The first thing I did after calling for help was stagger around securing the guns. I avoided going close to the unconscious intruders, not willing to risk them faking it. Fortunately the ones still holding their weapons had very limp grips as I picked the weapons up with Mage's Reach. I didn't really have a place to store them, so I bundled them up in my shirt.
Saera was still close to two of the intruders, having bashed their heads together. When I bent down and grabbed her ankle to start dragging her, she groaned. "Help up…"
As I turned her over I could see blood flowing from two wounds in her chest. It looked pretty bad to , but I had very little practical experience with combat and wounds. And we couldn't just leave her next to enemies that might wake up. Likewise, I couldn't just kill them. Didn't want to and shouldn't, at least. I was probably physically capable, even with an injury in my leg. They were unconscious after all. The thought of whatever experience that might give was easily ignored. If they died while fighting I wouldn't feel that bad, but I wasn't just going to strangle unconscious people.
I helped Saera to her feet, and once she was standing she was almost more steady than . We walked forward towards the front of the building. Florina was still laying on the floor, and it didn't seem like we would be able to move her. Neither of us could lift her, and we couldn't really walk much further. "I wonder how long it will take for help to get here…" I pondered to myself as we flopped ourselves down near Florina. I dropped the bundle of guns and began ripping off strips of the shirt to bind our various wounds. I couldn't really get any thing wrapped around Florina but I used Mage's Hand to just hold a piece of cloth on the bloodiest area. It was probably good news that the amount of blood seed to be increasing, right? That ant she still had more.
It wasn't long after that before one of the front doors was flung open, revealing Malaliel carrying a sword- with a gun strapped to her belt. I kind of expected her to be wearing armor as well, but the winged woman still wore a buttoned shirt and pants. Her eyes swept across the situation before running towards us. "You're injured," she said as she stopped near us.
"They got shot," I gestured to the other two.
"I understand," Malaliel said. "An ambulance is on the way. The intruders?"
"Back there," I said. "We knocked them out and I took their guns but I don't know if they had other weapons."
"Got it." Malaliel held up sothing that hadn't been explained but was clearly a piece of communication technology with how she used it. It was a lot less compact than a cell phone and made a faint buzzing noise. "Just arrived at the situation. It should be secure in a mont."
With that she ran off. I kind of expected an angel to use healing magic on us, but perhaps that was unreasonable considering they didn't really have magic here. Just powers… and it seed angels didn't co with healing. Or she was more concerned about the intruders. Either way, it wasn't long before a loud siren sounded outside.
People with uniforms and guns poured into the warehouse, wearing badges that said 'Extra'. So of the guns were much bigger than the ones I had piled next to . Those would be rifles, probably, while the ones by were pistols. I really didn't want to get shot with them.
Right behind them ca a handful of people without weapons, and the designation of 'paradic' on so of their differing uniforms indicated they were healers of so sort.
Just as they were talking to , I felt the effects of Translation fading. They said sothing about "pulse" as one of them kneeled next to Florina and touched her neck. Then she was carried away. Saera was answering questions as more people looked over her. Then one more ca to . "--- --- alright? ----- like - leg injury. -- ---- -- get the bullet out."
"Okay, got it," I nodded. I hadn't realized that the bullet would still be inside . I used storage and indeed felt the bullet disappear. Then I used it again and held it in my hand for the dic to see. "There, got it." Then I passed out. It turns out blood loss and mana exhaustion do not go well together.
-----
I was quite pleased when I woke up again. Not because I thought I was going to die. I was pretty sure I would survive, though once again I had little experience with wounds. The pleasant part was waking up in a sunny room with vaguely pleasant surroundings. I couldn't say the bed was the most comfortable I'd been on, since it wasn't as good as the apartnt I was staying at, but it was better than many I'd been on. And I wasn't restrained at all. That ant they had probably decided that I hadn't gone too far with my magic. I was pretty sure I hadn't killed anyone, but who could know when people didn't have levels?
Turlough (No surna)
Level: 11
Experience: 383
Storage 1
Firebolt 1
Shocking Grasp 3
Grease 2
Force Armor 4
Mage's Reach 1
Translation
Remaining Points: 7
Still not enough to reach level 12. Though I was pretty sure I had been at 381 before passing out. I couldn't guarantee that, though. The worst part was how close it was. I only needed 390. If I could have defeated one more of the intruders myself… they gave about twelve experience each! I honestly wasn't sure what dictated that since if they didn't have a level I kind of expected nothing. At least the guy who hit on the head was big, so him being worth sothing similar to a level 5 made sense. Maybe fighting people with guns made them around level 10? Though it felt more like each bullet was stronger than a firebolt, which was just unfair.
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I couldn't believe I'd forgotten to try anything with Grease. If I could have slipped up two people together I would have saved myself a lot of trouble… though really that also ant not knocking out one of them directly. Overall, I thought I did well enough in the battle. And I rembered to use Force Armor on Saera, so at least I'd thought about sothing there.
After my assessnt of the battle, which rated it a 'good enough' assuming Saera survived, I took more specific stock of my situation. There was a pouch of clear liquid going down a tube into my arm. I wasn't sure what that was for, but I didn't want to pull sothing out of my arm and cause more bleeding. As I was wondering about that, a thin man walked into the room with a neutral blue outfit on, carrying a flat thing with so paper attached. He began to say sothing, but I held up a finger. I approximated my internal mana stores. Nearly full. That was good news, but also ant I had been out for at least a few hours. I cast Translation. "Sorry, I didn't have Translation magic active. Can you repeat that."
"Of course. I was just saying it was good to see you awake. I'd like to make an assessnt on your condition. How are you feeling?"
"My leg… hurts."
"That's not unexpected. The dics worked on the understanding that your anatomy functioned similar to a human's, but we couldn't be sure how painkillers would affect you. Any dizziness? Lightheadedness?"
"Maybe a little."
"Any other symptoms?"
"No? No."
"Good," the man nodded. "Any questions?"
"Why is there a needle in my arm?"
"That's for intravenous fluids," the nurse answered professionally. I couldn't tell if he thought it was a weird question or not.
"Why is the liquid clear? Blood is red."
"You didn't lose too much blood. This is just to restore balance while you were unconscious to help with recovery."
I didn't really understand that, but I wasn't a doctor or anything. "Okay. Thank you."
"You're welco. Do you feel up to talking with soone else? Zorphax wanted to et with you."
My stomach growled. "Can I have sothing to eat first?"
The man smiled. "Sure thing."
-----
Hospital food was kind of bad, but at least it filled up. An apple and a sandwich and so juice made feel better. The small Zorphax sat nearby while I devoured it all.
"Normally this isn't my job," he said after I finished, "But they figured a familiar face would be best and Malaliel is busy with other things." He looked down at the tablet in his hand, instead of paper notes like the nurse. "Just a few questions. You're first to wake up. What do you rember about the attack on the warehouse?"
"I heard loud sounds. Shooting. I saw Florina bleeding… is she…?"
"She's in intensive care," Zorphax said. "But they're hopeful about her chances. Saera is out of surgery and recovering."
"Okay." I realized after a few monts that I should continue. "After the shots, I cast Force Armor on Saera and myself and saw the intruders through the shelves. They were talking about silencing anyone on the way to whatever they wanted." I paused, "They ant killing people, right?"
"Probably," Zorphax said.
"Did any of them die?"
"Two of them have bad head injuries. The other three were in a sowhat better state… though they'd clearly been electrically shocked, and that cos with complications. I presu that was you again?"
"I couldn't really hold back. Wait, three others?"
"Yes, five total."
"There was another one," I said. "Six. It should match the number of guns as well."
"Is that so?" Zorphax said. "I'll make a note of that. Soone might have escaped."
"Anyway, I took down four of them with Mage's Reach and Shocking Grasp, but they shot at . I probably would have died if Saera hadn't co up on them and knocked two of their heads together. She got shot for that… and the Force Armor didn't help enough."
"Maybe it did," Zorphax said. "They said the bullets were fairly shallow." Zorphax sighed, "You sure seem to attract trouble. Like a real super."
"I'm just a mage though."
He shrugged, "Powers are powers. And yours seems quite suited for combat, if you can take out a handful of people with guns."
"I can't really protect myself from them, though." I did strongly consider putting my remaining points towards two more levels of Force Armor though. That would make it about… ten percent stronger. A little less. Or I could aim for a more powerful defensive spell, but it would likely take all of my points. Though I would barely be able to afford to cast it. If it cost six mana it would require to recover for a full hour, and I only had sixteen points at the mont. If I had a few more levels and bigger reserves I could think about it more.
"It seems to have worked well enough, though I would suggest a kevlar vest if you plan to get in more gun fights any ti soon."
"Where can I get one?" I asked. "Is that the armor they were wearing? Can I have theirs? And the guns?"
"Why would you get their guns?" Zorphax asked.
"I defeated them in justified battle. It's only reasonable." Was it not? His face said it was not.
"Look," Zorphax said. "I'll talk to the departnt about the kevlar, given what's happened. But you'd need a license for a gun. Even if so far you've used your powers responsibly, it's still early. And Extra doesn't handle permitting of standard firearms in any case."
"Do you have other kinds of guns?"
"Of course. But not in my departnt. And licenses will be much harder to get. You'd only be able to acquire them if you were working for a rc company or sothing."
"How do I do that?" I asked.
"Do what?" Zorphax frowned.
"Get hired by a rc company. That ans rcenaries, right? They fight things?"
"Yeah. Which is why I wouldn't suggest it, unless you want to get shot at again."
I didn't want to get shot at. I just wanted to fight so I could level up. Zorphax didn't seem keen on the idea though, so I thought I would have to look up rcenaries myself later, sohow. It might be easier to get hired by them than to beco a hero.
Zorphax finished his questions about the incident, though the only thing they hadn't already figured out was that there was a sixth gunman involved. After that, I was left to sit bored in my room, waiting to heal. Then I spotted a television, and next to on the table a remote control. I just had to figure out how to make the latter control the forr.
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