Veda walked down the stairs slowly, one step at a ti, his boots making a dull sound against each step as his body carried the weight of exhaustion that had not yet left him. When he reached the bottom, he paused for a brief mont, his eyes moving across the area as he looked around carefully.
People were scattered everywhere.
So were stationed at the entrance, though even they looked tired, their posture no longer as firm as before. Others were seated or kneeling on the ground, their breathing uneven.
Most of them were down lying flat, resting or simply unable to move.
At so point during the battle, even those assigned to guard the entrance had to join the group assigned to perform the joint alchemy of creating ammunition, their roles blending together as survival beca the only priority.
Veda shifted his gaze toward the tents, many of them had collapsed due to the constant vibration from the battle had shaken them loose, leaving them half-fallen or completely down, the cloth dragged across the ground, dirt-stained and torn at the edges.
He let out a slow breath.
"Do we even have the strength to fix all of this..." he muttered, raising a hand to rub his head, his fingers pressing lightly against his temple as fatigue settled deeper into him, then he noticed a faint glow reflecting softly against him.
He looked up at the sky.
"Hahaha..."
A tired laugh escaped him.
"We actually fought till morning..."
The realization settled in slowly.
He bent slightly, lifting a fallen bench and setting it upright before lowering himself onto it, stretching his legs forward, his muscles relaxing just a little as he leaned back.
After the battle had finally ended, no one had the strength left to think about what might co next. The possibility of a third wave occurring anyti soon existed, but no one had the energy to dwell on it.
Most remained where they had fallen while so were receiving treatnt and so already asleep.
The ones who had fainted were carried one by one by Bobby and the others from the dic team, their bodies laid carefully into arranged sleeping bags in a big tent designated for the dic team to use as a recovery room, their breathing checked before they were left to rest.
Later after treating everyone, the whole dic team couldn’t continue and also fell asleep too without realizing it from exhaustion.
Still, a few managed to stay awake and worked on fixing the fallen tents, pulling them back up slowly, tying them in place again, even though their hands trembled from fatigue.
Others cleaned the area, moving debris and clearing space.
Veda remained awake leading the cleaning and fixing of damaged things in the castle.
Ti passed.
Tracy woke up later in the afternoon and joined them, her movents still a bit slow, but steady enough to help and like that, two days passed.
Ezra woke up slowly, pain ca first from his shoulders then from his arms and a dull headache that pressed lightly against his head.
He exhaled.
Then forced himself to sit up, his body resisting slightly as his muscles complained from being still for too long.
His hand moved toward his face touching the bandage wrapped around his eyes.
"Don’t remove it."
A hand stopped him.
"Bobby?" Ezra turned his face slightly toward the direction of the voice.
"Hehehe..." Bobby laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Your hearing is really good."
Even though Ezra couldn’t see him...Bobby still looked down slightly as he spoke.
"My eyes won’t open," Ezra said plainly.
"Oh..." Bobby loosened his grip on Ezra’s hand and stepped back slightly. "You overused your eyes. Right now, they can’t handle even a small amount of light. Even firelight or moonlight could cause pain."
He paused.
Thinking of how to explain it better.
"You could say your eyes are refusing to open because they don’t want to feel light right now... which is actually a good failsafe."
Ezra remained silent for a second. "So... I’m blind for now, huh." His tone still remained flat.
Bobby flinched slightly.
"No...no, I an..." he waved his hands quickly, clearly flustered. "Ah... I’m sorry..."
He sighed.
Scratching his back.
"For now... yes."
He lowered his head slightly.
"I’m sorry, I’m not good enough to heal it faster. It will take about four days for your eyesight to fully co back. But..." he raised a finger quickly, "on the bright side, when it returns, your vision will improve."
He spoke faster at the end, as if trying to make it sound better.
Ezra didn’t react much.
"It’s okay, Bobby. You did your best."
The air grew quiet after that.
Bobby didn’t know what to say next.
"How long was I out?" Ezra asked, breaking the silence.
"You were out for two days... plus the day you fainted, which was already close to morning, so... let’s just say two full days," Bobby said in one breath.
Ezra gave a small nod, then turned his head slightly toward the side where others lay, so still asleep, so awake, receiving pills for headaches or fever.
"It’s not only ," Ezra said, stretching his arms outward.
Crack.
His joints popped from stiffness, but pain followed coming from his shoulders.
"You shouldn’t overuse your arms yet," Bobby said quickly. "You can still feel pain. I’ll apply the pain-relief lotion again and change your bandages now, that’s what I ca here to do in the first place. I have also been doing this for the past two days while you were sleeping."
He stood up, reached into his space bag, took out the dical materials and arranged them neatly on a clean white cloth beside him.
"You did all of this... for and the others... for two whole days," Ezra said suddenly.
"Thank you, Bobby."
Bobby paused, his hand hovering over the bandage on Ezra’s left arm.
"Ah... you don’t need to thank ," he said softly as he resud, carefully unwrapping the bandage. "It’s my job as a Flora Alchemist."
He smiled slightly.
Placing the used bandage aside before using a damp cloth to clean Ezra’s arm.
"And it wasn’t just . Others helped too. They’re not Flora Alchemists, but they learned basic treatnt... like what you did for ."
"With a bit of guidance, they are managing well."
"Eh... So you’re leading people now?" Ezra said dryly.
"?" Bobby stiffened slightly. "No, no... I’m not leading... I just explained what needed to be done..."
"That’s still leading," Ezra replied. "You’ve grown, Bobby."
Bobby lowered his head slightly.
"You think so..."
His voice turned quieter.
"I keep thinking about what Aliya would say if she saw now..."
He laughed weakly.
"She’d probably say you’re getting ahead of yourself," Ezra replied.
Bobby smiled a little sad smile on his face.
"Yeah... you’re right."
He finished wrapping Ezra’s arm and moved to the other one.
"Ezra..."
His tone changed slightly.
"I’m sorry about the way I reacted that day... I’m sorry for shouting... I’m sorry for..."
Bobby’s voice slowed as he spoke, his words starting to lose their flow as his hand tightened slightly after finishing tying the bandage on Ezra’s left arm, his fingers lingering there for a mont as if he didn’t know how to finish what he wanted to say.
"Sorry isn’t needed. Your reaction was valid." Ezra replied imdiately with a flat tone.
"No... it wasn’t."
Bobby shook his head, his expression tightening as he reached for Ezra’s right hand, holding it carefully before beginning to remove the old bandage wrapped around it.
"It was really childish... and naïve of ."
His voice lowered slightly.
"I only understood that after Sir Veda advised ."
He finished removing the bandage and dropped it onto the small pile of used ones beside him on the floor, then picked up a clean white cloth soaked in normal water and began wiping Ezra’s arm slowly, making sure to clean every part properly.
"It was a normal reaction," Ezra said calmly. "Anyone normal would react the sa way you did."
He paused.
"I would have actually been more suspicious if you didn’t react like that."
Bobby didn’t respond imdiately.
He let out a quiet sigh as he applied the pain-relief lotion, his fingers moving from Ezra’s shoulder down to his palm, rubbing it in carefully before wrapping the arm again with a new bandage, securing it firmly but not too tight.
When he finished, he leaned back slightly and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, letting out a small breath, then he stood.
Moved behind Ezra and reached for the bandage covering his eyes.
"Please make sure you don’t force your eyes open," Bobby said as he gently removed it, his movents slow and careful.
Ezra gave a small nod.
"Okay... I’m glad you weren’t angry," Bobby said after a mont, his voice a bit awkward now. "Although... I feel like I might have made Lady Vera dislike ."
He scratched his cheek lightly.
"You know..." Bobby continued, unable to hold it in, "I keep dreaming about Li..."
His hands slowed slightly as he worked.
"I keep thinking... what if he didn’t betray us..."
His voice grew softer.
"What if we all made it through the fourth trial together... and stayed as a group... even after the Trial of Steel..."
He let out a small laugh, not amused, but more at himself because he already knew it could never be real.
Just sothing his mind kept going back to.
He dipped a cotton and began cleaning Ezra’s eyes the sa way he had done for his arms, his movents careful, steady, making sure not to apply too much pressure.
Then...
He gently opened Ezra’s left eye, just slightly and dropped a small amount of normal water into it.
Ezra flinched.
His body reacted instantly to the sharp, stinging sensation as the liquid touched his eye.
Then Bobby repeated the sa process with the other eye.
"Ezra... I know this might sound weird or maybe even cringe to you, but..."
"Bobby." Ezra cut him off before he could finish. "I know what you want to say."
There was no hesitation in his voice.
"I can only tell you one thing... focus on surviving. Nothing else should matter, we were just grouped for the fourth trial. That’s all."
His tone didn’t change.
"Don’t disturb yourself with ... because I don’t plan to."
Bobby froze for a mont.
His hands stopped as he looked at Ezra, quietly.
Then...He nodded, not because he agreed, but because he didn’t have anything to say back.
It was Ezra’s decision and he couldn’t force it.
The silence returned between them as he resud his work, placing a new bandage over Ezra’s eyes, the surface lightly coated with the prepared lotion, then wrapping it carefully into place, making sure it sat properly without pressing too hard.
"Finally... done."
Bobby bent his back slightly, stretching it as he exhaled.
"When can I leave?" Ezra asked.
"Anyti you want, actually," Bobby replied, rolling his shoulders slowly. "But I’d prefer if you stayed here and recovered fully."
"Nah. I’ll go back to my tent like this."
Bobby tilted his head slightly, folding his arms.
"But you can’t see... how are you going to move around?"
Ezra raised a finger pointing to his ear.
"I have my hearing."
I can use this as an opportunity to train my hearing skills.
"Okay..." Bobby sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Suit yourself."
He paused for a second, still looking at Ezra.
I guess he wants to start training already...?
Then he turned and walked away to check on the other patients.
Ezra remained where he was quiet for a mont, then he slowly folded his legs.
If I’m going to do this...I need to recover so of my Cognis first.
He straightened his posture slightly, folded his legs, closed his eyes and began circulating his Cognis, letting it build back up—bit by bit.
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