[Healing Touch (Lv.1)]
—Heal 25 HP when making contact with someone.
Cost: 25 MP
So I just need to touch her, right?
Arthur thought as he placed a hand on her head. Nothing happened, but he could feel just how hot she had gotten. Her body was using up all its remaining heat before she succumbed to frostbite.
I remember in games, they usually say the name of the spell. No way in hell am I saying it out loud, so I just hope thinking about it works. Healing Touch.
He wasn’t expecting much, but it actually worked.
He felt something warm in his right wrist. It traveled up to his fingers, then seemed to exit directly into the woman’s forehead.
To his surprise, another pair of pop-ups appeared.
[-25 MP | 75 / 100 MP (x1 Healing Touch)]
[Healing Touch successful!]
[Target recovered 25 HP.]
[Target HP: 57 / 100]
[Warning!]
[Target is suffering from Severe Hypothermia.]
[Healing HP will not remove the underlying condition.]
Then what the hell is the heal for?
He clicked his tongue.
On the bright side, he noticed that the blood had stopped pooling beneath her. The bleeding had stopped, and her time until death had increased.
[Your Fated Partner is dying.]
[Time Remaining: 00:14:42 → 00:48:02]
[Save her to complete the bond.]
Huh. For a system that said the heal didn’t do much, it gave me an extra half hour. Not sure if I can do anything in half an hour, though.
Arthur carefully lifted her body, tossing her over his shoulder.
She groaned and cussed. She had been on the brink of consciousness to begin with, so Arthur didn’t have any opportunity for formalities. Instead, he carried this giant icicle on his back as he made his way down the mountain.
He couldn’t tell if she was just that light or if he had suddenly gotten stronger. How else would he be able to stand upright without feeling fatigued while carrying someone on his back?
That made it much easier to take the harder paths downward, saving him plenty of time in the process.
Before he knew it, he was already at the base of the mountain, not too far from the train crash. Most of the people had scattered by now, and if he had to guess, they had all headed toward the city.
That’s where I’m planning to take her too, but...
[Your Fated Partner is dying.]
[Time Remaining: 00:02:11]
What can I even do in two minutes?
Arthur sprinted toward a nearby tree and carefully set her down. He realized she had already passed out, so for the sake of the insane stats he could get, he covered the important bits and stripped her down, checking for any hidden injuries.
He was glad he did.
There was a piece of wood lodged in her chest. She had been gasping constantly on the way down, and this was definitely the culprit.
His rational and logical thinking told him that pulling it out was unsafe. It would only make things worse.
But the Healing Touch didn’t make any sense to begin with.
That was why he decided to try his luck. The alternative was letting her die in two minutes anyway.
"Sorry..."
YANK!
GUSHH!
Arthur yanked the stick out of her chest.
Blood immediately began gushing from the wound, and he didn’t waste even a moment before using his skill again.
[-50 MP | 25 / 100 MP (x2 Healing Touch)]
[Healing Touch successful!]
[Target recovered 50 HP.]
[Target HP: 88 / 100]
[Warning!]
[Target is suffering from Severe Hypothermia.]
[Healing HP will not remove the underlying condition.]
The hole in her chest closed.
Her breathing slowly returned to normal as well.
Arthur gasped in amazement. He really hadn’t expected it to work, but it did.
Not to mention, this gamble had bought her another hour.
[Time Remaining: 00:01:44 → 00:59:59]
If I run at full speed while carrying her, I should at least be able to reach the main road. If I signal for someone to pick us up and take us to the hospital, then...
It was possible for her to survive.
Arthur wasted no time. He dressed her again, tossed her over his back, and ran toward the city.
Like earlier, his body felt lighter. So much so that he was able to run at around 80% of his usual pace even with someone on his back.
He reached the main road.
It was a large stretch of marble. Since every single car here could fly, they probably just made the road nice for the sake of aesthetics.
Arthur jumped around and waved his hand, trying to get someone’s attention. Just about everyone ignored him, and the timer was already starting to dwindle toward the final ten minutes.
He felt like this was it.
But his hope was reignited when someone landed beside him.
It was a small family car. Inside were a woman and her teenage child in the passenger seat. She seemed confused by the ruckus Arthur was causing.
Yet when she looked past him, she saw the woman on his shoulders, dried blood covering her body.
"Hi, lady. Sorry, I don’t have much time to explain, but do you mind rushing us to the hospital? Like, as soon as possible?"
"Um. Get in—"
"Great!"
Arthur didn’t let her finish. He opened the door to the fancy floating car and climbed inside with the woman. The vehicle shook a little when he got in.
He wondered if there was some kind of weight limit on this thing...?
Though he doubted that was the case, since the woman didn’t ask any questions. Instead, she pressed a big red button on her steering wheel.
The car floated back up into formation, and she hit the gas.
Arthur had assumed this floating shitbox couldn’t fly that fast, since everyone else was moving at around 50 km/h.
But the woman immediately began dusting everyone behind her, easily going twice their speed.
The city was finally starting to come into view, so for a moment, Arthur allowed himself to relax.
"Phew."
"Mister, are you a gangster?" the teenager asked from the passenger seat.
Now that he thought about it, the little runt had been staring at him like a hawk ever since Arthur got inside.
"No, I’m a minimum-wage worker."
"Oh... Then, can you pay Mommy for bringing you to the hospital?"
"Ahem."
The mother coughed, then pushed her child back into his seat, giving Arthur a sideways glance.
"I don’t need any payment, since I was heading to the city anyway. I would appreciate it if Mister Minimum Wage came over and cleaned the blood off my seats later, though."
They went back and forth with the banter as she recklessly drove into the giant city, nearly crashing into dozens of light poles along the way.
Finally, she managed to get them to a hospital.
Just as Arthur tried to get out, however, he noticed that the door was locked.
The woman slid a pamphlet toward him.
"This is my contact information. I know there are very few decent people around, but I trust you’ll call. Good luck. I hope she makes it through."
Arthur nodded, grabbed the pamphlet, and rushed into the hospital.
It looked just like the hospitals in his world.
Except this hospital had a much faster emergency reception.
The moment he stepped inside with the woman on his back, nurses were already rushing toward him. They took the woman off his shoulders and wheeled her away toward a room in the distance.
He was planning to wait in reception, but a teeny-tiny problem emerged.
[Your Fated Partner is dying, and temporarily, it is best if you stick close to them.]
Shit...
Arthur groaned. After grabbing a little something from nearby, he ran toward the door, trying to get through.
A nurse immediately stopped him.
"It’s friends and family only. You can’t enter."
As it so happened, Arthur had managed to swipe a soda can’s pull tab from a nearby trash can.
He slipped it onto his ring finger and held up his hand.
"I’m her husband."