8/6 - Holy lands - afternoon

"Now, everyone advances!"

Alex commanded us to attack the remaining bandit forces. We were easily able to outnumber them from the number of people we have vs what they had. The villagers that we came to help began to fight with us. This turned the whole table against the bandits in this area.

"Screw this, we gotta pull out of here," one of the bandits shouted to his other friends.

They were heading off into the forest. This was our chance to finish them off, we needed to take it!

"I'm going after them," I told Alex.

"No, Proxy, wait a moment!"

Alex tried to call me back but I ignored him and went after the guys in the forest. They were running as fast as they could but it was no use, I was right behind them. One of them had tripped on the ground. I grabbed hold of him before he could get up.

"Let me go!"

"Not a chance! But if you tell me where your friends are going, I might let you go."

"Y-you mean it?"

"Yeah."

Of course, I'm lying. I can't just let this dude go, he's a bandit.

"In that case, just look behind you."

The smug look on his face said it all. Someone was ready to whack me from behind the head. I rolled away from the enemy behind. There was more than one bandit when I got a good look, four of them to be exact.

"What, there need to be four of you guys to beat one kid," I taunted.

"You were acting tough a minute ago. Got scared or something?"

They held up their weapons as if that was meant to scare me off. But it only made all the happier to fight them.

"Fine then, you guys are gonna regret this!"

I tricked my opponents by sliding under their legs and hitting one of them on the back of the head with my stone sword. The other three swung their blades at me but I was able to dodge and block them. One of them was able to kick me in the gut. The sudden hit was unexpected, I should've been able to sense something like that coming!

"He's down, get him!"

When they tried to charge in I just knocked their swords away from me with all my might. I jumped up and kicked one of them in the face and then the guy next to him.

"Damn, how is this kid kicking our asses?"

"Don't fault yourself, that's just how it goes," I answered his disbelief.

The last guy's movement was staggering. I think I scared the poor guy down to his soul.

"Don't worry man, just for you, I'll knock you out quickly. . ."

Just when I was about to go off on him, but I felt something hit me on the back of my head.

"Gah!"

My vision was a bit foggy, I couldn't see straight. I then got hit on my side; it was probably a kick.

"Not so tough now, are ya," one of the bandits jeered.

Damn it, getting back on my feet was a bit hard considering that my feet seem to be wobbling all over the damn place.

"Did you think you were able to knock us out with one hit?"

Kind of did. Guess I didn't put enough force into my blows.

"Come on kid, ain't gonna fight now?"

The bandits began to mock me.

"Tch, you bastards don't scare me!"

Even if my vision was impaired I could still beat them. But what I didn't know was that my movement wasn't up to par with my eyesight being out of whack.

"Take this," a bandit yelled.

A fist hit my face and their feet hit my stomach, sides, and back. They knocked me down and continued to curb stomp me. I tried to break out of the assault but I was always pushed to the ground. There was nothing I could do, they had me cornered.

"Get away from him."

Someone had struck the bandits that were surrounding me. Members of the army were taking the bandits by storm, giving them no chance to retaliate.

"Are you okay Proxy?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I took his hand and upon my feet only to stumble down to my knees.

"Are you hurt?”

"I'm fine, they just hit me over the head."

"That's not good, you need to pull back."

"No, I can still fight!"

"The battle is over, you don't need to fight anymore."

It's over already? I barely got to do anything in the fight, I got sent in to help finish off the bandits. And on top of that, I got my ass beaten by some fodder bandits and that's it.

"Let's go back to camp. We’re going to go leave the bandits at the Kingdom.”

"Yeah, sure." As the anti-bandit troup guided me back to the others, I saw how happy everyone was from driving off the bandits, and I should too since it means that we helped some folk, but I can't join in on the celebrations since I wasn't feeling it.

Ruins camp - evening

Dinner was being served outside of the medical tent I'm in. We had gotten more cooks from the villages that we helped in the past few days. There's also been a rapid increase in people joining the anti-bandit army; from villagers to freed enslaved workers from mines like the Hell Mine thanks to Ovan’s group. And after Richard got poisoned we had to recruit people that could create medicine and expertly treat people. So far, it's only one person.

"Stop moving around," the doctor working on me instructed with his voice being soft-spoken.

"Sorry, but I'm fine now, I can see it properly. Plus, my bruises have mended over."

"Even so, you might have other symptoms from your head injury."

"I said I'm fine. I feel like a million bucks."

"Just let me see if you have any other brain abnormalities. In which case, if we miss any, then you might die."

"What!?"

"Of course, that's only a joke."

"The hell kind of joke is that?"

Right, forgot to mention, this guy is kind of a weirdo. He's supposed to be one of the best doctors outside of the kingdom according to Chip, but he never said that he was kind of... off his rocker. His name was Doctor Crow. He wore a long white robe that went down to his ankles. He has bags formed under his eyes and his hair was pale, long, and messy. His skin was also pale, it made him look sickly.

"I'm going to run a few tests to see if you have any cognitive impairment. It'll be mildly painful."

"Ha, you can't trick me. The mild part was a joke, yeah? Right...?"

His eyes told a story of a man that was not joking around. To say the least, it scared the shit out of me.

"Oh, um..."

"I'm only joking," Crow lightly chuckled.

"It won't hurt. I'm just going to see if your vision and information processing are all right."

"Seriously, you scared the ever-living shit out of me!"

“I thought telling a joke would lighten the mood."

"You have a real crap sense of humor."

Despite his jokes and the way he carried himself, he was able to coordinate the tests quickly. We also did a physical just in case...

"All right, it seems that you don't have any lasting damage to your brain, skull, or head in general."

"This means that I'm discharged?"

"Indeed."

"Finally, freedom!"

I got off the bed and put on my jacket.

"Well, thanks, doctor. See ya next time."

I was about to jet off, but the doctor stopped me.

"Proxy, before you go, I have something to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"Have you been overworking yourself as of late," Crow asked.

"A bit, why?"

"I only ask because it seems that you're forming bags under your eyes."

"Oh? Well, I haven't been getting much sleep as of late."

"I see. That's dangerous for your health. Do you know what's causing you to stay up late," Crow questioned as he wrote down in a journal.

"I don't know. I just feel restless, like my mind can't go back to sleep."

Crow sat down on the seat in front of the bed.

"I see, I see. . ."

"So, what does it mean?"

"I don't know. If it isn't due to any pain, then I can't tell you; especially if you don't know," he said, toneless in his delivery.

"Gee, that's great, now I'm having sleeping problems and the medical professional can't help."

I can't say this didn't happen before. I had a case of insomnia from staying up too much after my second year of middle school during the summer. But I didn't say up too late and I always wake up on time before this case of insomnia started, so what the hell?

". . .However, if you'd like to, I can give you something to make you fall to sleep."

"That would be. . .?"

"A medical brew that would render the victim unconscious."

"Wait, victim," I nitpicked.

"That's merely a joke."

He needs to chill out with that joking stuff, he's giving me mini heart attacks.

"But seriously, I would say the cause for your sleepless nights probably stems from the constant fighting every day. You're running your body ragged, and as such, you should pace yourself until you can obtain a proper sleeping schedule," Crow instructed while writing in his journal.

"Sorry, but I can't do that. I don't want to sit around and do nothing at all. My job is to be out fighting."

"Is that so...? In that case, I can't stop you, but I will notify Alexander about your condition. He'll decide if you can fight or not."

"Come on, can't you keep it a secret from him?"

"No, since I'm the medical professional helping this army I need to report any medical problems to the leader. No debate."

He was firm on his stance, nothing I say was going to make him budge. Irritated by what he said, I sucked my teeth and went for the exit of the tent.

...

"I see, the patient is not suffering from physical fatigue or insomnia. Judging from his reaction about me suggesting benching him, it seems as if the problem might stem from battle. Although I might be wrong on that, further study is needed to make an accurate statement. . .Maybe I should acquire assistance on this matter."

Ruins camp - midnight

Like the other nights before, I couldn't sleep. My mind was too wide awake to fall to sleep. So I decided to go for a walk outside of the camp. It was a peaceful time that helped calmed my nerves. The night sky with the hundreds of stars in it, the aurora up there just felt great to look at.

"Lovely night out today, isn't it?"

Gil walked up alongside me with his hands behind his back.

"Yeah, it is," I replied.

"What are you doing here though, Gil?"

"I just got done with training. What about you?"

"I'm just out here on a stroll."

"Ah. . ."

Gil sat down on the floor.

"You're having trouble sleeping, aren't you," Gil took a guess.

"Yeah, I am, and I don't know why. It's so damn irritating."

"Hmm. . .Maybe something's bothering you? I know that happened to me quite a lot back in prison."

Something is bothering me? What the hell could that be?

"Is it what happened in the forest yesterday?"

Who the hell told him about that!?

"What, planning on making fun of me for it?"

"No, why would I? Are you bothered by it?"

I was. The fact that some nobody thugs were able to outdo me and beat me down was humiliating. It was unbelievable.

"Yeah, it bothers me so damn much. I don't know how they were able to beat me. I'm supposed to be able to beat guys like those without breaking a sweat."

"Proxy, you don't need to beat yourself over it."

"Of course I do, I lost to weaker opponents. Even if there were more than one of them I should've still won!"

It's been aching at me all day, how I was overcome by them, it was bullshit. I refuse to believe I'm not capable; I beat thugs their size and height back in Newport!

"Proxy, how do you see yourself?"

"Huh?"

"What I mean is, what do you think your worth is? Do you even know?"

My worth? What the hell is he talking about?

"Oh my, philosophy at this time? Well, as much as that sounds entertaining I'll have to interrupt."

Crow came from behind us without me being alerted.

"Hey doc, how are you doing," Gil greeted with a carefree smile.

"I'm alright, what about you two? You do know it's midnight, right?"

"There's nothing wrong with waking up in the middle of midnight or training until then," Gil casually remarked.

"There is," Crow quickly responded.

I noticed Crow had a bag strapped on his shoulders.

"Where are you going, crow," I asked him.

"To my part-time job. It's in the kingdom."

"Seriously? How are you going to get in there? Do you sneak in there," I speculated.

"Doctors are given their own documents like merchants. There are also many benefits to working in the kingdom. We get more tools to work with and our own office, but not too many opportunities to further our skills past treating minor wounds. In other words: it was boring. But it's worth owning documentation."

Huh, so medical professionals get a free pass into the kingdom?

"Hey, why don't we-"

"You need to pass a medical exam to gain a document for being a medical professional."

Crow cut me off before I could finish making my suggestion. Although, he did answer it.

"Why are you going to the kingdom now, doc?"

"As I said, Gilhart, I'm going to my part-time job. Would you both like to come and see what it is," Crow invited us.

He's got me kind of curious at this point, Gil was also having his curiosity peaked.

"Sure, I'll tag along with you. I always wanted to be a doctor's assistant. What about you Gil?"

"I was at one point. He would advertise this all-purpose healing water every day and even have me act like it healed my sickness even when I didn't have one. I wonder why?"

"That's because he was a con artist."

“Seriously!?”

Gil, your pure-hearted nature is too pure for this world.

Kingdom of humans - midnight

Entering the kingdom, we made our way along the alleyways. Eventually, we stopped in front of a small square patch of land that was surrounded by houses and shops. There was a hatch on the left-hand side of the area with a handle on it. It was covered by trash and other junk. Crow opened the hatch and went in first.

"Close the door behind yourselves," Crow instructed.

Gil was the last to go in so he closed it. As we walked through in a long dark corridor, our footsteps echoed along the corridor.

"How long is this tunnel," I asked.

"Don't worry, we'll be there shortly. Do tell me if you're having trouble walking?"

"Nope, I feel fine, I was just asking."

It was about two minutes worth of walking, but we eventually reached the end. There were double metal doors in front of us. Crow knocked on the door, a slidable hatch on the door slid open.

"Who is it," a gruff voice questioned.

"Doctor Crow."

The doorman instantly opened the doors after hearing his name. He took a good look at Gil and me.

"Who are these guys," the door guy questioned.

"My assistance obviously."

"The guy looks like a guard more than an assistant."

"Thanks," I proudly accepted his compliment.

"I meant the guy behind you," the guard redirected.

"O-oh."

I felt humiliated and insulted all at the same time.

"Anyway, come on it."

Upon entering I saw a guard rail and a set of stairs on the right. Going over to the guard rail gave me a view of what was down below. Lights rigged on the walls and the roof. All of them pointing towards the middle area of this whole room. It was a giant fighting arena; circular to be specific. It was surrounded by an audience area on all sides. Cheers were coming from the crowd and people fighting in the ring.

"What the heck is this place," I directed my question to Crow.

"This is the Warrior's Pit."

"Did the king have this built?"

"It was here for generations. It was made by the great ancestors of the kingdom. There are a few books on a place that resembles this domain; it was used to recruit knights during the early years of the kingdom," A kid behind Crow with a sotto voce tone explained.

He was a bit taller than me, probably a year older than me. His hair was grey, short, messy and he was wearing a jacket that was akin to a drifter jacket. He also had a blunt shaped object on his back that looked like a bat from the design except the top was flat.

"And who are you," I questioned. He pointed his weapon at me in response. "As of right now, I am the champion of this place, and I'm challenging you to a fight."