Chapter 19: Jay: To be content
Jay’s whole life flashed before his eyes.
All this time he thought the concept of your whole life going through you just before you passed away, was stupid.
If the brain really had that much free time to do all that, why couldn’t it just think of ways to survive instead?
But now that he had a hole in his chest- he knew- just how pointless that was.
He was a righteous man. Perhaps a bit religious too.
In high school, he did martial arts and often saved his fellow classmates from bullying.
But as a result, he got targeted instead.
But for the greater good, he didn’t stop. He hoped one day god would grant him eternal happiness in the afterlife. But he had to do good deeds first.
And for that, he was willing to take any beating.
One time, he got beaten up really bad and ended up in the hospital with two cracked ribs and an almost punctured lung.
He then understood, to save others, he had to sacrifice certain things.
But instead of focusing on revenge, he focused on getting stronger so that didn’t happen again. After all, another virtue of a nobleman was to forgive.
Right?
If he just got strong enough to disable any bully who came to attack him, everything would be fine, right?
That’s what he believed. And eventually, he passed high school and entered college; all this time he’d been practicing, training diligently. Everything went great for the first month.
But there he met more than just bullies.
Thugs, drug addicts, wannabe student politicians, and gangsters.
Just standing up and knowing a bit of karate or judo wasn’t going to do him any good. Speaking righteous and religious things was also a no-go.
Thud!
And yet- he stood up for a friend and was about to get killed.
Breath going wild. Sweat dripping.
And some red liquid too-
“Shit!” His friend ran away the first chance he got, leaving Jay behind on the floor.
Just moments ago, Jay had shielded his friend from the knife of a thug.
In this alleyway- in this lonely alleyway, Jay just lay on his stomach, crawling in the garbage, gritting his teeth, bleeding.
In front of him were three thugs, people who didn’t care about the authority. And behind, there was just more alleyways… empty alleyways.
One of them was very afraid though. “Dunno man…What if he dies on us? Won’t we go to jail?”
“What’s the good ol’ oceans good for?” One of them said. The same guy with the knife.
Jay grunted but he still tried to get up. He had to.
A noble man had to stand up to all injustice.
“But that guy ran, won’t he spit?” The other guy said.
“Well…” The guy with the knife grinned. “Dad will take care of everything.”
Jay had to stand up to evil. He had to fight for justice.
He had to.
His friend had run away but he was probably going to bring some help, right? He had to last till then…
He had to…
And yet- he felt faint. His stomach burned and started going cold at the same time. He was losing blood and he was losing plenty of it.
‘It’s no good…’ His vision started going black.
Before he could pass out though, transparent hands appeared and a circle with odd writings covered him.
The hands grabbed him, pulling.
“What the hell is this?” One of the thugs laughed. “Magic tricks?” He was about to go kick Jay-
But in a matter of seconds, Jay disappeared, leaving behind traces of his blood.
“What the hell?”
Clang!
The knife dropped on the floor.
***
“Don’t look like you’re okay with dying!” A girl- Shreya had her hands clasped tight, almost like she was in a prayer. But her glare was on the man next to her.
“But I am-” Jay managed.
He had a good life. He’d stood up to evil, tried to save the people…. If he could die for a cause like this, surely God would grant him peace in the afterlife, right?
And he knew there were gods in this world for sure!
So, he was content.
“No, you’re not! And shut up!” Her stick- or rather, staff was glowing white and Jay’s whole body was covered in a light.
If the man- Jay wasn’t dying, she’d have slapped him silly.
It’d been like this for over half an hour now.
Shreya couldn’t cure nor heal Jay, at least not while also keeping his body from dying.
The wound was too much. His heart had long stopped. If it weren’t for her magic, he’d have been long dead.
But her magic was running out and what’s worse, there were dead soldiers attacking everyone around them. So, no help was coming either.
Shreya’s white light kept the dead soldiers at bay, and they couldn’t come here, but since help wasn’t either- things weren’t looking so great.
“What are those idiots, doing? What’s taking them so long?” Tears threatened to leak from her eyes but she didn’t cry.
She just focused on keeping the man alive.
“Fiery Arrows.” A melancholic voice rang through like the wind- almost flowing.
And a second later- the whole place was lit up in bright orange flames.
Arrows of fire- coming from one spot- enveloping the dead.
Warm.
The color was warm.
A bit of her skin almost burned but- warm.
The dead soldiers fell on the ground, and remained dead.
“My apologies, my lady. I didn’t expect them to be like this.” A man said. “I was under the impression things were under control.”
Shreya recognized the voice. A knight commander.
“What took you so long!” She screamed, but the voice didn’t come out loud but the tears did. “What took you so long?” She repeated. And yet- she was glad.
But then she realized, the knight commander wasn’t talking to her- rather, the man was talking to another woman. A beautiful woman- fancy clothes, and an eagle on her shoulder?
Was this woman more important, than a dying hero?
And wait, did the woman save them?
The fire, smoke, the ashes cleared, and the two headed this way.
Behind them were soldiers and soon some heroes also ran this way.
The woman- the beautiful woman, slouched down. “Shouldn’t he be dead?” She checked Jay’s wounds.
Her voice was melancholic yet soothing in a way.
She looked awfully human but something about her wasn’t.
“I’m keeping him alive,” Shreya said, then looked haphazardly around. “Someone, get me potions, elixirs, something!”
“The hell happened here!” A young man came this way, sweat dripping, breathing erratic; another hero. Everyone just ignored him.
“So, magic could be used to heal too?” The woman mumbled.
Now that the dead soldiers weren’t going around killing other soldiers, the not-so-dead ones could finally come here, and they brought help.
Healers also made their way here.
Injured soldiers were everywhere but a hero mattered more.
Potions, elixirs, and magic.
With a combination of all three, the hero- Jay’s condition stabilized. But it was thanks to Shreya’s magic and endurance he was still alive….
His heart healed and started beating anew.
Some rejoiced while others fell on their behinds, sighing in relief.
Perhaps it was an occupation that required a celebration or at the very least, sighs of relief. The woman didn’t quite agree so- and neither did she want to linger here.
“Let’s go.” The woman finally said. “He’s just up ahead, right?”
“Right, my lady,” The knight commander nodded and led the woman.
They were about to pass the two heroes on the ground.
“Wait, who’re you?” Shreya asked. But then she remembered something. “And thank you for saving us.” She wiped the small drops of tears on her cheek.
She wasn’t totally positive that the woman had saved her but- but she knew it was probably her. As she knew the knight commander certainly wasn’t capable of something like that.
The woman smiled faintly. “No problem.”
She continued walking.
A girl in a tracksuit and Duran showed up just as the woman left.
“Is he okay?” The girl- Ellen said.
Meanwhile, Duran just looked out, towards the direction the woman left. “Where have I seen her before…?”
“There he goes again-” Layns sighed…
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone