Swimming further downstream in the dank waters of the underground canals, Sigmarus grit his teeth and fought through his pain to thoroughly search for Merci. Feces and piss clung to his clothing and skin. A horrible stench seeped into his pores. Small carcasses dampened his spirits. Even so, he diligently swam amidst the desolate sewer water in the hopes that he wouldn’t have to bring a corpse back to Grace.

Not finding Merci downstream, he turned upstream just in case. After searching up and down for almost five minutes, his head lamps illuminated the huddled and misfigured form of a person near the water’s surface. The malformed limbs and swollen skull gave off a sense of familiarity.

Found you, Sigmarus thought, his spirits lifting a little. However, he no longer held much hope at this point.

Wrapping one arm around the small person from below, Sigmarus struggled with his free arm until both his head and the Merci’s popped above the water. He sucked in a deep breath of putrid air and stifled another gag before fumbling through the water to pull Merci toward the nearest ledge.

Swimming with one arm drained most of his remaining energy. His lungs burned from both lack of air and sewer stench. Despite the external hindrances and internal pains, he clumsily swam to the ledge. Upon reaching it, he hoisted Merci’s startlingly light body onto dry land, causing him to sink beneath the surface for a few moments since he couldn’t use his legs. After gently setting her on the ledge, he weakly swam back above water and grabbed the ledge with both hands.

Something nibbled on the skin showing between his sock and pant leg for a moment, but quickly swam away when he pulled himself up a bit. Ignoring what was likely one of the fish he saw before, he stared at the ledge and pursed his lips. A short sigh slipped from his nostrils, slightly clouding the visor before dissipating.

This might be difficult… and painful.

Mentally preparing himself, he tried to forget about the bruises he could feel forming all over his body, not to mention his broken legs. Then, he grit his teeth and hoisted himself upward with all of his remaining strength. His torso and head crashed on the ledge, but his broken legs limply fell and clanged against the wall, even splashing more dirty water on his pants. He immediately sucked in a sharp breath. Small tears trickled from his trembling eyes. Searing pain shot through his knees, worsening the already agonizing pain.

“Ow…” He weakly groaned.

Sucking in a deep breath to prepare himself again, he crawled little by little onto the ledge. Grunts slipped from his mouth each time he pulled himself forward one arm after the other until his entire body laid on the grimy walkway surface. He breathed deeply over and over in an attempt to calm down his thundering heart and aching lungs.

Once his breathing stabilized, he forced himself to roll over onto his back and opened both his inventory and shop screens. First, he grabbed another old shirt from his inventory and wiped off his hands and helmet with it before tossing it into the canal. Then, he grabbed clean water and rinsed both off before using yet another old shirt to dry everything off. Although he still didn’t feel clean, it would have to suffice.

From there, he turned his attention to the shop. He searched for one the tabs he had seen when studying the screen’s layout in the past.

Healing items… there.

Pressing on the tab, he saw rows and rows of icons indicating all sorts of healing items such as pills, talismans, spirit beast blood tonics, artifacts with healing properties, and even cursed relics. Most of the ones on the first offer page were supposedly on sale, though he never saw them change price in the last two months. Even the cheapest one cost eleven thousand ability points, which irked his destitute soul. Ignoring the ridiculous prices, he changed the listing to order items by price from cheapest to most expensive. A few cursed items were displayed for less than ten points, but he ignored those and focused on a squash-shaped white-stained-glass bottle icon.

[1 Star Salu Grass Pills (10AP) - Availability: 14,763]

[Low grade healing pills made by an apprentice alchemist. Can restore broken bones and small cuts over a short period of time in fighters below Iron Rank. 5-count per bottle.]

Without hesitation, he clicked the icon and then the ‘yes’ option that appeared afterward. A stream of silver particles shot out from the screen and gradually outlined the bottle above his palm like some sort of light-based 3D printer. He couldn’t help widening his eyes at the process since it was the first time he had seen it since receiving the Freedom Technique manual.

While the bottle formed, he pulled off his helmet and held his head off the ground. Once the bottle fully materialized, he popped off the small cork and shook the bottle over his empty palm until a pea-sized purplish-green pellet dropped out. He tossed it in his mouth and then replaced the cork before tossing the bottle into his inventory.

Since he needed to wait for the pill to reach his stomach, he turned his head to look at Merci and frowned. She hadn’t moved at all in the few seconds since he pulled himself up. Brows creased with worry, he crawled over to her and pressed his index and middle finger against her throat for a few seconds. He waited.

One second.

Two seconds.

Five seconds.

Ten seconds.

There was no pulse. Wondering if he might be able to find any hint of hope, he extended a wave of focused perception over her motionless body. The moment his senses covered her, he froze, and his mouth dropped open.

Wha- What the hell is this?!

Although he felt her disfigured body with his perception, nothing there surprised him. Rather, it was something incorporeal that blew his mind. In fact, he wondered if he was imagining things. Even so, the more he felt, the more he realized that the thin presence around the body indeed existed there, and it was shaped like a full-grown woman to boot. Although his senses weren’t perfect, he could tell that the woman looked similar to Grace with a small nose and thin lips. However, the presence felt like it was slipping away from Merci’s disfigured body beyond his senses.

Is this… no way… It’s not her soul is it? Can I feel souls now?! There’s no way right?

Suddenly, a new silver notification popped into view, cementing his dumbfounded thoughts toward what he was feeling.

[The soul of this body is currently being whisked away to a higher realm due to its spirit root. Do you wish to halt the process and absorb the ability points from it?]

[Yes/No]

“Hell no!” Sigmarus barked, immediately pressing the ‘No’ option. He didn’t even think twice.

[...Choice recorded. The soul resumes its journey. The soul smiles at you. Perhaps you will meet again one day.]

Furrowing his brows, Sigmarus calmed down and noted, Hmm? What’s this? The apparatus’ words feel a little different for some reason this time.

Although he felt curious toward the strange occurrence, he couldn’t really do anything about it. He simply watched in silence with his perception until the incorporeal soul around Merci fully dissipated beyond his senses.

Afterward, he closed his eyes and muttered, “Rest in p- No. Maybe, in this case, I should say… Have a safe journey? Hmm. Feels weird. I’m cringing at my own words here.”

With that, he sighed and crawled over to the wall a few feet away, and, after much difficulty and numerous groans, he propped himself against it in a haphazard sitting position. He waited for a few minutes until more notifications appeared.

[You have consumed a 1-Star Salu Grass Pill.]

[Estimated healing time: 1:49:37]

[1:49:36]

“Almost two hours, eh? Is that supposed to be slow? How fucking magical.”

Groaning again, he let his head bump against the wall behind him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath…

And hurled his lunch. He finally couldn’t hold it down anymore.