Seventh month, twenty-ninth day. Two days until the next Blood moon.
Titiana had a horrible night. Her whole body was spasming, and she constantly groaned in pain despite being asleep like a rock. I did cover her up with a warm blanket, yet her skin still felt as if she was practically a corpse with how cold it was.
She even seemed to wake up for seconds to mumble how much it hurts, and how horrible she feels. With her hands, she seemed to be trying to reach out for something to grab onto.
Despite being something crazy to do, I crawled onto the bed next to her, got inside the blankets, and I hugged her. I didn't think that stupid thing I decided to do was going to be any helpful. But she seemed to stop shaking so much, and her breathing turned from a heavy, groaning grumble of pain to a more calmer breathing much more appropriate for someone sleeping.
I noticed the morning sun rising outside the house, indicating the start of the new day.
I slowly stopped hugging the Vogel girl, who seemed to have regained some natural body heat, and I stepped out from the bed while making sure she was still covered by blankets.
I did all the usual routines after waking up, and once they were all done, I headed to the backyard this house has.
Once outside, I did some warming up exercises before I started the main part of the training.
"I don't have any equipment or natural things I could use without attracting too much attention." I muttered while looking around.
If I wanted to take on a mafia family of such scale as the Three Headed Demonic Fronts, I'd have to be on top condition.
Right now, I am on the second tier of the Earth Body out of the possible nine tiers. That is a nice beginning tier for those who still have potential to grow in strength. The Earth Body is the only body that relies on tiers to give the user thicker, harder, and more protective skin.
Then there are the Air, Water, and Fire Bodies. Unlike the Earth Body, these three don't rely on tiers to differentiate between strength, they are a difference on the different techniques used.
These other "Bodies" are essential, and the core of becoming stronger with the use of the Body Strengthening techniques. Learning as many of them skills, or specializing on a single Body, is heavily encouraged to grow stronger.
However, these skills require focus, commitment, and endurance in order to learn them. Learning a skill from zero means failing and injuring oneself as the body won't be adapted to the change it experiences.
"Hm... a knock on the door..." I muttered lowly while I stopped training.
A knock on the door could either mean that those mafia members are here to annoy me for the second day in a row, that Aries magic teacher coming to take Titiana when she's clearly not rested, or Manjaro is here with news.
As I stopped training and approached the door, I froze with my hand on the handle of the door. "Who is it?" I asked cautiously, making sure that I wouldn't open the door to something dangerous while Titiana is on bed in a weakened state.
"It is me, my savio--" The Ulf man didn't have time to finish his sentence once I quickly opened the door causing a gust of wind to mess up his hairstyle and his wolf ears to move alongside the strong wind.
"Ah, my saviour, good morning!" He yelled out with a big smile on his face.
I simply grabbed him by the collar and shoved his body inside the house.
"M-my, my... my saviour, you seem to be on a foul mood today" He awkwardly giggled while rubbing his hands.
"There's a mafia group wanting to extort this house for money, so I'd rather they think no one's home" I answered him casually.
"Ah, that does make sense" He nodded along while his fingers pinched his chin. "That kind of movement is getting really popular lately within various mafia families. You don't see a neighbour that doesn't suffer through that fake protection scam"
"Speaking of that scam. I heard it was started by the very same mafia group you want me to take care of"
"It is, indeed" He nodded happily.
"You never told us it was the biggest family of Djchuri that practically control the whole city, the top one out of any family in Djchuri" I said in an angrier tone.
"A-ah... that is a detail I forgot to mention, my saviour. It indeed is" He nervously agreed along with what I said while sweat drops began forming on his forehead.
"Don't get so worried about it. I'll still try to take care of them. I just wished you told us we'd been getting involved with dangerous people"
"That's true, my saviour... You saved me from those mafiosos the other night, and now you have to deal with really dangerous individuals for me... I'll be in a debt I'll never be able to repay" He clasped his hands together and bowed his head.
"While it isn't a fair deal by any means, you got us a place to rest until the Blood Moon is over--even if you're using your friend's house, you got Titiana someone to teach her about magic--even if he seems to be just as scummy and horrible as any other mage" I lost strength and conviction with every word.
"That makes me sound like an incompetent who can't do his job well!" He snapped, with an obvious fake tear running down his cheek.
I just chuckled at his little outburst.
"I can prove I'm not bad at my job!" He confidently spoke loudly while reaching for the pockets on his dirty pants. "Here!" He exclaimed while pulling out some papers and a tiny envelope.
Opening the envelope, on the insides there was a small plastic identification document with my face on it.
"One of the terms for you to help me was that I needed to get you documented. Now you're not undocumented... you're still an illegal, my saviour, but at least you can fake most places with this document"
"Wait. I never posed for a picture. Where did you get this?" I asked, weirded out over seeing a picture of myself on the small, plastified document.
"O-oh... you see, my saviour, when I made the call to one of my friends, they said that I shouldn't worry about it... that I should leave everything to them."
"You always have someone to call for favors, huh?"
"Yes, exactly! I wish I could help you, and I understand you're definitely weirded out by my friend's ability to take pictures, but I assure you we're working for your favor"
"I get it... again, these are things you should tell me about"
Manjaro nodded aggressively.
I opened my mouth to also complain about the attitude of the teacher he chose for Titiana, but a loud groan coming from Titiana's room made both our head to turn.
I made my way to the room, and saw Titiana finally had her eyes open. But she was hugging herself.
"It's... so cold..." She complained with a voice that looked like she was about to cry at any second.
"Tell me the truth, Manjaro." I turned to look at the Ulf man who also came to this room. "Is what Titiana's going through really necessary?" I asked coldly.
"I... My saviour, I'm not magically inclined, so I don't particularly know if this is expected out of every mage..." He answered with a lowered head. "But... you can have my word, my saviour. My friend is someone I trust deeply. He wouldn't make her suffer for nothing..."
"Then I hope he is truly someone trustful"
"G...Grey..." Titiana expressed in a low whisper while reaching a trembling hand toward me.
"I..." She began.
I grabbed her hand strongly. It was cold and weak, as if it'd break if I grabbed it with more strength than I was using right now.
"I can use magic..." She said, finally shedding tears. Yet her face only showed a big, if painful, smile. "I won't be useless for much... I promise it"
I wanted to tell her that there was no need for this. That I would've happily protected her. But that'd just be me trampling over her efforts, saying what she's going through is useless when it's not. She's going through this much pain for me, because she wants to stand as an equal to me.
"I'm glad..." I finally spoke. "I'm sure you'll be so strong that you'll get bored of always saving me"
Her short moment of being awake finished too quickly, and she lost consciousness once again. Her hand now felt heavy, and if it wasn't for the fact that I could see her chest rise and fall with a weak breathing, I'd think she passed out in front of me.
A loud and heavy sigh escaped my lips as I let go of her hand. "I'll take care of that family on the Blood Moon night"
"Wh-what? My saviour... I think I misheard you"