When the group of youths finished their next round of beating on Quin, he was filled with injuries, and several of his bones had been left broken. He was unable to move at all and his consciousness was only hanging by a thread.

It eerily resembled the time he was impaled by that Shrieker: his whole body was hurting from his injuries, he could not see his surrounding, only hear what was going on. Breathing felt more and more difficult and the pain in his main Core started to become unbearable. However this time was different, he was not afraid, he entirely suppressed his previous fears and despair.

Although all of his focus was on keeping himself from screaming out, he still heard parts of what the others were speaking.

“Shit! What did you do? Is he dead?” one of them asked.

“Me? It was you!”

“Fuck it! We’ll be in deep shit if we killed him! Someone check if he’s still breathing!”

“He’s still alive!” someone shouted in relief.

“Alright, let’s leave this place, I don’t want anyone to see us!”

He heard the sound of loud steps as they ran away and then the silence. Soon he entered a half-conscious state where he still had some awareness of the surroundings, but it was mixed with wild, random thoughts and dreams.

“Quin! Hey, what happened? Wake up!” He heard someone shouting, but what he saw in his dreams was quite surprising. A beautiful red rose bush grew around him, but it did not hurt him, in fact what he felt was a warm comfortable sensation. Though the pain tormenting him was still maddening, the rose from his dream made quite a significant difference.

After some time the scenery in his mind switched to one surrounded by complete blackness. However he knew that there was something hidden deep inside that darkness. He moved closer, to be able to see it, and after an unknown amount time he was finally able to take a look at it.

Disgusting!

That was the first thing that he had thought of. It was something in the shape of an egg but it was covered by small ball-like things and its surface rippled like water. Even though Quin was surrounded what he had considered absolute blackness, this thing was even darker.

Observing it, he realized that it was not its look that felt disgusting, but the strange aura it was emitting. It resembled to something he had already encountered but he just could not recall it. In the next moment he felt as the egg’s rippling became faster and faster, and simultaneously he was caught by some strange type of attracting force. No matter how hard he tried, he could not free himself from its grasp, but somehow he instinctively knew that if he were to get too close to the egg, it would mean his end.

When Quin was only few meters away, a thunderous roar resounded and his surrounding were lighted in a bluish color for a moment. The rippling of the egg stopped, as well as the force attracting him and it was also when woke up.

He looked briefly around and saw that he was on top of one side of a bed and next to him sat Leyn cross-legged, her eyes closed and her hands on his stomach. Though he felt a lot better, enough to stay conscious and be able to observe his surroundings, his main Core was still pulsating with a great amount of pain.

“Hey, Leyn,” he said with a great effort. Speaking these two words felt like he had ran for several hours.

“Oh, you’re awake!” her eyes snapped open, and said with a smile on her face. “How are you feeling?”

“Bad, but better,” he replied. Damn, I never knew speaking a few words can be so difficult.

“You’re lucky that I’ve found you, I seriously doubt that you’d be fine without help, what happened? Who did this?” she asked, with an anger in her eyes which Quin had never seen before. Sad, happy or excited, he had seen her like that but never angry. He was honestly thinking that if he told her about the perpetrators, she would go and kill them.

Quin simply shook his head as the answer.

“Hey, are you serious? Those guys nearly killed you Quin! And only nearly because I healed you in time!” she said worriedly.

“I know, but my problem,” he replied.

“Your problem? Then who do you think healed you now, or the last time? I’m not saying this because it’s such a big thing to heal you, but seeing you all beat up... I just, I’ve seen you too often like that these days,” she said with almost teary eyes.

“I-” Quin said but stopped midway. Damn, I’ve never thought about that, but what should I do now? Seeing that how she had cared about me, I really don’t want to make her feel bad or worried, but I just can’t tell him those thing. Even if I can’t solve it myself, it’s still my problem, which I should solve myself and not someone else. “Sorry.”

“Please Quin, just tell me who they were and you won’t have to deal with them any longer,” she pleaded.

Shaking his head Quin said, “Can’t”

“Quin, you...” She sighed. “Alright, but you can come to me if there’s anything, OK?” she asked.

“Thanks,” he replied with a nod.

“You seem to in a better shape at least, so I’m gonna stop my healing, as I’m quite low on Water Qi.”

“Arg!” Quin let out a grunt as the pain and agony returned with its previous full force. What he felt was a bit different this time, it was like as if someone had set his entire chest area on fire from the inside and it could explode anytime.

“Quin! What’s happening?” she asked and started to use her Water Qi on him again.

“Shit,” he said and took a few big breaths, “The pain from before. I’ve been feeling it when I woke up, but it was still at the border of being bearable... But when you stopped, it skyrocketed.”

“Damn, what to do? What to do?” Leyn became more worried with each moments and could not decide on how to proceed. “Oh, right, we should call the Chief Healer!” In truth, this was not something difficult to realize, however after an allnight of healing, she was exhausted and its effect could be seen on her thinking as well. “Sorry, but I’ve to leave you alone for a bit. I’ll go and ask my mom to call for him.”

“Okay,” he replied and took a final deep breath, preparing for what was to come.

“Sorry, I’m back,” Leyn returned and said, then continued healing Quin right away.

He did not know how long it lasted while he was alone, but he guessed it should not have been too long, however to him it was an eternity of agony. Even though he hoped and begged that he would slowly get used to this pain, it did not happen. Honestly, he was not even sure that he would live through this day and the feeling of impending death had not passed either.

At some point he passed out, however there was no peace in his dreams either, as the pain seemed to permeate into there as well.

After another unknown amount of time he woke up again and looked outside. The sun was already going down, but he remembered that when he first awoke, he could see it high up in the sky. Damn, at least half a day has already passed.

He sensed something on his chest and found out that it was Leyn’s hand, which was still giving out the warm and comfortable Water Qi. Looking to his left he found out that she was lying right next to him. Most men would probably quite happy to wake up next to a young woman, and maybe Quin would be as well in another situation, however not now. What he felt was more of sadness and guilt.

Though Leyn was more pretty than not, she was not beautiful by any means. Her looks could be said to be average, however she still had some alluring features and yet in her current state she would probably only trigger pity if anyone saw her.

Her hair, which looked like a total mess was drenched in sweat, just like her clothes. Her face was painted red and exhaustion was clearly reflected on it. She was loudly panting, but -- even subconsciously -- she still continued her healing.

Damn, even before she was almost out of Water Qi, and now... I just can’t do this to her. All of this was my problem, something entirely caused by my actions in the past. Even if I don’t regret doing them, I still can’t be such a douchebag to let the few ones who truly care about me suffer the consequences of them. But what should I do? Or maybe the question is what can I do at all? Maybe I should just leave this city and go somewhere where no one knows me? Well, I do have that bronze emblem, and with that I am pretty free to move around. Maybe that’s really the right choice... But first things first.

Quin grabbed Leyn’s arm and moved it away from him. He knew that this meant that his pain would increase again, but his previous decision of not letting the others suffer his actions was not just for show.