The Last Experience Point

Chapter 53: Dressing Down

An hour and a half before the “War Council” was set to commence, people began gradually leaving the hospital room in greater and greater numbers. Once again, Zach shook hands and exchanged a few brief words with many of these adventurers as they bid him well and headed out the door. Before long, only a few of them remained, and this handful might’ve stayed a bit longer, too, but Kalana seemed intent on getting rid of them. In a nice but also firm sort of way, she let it be known she wanted to spend some alone time with Zach, and honestly, the feeling was mutual.

“We’ll wait for you near the elevator,” Mr. Oren said to Kalana. He and Donovan were the last two to leave—along with Fluffles, who had wanted to stay but had been lured away with some kind of treat.

Now, with the two of them alone in the hospital room, Kalana smiled at him, shut and locked the door, and then said, “I’ve got about an hour before I have to go.”

And so it begins, Zach thought, propping himself up on a pillow. He knew he needed to be strong here. Kalana could be just as stubborn as he himself was capable of being, and thus, he needed to make sure he got his point across without dancing around the subject.

“I don’t think you should go,” he stated bluntly, to which she twisted her lips sourly. “Don’t look at me like that, Kal. If the situation was reversed, you’d—”

“The situation was reversed,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Huh? How so?”

Rather than reply, she unfolded her arms and then crooked her thumb over her shoulder and pointed at the large, mounted TV, which for the millionth time, showed a repeat of the worst minute and forty-two seconds of Zach’s life. With a sigh, Zach closed his eye a moment, took a deep breath, and then reopened them.

“Kal, that was different.”

“Nah-uh,” she said.

“It was, though.” He pointed to himself. “I didn’t know any of that was going to happen, and I was the only one around who could do anything about it.”

“They need me,” she said. “I’m one of the only people around capable of killing that wyvern, and I also didn’t know any of this was gonna happen.”

“But I…I don’t want you to. Kal, let the God-Slayers handle this now. I’ve already given an arm and an eye. I don’t want to give you as well.”

“We only have an hour together. I don’t wanna spend it arguing. I won’t die. I promise you! And when I get back, we’ll go somewhere really special, just the two of us. For now, though…”

She came over to the where he lay in the hospital bed, and she reached for something off behind him. A moment later, the room darkened somewhat, as she pulled down the curtains and drowned out most of the intense evening sun. Then she spun to her left, walked beyond the green chair to the side of his bed, stepped carefully over bundles of flowers and greetings cards, and then flipped a switch, darkening the room.

“What are you doing?” he asked her, confused.

“You need to take a shower,” she said to him. She grabbed the remote near the side of his bed and turned that off, too, submerging the room in near total darkness, which made him even more confused. What was she trying to do? He only had one eye to begin with, and now she was making it far more difficult for him to see.

A moment later, Zach nearly fell off the bed as she grabbed his sleeve and pulled on his hospital gown. For the first time since coming here, he found himself back on his feet and on solid flooring. Then, he yelped as he recalled the fact that there was no back to his gown and he was no longer under the covers. At some point since his operation, they had undressed him and put him in a hospital gown, which revealed everything from the rear. For this reason, when she spun him around, he called out, “W-wait! I’m naked from the—”

“Yah, I know,” Kalana said. Her tone of voice was different in a way that both thrilled and terrified him.

Swallowing nervously, he said, “Well, if you get to see me like that, it’s not fair that I don’t get to—”

And then she did the unthinkable. Pushing him towards the private shower unit in this top-floor hospital room that was more like a hotel suite, she pressed herself against him, and before Zach knew what was happening, he found his lips against hers. Instinctively, he grabbed her back, and for the first time, he saw all of her.

“I’ll help you scrub,” she said.

Zach could only nod. Even as his heart raced with excitement and uncertainty, he could not possibly have known that the next hour of his life was going to be so perfect it would almost justify every shitty thing that had ever happened to bring him here. Thankfully, while he’d only lasted one-minute and forty-two seconds against the dragon…

****

Alex watched as Donovan stopped the two kids from passing. “Not right now,” he said.

“Huh? But Zach texted us and told us to come see him,” Rian said to him. He and his sister had only just walked out of the elevator. The entire floor had become vacant, including even the small receptions area in what was very much a VIP area in the finest hospital in the city.

Donovan sucked on his tooth as though a piece of food had become stuck. Then he merely shook his head. Aside from his helm, he was still covered in his midnight-black plate armor. “You can see him in an hour.”

“Why can’t we see him right now?” Lienne asked.

“He’s busy.”

“Busy?”

“Kid…”

In truth, Alex grew uncomfortable and awkward as the boy seemed to put two and two together while his sister stared obliviously at Donovan as though lacking any idea of what was clearly being implied. Either way, Kalana was far too important to their mission, and the War Council would not start without her. For the sake of her and Zach, they’d promised her a full hour of time alone with him while they stood here and waited for her.

Even from all the way down across the hall, there was an unmistakable, constant thud as though someone were stomping on the floor or being slammed into the wall. This had to be the fourth time in thirty minutes. Alex shook his head. At least they couldn’t hear any voices or other sounds.

“Li, let’s go down and check on those kids from earlier.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind waiting here and—”

“Li!”

“Sheesh, fine, all right.”

As the two disappeared back inside the elevator, Alex couldn’t help but notice the identical ring they each wore on their finger. It seemed they had both now officially joined the Explorers Brigade. Publicly, of course, they were now known as being members of the Royal Roses, but was of very little importance, as what the public believed and what stood as the truth were two entirely separate matters.

With a sigh, Alex turned his attention back to Donovan, who was now fixing him with a hard, ruthless glare. This came across as somewhat confusing to Alex. He did not like or appreciate the sudden harsh look, nor did understand why the scowl appeared to be directed at him, personally.

“What is it?” he asked his guild-leader.

“You know what,” Donovan replied.

Alex frowned. “No, boss, I don’t,” he said, speaking the truth.

At this, Donovan grunted. “Cut the shit, kid. You know what this is about. I thought I’d have a word with you now in private rather than berate you in public, but you had to know this was coming.”

Stiffening his back, Alex met Donovan’s harsh look with one of his own and asked, “Is this about Varsh?”

Donovan jerked his head back as though someone had flicked him in the chin. “Huh? What?” He barked out a laugh devoid of any humor. “No, of course not. I’m glad what you and the boy did to that prick. Stop playing dumb. You know what this is about. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to bring this up, too.” He raised his gauntlet-covered hand and pointed his finger at Alex. “You’re on thin ice as it is.”

Thin ice? Alex thought.

He tried to conjure up some idea in his mind of what his large, imposing guild-leader could possibly be so upset about. The answer came to him less than a moment later. It was obvious, really. It looked like someone, either from within his guild or another, had “snitched” on him yet again.

“This is about aggro, isn’t it?” he asked.

“You’re Gods-damned right it is,” Donovan growled. “I heard about the shit you pulled with the serpent on Earth. See, this is exactly why you weren’t invited to come along last year when we took on that T7. And this is the kinda shit that makes me wonder if you’re really ready to be an officer.”

Maintaining his cool, Alex said, “Boss, I can explain. The truth is—”

“I thought I told you to cut the shit!” Donovan snapped. “You might be brainier than me and have all your fancy fucking degrees, but kid, I see through you like no one else. You know damn well what you’re doing. Sure, you like to play Mr. Mature around everyone else, but those antics of yours are gonna get people killed. Especially against a Gods-damned T7.”

Alex opened his mouth to reply, but he closed it as Donovan continued to berate him. “I know why you do it, Alex,” he said. “I can understand it, too. It makes you feel good to hit something so Gods-damned hard it pulls aggro off the tank. But it will get people killed.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t hit my hardest.”

Donovan took a menacing step towards him, and Alex, despite himself, took a fearful step back. Even he was not immune to the intimidating presence of someone like Donovan Iseldar when the man became angered. “You know what you’re doing,” he growled. “You go out of your way to intentionally pull aggro off the tank. You try that shit with this wyvern? I’m telling the healers to let you die. You’ve never fought something like this before. Do you know what an aggro spiral is?”

“No,” Alex replied truthfully.

“An aggro spiral is when bruiser like yourself grabs aggro off the tank and begins to take damage so fast the healers have to double their healing to keep you alive. The hell you think happens next?”

Reluctantly, Alex whispered, “The dragon turns around and attacks the healers.”

“Damn right,” Donovan said. “Now the tanks have to go wild trying to restore aggro, and all while their healers are being cut down left and right. So what I’m saying is simple: no showboating. Not on this raid, or any other. If I ever hear about you doing that shit on purpose ever again—and I don’t care if it’s a T7 or a T1—you’re done. You’re out. I’m not putting up with this anymore. Do you understand me?”

Alex nodded. “I do.”

“Good. Now tell me more about this kid you found.”

As Alex began to once again recount everything he knew about Zachys, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of resentment for his bruised ego. He was usually the one to deliver a dressing down and rarely the one to receive it. It did kind of sting. Worse, there was an element of truth to what Donovan had said. He did enjoy ripping aggro off the tanks. It was almost like a habit. He enjoyed showing off the fact that he could hit so hard no tank in existence could keep aggro once he started wailing on a boss. Yet he was no slouch when it came to tanking, either. He’d always assumed if he bit off more than he could chew he could simply deal with it. Either way, he’d clearly gotten an earful over it, and he decided not to risk Donovan’s wrath any further. And so, glad to have a change of subject, he spoke about Zach, instead. Of course, given what they’d seen from him most recently, there were far more questions now than there were answers.

How had he survived against that T7? What kind of ability had he acquired? It was like nothing he’d ever before seen. Maybe later he’d try asking. For now, he was content to wait in silence with Donovan.