Surviving as a Broken Hero

Aizen’s fist shot forward through the minotaur’s horn with little resistance, shattering it and sending bits of the horn flying while his fist continued forward and smashed into the monster’s head.

Boom!

When their attacks collided, their opposing forces battled for a moment and an ear-splitting explosion rocked the cavern.

To an outside observer, it would have appeared to be an almost still image while the world itself calculated who the victor of the struggle would be.

The shockwave from their impact nearly atomized every single mushroom—both still on the ground and already kicked up from the battle—and sent the still-glowing bits of what looked almost like irradiated snowflakes exploding violently to the edges of the cavern, swirling around the demon bodies that were sent flying.

Bits of stone debris followed, and the still-living demon mage that had been in the middle of casting some spell was caught by surprise, hardly having time to let out a squawk of protest as his body was lifted and smashed against the cavern wall.

Then, just a moment after the shockwave and the initial stillness of Aizen and the minotaur, the image of the two of them grew hazy from the power being unleashed and another ripple was sent out through the air, similar to a heat shimmer spreading on a hot summer day.

The minotaur’s body shook for a moment…

…and then it exploded into a fine red mist, no trace of flesh, muscle, hide, or bone left behind. The minotaur’s body lost the contest of strength and evaporated into the air.

***

Huff, huff, huff…

My breathing came out in difficult, shallow breaths.

I had cracked something in my chest during the clash with the minotaur, and the fuzziness in my head and the shock of us colliding had knocked me out of the trance-like state I had previously been in.

I knelt alone in the darkness on the hard stone floor, praying that the demon mage wasn’t still out in the darkness somewhere, preparing to strike me down.

{{Quest Update!

Return to the Relic to ensure that no one has made it past you!}}

The window hovered in front of me, providing me with some reassurance that the mage had perished during the shockwave of when the minotaur and I had collided.

My stamina was almost completely spent, and my mana had bottomed out to 0.

Not only that, but I also believed that I had at least cracked a rib, pain erupted outwards with every breath I took.

I did have some good news, at least.

{{Calculating accumulated XP…}}

{{Demons Defeated: 40 (+15 XP each)

Demon Mages Defeated: 1 (+100 XP each)

Minotaurs Defeated: 1 (+500 XP each)

Total XP: +1200 XP}}

[[0/8000 XP]]

{{3300/4000 XP}}

I was grateful for that, at least. Second System XP had proven hard to come by, and if the enemies defeated could count for Second System experience over System experience, I would have probably picked it every time.

The Second System had proven far more versatile for me so far, and though I knew how ridiculous some class options could get from the System later on, I still didn’t know what later options for the Second System would look like.

It took a moment for me to concentrate again through the pain, but I was able to enter a hazy version of the echo sight, using it to navigate towards a wall and around the cavern until I reached the tunnel heading back towards the Relic, the one that had caved in during the initial clash with the demons.

I wasn’t too surprised to find that, somehow, the tunnel was free from debris again, allowing me to go through it back towards the Relic.

* * *

Reaper Scans

[Author – Farlight]

[Proofreader – Harley]

Join our discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/reapercomics

* * *

The Relic’s little central cavern greeted me the same as usual, the golden light spilling around the corner as I turned to glimpse the Relic itself again.

There was one difference, though…

“Krylla!”

Krylla was lying propped up against the stalagmite that the Relic floated above, facing in my direction with her eyes half-opened as she held one arm over her stomach, which was bleeding through her grip and creating a small pool of blood below her.

There was so much of it that I would guess that a normal human would have died three times over from the amount of it she was losing.

I called out her name again, rushing to her side, aware of the Relic floating just an arm’s length away and of a System message that I ignored for the moment.

“So you made it…”

Her voice was weak, and her eyes locked onto mine.

“You know… I was afraid that a demon was going to come around that bend… I was holding on this entire time just to see if my last sight would be that of my worst fears coming true.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. I hadn’t known her for long, but she didn’t seem like a bad person.

“You’ll be fine, I can go get some of that salve you rubbed on my burn wounds and—”

Her voice interrupted me mid-sentence, and a wet cough came from her mouth.

“Save it… cough. We both know I’m going to die here. I have a request.”

“…”

“I know that you have somewhere you need to go, to the city past the tunnels… If you can’t stay here with the Relic, I need you to destroy it. Use it first if you want, but be careful…”

She was offering to let me use the Relic that she had been protecting for I could only guess how long. It was a sign of definitive trust. I might have used the Relic either way, but at least I could rest easy with her blessing.

But she wanted me to destroy it? Wouldn’t that just be a waste? Relics were extremely rare, to the point where hardly anyone had even seen one and entire guilds would fight over even a hint as to where one might be.

Her warning was likely due to the side effects she had experienced from using the Relic for herself.

Yes, she had gained a powerful new ability through the echo sight, and I also didn’t doubt that she had probably been granted other traits that I wasn’t aware of, but it had taken her sight in turn.

After having used the echo sight for myself, it was superior to regular sight—at least in the tunnels—for detail, utility, and range, but it lacked an important aspect of sight:

Color.

I took for granted the vibrant colors of reds, blues, greens, and others. I also wondered if it was possible to read anything other than engravings or braille-like writing.

She saw the world in stark outlines of black and white at all times.

There wasn’t much I could do for her in that state. We were both hurt, and I didn’t have anything in the way of medicine on me.

I stood to face the Relic, reading the System message.

{{Wish-granting Relic of Minor Miracles

– Make a wish upon the Relic and have it come true. Be aware that the Relic can only grant minor wishes.

– Be aware that the Relic can grant each user a single wish.

– Bonus Effect: The Relic recognizes you as a protector and will do its best to mitigate any negative side effects from granted wishes.}}

‘What can I wish for…?’

My mind raced with the possibilities.

I could wish for Rhil to be with me right then so that I could give up my search and we could… Do what? The Lion Guild would still be after me and we would have to fight them if we went back to Karfana, I still had the goal of rescuing other people I had long been missing, my close friends, and my family. It was getting more difficult to imagine their faces, but I could still hear my sister’s laugh echoing in my dreams.

I could wish to know where Bernard and Velle had gone, but to what end? It was very likely that they had ended up in the city that Krylla had mentioned or that something terrible had happened to them, so did I need a miracle for that?

I could wish for levels or XP, but I would get those over time anyway. Yes, the power would have definitely helped me with traveling and in dealing with the Lion Guild, but had I not survived to that point already while relying on what I already had? I would only get more XP and level up as well—I was even close to getting the level 5 ultimate skill. Did I need a miracle for something that everyone else did by themselves commonly anyway?

‘If I’m going to use a miracle, I better use it for something miraculous.’

It was common sense. I thought about what I could think of that would be miraculous.

I could probably do things like make the entire Lion Guild forget about me so I could continue unhindered and unafraid of their pursuit.

I could wish for an artifact or equipment of power.

I might have been able to wish away the restriction on the Second System for not being able to use my mana externally.

I could do something even crazier and wish for another class from the System. I could change my class entirely or go for something truly unique.

The possibilities were nearly infinite, but my initial motivation for trying to Awaken and my goal remained the same:

I wanted to, needed to, protect and help those who couldn’t help themselves. Sometimes, all someone needs is such a helping hand.

I had wished for someone to reach out to me and help me for all those six years, but everyone had just passed by while thinking that my fate was unfortunate or that they were lucky that they weren’t me. Nobody had truly cared.

And if I wanted to be able to live with myself, in the end, the choice was obvious.

Not sure if I needed to verbalize it or just imagine it, I said, “I wish for you to heal Krylla and return her sight.”

It was technically two wishes, but it didn’t hurt to try pushing my luck.