I slowly opened my eyes.
Everything was blurry.
My head hurt.
My chest hurt.
And my neck felt like someone had tried to twist it off.
I looked around.
Marie was sitting beside me.
She was crying.
"Ma... Marie?"
Her eyes widened.
"Tom!"
She immediately wiped her tears.
"What... happened?"
I tried to sit up.
Marie grabbed my shoulder.
"Slowly!"
I ignored her.
"Where's Tobisa?"
Marie went silent.
My heart dropped.
"Tobisa?"
I pushed myself up.
"What happened to him?!"
"Tom..."
"What happened to him?!"
"He..."
Marie looked down.
"He's gone."
I froze.
"What do you mean, gone?"
"The demon took him."
"No."
I looked around.
The place was completely empty.
No demon.
No Tobisa.
Nothing.
I stood up despite the pain.
"Did you see him?"
Marie nodded.
"Yes."
"A door appeared underneath them."
"A door?"
"Yes. It just appeared out of nowhere."
Marie started trembling.
"When I tried to jump in after them..."
Her voice cracked.
"...it disappeared."
I stared at the ground.
Tobisa was gone.
The demon had taken him somewhere.
And we had no idea where.
We eventually made our way outside the city.
The sun was rising behind us.
Normally, I would have loved the sight.
But I couldn't enjoy it.
My chest and neck hurt badly with every step.
Eventually, we reached the training center.
The first person I went to see was Bhringi.
He looked at me.
Then at Marie.
Then back at me.
"Fogo..."
He sighed.
"What did you do this time?"
"I got attacked by a Fake Ranker."
He stared at me.
"...Of course you did."
He examined me for a while.
Then his expression became serious.
"You've got two broken ribs."
"Two?!"
"Yes."
"And there's a very small crack in your neck."
I stared at him.
"...How small?"
"Small enough that you're still talking."
"That's good, right?"
"That's very good."
I sighed in relief.
"How long am I staying here?"
"A month."
My eyes widened.
"A MONTH?!"
"Or..."
He paused.
"If you're extremely lucky, two weeks."
"Two weeks is still too long!"
Bhringi rolled his eyes.
"You can complain after your bones are fixed."
I sat down.
Then something occurred to me.
"Bhringi?"
"Hmm?"
"What's the biological difference between an elf, a troll, and a demon?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"That's a very random question."
"I've been fighting them for a while."
"Fair enough."
He pulled up a chair.
"Let's start with trolls."
"Trolls have a large number of complex biological systems. Their bodies are built to handle a wide variety of foods and environments."
"So that's why they're so strong?"
"Partly."
"And elves?"
"Elves have a simpler biological structure."
He started counting on his fingers.
"Circulatory system. Skeletal system. Nervous system. Digestive system. Kidneys..."
I nodded.
"And they eat Whisper."
"Exactly."
"Okay, I already knew that."
Bhringi laughed.
"You asked."
"Fine. What about demons?"
His expression became more serious.
"Demons are completely different."
"How?"
"First, they can't survive sunlight."
"Yeah."
"They also survive by consuming flesh and blood."
I nodded.
"And their cells?"
"That's where things get strange."
He leaned back.
"Demons have an incredibly high rate of cell division."
"So that's how they regenerate?"
"Exactly."
I remembered the Fake Ranker from the Japanese District.
Even after I had cut him in half, his body had simply joined itself back together.
"That explains a lot."
"But that's not the strangest part."
"What is?"
"Their bodies."
"What about them?"
"They can deform and reform their bodies almost at will."
I stared at him.
"So they can basically change their own bodies?"
"Yes."
"That's crazy."
"Very."
I thought about the demons I'd fought.
Their strange abilities.
Their regeneration.
Their Blood Demon Arts.
Then I remembered something else.
"What about Blood Demon Arts?"
Bhringi became quiet.
"We don't know."
"What?"
"We've studied demons for years, but Blood Demon Arts still don't have a proper biological explanation."
"So..."
I frowned.
"Magic?"
Bhringi shrugged.
"That's the closest word we have."
I looked down at my black katana.
"Great."
"Demons that regenerate, change their bodies, control blood..."
I sighed.
"And now Tobisa has been taken by one."
Marie looked at me.
"We'll find him."
I looked at her.
"Yeah."
I clenched my fist.
"We have to."