Apollo's Chronicle by Seraph Wedd (book club reads TXT) 📖

and darker red.

Not content in just skewering her body, the monster threw her body away.

Her mind is already blank from the extreme pain. Only faint groans escaped from her trembling mouth. Tears formed on the corner of her eyes, blurring her already blurred vision further.

Then, in her vision, a pair of boots appeared. No, as she looked up, an unfamiliar man was standing there with his back towards her. He was standing in between her and the monster.

His brown hair, close to a blonde, was being shuffled gently by the air. His body is covered with battered equipment, showing the intense battles that he had survived. On his side, a sword darker than the sky in a stormy night was silently hanging.

“… He…… lp……” She muttered in a whisper like voice. As soon as she did, her consciousness finally left her.

Chapter 2 Part 2

“… What’s with this thick fog…? Really…”

A man, alone within the forest, was grumbling in displeasure. He stood lightly with a hand on his hip while adjusting the brown leather bag on his shoulder, his only baggage.

“… I passed through here earlier… Right?”

He muttered as he noticed a marking that he etched on a tree an hour earlier. He was, unfortunately, lost. He had been going in circles around this forest for several hours already.

“The forest of Dreams… Yeah right… ”

Apparently, this is what this forest is called. Officially, it is said that when someone enters the forest, they will never come out again as they will be stuck in the world of dreams until they die.

“… What a farce…”

However, the truth is far off from that point. The real purpose of the forest is for the merchants to have a private road where not a single robber will appear.

They also said that the forest is also used by other kingdoms but that story’s credibility is a little doubtful. That is since inside the forest, strong monsters live.

Walking for several hours nonstop, the man decided to rest. He sat down beside a large tree.

“… Luckily, the forest’s canopy blocked direct sunlight…”

He closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. After repeating this several times, he finally took out a piece of bread and a small canteen. After moistening his dried mouth, he immediately downed the bread.

“……”

It was over in an instant. A small bread alone couldn’t possibly fill his stomach. However, since he don’t know when he will see another human settlement, he must be thrift with his remaining food.

After a few minutes passed, a shout broke the silence and tranquility of the forest.

“DANGER––!!!”

The man heard the voice clearly. However, since it was echoing, it was hard to pinpoint its location.

Deciding on a rough direction, he immediately applied mana to his legs and ran as fast as the wind. Despite running at the speed of sound, his footsteps was as light as feather and didn’t even leave a sound.

“… Miss…”

After about three seconds of running, he turned around and ran at an angle of 60 degrees to his previous path. He plans on triangulating the nearby area to see where the sound came from.

However, just a second later, he saw a harsh scene.

“………!!!”

A girl dressed in a red gown was covered with a dark red liquid. In one glance, it is clearly blood. Even her blonde hair is covered in blood.

The man ran towards the girl and then noticed that she has a large wound on the side of her abdomen.

Examining the wound, it seemed to have failed to reach any vitals. However, if not treated quickly, she will die of blood loss. He stood in between her and the monster in front of her. A «Mongurk».

Mongurks are monsters that moves in groups, luckily, this one’s alone.

He immediately summarized as he scanned the surroundings for presences. There are no living beings within a hundred meters from their position.

“… He…… lp……”

A pristine clear voice, trembling in pain, was heard. He didn’t even need to turn around as there is no one else within the area. He quickly drew his sword made of black iron and held it loosely in front of him.

The Mongurk in front of him seems to be gravely injured already. A single punch was probably enough to kill it.

“*exhales*”

Without wasting a moment, using the mana around his legs, he quickly and silently took a step. It was too fast that the Mongurk thought he teleported.

The monster was slashed vertically from behind. Making sure that the core will be destroyed, he slashed once more, this time horizontally.

A second later, the monster vanished into particles of light without even a pint of blood falling.

The man quickly headed to the wounded girl and checked her condition. The wound had pierced through her side, normal recovery would be hard. Blood loss is reaching critical levels, if left alone, she’ll die in a few minutes.

“… Condition, red. Prioritizing the closing of the wound.”

After his inspection, he immediately tore the portion of the dress around the wound. When he tore it using his hands alone, the slit ran vertically from her wound to her armpit.

“…!”

He quickly averted his eyes from there. After deciding quickly, he used his sword skillfully and cut off the surrounding cloth. His face felt somewhat hot.

Then, using a bottle of wine that is inside his bag, he disinfected the wound, albeit forcefully.

“AAaaaH!!!”

The girl’s face twisted in pain and her body squirmed. After the wound was disinfected, the next step would be to close the wound.

Just bandaging it wouldn’t be enough for sure as the internal bleeding would not stop.

He placed his hands above the wound. The girl grimaced in pain. Then, using a delicate method of manipulating mana, he tried to stimulate the mana circulation, in other words, the energy circulation inside the girl’s body.

Her temperature, almost as cold as ice a bit earlier, was now turning feverish. Her wound was visibly closing.

This phenomenon is brought as a side effect of a faster mana circulation. With a faster circulation, the metabolism of the body will quicken. This includes cognitive senses and motor skills improvement and faster natural recovery speed.

This skill is indispensable especially in the battlefield. However, there is also a side effect. That is, since the senses are strengthened, even the pain would be multiple times stronger.

“……..!!!”

The girl currently has her mouth opened wide as she squirmed left and right. She must be shouting in pain yet no sound came out other than a rough and labored breathing.

Based on the extent of her wounds, the pain she is feeling is without a doubt beyond imagination.

After a few seconds, she seems to be slowly adapting to the pain as her face is slowly relaxing. I gradually raised the output so as not to fry her brain from the intense pain, waiting for her to be accustomed to the level of pain before raising it a level higher.

“…… Almost done…”

Repeating this process over dozens of times, her wound if now mostly closed. However, her body was now limp and as pale as a ghost.

“… Too much blood was lost…”

He quickly fetched a vial from his bag. He poured the contents slowly inside her mouth.

“*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH* *groan*…”

He tried to make her drink it but it ended up getting coughed out. A whole vial of medicine was wasted.

He fetched another vial but, this time, he didn’t pour it directly to her mouth. He poured all the content of the vial into his own mouth.

After doing so, he raised her from lying position, holding her body in both hands. Then he unhesitatingly placed his mouth over her pale lips, his left hand supporting her head. He directly administered the medicine slowly with a mouth-to-mouth method.

If he poured it all at once, she may end up choking on it. So instead, he used his tongue to skillfully let the medicine to fall slowly. Since they are, logically speaking, kissing, he cannot confirm that she is swallowing the medicine.

A soft gulping sound was then heard and he felt that her tongue moved. Looks like it was a success. Thinking so, he kept the kiss until all the medicine was gone. Thinking that it may not be enough, he did the same process for another vial.

“… Nnnnn…”

In the middle of the second round, the girl’s eyes slowly opened. The sweet tasting medicine was the first thing that registered inside her muddy consciousness. Then, her dreamy eyes focused on the face that is currently pressed against her own.

Then, after a final gulp, their faces separated.

Her mouth was left open as she panted, her tongue was slightly extending out of her mouth, wanting some more of the sweet tasting medicine.

She blankly stared at the face of the man in front of her. His strict looking eyes, in the color of the sky, were staring straight back at her, making her feel a tingle on her spine.

“……”

At that instant, he gently let her down back into a lying position. He searched inside his bag for a moment, the girl staring at him the whole time.

After finally fetching a clean piece of bandage, he stared back to her once more.

“… Stay still…”

He quickly raised her dress upwards. Since it was a one piece gown, he raised the dress from the hem until it was right about her chest level. She didn’t even raise a voice. He just let him do what he’s doing.

“…*gulp*…”

Trying to not pay any attention as much as possible to the alluring pair of thigh that is pressed against each other, and the small piece of white cloth slightly above it, he wound the bandage around the remnant of her wound. It was an extremely hard test of concentration.

After finishing it as quickly as possible, and making sure it is not too tight, he immediately pulled her skirt back into position.

If a man without proper self-control was to do the same thing, they would end up doing something they shouldn’t have for sure.

What a nerve wrecking thing…

Despite her young looking appearance, her body contains the allure of a beautiful woman. If they were in a different situation, he can even stare at her for a long time without getting bored.

Then, noticing incoming presences, he immediately lifted the girl in a bridal carry. She reflexively placed her hands around his neck. The presence wasn’t that strong so he believed that even if it was hostile, he can manage even without using his weapons.

The man slowly walked towards where the presence was felt. The girl was still looking at his face with a sleepy looking eyes. A slight blush returning to her previously pale white face.

Chapter 2 Part 3