On his way out, one of my newly appointed bodyguards gifted him a large towel, and he used it to cover himself.
I noticed the burns weren't healing properly; the many cuts were closing themselves, but the burned flesh wasn't healing at all.
I don't think I ever heard of the uncle possessing such a power. Is a new demonic power or a contracted artifact…
The dead skin was falling off his body; a lot of blood leaked wherever he walked, but eventually a new layer of skin was formed.
To think he could injure the uncle to that extent… Wow…
My heart was filled with awe; the trench coat and the suit were successfully capable of keeping Leo safe while amplifying the heat he can generate.
Had the uncle gone all out and used his weapons, he would've probably mopped the floor with Leo, but his flames now were strong enough to at least injure him.
It made me feel somewhat proud; my tools were proving themselves. With enough time and dedication, I could make something that he might've preferred over his own equipment.
Ok, no, that's probably reaching; all his equipment is top grade; it's probably nigh impossible to surpass that level, but maybe I could make something that synergizes well with them, like I did for Leo.
"Are you okay, young master?" One of the bodyguards asked me as he rushed over to my position.
He was a young man with dark skin and really fluffy-looking hair.
"Huh? Yes, why would I not be okay?" I was genuinely confused; I didn't know why he looked so worried.
"Your face… your skin, young master… you're injured." He claimed as he picked me off the ground.
"You're exaggerating," I thought as I tried to push him away with my hands.
That's when I saw my arms covered in my own blood.
Huh? This is strange… When did this happen? I was sure I was in my transformed form. Since when…
The bodyguards around seemed to be panicking for some reason; they quickly picked me up and tried to carry me somewhere else.
"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" I complained as I tried to free myself.
"We need to get him to an infirmary quickly." Another ordered the rest as they began to accelerate their pace.
They were all clearly injured; unlike the uncle or me, they all had very minor injuries.
Fine… Let's go to the infirmary… wait, do you even know where that is in this building?
"Guys… I appreciate your concern, but I can easily walk on—" I tried to summon my energy to transform, but I realized I had run out of it.
I was drained so fast I didn't even realize it.
That last blast must've been more powerful than I believed it to be; the other two most likely consumed all their energy trying to protect me.
That realization put in perspective just how far behind I was compared to them.
If before, maybe I could win by sheer luck… Now I can't. Fuck, this feels awful.
In the meantime, the bodyguards were running aimlessly, checking every door in search of the infirmary.
Wherever we went, I saw the expression of shock of the many other employees at the facility; it must've been puzzling for them to suddenly witness a group of more than a dozen adult men, all injured, carrying an even more injured me.
I wanted to scream, "Don't worry, it wasn't an experiment gone wrong," but I decided not to; repeating it in every room or hallway seemed too exhaustive.
Can't they just… stop, even for just a moment? They should ask the other employee about this…
Since most of the hallways looked the same, in my mind I was already lost. I was also desperately looking for a familiar door or maybe just a piece of furniture to guess our current position in that underground maze.
It's probably the pain or their fear; either one is preventing them from thinking right now.
"You, what's your name?" I asked the man holding me.
"Lucio, sir," he answered.
"Stop… we're just wasting time right now; go ask one of the many other employees for directions, preferably before I pass out due to blood loss," I ordered him.
"Yes sir."
After an hour of struggling, we eventually reached the infirmary; the nurses quickly went pallid the moment they saw my body.
One of them almost fainted on the spot.
"Is it that bad? Can I get a mirror?" I asked, worried my face might be affected by this.
"We need a healing capsule prepared!" One of the nurses shouted.
What? No, no, no, no, I hate that thing. Last time they put a large tube in my throat; it was incredibly uncomfortable.
"Is there any way to avoid the healing capsule?" I asked as the nurse was injecting something in me.
"Oh, there's no need for sedatives; I don't feel any pain," I reminded her.
Shortly after a young doctor came in and also proceeded to ignore anything and everything I said.
From there, things became blurry; the many nurses became moving silhouettes that became more blurry with each passing second as the nurses were bringing in fresh blood bags and some other tools.
Why do you have cutting stuff? Don't you need needles to sew my cuts? Why cut anything further?
I wanted to ask, but I'm sure whatever came out of my mouth sounded extremely different.
I did my best to fight the sedative, but eventually I fell unconscious.
I woke up in the bed a few hours late, staring at the pure white ceiling.
A small curtain separated me from the rest of the room; judging by the sound of it, it was most likely empty.
My whole body was covered in bandages; they were all slimy and gross to the touch, but it was a relief seeing that my skin had gone back to normal.
All the cuts, the charred flesh, and other exposed tissues were gone.
There were still many tubes attached to my arms, some of them connected to blood bags. Even my demonic energy was restored.
I am spent… What a fucking day.
When I pushed away the curtains, I saw that every other bed was being used; the many bodyguards were all happily resting, all the while they had weird patches stuck around their wounded area.
"Hope you had a peaceful rest, young master." A female voice greeted me.
It belonged to one of the doctors.
"You should continue to rest; you suffered a concussion. The new layers of skin haven't properly—"
I ignored her, picked up the pocket watch, and used its ability to restore myself, restoring my body back to its prime.
"How long until they fully recover?" I asked the doctor.
"About a couple of days; the injuries are not much of a problem. The real issue is the demonic energy seeping into their wounds." She replied.
You can fix this.
A voice whispered in my mind.
I need to wait for the doctor to exit the room; otherwise, they'll witness it.
The demon then finally revealed himself.
What could go wrong if she does?
She'll be killed on the spot; they'll make it look like an accident and silence all of her friends. I don't wish to go through that again; I don't like senseless murder.
You're being soft.
I don't like death; that kind of fear has a horrible stench, a sour taste, and, more importantly, brings painful memories back.
You can't even remember them; you just see small snippets of that incident.
I think that's more than enough.
Fine.
I waited until the doctor had finished bandaging them; he had to look for something, so when he got out, I closed the door. Turned down all the lights and made sure none of the bodyguards could actually see me.
"What's going on?" Someone asked.
"Young master?"
"Don't worry and keep your eyes closed if you hold your life dear." I warned them as I transformed.
I sketched a form and began weaving in the concept of an item that healed; it didn't need to be a permanent addition to the long list of artifacts, just a one-time use. I made sure to give it a simple form, that of a small, flat, and smooth pebble, and breathed life into it.
Then after creating it, I broke it, unleashing its powerful healing wave, making the many bodyguards as good as new.
I could hear many of their incredible voices; some were worried, and others were simply in shock and awe at what just happened. Someone rushed to get the lights back on, and when they did, I was back in my human form.
"Just be more careful next time. And one last reminder: whatever you see in this building is a secret; you'll die if you wander too far off of me or if you try to tell anyone else what you saw here." I added as I undid the transformation and fell to my knees.
So I hadn't fully recovered… Good to know; I'll be more careful.
"Yes, sir!" they answered.
Well, my duty here is finished. What was in today's schedule again?
I took some notes out of my pockets and double-checked. First, in the morning, I had four hours dedicated to fixing and making new weapons. Next up was helping with transferring a few demons.
A few troublesome ones had been bought, and I needed to make sure they were transported safely.
In the evening I had to spar with the uncle who wanted to check on my progress in my training, and the rest of the day was free for me to decide.
Fuck, that's not good.
I crumpled the paper and put it back in my pocket and returned to my large office.
"So, how did the match go?" Mr. Shang asked me the moment I opened the door.
"Nothing unexpected happened," I replied as I dived headfirst onto my bed.