Somewhere along the way, Arthur had lost his breastplate. Torn off after he'd loosened the straps. One chest sucking wound, with a literal part of his ribs torn out by the relentless, non-stop attacks of his opponent was just the most grievous of his wounds. If not for the fact that his Accelerated Healing had managed to stop the bleeding, he would have been down.
Just like his left arm, broken twice already as he'd sacrificed it the second time after it had finished healing.
Impossible, insane, one eye glued shut from the blood that had pooled around him. The other, watering so badly he could not see out of it beyond minor blurs. Heavenly Sage's Mischief had been dropped in favor of Shadow Sense a few rounds ago, Arthur no longer attempting to dodge but endure.
Rope a dope, except with a lot of more blood and portions of the body torn off. The last attack had been a straight punch and rip, tearing the rib open, but somehow, he'd managed to keep his feet.
"Comi-"
"Stop!" Arthur managed to croak out, at last. He'd tried that a round ago, but the Hermit had not been waiting, not giving him enough time to recover from the wounds. He'd forced himself to focus his own healing such that he was able to croak the words out, before the monster killed him.
"-ng..." the Hermit stopped, cocking its head to the side. It tried to move forward, stopped as his whole body jerked as though a live wire had been run through it.
Which it might have. The Hermit had gone out of bounds, taken steps outside of the normal boundaries of what was permitted after its tail had been damaged. It had gone from irritation to anger, and only the fact that it was still restricted had stopped Arthur from dying almost immediately.
As it stood...
"Seven. Ya?"
Not what he wanted. He had hoped for an even dozen. Ten would have been fine too, and quite acceptable. Four or five passes meant a medium grade, the equivalent of a two star cultivation technique. Seven was a high two or maybe a three. Ten would have gotten him a four, and twelve might have gotten a him full five. A low-grade five star technique but still...
"Yes..." Then, the Hermit flinched. Arthur sensed it moments later, even as he dropped the Aura Sense, slumping to his knees as the Tower demanded its attention.
Hermit's Test of Might (9th Floor, Tower #STET)
Result: Seven Challenges Completed
Difficulty: High
Rewards: Three Star Cultivation Technique and additional upgrade (on Climber's choice)
"Apa?" Arthur blinked. He had never heard of that, and his surprise was so great he almost released his healing technique. Only a last minute save and his ability to split his mind and hold onto that sticky energy of his kept him from losing it, causing an even worse backlash.
There was more pressure, more information coming down from the Tower. He knew it, but he shoved it aside for now, ignored the update. Knew that if he did anything, with his head so cloudy and his mind muddled from blood loss that he would regret it. This was new, this was different. All his reading had never mentioned this...
Then again, how many idiots would annoy the Hermit or even take a much more difficult option when something simpler was offered to them. Not just that, but managed to survive?
Without his own healing ability, he was definitely dead.
As it was...
The cavern floor was cool against his cheek. Cool and sticky. A rather nasty combination, but it was the chill that was making him shake, his teeth chattering, his muscles clenching tight. Energy swirled in fits and starts, every moment of his attention focused on it now as he tried to patch the numerous major cuts.
He was still bleeding out, he could sense it. But where...
Oh. His calf. Somehow, somewhere the rat had managed to punch through the armour in his leg and open a vein down there. One that had continued to bleed, as he walked, jumped, twisted and stomped on it. Spurts of blood, whenever the leg was used and the veins opened. More, flooding outwards from around.
Arthur pulled and tugged at it, forced the body to reattach the two before he lost his limb due to lack of oxygen. Or loss more blood that he couldn't afford to lose. His heart was beating hard, each moment a laboured thump. Occasionally stopping, as though requiring a rest before it began again as energy flooded in.
His liver, producing blood, the Tower literally replicating the fluid in his system as Refined Energy rebuilt him, over and over again. Attention pulled in a thousand directions, wounds that needed fixing but he kept his focus on those that would end him immediately. Blood loss, shock, the gaping wound in his chest that needed to be closed and clotted.
Hand pressed against it, mind spinning, the taste of acid and blood in his mouth. The smell of dry stone and cinnamon...
One last stitch, one last artery to close up. Then, after that, some veins, that gaping hole...
He could do it. He was sure.
Just one more...
Just...
***
Arthur was surprised to wake up, his head throbbing like a mini dragon dance troupe had taken residence within and was using the inside of his skull as their drums. Each moment, shards of pain and white light dancing across his vision. Memory struggling to reassert itself fully, to piece together the last few moments of wakefulness.
Instead, a voice, an image staring at him. Mel...
"You idiot! We told you not take chances."
A mental wince, realisation that he was going to have to explain things. A lot of things, because somehow, he knew he'd picked up more than a few scars.
"What a pain..." Arthur breathed out, shifting himself to peel his face off the ground, sticky dried blood cracking as he did so. He noted he hadn't even been moved an inch since his impromptu sleeping beauty act. He really had pissed off that Hermit.
"You're lucky my tail started working again. Or else I'd have killed you. Climber or not."
Even the threat - or half-threat - couldn't rouse Arthur's emotion. He felt dead inside, too numb by his recent brush with death, too filled with throbbing pain and lancing agony to pay attention. Instead, he started up his healing technique again, used it to wash away som of the stars and muzziness.
He was still bleeding, leaking out small amounts of blood here and there. If not for his Accelerated Healing technique replacing the fluids and managing the last of the patches, Arthur knew he would have died. Too damn close for his liking, especially since this wasn't a video game where they got you points for surviving near death experiences again and again.
All you got was PTSD and a nagging.
Eventually, his body much more stabilized, if not actually healed, Arthur managed to get an arm up to wipe his eyes clean. Then, and only then, did he focus on the Hermit.
"You're a sei baat gung." Bastard was not enough, but a small degree of sanity stopped him from using even more inventive curses. "Now, what am I getting?"
"Up to you to choose." The Hermit was seated a distance away, stroking his tail, red eyes glowing. "So choose badly."
"What do you..." Arthur stopped, realising one of the reasons his head hurt was the Tower.
Reaching sideways, he tugged on the notification. Curious what it had to say.
It had better be good, after nearly dying.