I awaken back in a hospital bed, something which has now happened twice since the System arrived. Considering that that was not even four months ago, that’s… twice more I would have ideally liked. There are a few devices beeping in the room, most prominently a heart rate and EKG machine strapped to my chest and a blood oxygen monitor strapped on my right hand. No IV drip or anesthetics or any other signs that I’ve been dispensed medication.

Amusingly, I wonder if I’ve not been medicated simply because my [Vitality] is too high for the doctors to actually pierce my skin and veins. Or something even weirder, such as my body healing so quickly that it forces the needle out and stitches up the wound within minutes of being injected. Then again, I’m sure if I were injured, Chloe would have been right there to patch me up…

Wait, where is Chloe? I focus on our [Angelic Bond]. It’s intact, thank the goddess, and I sense… discomfort. She’s tired, worried, stressed, nervous. Overworked. Knowing her, she’s torn between wanting to look after me specifically and her class’s desire to tend to the injured and ill, of which there are bound to be thousands, if not more. I equivocate on sending a message to her— the last thing I’d want to do is disturb her when she’s in the middle of treating a patient.

I overcome the equivocation a moment later. Were I in her shoes, I’d want to know that I was well the moment I woke up, and I’d want to reassure her as soon as possible.

“Chloe? It’s Sera. I just woke up. Let me know where you are and how I can help. I’m healthy and well and ready to help out however I can.”

“Sera? About time you got your lazy butt out of bed!”

“Not the reaction I was expecting. Anyway, I hope you’re as well as possible, given the situation.”

Chloe lets out a long sigh through our bond. “Once again, you worry me sick, charging out like that. Even though I know that’s part of you, and you probably had some sort of plan, that doesn’t make it any easier on me.”

There are a lot of things I could say here. That I had a plan, even at the end of the fight. That it was the best option to avoid harm coming to Mrs. Jacobs and all the other people living here. That everything I was doing was part of a calculated risk… It doesn’t really matter. Emotions rarely succumb to anything so impassive as ‘facts’ or ‘logic’.

“I know. And I’m sorry.”

Taking risks and advancing myself like that is a part of who I am. It’s my class’s imperative, alongside protecting others when I can. Chloe intellectually knows this and has accepted it as part of me. But it still worries her, and all I can do for her sake— beyond working to get stronger so I don’t have to take such risks— is act with genuine contrition when my actions bring her grief and worry.

“Well, I’m down near the emergency rooms, trying to stabilize as many people as I can.”

“How is your [Ether] holding up? And are you getting tired?”

She hesitates for a few moments, telling me all I need to know.

“We should get ourselves home and get some rest as soon as possible.” I look through the outside window and see that it’s morning, maybe an hour after dawn. After pulling my phone out of my [Inventory] and letting it catch a signal, I confirm my suspicion: 7:37 AM.

“But–”

“Is everyone around you stable? At least, in the sense that they aren’t in imminent risk of death or long-term complications?”

“Yes, but–”

“We should plan to leave soon, then.” After a brief moment of puzzlement from Chloe, I continue. “It would be bad if the two of us did all the work all of the time.”

“Wait… Why?”

“Because we need others to continue to get stronger as well. If I do all the fighting in the city and you do all the healing, we’ll gain a lot of levels, but we’ll be depriving the people all around us of far more levels than either of us will individually gain. It’ll make us collectively weaker right at a time when we definitely need to be working to get everyone stronger.”

Chloe sighs again. “Twenty more minutes. Let me finish stabilizing everyone and ensure proper continuity of care, and then we’ll head home for a few hours.”

“Of course.”

It’s at this time that one of the medical staff enters the room and looks around. “Uh, Miss… Is it okay for you to be up and about right now?”

I look at my Status. My [Health] is sitting at 8,300 and my [Ether] is completely topped off. I see no status abnormalities, either. There’s no headache, nor any other pain or discomfort. My heartbeat is slow and steady, and according to the machine still strapped to my finger, my blood oxygen concentration is sitting at 98%.

“I think it should be fine. I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary.” Maybe— maybe— a touch lightheaded. But nothing outside the bounds of my everyday condition.

“I’d still like to run a couple of procedures just to make sure. From what we were told when you were brought in, you hit your head pretty hard last night. I’m… frankly astonished that you are capable of speaking, let alone standing.”

“Well, my girlfriend always says that I’m hard-headed. Guess that applies literally as well.”

The nurse is less than amused by my attempt at humor, but ultimately shakes off his displeasure before taking my vitals once more. He feels up a few spots on my neck, which I can’t say I care much for. I allow it nonetheless. He then follows up with some tests of my vision and eye movements as well— I think that checking my pupils for dilation is supposed to be related to checking for concussions? A reflex check on the knee follows— which I pass as well, I hope— before he stares at me with bemusement.

“Truly bewildering,” he says under his breath. “Fourteen years of training and experience in the medical field all made worthless in mere weeks. They’re going to have to completely revamp the entire curriculum.”

Another shake of his head follows. “Well, I don’t know how, but you appear to be the picture of health. Just… try to take it easy for a couple of days, and come back right away if you or anyone around you notices any deterioration in your mental or physical condition. Just because you look and feel fine right now doesn’t mean there’s not some hidden injury that will only make itself apparent later.”

----------------------------------------

As soon as eight o’clock rolls around, Chloe emerges from the ward in which she’d been working overnight. She’s tired and haggard, deep bags underneath her eyes and short of breath, [Vitality] be damned. But I can’t help but notice the way her eyes and lips both present a fierce and unwavering smile despite the fatigue.

The moment I take her into my arms, she nearly collapses. I can’t imagine how tired she must be, how far she pushed herself these past several hours. Especially knowing that her [Binding Soul Chains] had already taken so much out of her during the fight. Truly, she is as dedicated and self-sacrificial when it comes to using her healing arts as I am when it comes to fighting, though I dare not say as much out loud.

“Are you two getting ready to leave?” one of the nurses— not the one who checked up on me— asks.

“I’m afraid so,” I say. “Chloe’s exhausted, and I’m ready to get back home after last night’s trials as well.”

“Godspeed to both of you. And let Ms. Jacobs know that she’s welcome to take up shifts as a traveling medic anytime; she’s a real miracle worker.”

Chloe is already all-but-asleep, her eyes closed, her breathing deep and easy. Nevertheless, a contented smile appears on her lips.

“I think she knows, but I’ll make sure to remind her when she awakes.”

With a wave and a modest bow, I head out the main entrance to the hospital. One which is, sadly, jam-packed. I’ve not had a chance to really survey the surroundings of the city or even do an internet search for the goings on more broadly, but this already bodes ill for what I’ll see as I ascend over the medical complex and out into the city proper.

I brace myself for the worst. It’s… thankfully not as bad as I had feared, but still worse than I had hoped. There are no signs that the titan was able to wipe out an entire swath of the city. The main thoroughfares and primary infrastructure of the city are all intact. Electricity is running, based on the lights I see from above and— I have to assume— other utilities are working as well. But there are hundreds of smaller houses, office buildings, as well as some retail establishments and schools which were seriously damaged by the incident.

I try, but mostly fail, to avoid cursing myself for my lack of strength. It was what I’d just told Chloe earlier. There are things that only she can do and things only I can do, and things that we have to delegate to others, or otherwise will accept that we can’t do ourselves. I’m sure, over the coming days and weeks, we’ll help out with the rebuilding, just as we did after the harpies some weeks back. But just as back then, the two of us are still only… well, mortal, fallible, and far from omnipotent.

And so, with a heavy heart, I double-time my way back to the Jacobs residence. Again, I count Chloe’s good fortune as the reason why we’ve personally been spared the worst of last night’s attack. Most of the devastation was further north, especially on the west side of town, with sporadic damage caused by hippocamps throughout the eastern neighborhoods and out toward the suburbs over yonder.

I’m greeted by Mrs. Jacobs— Alicia, I mentally correct— as soon as I enter the door. She looks like she hasn’t gotten a wink of sleep all night. Between concern over our safety and the storm and the monster attacks, and then not hearing back from us afterwards, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a lot of crying behind those puffy, red eyes.

“Is my daughter–”

“She’s fine. Just sleeping,” I say. “We’ve both had a long night.”

“I– I wish you would have called. Even a text. I’ve been trying to get hold of both of you for the last several hours.”

Chloe probably made the same mistake I made a few days ago. She reached Level 50, unlocked her [Inventory], stowed her phone away at some point while tending to the wounded, and completely spaced out about it afterwards. The fact that I don’t see it anywhere on her person and that she was at Level 49 beforehand suggests that that’s a plausible explanation. By far the most likely of any I can easily come up with.

Before Alicia can admonish me further, the sound of a news report running on the television catches my attention.

“And, live on the scene with Angela Scarisson… Angela, what can you tell us about the events from last night?”

“Yes, Laura. We’re still getting reports coming in from eyewitnesses as well as authorities both on the scene and who are investigating the aftermath. According to preliminary reports, last night’s storm was caused by a giant monster that was ravaging the west side of town. Although we are still uncertain as to the cause, there are reports of similar events occurring in cities all across the world.”

Alicia turns off the television. “It’s awful. A lot of the biggest cities were able to repel the attacks. New York, Chicago, Toronto, Paris… They’re all doing just fine. And the titans didn’t go after the smaller cities. But a lot of cities this size or thereabouts, even some of the larger cities? Memphis is in ruins. Omaha basically doesn’t exist anymore. Minneapolis is doing fine thanks to some mysterious warrior wearing a suit of black armor, but they’re one of the lucky ones.”

She pauses for a moment. “And then there’s us. And that’s because of you, isn’t it? You don’t have to answer. I saw a video of a part of the battle on YouTube earlier this morning once the storm stopped and we got the all clear. Someone among our defenders conjured a strange set of golden chains in the middle of the fight, strong enough even to restrain that creature for a few moments, to buy our army the time they needed to rally. That was you, wasn’t it, Sera?”

I shake my head, smiling as I do. “No. That was all Chloe.”

Alicia smiles, stroking her daughter’s cheek as I continue to hold her in a princess carry. “It’s hard to believe that she can do such a thing. That you both can do such things.”

“I know. And… I’m sorry that we didn’t call you and let you know we were safe sooner.”

Alicia shakes her head. “You’re going to go back out there, aren’t you? No matter what I say.”

“We’re going to have to take it easy for a few days. That fight took a lot out of both of us, and we’re going to be focusing our efforts on tending to the wounded and helping to rebuild. Just like we did after the harpy swarm a couple of weeks ago. But at some point, once things are settled down, we’re going to have to. We have to keep making sure we’re ready to protect you and everyone else the next time one of those monsters approaches.”

“I’m not going to say I like the idea of you two throwing yourselves into danger like that. I didn’t like it back then at the pawn shop and I somehow like it even less now that I know exactly the sorts of dangers you two are throwing yourselves at.” She pauses. “But, seeing how selfless you both are. How brave and valorous and heroic? A mother can’t help but be proud of her daughters.”

I lower my head. “Thanks… Mom,” I say.