137: Recuperation Gathering

His arms suffered comminuted fractures;

He had 17 fractures, big and small, throughout his body;

Massive internal bleeding, ruptured liver, and multiple soft tissue tears across his body... In normal circumstances, these injuries would definitely be fatal, the kind even an ICU couldn't save him from.

However, Gelin was in a transcendent world.

On the battlefield, Gelin was given a bottle of advanced life-healing potion, which saved his life, and then he was sent to a recuperation pod at the supply base to stabilize his injuries.

Once Gelin's injuries were stable, the Devil Squad was responsible for sending Gelin back to the Heart of Plants Wizard Tower for treatment; the subsequent tasks were merely cleanup and no longer required them.

Within the Wizard Tower, Gelin received joint treatment from several top medical mentors, then lay in a life-sustaining pod for three days, and was basically recovered.

The remaining comminuted bones would require Gelin to slowly recuperate for some time, giving the bones time to gradually recover; this could not be rushed.

The power of the transcendent was terrifying.

The healing mentor said that if he recuperated well for a month, he would be perfectly fine, a lively young man again... On the first floor of the Wizard Tower, at the Beef Burger Shack.

"Gelin, I really envy you."

"Every now and then, I see you on vacation."

"And whenever you're on vacation, that's when I'm busy as a Blood Dog."

"Oh dear, bio-armor no. 8 truly has a hard life, following a master like you. Who knows how much suffering it has endured, how many injuries it has sustained, and how many times it has been sent back for factory repairs."

"This time it's another major incident; it will take at least a month to repair."

Oakes toasted Gelin, whose hands were both unusable, fixed in thick plaster, but this did not affect Gelin's drinking.

Hand of Wizardry, check it out... Dual casting, check it out... Gelin conjured two illusory Wizardry Hands; one hand drank wine, and the other stuffed meat into his mouth, thoroughly enjoying himself.

"What's there to envy?"

"These are all vacations I've fought for with my life."

"If it weren't for my great luck, plus the help of my teammates, you might be attending my funeral right now."

"I envy you, working steadily in the Wizard Tower every day, with a full sense of security."

... "Haha, Gelin..."

"Isn't this the path you chose yourself?"

"Didn't you once have the chance to take my stable path as an Apothecary?"

"You refused it yourself, insisting on becoming a close-quarters Wizard who outputs Exploding Fireball."

Oakes took a big gulp of his bloody mary and chuckled, teasing:

"I heard that this time, you went face-to-face twice on the battlefield. That's impressive."

"So, how was it this time? Did you enjoy it?"

"Hmph..."

Adler, beside them, let out a cold snort, expressing his displeasure.

"Gelin, thanks to you, I also get half a month off."

"Should we settle all our old and new scores? You tricked me into taking a loan to buy a shield, then turned around and pulled me in front as a shield for your close-quarters Exploding Fireball output."

"Do you know how utterly devastated I was at the time? I withstood the Black Wizard, but I couldn't withstand a backstab from a teammate. Do you know how shameful that is for a Guardian Knight?"

... "Stop, stop..."

Gelin quickly begged for mercy:

"Good brother, I'm sorry."

"Let's not say anything more. I'll pay for tonight's expenses, a bloody mary for everyone, and I'll cover half of your shield loan from now on, how about it?"

"Come, it's all in the wine. Let's finish this drink, and we're still good brothers."

"Not enough. I drink one, you have to drink three. That shows sincerity."

"Alright, alright, my fault. I'll punish myself with three drinks first, brother. You'll still have to take good care of me in the future."

"No, I need to buy a high-level magic-resistant round arm shield."

"That way it'll be safer."

"Gelin, are you still trying to seek death?"

Bigg asked in surprise:

"This isn't like you. Aren't you always one to play it safe?"

... "That's right."

"It's precisely because I play it safe that I need to buy a high-level magic-resistant round arm shield even more."

"Oh, well, since I've already embarked on a path of licking blood from the knife's edge, no matter what, defensive equipment is still necessary."

Gelin explained to everyone:

"Close-quarters Exploding Fireball output is just a tactic I employ."

"You don't know, this method is the fastest and most effective way to deal with Black Wizards."

"Let me give you an example. Look at the guy I dealt with, the one codenamed Bloodhound Wizard, wasn't he stunned by my face-to-face output?"

"Otherwise, a Peak Wizard Apprentice isn't that easy to kill. Just look at the Blood Snake Wizard, whom I chased for three days and three nights before finally killing him."

"Hmph, my greatsword only needs three seconds to decide life or death!"

... "Uh..."

Everyone was silent for a long time; it seemed to make a lot of sense.

But why did it always feel like something was off?

Adler looked at Gelin with a resentful gaze and said:

"If I hadn't been in front of you tanking the damage, would you have been able to so smoothly, with one strike, kill that big yellow dog?"

"Wouldn't you have been blasted into the ghostly state you're in now by your own Exploding Fireball, having to use Wizardry for even drinking?"

"Look, without me there, when you went after that Blood Shark Wizard, didn't you end up in this dead state?"

... "You're wrong."

Gelin swallowed a large piece of fatty cured meat and continued to elaborate:

"Adler, in that situation, you wouldn't have been any use."

"In fact, it would have been worse. I wouldn't want to attend your funeral so early."

"Hey, Gelin, tell us more in detail?"

"This Blood Shark Wizard, what kind of virtue and ability did he possess?"

"To actually break your invincible golden body?"

Oakes asked curiously. As the maintenance worker for bio-armor no. 8, he knew the performance of this armor best.

He truly couldn't understand what kind of attack could leave Gelin, who had activated the full Wizard Array's invincible state, so severely injured.

"Cough, cough..."

Gelin looked around and saw that the three people in the private room—Oakes, Bigg, and Adler—all had curious and eager expressions.

He no longer kept them in suspense:

"I'll tell you guys, but don't tell anyone else. This involves a Formal Wizard, after all."

"Don't worry, Gelin..."

"Gelin, don't you trust us? We're very tight-lipped."

"Gelin, I promise not to say anything outside."

...