter 27: Ch 27: Chat by the fire

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Agustín woke up an hour after we left the battle site, when we had already prepared the camp again and the food was on the fire.

He seemed embarrassed to have fallen unconscious. He said his arm is still sore, despite the potions, and we don't know why.

It is true that applying potions externally, as Joseph did, is less effective than drinking them; but when he woke up he drank a potion, so he shouldn't be in pain.

When we finally stopped to camp that day, I checked the notification I had received at the end of the match. The message said:

[As a reward for surviving a near-death situation in the fight with the singularity, codename: Shapeshifter; You, the 'One in a billion' will be granted the unique ability 'Survivor'. We hope that this ability will help you better deal with similar situations.

Sincerely, The Hive.]

I have never received a message like this after the one I received on my thirteenth birthday, and it brings back bad memories.

I don't know who sends me these messages, but I'm sure it has to be related to the labyrinths. After all, they are supposed to be something 'divine', and who else than the divines could do something like this. This mystery is just one more reason to try to get to the top floor.

When looking for the ability in the interface, I find it in the passive section. The description says that [Once per day, when the user's health drops below 20%, it regenerates 10% health, mana, and stamina per minute for 10 minutes. This skill can be leveled up when facing life-threatening situations, which will increase the percentage of regeneration]

I guess now I'll have an extra safety net for the time when I have to learn the mana bomb spell with Sabri.

During these days, my magical sense finally leveled up while training with her, and I finally convinced her to teach me the spell. Likewise, she said that it was better to wait to return to the capital since it is not very sensible to play with fire in a forest.

We are currently camping on what appears to be our last day in the woods.

Azur can already see the capital above the treetops and there doesn't seem to be much distance to it. It took us 6 days to get back to the capital through the forest and, considering that we needed 20 days to get to the village from the capital, I think it was worth taking the shortcut.

Along the way, we ran into more goblins and some wolves, but nothing that represents a danger to us.

Sabrina and Agustin are chatting quietly with each other and Joseph is playing the flute, while I watch him in amazement at how much he has improved with the musical instrument in a few days.

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The flute no longer sounds like the sound of a tortured animal, and he can even produce, occasionally, some melodies.

He seems to get bored with practicing because he moves a little closer to the fire to play with the twigs by putting the instrument aside. 

"100 gold for each of us as payment for the transportation, plus 30 that the old man gave us for each one, plus what they are going to give us for the bodies that we carry" says Joseph, rubbing his hands, near the fire "I can't wait to have all that money in my hands, I've been waiting for a long time to change my bow for an better one, what are you going to spend your share on?"

"I'm going to forge a new shield and, if possible, a mace to. The one I have has quite deteriorated and if the shield already failed me... when I saw the marks that the ghouls left on it, I imagined that it wouldn't last much longer, but I never would have thought that something would destroy it in one hit... " Agustín says, sighing "But it all depends on how much extra money we get for the corpses we transport"

 "I'm going to buy a mana storage ring" says Sabrina, distracted, looking at the fire "They are quite expensive, but I have some savings" she finishes speaking while looking at me with a strange look. It's not the first time I've had a suspicion that she knows what is happening with the cost of the potions we use. Maybe she feels guilty that I pay the majority of the cost of the group's potions... Anyway, as it is we all win, and she never has said anything about it.

 "I haven't decided yet, I'll probably use it in potions" I say and Sabrina's expression deepens, confirming my suspicions more and more. 

"all that in potions?" says Joseph, puzzled "what would we use so many potions for?"

 "I think I'm going to have to go to the labyrinth alone for a while since Agustín still has a sore arm from the blow and, also he has to forge a new shield" I say evasively, I prefer to divert the subject of the conversation "I'm probably going to use many more being alone"

"Sabrina and I could accompany you anyway" says Joseph, confused.

"Or we could, just, not go to the labyrinth until Agustín recovers, right?" Sabrina says hopefully. I don't know why she insists on joining us if fighting bothers her so much.

"Yeah... I guess..." I say quietly.

"If you want, I can make you a throwing dagger… since I'm going to work on my shield" Agustín says, in a low voice "Your fighting style leaves your left hand free and you rarely use magic, at least not like Sabri. You just use your other hand to light your sword on fire, which you don't even do in every fight... So, it occurred to me that you could learn to use another short-range weapon, that you can choose to throw at the enemies, depending on the situation"

"I hadn't thought about it" I say and start to ponder on the subject. Indeed, most of the time I don't use my left arm at all in combat. Sometimes I block attacks using the forearm guard, but a dagger wouldn't make it difficult for me to continue using it... "yeah, I think I like the idea" I say excitedly, thinking about the possibilities.

"Great, you'll have to stop by the workshop when we get back to decide on the design." says Agustín, enthusiastic "I probably won't start working on anything until I feel that my arm is completely fine, but I won't have any problems drawing"

"I'm going to sleep" Sabrina says, yawning, and she gets up to go to her tent. 

Passing by Agustín, she crouches beside him, resting an arm on his shoulder, and kisses him on the cheek.

Without saying anything, she gets up and goes to her tent, but before she goes in, Agustín speaks to her. 

"why do you do that?" he asks, looking at her with confusion, as he touches the place where she kissed him.

"hmm, I don't know... I just wanted to" says Sabrina and, without further explanation, she goes into the tent.

Joseph and I laugh at Agustin's face, which looks more confused than before, and, after a few moments, we go to sleep too. Leaving only an Agustín who looks with a happy expression at the fire.

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