A Jaded Life

Chapter 1353

Panting, I barely managed to stay on the throne. Once again, the world was revolving around me, spinning with me at the centre, and I felt as if I was being dragged this way and that way. Reality was twisting around me, my tired mind failing to make sense of it as exhaustion was trying to drag me under, to make me surrender to unconsciousness.

But I also knew that it would be devastating. The Revenant’s poison was still in my shoulder, trying to finish what its creator had started; my hand was bleeding where I had cut it for my Blood Magic, and my reserves of Astral Power and Health were far lower than I was comfortable with. To say nothing of the Revenant in the closet, or rather in the basement. I had no idea about its capabilities, but given its level, I wasn’t comfortable assuming that it was completely contained. If I slept now, I might never wake again.

Still, to block out the spinning world, I closed my eyes, turning the entirety of my focus inwards. The world fell away around me as I entered the Astral River, the familiar sensation of power flowing around me. It was soothing and comfortable, inviting me to stay and relax, to simply be and let the concerns of the physical take a backseat. But I couldn’t do that, I still had things to do, and while it was tempting to ignore the physical, the physical wouldn’t return the favour. The poison in my shoulder would continue to infest my body, and I had no doubt that the Revenant was already looking for a way to finish the job.

Slowly, due to the exhaustion weighing down my body and mind, I was drawing in power from the Astral River, letting it replenish my reserves even as I was already putting some of that power to use. It couldn’t readily replace the blood I had sacrificed to fuel my earlier escape, but I could use it to push back the poison.

So, with my eyes still firmly shut, I started to work on that. Blood Magic was drawn from my centre and pushed towards my arm, allowing me to sense just how badly injured I was. The Ice I had used to cover the wound, and a small ocean of adrenaline, had been enough to let me ignore the injury to a point, but now, as the adrenaline was fading, the wound and the poison infecting it caused tears to escape my closed eyes.

A laboured groan escaped me as the Ice I had used to temporarily seal the wound cracked and fell off, taking with it some blood clinging to it, dropping to the ground with a wet, splattering sound as it shattered on the ground, splashing cold blood everywhere. Hissing in pain, I felt hot blood run down my arm and reached out with my Blood Magic, forcing more of the vital fluid to leave my wound, taking with it the taint of the Revenant’s poison. It was the only way to combat the stuff, to remove the intrusion. Only then would I be able to heal the damage it had already done, and there was a lot of it. The poison was incredibly deadly, dissolving my blood vessels to cause massive internal bleeding while also preventing blood clotting, making me bleed even more. If left alone, even a small scratch would be enough to kill someone in minutes and treating it was quite difficult, even with magic.

Finally, I couldn’t feel any additional damage occurring within me and sealed the wound. It wasn’t a thorough job; the underlying damage was still there, but I wasn’t losing any more blood, so that had to be good enough. For now, the circulation in my arm was still completely shot, and my current solution would start causing damage to my arm soon, but it gave me time. If my arm were to start to take permanent damage in a few hours, it wouldn’t matter too much. The important part was that it would hold until then, and with a new coat of Ice wrapped around the arm, I wouldn’t have to worry about the haphazard repairs I had done to it tearing. It would hinder me a bit, but compared to the earlier wound, it was a huge improvement.

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Forcing the exhaustion that was trying to overwhelm me down once again, I opened my eyes, briefly glancing at the mess on the ground and my arm, now covered in Ice. Some of the blood coating looked horrible, black with poison and completely dead, driving home just how dangerous the poison was, as if I needed an additional visible reminder.

A growl from my midsection got me moving, reminding me that my body needed fuel. I could usually ignore those pesky, mundane needs, my high attributes helping to assuage issues caused by a lack of sleep, hunger or thirst. But now, the issue wasn’t that my body needed energy; this wasn’t something I could replace by channelling some extra Astral Power. Now, my body literally needed the physical material, the proteins, carbs and whatnot to replace the blood I had lost. And would likely lose in the near future, when I could finish the repairs to my shoulder.

Getting up from my throne and walking were both challenges; the world still wasn’t willing to remain stationary, but I managed. Somehow, with a bit of swaying and stumbling, I managed, making my way towards the kitchen. There, I realised another issue: the entire thing was running on magic, and while I had replenished a fraction of my Astral Power in meditation, my exhaustion remained, making my mind sluggish.

Grabbing a slab of meat from the pantry, some sort of venison, I placed it in a pan with some tallow, just dropping it on the stove. It wouldn’t be great, hel, it likely wouldn’t even be good, but it would give me the resources I needed. Sitting there, barely awake enough to channel some power into the runes that supplied heat for the stove, my mind started to drift. The Revenant was on my mind, but also what I had learned before that mess happened, while I had infused Joshua’s entire being with my magic.

There was a lot to unpack there, and I wondered just what had caused the Revenant to come into existence. I doubted it was just the killing of Joshua, or rather, the experiment that caused his death. Otherwise, there’d be a lot of Revenants around, unless the rising of one was caused by an unintended killing, or a killing when using magic not intended to cause damage. That might be the biggest issue: my magic was never intended to harm or kill, just to observe, allowing for it to be absorbed into the dying form, creating the Undead in the process. Or it was possible that Joshua, in his final moments, had nothing on his mind but hate, maybe because my experiments had ground away every other sensation and memory, leaving nothing but those primal parts. Primal parts that would undoubtedly resent the person responsible for the pain.

A harsh scent pulled my mind into the present, and I realised that the meat I had sizzling in the pan was getting far too close to the colour and consistency of charcoal, making me groan in annoyance. Still, I quickly flipped it, trying to gauge how deeply the heat had penetrated as I lowered the temperature. It still looked edible, though I would have to cut off the seriously burned parts. Hel, if I wasn’t as hungry as I was, I would probably throw the whole thing out, but that wasn’t really a solution, not with the Revenant still a potential issue.

Eating the meat was a bit of a chore. Parts were burned, parts were a little overcooked, others had barely received enough heat, and I hadn’t been thorough with my seasoning, but all that was secondary. I wasn’t eating for the taste; this was purely to refill the reserves, and I could almost feel my magic coil in my gut, helping the natural processes along. Maybe that was why I managed to eat a slab of meat the size of my thigh without feeling bloated and filled to bursting, I wasn’t sure.

But the food, and some water to wash the mess down with, helped a great deal, making me feel a lot better. I was still exhausted, still stumbling a little, but I wasn’t feeling as if I was about to fall over any longer. And even if I fell, I was now confident I would wake back up. It might take a little longer than preferred, but I wouldn’t die in my sleep.

Or so I thought, until I was walking back into the central area of my shelter and heard some rather unpleasant crunching sounds coming from below. To be precise, they came from the shaft leading into the prison, where I had left the Revenant, sealed in by a far-too-thin wall of stone. A wall that obviously hadn’t been up to the task of keeping the creature contained.

Letting out another sigh, I started to shuffle towards the hole, considering how to deal with this mess.