The Author's POV

"Does anyone have potions? Quick!"

I panicked when I felt Smallsnake's body and his heartbeat weakening. Feeling his body which was extremely hot, I knew that the situation was extremely bad.

'Not today!'

Pressing my hands against his chest, I started to move my body up and down as I tried to get the blood running through his body.

I was currently waiting for someone to give me a potion. Only a potion could save Smallsnake.

"Quick!"

I shouted out loud as I noticed Smallsnake's condition worsening.

"Here."

Thankfully, Amanda was quick to react as she handed me what seemed to be a small potion.

As I was in a hurry, I didn't get a proper look at the potion, but feeling the texture of the bottle, I knew that it was a really expensive one. I was secretly thankful inside my heart.

Pressing my hand against Smallsnake's mouth and opening it up slightly, I gently poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth.

Watching as the liquid poured into his mouth, I could feel sweat trickling down from the side of my face.

"Please work..."

For the first time in my life, I felt genuine panic as I waited for the potion to take effect.

I wasn't the only one panicking, as Ryan shook Smallsnake's body and moved closer to him. Tears had started to gather from the corner of his eyes as he hugged Smallsnake's body tightly.

"Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die…"

His voice was rather frail, evident that he was also in a similar state to mine.

Behind him, the others were also showing similar reactions as they anxiously stared at Smallsnake's body on the ground.

"Done."

Throwing the now empty bottle away, I slumped back and gazed in Smallsnake's direction.

'Please work.'

I thought to myself as I suddenly felt something press against my forehead, wiping some of the sweat away.

"Thank you."

Upon noticing Amanda standing beside me, I thanked her for wiping away the sweat on my side of the face.

"…It'll be okay. You've already done everything you can for him. All you can do at this moment is hope that he recovers."

She quietly reassured me as I felt her soft hand grasp mine.

"Huuu…"

I wasn't sure whether it was because of her sudden actions, or her calm demenour, but I slowly also started to calm down as I gratefully looked at Amanda.

"Thank you."

I once again thanked her as I shifted my attention back to Smallsnake.

'She's right, I've already done whatever I could for Smallsnake. It will be up to him from this point forward.'

Given that the potion Amanda had given me was a highly ranked one, I expected its effects to be rather quick, but as minutes passed and Smallsnake's condition didn't improve, my complexion started to sour.

"Did it not work?"

I weakly mumbled out loud as my head lowered.

My hand grasped at my clothes as a familiar pain engulfed my chest.

I couldn't quite describe what I was feeling, but it felt as though all the energy had been taken away from my body.

"Shit…"

out loud, as I felt guilt creep

let this happen? I should've refused Kevin's offer once I realized that

I been more cautious, none

anyone to blame, it had to be me. Given all the experiences I had, I should've known better to be more prepared, but

that I was being harsh on myself and that my faults lied elsewhere, but these thoughts

"Smallsnake!"

then that Ryan's high-pitched voice rang

"What happened?"

toward Smallsnake, the first thing I noticed

"Move away."

moved over to Smallsnake and placed my

"...It's working."

previous pain that I had experienced dissipated and I felt a wave of relief enshroud my body as my shoulders relaxed

"Thank god…thank god…"

the others also showed

hugged his body

onto his chest tightly, he

"Thank you..thank you…"

felt a weird feeling as I stared at Ryan hugging

the two of

utter pain on Ryan's face was an

as well, and taking a moment to study the faces of everyone present did I finally realize just how much of an influence Smallsnake had on

"Thank god…"

stood up and headed out of the

"Where are you going?"

wiping the corner of my eyes, I turned to look in his direction and beckoned

know that there isn't much time

"...You're right."

his head as

rooms, I looked

is where Emma is located, and that's where

say anything for a couple of seconds. Just as I was about to say

"Okay."

that, she headed toward Emma's room. The reason for this was Kevin who was standing next to it, waiting for Angelica to come to him. On the outside, he appeared to be patiently waiting for her, but

"As expected of him."

imprinted the scene inside

"…He never changes."

***

Drip—! Drip—!

"Huuu…1035…huuuu…1036…"

down her face,

now reached all the way toward her back, gently fell in front of her face, covering her eyes. Nonetheless, this did not stop her as

"1037…1038…"

she had appeared in this strange environment, Emma never once found herself out of

a lot more relaxed than back when she was inside her family

to that place, this place was

mana was currently sealed, it didn't stop Emma

the stronger one's body, the

rather simple. The stronger and more well-trained a body was, the more mana

was quite well

no one really paid a lot of attention to this as a lot of time was also required to train the body, and the little improvement they would receive from a better body would easily be

was also what Emma did

world, Emma also believed that training the body was a waste of time, but as she continued to do push-ups and she felt her muscles contracting, Emma realized how naive her previous view

the structure at the

her body and continued her

"Huu…1045…1046…hm?"

Kriii—!

heard a familiar rock grating sound and stopped doing whatever she

a bit too early for them to open the

would open every day at a specific time. She had only just returned to her

was

"Ugh…"

light began to spill in, and Emma felt a wave of warm and humid air enter the

used to the light, Emma was forced

"Emma!"

that she heard a familiar voice coming from the