The only thing the girl could do in her current position was raise her left hand and try to cover her eye with it. As soon as her palm covered her eye, Kalidonia was pierced by dozens of needles. Each one pierced the girl's skin by just a centimeter. But the pain from the tiny holes forming all over her body, from which blood began to flow, was completely abnormal. It was as if she had been pierced all over. Although that's exactly what happened.
-AAAAAAHHHH! Damn Damn Damn! AAAARGH! My whole body is burning. AHGH!
As Kalidonia sat in agony, the mannequin didn't wait for her to rest and wandered toward her. Its needles were now considerably fewer, as if it had removed its pine coat. Approaching the bleeding Kalidonia, it raised its heavy branch and struck. Time stood still for her again. But unlike before, something in her head snapped with a loud crash, and her temporary respite ended instantly. The branch flew to its target, striking her head and crushing her completely into the ground. Kalidonia's arms and legs sprawled across the ground in a star-shaped formation. Before she could properly react to the attack, disgusting earth flew into her open mouth. The contact of the girl's head and the ground was accompanied by a loud roar.
And so the body lay, bleeding and trampled into the ground. A tree stood above it. It hadn't moved, but its strength and dominance were still visible. It seemed the blow had knocked the girl unconscious, meaning the training was over.
Raising its branches to their original position, it froze like a normal tree. And now it was indistinguishable from a tree.
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-Uhhh... my body... Everything aches.
The fox standing over her looked at her with beady eyes, not her own, and began to help her. She rolled her over onto her back and began examining her. The blood around her wounds had already congealed, and no new blood was coming out. Fox took this as a good sign. She brought her ice dagger to one of the holes in her body. The dagger froze the pine needle and the wound site. The wound completely froze. As she did this, the girl's face twisted in pain, her breathing became ragged, and a small groan escaped her mouth.
Examining her body, she saw many identical wounds. This was strange, to say the least. Had Mikua made an effort? Probably not... If he had truly decided to fight her, she would have died immediately, without having time to do anything. Fox turned her head a couple of times, searching for something that might catch her attention. Endless forests, a house eternally waiting for people, a night sky dotted with countless white stars. As if nothing here could harm her. She must have been too late for this fight.
Well, she'd have to freeze her wounds anyway. Dozens of holes that had bled out. It would take a long time. And it would be very painful.
The fox awakened all her ice daggers and began to control them simultaneously, trying to "heal" her wounds. It did help, but this method of healing was far worse than the regular potions used by all sentient beings in this world, or the healing magic she, unfortunately, lacked. The fox had never seen spells that healed others, only those that healed themselves. This made sense, since self-healing was available to anyone, while the spell to restore others was only available to [Healers] or their subclasses.
While the fox was lost in her fascinating thoughts, she continued to heal the girl, who was constantly tossing and turning in her sleep. She was in great pain, as the ice not only froze her wounds but, strangely enough, also chilled her body. Since the beginning of the "treatment," Kalidonia's face hadn't shown a calm or peaceful expression. It was pain that couldn't wake her.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
After the girl's treatment, the fox picked her up and carried her into the house. She still had a gloomy expression. But the fox clearly couldn't influence this.
Opening the door to the house, she slowly carried her to the bed and laid her down. She left her as she was. Without covering her with a blanket, it was apparently very difficult for the fox to remember that not everyone can tolerate the cold. She stepped out the door and savored the night air. After standing in one position for a while, she hurried back into the forest. The fox knew what it was like to lose a lot of blood, and she knew a way to replenish the missing supply in the forest.
-I need BERRIES!
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The girl lay on her back, staring at the old, musty ceiling. Her body ached. Not like the burning and throbbing of a new wound, but as if she had a derivative of this pain. No throbbing, no burning. It just is. Taking a deep breath, she looked away and saw something red on the table. She didn't care what it was. The most important thing was not to fall asleep again. Or not to lose consciousness from this pain.
She simply lay there and existed. If she weren't alive, it would have seemed like she wasn't even breathing. Her eye was open, but it had no focus. Everything swam before her eyes. Her body didn't feel like her own. As if it had been replaced with someone else's. One that didn't belong to her.
A fox entered the house, leaving something more red on the table, looked at the girl, and left the house. Kalidonia didn't look at her; she only saw her out of the corner of her eye. It was even hard for her to shift her eyes.
-Virtue... She croaked in her weak voice. Most likely, she didn't even say anything. No... She didn't move her lips. The voice was only in her head.
Morning turned to afternoon. Day turned to evening. Evening turned to night. She still lay there. It seemed as if if she lay on the bed any longer, she would merge with it and become one.
-I have to... Get up...
Just a little more and she could weakly move her arm up to her shoulder. Imagine forgetting how to move, having to flex every muscle, and each movement would be accompanied by intense pain. That's exactly what she felt now. If not for the girl's incredible willpower, or rather the strong voice that awakened in her stomach. Her instincts told her she definitely needed to eat.
Having regained control of her arm, she began doing the same with the other. This time, the process went much faster. The blood in her veins accelerated, and she began to recall her muscle movements more quickly.
After an eternity of pain and learning, the girl was able to rise up on her elbows. She swung her legs off the bed and placed them on the floor. Pushing off the bed, she stood up. And she didn't stand for long. Her legs buckled, and she fell to the floor. Her knees hit the floor. And it hurt. But very little pain. As if she wouldn't have even felt it if she hadn't seen how the world quickly changed location and she was lying on the floor.
And only now did she notice the feeling. Her head was spinning, her legs wouldn't obey. As if all her strength, which was already so little, had been completely drained. But that was impossible, right? Right?
The girl leaned on the chair in front of her with her hands and tried to stand. After falling a couple more times, she finally stood up, holding onto the back of her chair. She walked closer to the table and saw small red balls there. To the right of them was a mug of them in water. To the left, amidst all those bright balls, she hadn't immediately noticed, was a seared steak. It was definitely overcooked. Way overdone. The fox still hadn't learned how to sear meat properly. But Kalidonia had no reason to complain.
The meat, which was indeed plentiful, quickly evaporated in Kalidonia's small mouth. She looked cautiously at the red berries. The fox wouldn't harm her, so why was she standing there and not taking her gift? But the problem was, the red color scared her. Like something very dangerous. Or sick. Overcoming her animal fear and closing her eyes, she picked up a couple of berries and placed them in her mouth. The taste was sweet and sour, and very, very tart. But this sweetness and sourness, which made her face grimace, was to the girl's liking. She picked up the mug and drank. It certainly wasn't tasty, but it wasn't disgusting like the earth. She drank it all. The taste was much worse, but it was vaguely reminiscent of those sweet berries. The water in it also tasted like it had been boiled, even though it had cooled long ago.
Now Kalidonia was tormented by one question.
-What should I do next?