Chapter 144: Aftershocks (1/2)

After a few minutes, the building stopped shaking. Mike stood from his position on the floor of his bedroom, underneath a fallen dresser, and checked on Audra. Reassured by the curious chirp she emitted from the depths of his pocket, evidently woken by the strange rumbling, he tried to take stock of his surroundings.

He coughed to clear his mouth of the dust that was filling the air. ”Is everyone alright?”

Brenden called from the hallway, ”I'm good. Legs just feel a bit rubbery.”

”I am fine, and you better not come in here!” Sera yelled from the bathroom.

Tal's calm voice could be heard coming from the kitchen, ”Assistance requested.”

Mike made his way over to her, and was a little shocked to a portion of the roof had collapsed onto the elf, pinning her to the floor. The debris looked stable at the moment, but he lacked the experience to make a definitive guess. Knowing that this situation could end badly if he wasn't careful, Mike cautiously lifted the chunk of wood and plaster until the elf could pull herself out.

She gasped slightly in the process, and Mike quickly noticed the reason as he was lowering his burden back to the ground. A splinter of wood, the size of a small knife was embedded in the muscle of her left thigh. Judging from the amount of blood pooled on the floor and flowing from the wound, it had hit an artery in the process.

He hurried over and had Tal lay back on the ground. He was going to have to remove the shard, which was going to be painful, and the last thing he wanted was for her to pass out in the process and give herself a head injury. Considering how pale she was getting, it needed to be sooner than later.

”Alright, I'm going to pull it out really quickly and heal the wound. I'm not going to lie, it will hurt.” He spoke as reassuringly as he could manage in the circumstances.

A soft hand was laid against his cheek, causing him to look up from the injury. Tal was looking at him steadily. She appeared calm, even to his practiced eye. ”It's alright. Trust you.”

Mike was momentarily taken aback. His expression must have been terrible if she was trying to console him. He took a deep breath, gave her a grateful nod, and got back to work. Finding a solid grip on the splinter, he started summoning his mana in preparation for the healing magic he would need to perform immediately afterwards.

With one quick motion he pulled the shard of wood out, eliciting a second gasp from Tal. He focused on applying the healing and, after a sudden burst of inspiration, added a layer of Lifestyle Magic to clean the wound in the process. A few seconds later, there was nothing left of the injury save smooth, unblemished skin.

He heaved a sigh of relief. This was not the first time he'd used healing magic on someone seriously injured. Hell, he'd even technically brought someone back from the dead. But this was the first time he'd used it on one of his companions, and it shook him.

If that roof had fallen in a little differently, or if he'd still been gallivanting around in the merchant district, Tal could have died. The logical side of him knew that it was unreasonable to hold himself accountable for such an instance, that whatever was happening was beyond his control, but he couldn't help but feel some responsibility.

A quiet voice, in the depths of his mind asked, [Would there even have been an accident if you weren't here? Would things in this country be as bad as they are if you hadn't made that wish? Aren't you to blame for this? Aren't you to blame for everything?]

Someone patted his head, breaking him from his dark thoughts.

”Thank you.” Tal said quietly with a subtle smile.

For a moment, Mike's head was blank. Then he became intensely aware that he was still holding onto Tal's thigh while they were in a highly compromising position. Brenden's cough from behind was all it took for the embarrassment to take hold.

He quickly stood, before helping Tal up. ”Yes...Well, I'm glad you're alright.”

”Hmph!” Came Sera's exclamation from the hallway. She had folded her arms and was facing away grumpily.

Brenden shook his head, ”Anyway, if you are done flirting, maybe we should consider moving down to the ground floor. If the roof can cave in, that could mean the dorm's structural supports are unstable. I, for one, don't want to get caught in a collapsing building.”

”Agreed. You three head down first. I'm going to sweep the floors as I go, to make sure no one else is trapped.” Mike replied while getting ready.

Sera turned as if to make an argument, but evidently thought better of it. ”Alright, be safe.”

”Move quickly.” Tal added.

With Brenden in the lead, the three of them headed down the stairs. Luckily, the earthquake damage hadn't extended to that portion of the dorm.

Figuring that Lily and her butler were probably durable enough to survive for a while, he headed over to the other side of the hallway first, only to find the other two rooms empty. Evidently, their occupants had already evacuated. Since he didn't see any more debris that might be hiding an injured person, he returned to his neighbor's door.