We only travelled at a slightly fast walking pace to get to the dungeon in two days, so if I pace myself like this, I should make it back in 6 hours or so.

As I travel towards Brahms, I become more and more convinced of a certain fact. I died back there. I was chewed and swallowed by that dragon. And the only reason I can think of being alive now is... my gift.

I was trapped inside the dragon the first time I woke up. The gift must have restored what pitiable remains of me that were left at that point to my human form once again. I then died of asphyxiation or entrail juice or something. But I killed the dragon from within and revived outside once again.

And then I become confused again. How long have I been using bestowal magic? I should have run out at this point. Oh right, the mana vessel from killing things with mana vessels. I must have received quite a lot of mana from that dragon. I am struggling at how to convey this information, or if I should once I get home.

They already somewhat considered me a freak at the beginning, even more so when I discovered I didn't need sleep. How would they react to the potential of me not being able to die? Would that be too unnatural? Would I get ostracized from the one group I have really felt somewhat welcome in?

So I decided I will lie. I use what information I have learnt, and how I ended up to create a story, that should be good.

And some time later, I arrive at the gates of Brahms. I roll in the grass, trying to rid myself of as much shit and stuff as possible, then walk up to the entrance, holding one hand over my private parts.

"Halt!" Is screamed. "Who are... Are you that apprentice with Bosir?" One of the guards ask.

"Yes, I was with the dragon hunting party and... " I gesture with my one free hand towards myself "A lot of stuff happened and I got left behind. Can you let me in, so that I can get to my clothes?"

The guard looks somewhat suspiciously. "Or you can call Bosir or anyone from our clan" I suggest.

"Oh well, go inside. They just arrived here a few hours ago, so you better go show them you are still alive." he says. "But first, take this. You can bring it to me after you wash it" He fetches a simple cloak from the guardhouse.

"Thanks!" I say.

I run to the clan house, and open the door.

There is a scene happening. Atna has red eyes, not like, her normal eyes which are kind of red, but red eyes like she has been crying. Bosir is next to her with a hand on her back, Kamas is behind her with one on her shoulder. The rest are positioned around the room either by themselves or in a pair.

"I'm home?" I say cautiously. Atna flies up and hugs me hard.

"Don't ever scare me like that again" She says crying.

Wait, is Bosir crying too "So, you were okay, kid" he says.

"Yeah. How about Asger?" The relieved looks on their faces immediately turn sullen once again. Ah, so he didn't make it. Fuck. He was pretty close to being a friend to me. I sure am losing a lot of relationships lately.

I become a bit melancholic myself. And I find myself remembering my current situation. Atna still hugging the very-almost naked me. The people around me. I think I was missing this when I learned that Jorgen died. A reminder I still had a family. I feel a bit more optimistic after realizing that.

After what felt like a few minutes of silence, Bosir speaks up.

"Anyway, what happened to you? Why are you dressed like that? How did you survive?"

"Asger spotted the dragon. When he did so, everyone started rushing inside, but there was panic and people got pushed down and trampled upon. I turned back to Asger, who fell, in order to help him. Then, the dragon landed right on top of him. It asked me whether we were here to kill its son which I denied." Everything so far has been the truth, now comes the spinning.

"Then, it called me "foolish human" and slapped me, sending me flying. I landed hard, couldn't move my legs, and I passed out. As I came to, I was naked. I didn't know what had happened. Maybe someone saw me, presumed me dead and took all my stuff. My gift presumably healed my injuries, but I didn't know where any of you where, so I looked inside the dungeon."

They made it home so they must have been gone for two days already.

"To my surprise, the dragon was there, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, dead. After searching the whole day and finding no one, I decided to return." There, that should be pretty good.

"But why do you smell so bad?" Atna asked. Shit, think of something. "Ah, I investigated the corpse of the dragon to try and figure out how it died. The blood seemed to come from... Well, it's ass, and I got something on me." Am I safe?

Atna suddenly recoiled and let go of her until now tight embrace, stepped back, smelled her arm and made a face in recoil.

"Then I ran here with all my might and came here. I was buck naked, so the guard lent me this cloak."

Bosir slowly nods "Truly, self-healing is the strongest gift to save your life from a wound inflicted by a dragon"

Boy, if only he knew.