Sebastian turned his head and sighed, making sure the kid wouldn’t see his torn face if they suddenly looked over. It did, however, ensure that the couple would have to stare at it, causing the man to hurl.

In spite of that, he moved closer anyways. The three had entered at some point after they arrived, so Ken and Mariah clearly allowed it.

“What’s going on?”

Looking over at the swordsman, his expression didn’t look great. It would be asking too much from the teen to have him be cold-hearted towards a family of three, and Sebastian didn’t see a reason to be anyways. They’re unlevelled, and clearly not much of a threat based on the man’s reaction to gore.

“They heard us in the hallway. They’ve.. seen what’s happened outside. Through the windows. They wanted to ask about it..”

“They’ve been inside the last two days?”

“They have enough water to last a while and a small gas burner for some perishables. They could probably last another week even without rationing.”

“So why’d they come over here?”

Sebastian gestured back towards the couple as he turned to them. “Why are you here?”

The woman spoke quickly, trying to look at him in a way she wouldn’t focus on his face. “Our son, he.. he disappeared in The Light. We wanted to ask..”

“We know as much as you do at the moment. Did all of you see the light?”

Casting her gaze towards the child near the window, the woman spoke gently. “She and I did. He saw nothing.”

The bladesman raised a brow as he heard this, giving the assumed husband a look. “Anything else you two want?”

“You have a group, right? Please, take us back! We can pay you!”

Sebastian frowned at the request. On one hand, he did want to bring the family back. On another hand, he needed treatment. If he didn’t get any, he’d need to rest. The hole in his face was a primary concern too, as he doubted it would heal fully if it wasn’t sewn shut.

Especially in his current state, he wasn't sure about leaving. If he didn't get treatment here, he wouldn't be confident about leaving for a long time. He also had a mission to do. If he didn’t get that medicine now, he’d simply have to go back out into a city of just even more dangerous beasts, and he wouldn’t have progressed in strength much at all.

“If you’re worried about your injuries, I’m a doctor, approved by the government and all. I can clean them, sew them shut, all of it. Even your face. So long as you can escort us back.”

As if understanding the man’s worries, the husband finally spoke up in front of Sebastian.

“You can treat me?” Even then, you have to understand. The group is going to need medicine in the long run, if we don’t get it now, it’ll just get harder and harder later on.”

The couple looked at each other with some hesitation before nodding and turning back towards Sebastian.

“If you promise to escort us on your way back, we’ll treat you here, give you some warm food and water, and we’ll hunker down in our apartment.”

He was a little surprised at their decisiveness, if not appreciative of it. Time was of the essence after all and if they understood that it made everyone’s lives easier, not just his. He looked back over at the girl briefly, before nodding to the couple.

“Fine, I agree. But you have to treat me now, then we eat and leave.”

As everyone in the room heard him agree, they breathed a sigh of relief. Ken decided to go over to the child beside the window, whereas Mariah helped the couple get the first-aid kit from their flat. Sebastian had taken off his long blood-soaked bandages and sat down somewhere. If he smoked, would the smoke rush out through the hole in his cheek?

He closed his eyes, laughing softly to himself as he leaned back against the wall. He slaid there quietly for a few moments, before remembering what he had to do. Within the darkness, a blood-red text laid out his physique in all its details.

[Sebastian Albrecht, no title]

[Lv. 5 Human. Inferior Tier]

[Class: N/A]

[Profession: N/A]

[Attributes]

Strength: 19

Agility: 10

Constitution: 20

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom:8

Perception: 5

Attribute Points: 5

[Skills]

[Identify] [Inept Saber Expertise]

So humans have tiers too? How do we get to ‘Common’ Tier then? Sebastian frowned to himself as he saw the change in Scorn’s display. For the animals at least, he felt like the increase in tier made them more intelligent, as if evolving the parts of themselves nature had left behind.

The Demon Bird, originally a pigeon, had the wisdom to only attack when prey was separated, disarmed, or simply unprepared. Definitely way smarter than any pigeon he knew before the light. The question was, how did it evolve in tier?

The rat hivemind he saw didn’t provoke the tier evaluation system, but this random bird did. Even the level of the demon bird was lower, so why was it evolved and the rat wasn’t?

Sebastian didn’t know, and he definitely didn’t have the ability to care at the moment. So what if some random bird was a higher tier? So long as not every random beast in the city had evolved in tier, they’d have the time to grow stronger. Probably.

The bladesman had a few things he wanted to do with his attribute points, especially two numbers that bugged him slightly. He immediately put a point into strength, rounding it off at a nice twenty, whilst putting two points into wisdom.

The moment wisdom was increased, he felt his mind stop for a moment. His eyes opened, and he laid his palms out in front of him like a monk in the lotus position. The air above his hands felt colder than it was just before, and it only grew colder every few moments.

Sebastian felt the energy in the air flow towards him gently, as if finally acknowledging his presence. A small bit seemed to have been siphoned from the air and into the small space above his hands.

The mana, as the kids in the group called it, had turned the air above his hands cold. What did that mean? It was magic, he was sure of it, but that didn’t mean he understood it.

His strange state ended a few seconds later, and the air above his hands slowly warmed up again as the magic that had kept it cold faded away. His excitement was mixed with a bit of puzzlement. It meant he had the capability for magic, even if he didn’t know what it did at all! How fucking cool was that?

With a slight smile, he closed his eyes and went back to the stats screen. The last two points he had to decide upon were to be placed in perception. He was tired of having subpar eyesight, hearing, and whatever else. If he needed Mariah to point out every ambush, eventually she’ll fail and he’d get fucking minced.

In the same way he felt when levelling up a physical and mental stat at the same time, a peculiar feeling overcame him as he increased his perception. Sebastian became more aware of the mana in the air, as well as all his senses. It was even possible for him to feel the energy within his body that appeared during the struggle.

It was a happy accident for Sebastian, already deciding to push perception up to ten when he levelled up again. Afterwards he started trying to manipulate the mana in the air, trying to mimic the feeling he had earlier whilst he waited for the doctor to return from his room.

He didn’t have to wait long, either. Only a few more minutes passed when he saw the couple return, talking happily with Mariah as they did so. They were carrying a small bag, a first aid kit, and a bucket. It took them a moment to find his spot within the room.

“Could you lie down somewhere please? Easier for me when you are.”

“Sure, sure.”

Sebastian nodded, a little surprised as the man seemed much more confident than before, as if doing his work emboldened him somewhat. It was definitely a quality trait.

“What’s your name, sir..?”

“Sebastian. Yours?”

“Zachary.”

“The hole in my face fixable, doc?”

“Well.. closeable, yes. Will it ever look the same? No. If you like scars, it might even look better, though.” Zachary laughed softly as he finished placing all his necessary tools on a small tray beside Sebastian.

“If left as is, the hole will heal, yes, but only around the edges of the wound. It would grow smaller but stay a hole. Stitched, it’ll heal but as a massive scar. Hopefully no tiny holes are left when I’m done. I can only do so much..”

The doctor sighed as he looked down upon the battered, cut, and gored bladesman. The man’s body seemed almost unnaturally refined, and he noticed remnants of wounds that clearly looked man made, but nothing lethal or even that harmful.

He caught a look at the inside of the man’s arms, seeing the thin white lines going across the flesh and silently forming an understanding of his own as he looked at the other man made wounds on his body.

Zachary looked at all the wounds covering the man’s torso, arms and legs. A bucket of warm soapy water sit beside him, a sponge floating around within. He took the sponge out of the bucket, wrung it dry and cleaned around the wounds, including his face, avoiding getting any of the soapy substance actually in them.

Breathing out quietly, he sighed, This was going to be a while.