Pain, someone was hurting him, he tried to get away.

Struggling, he heard voices around him, the pain, which clouded his mind made him unable to understand what they said.

Forced down by several strong hands, he felt himself drifting away.

Stew, the smell of stew woke him, before he knew it, he opened his mouth and someone fed him.

He only ate a few spoons of stew before he lost consciousness.

The world was dark, the pain had subsided greatly, for the first time in what seemed like ages his mind was clear enough for him to think.

-Vivo: Where am I.

-voice: So you're finally awake, wait here I'll be back soon.

A few moments later Vivo heard the familiar voice of the captain.

-Arden: We were worried about you, you've recovered somewhat.

-Vivo: Where am I.

-Arden: We're en route to Niele, we'll be back in town before you know it, once there we'll be able to find someone more capable to help you heal.

Vivo raised his hand towards his head, but before reaching it someone grabbed a hold of it.

-Arden: Don't, What you did was admirable. But you paid a heavy price.

Vivo didn't hear what he said, his body had already gone limp.

Waking up again, he heard Mordecia arguing with a woman.

-Woman: Oh, you're awake good, how do you feel?

-Vivo: Like minced meat.

-Mordecia: Ha, you sure as hell look like it, you fool.

-Vivo: Where am I?

-Woman: You're in my house, my name is Trudie, I am the healer in town. The lord personally requested for me to take care of you, if I knew then that my house would become a new tavern, I would have refused outright.

-Vivo: what are you on about.

-Trudie: I'll let your friend here explain, you're not the only one I'm taking care of, I'll be back later.

She closed the door behind her as she left.

-Mordecia: I've not seen a bigger fool than you in many years. Well, at least you're alive, but I don't know if you'll get your sight back. Trudie is an herbalist, she has no way of regenerating body parts.

-Vivo: And you?

-Mordecia: I am currently searching through my entire library, so far nothing. I have no real experience in healing, after fighting with the doppelganger I've learned how to regenerate the body faster through mana manipulation, but never have I lost a body part.

While he was talking, Vivo felt him using mana, first, to examine his body and then to increase the regeneration rate of his body.

- But if that's the case, I might have a solution that will ease your life considerably.

Hearing Mordecias words, Vivo felt the blood leave his face, he didn't look forward to live a life in eternal darkness.

-Vivo: And what would this solution of yours entail.

-Mordecia: I've been thinking of a way to use mana to determine your surroundings, I've yet to put it in use, I fear it will use copious amounts of mana. Also, it is a completely different from how you and I have been analyzing items before.

-Vivo: Go on.

-Mordecia: You can still feel when mana is used right?

-Vivo: Yeah...

-Mordecia: It occurred to me that you don't always have to see the mana patterns to know or understand them. But enough of that I'll try it out beforehand so you don't hurt yourself more you fool.

With those words he left, leaving Vivo alone with his thoughts.

Vivo attempted to figure out what Mordecias solution could be, but before he could think it through thoroughly the door opened again.

-Arden: So it's true, you're finally awake.

-Vivo: yeah.

-Arden: I've come to thank you, you didn't just save my life back there but also two of my men.

When Vivo didn't respond, he continued in an erratic voice.

-Arden: I was a fool, I'd gotten used to fighting unorganized goblins with little or no scouting information, and thanks to that I lost almost two thirds of my men. I was arrogant, and others had to pay the price for my mistake. About fifty men died and you, Kal'more, Roy and Lan were captured. Roy died under torture, I can't imagine a worse fate.

He paused for a second to clear his voice, then continued in a more stable tone.

-Arden: After we were routed we sent for reinforcements and began scouting the area for additional entrances. Luckily we found a cave system that led to a ledge overlooking the torture chamber you were held in. All we could do was watch as we waited for the reinforcements and equipment to launch out assault, we were too late, just as they arrived my guards reported what was happening to you.

-Vivo: How many died?

-Arden: what?

-Vivo: how many of the expedition died?

-Arden: sixty four, including Sean and Pjot, also Roy were killed in the torture chamber. But through your action both Kal'more and Loornal survived and were relatively unharmed when we found you.

Arden paused, waiting for Vivo to respond, after a few moments Vivo spoke.

-Vivo: leave, leave me alone for now.

Without a word, Arden left. The door closed and Vivo started crying, not only for his friends that had died, but also for the other 61 men that had died. He had known most of them, or talked with them, and now they were dead.

Vivo was lost in his dark thoughts for hours, but he managed to regain his composure somewhat. He even tried to conjure up a doppel, but to no avail, the doppel became unstable before it formed and he had to dispel it. His failure provoked him to consider why he couldn't conjure up a doppel, but before he reached a conclusion the door opened again.

-Trudie: Hey, I'm back, how do you feel?

-Vivo: You have to ask?

Continuing to talk, Trudie checked on his bandages and wounds to look for potential infections and to see the progress of his recovery.

-Trudie: I meant, do you feel anything except the pain coming from your wounds? Such as nausea or stomach aches?

-Vivo: No.

-Trudie: You're a talkative one, Hmph, after what you've been through I can't really blame you. One advice though, don't alienate the people around you, I've had a whole bunch of your friends filling up my house since you got here. I'm quite eager to get you out of here, I'm not running a tavern here, something your friends seem to think.

With those words she left, leaving Vivo alone once again to ponder on why the doppel failed to form.

Just moments after Trudie left, the door opened up again, interrupting his thoughts.

-Mordecia: I'm still working on a way to regenerate your eyes, but as for the temporary solution, it is safe but requires a lot of mana.

-Vivo: Go on.

-Mordecia: It would be better to show you.

A moment passed before Vivo felt a wave of mana hitting him.

-Mordecia: I call it mana sonar. Now you try it, focus a substantial amount of your mana in your body, then release it in a slow moving wave emanating outward from your body.

Releasing a wave, Vivo felt how some of his mana reflected upon touching objects around him, it gave him a general sense of his surroundings. Successful as he was, it still used up a lot of mana, even though some mana returned to him most of it was lost.

-Mordecia: Good, but from the look on your face, I can see that you grasp the problem with using this technique. I think though that it can be refined to use less mana and be more efficient, but it will always use a considerable amount of mana.

Vivo tried creating another wave, using considerably less mana, the result was disappointing. He could only feel a few inches around him, further than that he felt nothing except a few spots here and there, as if looking through a piece of paper with holes in it.

Pondering his results for a second before he spoke.

-Vivo: have you ever been unable to conjure up your doppelgangers?

-Mordecia: Not really, unless I've been too tired to control them or when I've depleted my mana to severely, why do you ask?

Without answering, he began conjuring a doppel and dispelling it when it became unstable.

-Mordecia: Ah, I see the problem, which is the first step of conjuring the doppel?

-Vivo: To create a copy of my own mana flow.

-Mordecia: there you have it.

Confused, Vivo laid quietly for a moment pondering Mordecias words.

-Vivo: I don't understand, what are you trying to tell me?

-Mordecia: Remember when you first learned to conjure up a doppel? Go through all the steps one at a time.

Still confused, Vivo began analyzing his own mana flow, to his surprise, he noticed several differences from before most noteworthy were around his eyes. Adding in the changes, he attempted to conjure up a doppel, this time he was successful. The result, disappointed Vivo greatly, It was as if he now had two bodies, each with only four senses. Hoping that he could use a doppel to be his eyes, he felt defeated, he would now have to rely on the mana sonar¨for the rest of his life.

-Mordecia: I figured out another method to help you get around.

Mordecia then went on explaining about beacons, creating a piece of mana flow resembling a small ball containing a partial copy of your own mana flow, which you then could bind to any place you wanted and always be aware of where it was located.

-Mordecia: Get up, you need to show people that you're alive.

Vivo climbed out of bed.

-Mordecia: Oh... Hehe, I didn't know she had gone that far... Here put these on, I'll wait outside if you need any help.

Handing Vivo a set of clothes he closed the door behind him. It took him some time to get dressed, using only touch and sonar as guidance. Exiting the room, Mordecia took a hold of him and escorted him down a set of stairs.

Sending out a wave, Vivo felt twenty or so, people sitting and standing around a round table, some of them were holding large objects which he couldn't identify. Letting go of Mordecia, he walked up to one of them which he thought he recognized.

-Vivo: Is that you Kal?

Kal'more couldn't hide the surprise in his voice when he answered.

-Kal'more: Yes, it's me.

-Vivo: Who else is here?

-Kal'more: Almost all of us, Arden and a few had duties to attend to, but the rest of us are here. We were worried about you, after what you did, I wanted to thank you.

Kal hugged him cautiously, after Kal'more released him, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder, he turned around.

Lan: Thank you for saving us from so much pain.

They all sat down and had a drink after that, Vivo now understood what Trudie had been talking about, they had all brought flagons of beer and were drinking while waiting for him.

When Trudie entered the room, she gave them all a good scolding before throwing them out and putting Vivo back in bed.

The next day Vivo woke up, feeling no pain whatsoever. Getting dressed he found his bag and the rest of his stuff on a chair alongside the bed. With his spirits high he slowly made his way out and headed towards the smithy, the journey wasn't particularly long, but it took him a while getting there. Constantly asking for directions and creating beacons, while slowly walking towards his destination, bumping into people and objects along the way because he didn't have enough mana to use the sonar frequently enough, his spirits declined rapidly.

Ralph greeted him once he arrived.

-Ralph: Well, look who's up and about. Considering your injuries I didn't think you'd return, let me have a look at you.

Vivo felt him removing a blindfold which he hadn't noticed he wore.

-Ralph: How do you expect to work when you can't see, boy.

-Vivo: I managed to get here, didn't I?

-Ralph: Go home, boy you can't do anything here except hurt yourself.

Ignoring Ralph, Vivo walked into the smithy, putting on an apron and gloves, then returned to Ralph.

-Vivo: Give me something easy to do.

Ralph sighed, then told him to make a simple knife. An hour later Vivo gave up, he couldn't use the sonar frequently enough to see what he was doing, the result was a piece of scrap metal.

Thanking Ralph, for letting him try he left, making his way towards the inn.

He asked Alberta if he could try his hand in the kitchen again, skeptical she agreed.

The result was similar to his attempt in the smithy, even though he could smell which things were which, it took him far too long time, to assemble the ingredients and cook them resulting in over cooked food.

Disappointed, he made his way back to Trudie's house and into the bed.

That evening Mordecia came by. He had dark rings under his eyes, his coat and cloak covered in dust.

Finishing a conversation with Trudie, he walked up to Vivo's room.

-Mordecia: Hey...

Vivo sat up hopeful.

-Vivo: Did you find anything?

-Mordecia: Not in my library no, but I've been granted access to the lord's library, it isn't large but Í might find something.

-Vivo: Then either take a break or get to it, I ain't going nowhere and you sound tired.

-Mordecia: I'll come back when I'm done.

Having his hope shattered and then been given a branch to cling to, Vivo clung to that small hope as if his life depended on it.

A while after Mordecia left, Trudie forced him down and into her laboratory. There she began teaching him about herbs and salves.

A week passed like this, Vivo smelling and analyzing herbs and plants, learning about their properties and uses, while desperately clinging onto that branch of hope. Constantly hoping and fearing for news from Mordecia, made him on edge, he slept less than usual, and when he wasn't sleeping or eating, he worked, using every moment of time to fill his head with anything but the fear.

Tired, Mordecia entered Trudie's home, he found Trudie in the kitchen.

-Mordecia: Hey...

-Trudie: What's the word?

-Mordecia: Not good. I couldn't find anything to help him, how's he doing.

-Trudie: He's taken up the craft remarkably well, I hope it'll be enough for him, without a reason to live he might end himself.

Concerned, Mordecia continued on into the laboratory.

Vivo was sitting in bed with his head resting in his palms, tears were falling from between his fingers. With his last hope crushed, he didn't know what to do, he missed cooking, the feeling of creating something tasty, by carefully adding the ingredients one at a time to produce something just not edible but enjoyable.

He would no longer be able to forge metal, he liked the heat from the forge, the long hours of sweating while creating anything from a kitchen knife to a piece of armour.

The Herbalism that Trudie were teaching him didn't give him the same satisfaction, even though he was creating cures and helping people, which was satisfying in itself, it wasn't like working hard exhausting his body.

That night he cried himself to sleep.

The next two days Trudie worked him hard, keeping him busy. Vivo still had time to reflect on his situation, living in total darkness, depressed and frustrated him. He could barely make his way around the house without bumping into things, finally he couldn't take it. He grabbed his stuff and left.