Part 1: The Thirteen Hours (Flashback)
The dungeon was silent, save for the wind howling from the abyss. The boss was dead, disintegrated by a power that shouldn't exist.
Two men lay on the cracked ice, awake but paralyzed by pain.
Roger, clutching his bleeding side, watched Elian collapse face-first into the snow. He tried to crawl toward his Captain, but his body screamed in protest. He had watched the entire fight—the silver eyes, the god-like speed—and now he watched the boy fall.
Kael, slumped against a crystal pillar with a crushed leg and a dented helmet, wheezed through his broken visor. He had seen the "Monarch of Seconds" with his own eyes. He gripped his hammer, tears of frustration mixing with the blood on his face because he couldn't stand up to help.
Caelum was the only one moving.
He didn't use spells; he used care. He gathered the unconscious bodies of Titan, Jax, Valen, Lyra, Isara, and Luna one by one.
Then he came for the witnesses.
"Do not speak," Caelum whispered gently to Roger as he lifted the sniper with telekinesis. "Save your strength."
He carried them all to a sheltered alcove away from the biting wind. He laid them down side-by-side—the unconscious and the awake.
Then, he sat in the center and expanded his aura.
[Mana Manipulation: Warmth]
He didn't cast a shield; he turned his own mana into a blanket of thermal energy, wrapping his friends in a soft, humming cocoon to prevent the sub-zero temperatures from claiming them.
He looked at Seraphina. The Priestess was trembling, her mana bar empty. She looked at the critical injuries of seven different people, her hands shaking as she met Roger's terrified gaze.
"I cannot heal them one by one," Seraphina whispered, panic rising. "They are all dying at the same speed. If I focus on one, the others fall."
"Then do not focus," Caelum said, placing a hand on her back. "Cast the net wide. I will be your source."
Seraphina nodded. She slammed her staff into the ice, anchoring herself.
[Grand Spell: Sanctuary of the Weeping Goddess]
It wasn't a burst of light. It was a wide-area field of pale gold that covered everyone. And it wasn't instant. It was a slow, agonizing transfer of life.
For thirteen hours straight, she didn't move.
Caelum poured raw mana into her, and she converted it into health, dripping it slowly into the team like an IV line.
She knitted Titan's bones, splinter by splinter.
She re-inflated Elian's lungs, breath by breath.
She stitched Jax's torn arteries.
Roger and Kael lay there, watching the golden light work, unable to sleep.
As the hours passed, the magic knitted enough of Kael's muscles for him to move. The sturdy dwarf, despite the agony in his ribs, forced himself to stand.
"I can't heal," Kael grunted, looking at the women working themselves to death. "But I can build."
Dragging his heavy boots, he used loose stones and crystal shards to construct a temporary fortress around them—a warm, enclosed shelter to block the wind.
Roger, his bleeding finally stopped by the spell, sat up with a groan. He downed an emergency HP potion to stabilize himself. He didn't say a word; he simply crawled to the entrance, propped his rifle on a rock, and began his watch, his eyes never leaving the tunnel.
At the thirteenth hour, the limit was reached.
Seraphina gasped, her connection to the spell snapping. She collapsed sideways, vomiting bile onto the floor. Her skin turned a ghostly grey, her body shaking violently.
[Condition: Mana Drunk]
[Status: System Overload]
She had channeled too much high-density mana for too long. Her mortal body was rejecting the excess energy like poison.
The retching sound woke the person nearest to her.
Luna gasped, her eyes snapping open. Her ribs were sore, but mended. Her burns were scarred, but closed.
She sat up and saw the scene: Seraphina convulsing on the floor, pale as death.
Luna didn't scream. She scrambled to her alchemy bag, ignoring her own dizziness.
"I've got you," Luna rasped.
[Potion: Mana Stabilizer]
She uncorked a vial and carefully tilted it into Seraphina's mouth, stroking the priestess's sweat-drenched hair until the vomiting stopped and Seraphina passed out into a deep, recovery sleep.
Luna looked around. The internal injuries were fixed, but the team was still covered in cuts, bruises, and open sores.
"My turn," Luna whispered, wiping tears from her eyes.
She spent the next few days taking over the medical duties. While Seraphina slept off the mana toxicity, Luna concocted Regeneration Salves and Vitality Brews, treating the external wounds that the magic hadn't fully closed.
Part 2: The Tenth Day (Present)
Elian felt like he was surfacing from the bottom of an ocean.
His body felt heavy, not with pain, but with the deep lethargy of a long, comatose sleep.
He opened his eyes.
The ceiling wasn't ice. It was smooth, stacked stone—Kael's handiwork.
The air smelled of medicinal herbs, stone dust, and roasting meat.
He blinked, his vision clearing. He was lying on a soft fur bed.
He looked to his right.
Seraphina was asleep in a wooden chair, her head resting on the edge of his mattress. She looked healthy again, though deep in exhausted slumber.
He looked to the foot of his bed.
Titan was sprawled out on the floor, snoring softly. Curled up against his massive chest were Noya and Naya, the twin NPCs from the ship. They were fast asleep, using the tank as a giant pillow.
In the corner, Jax was sitting cross-legged, sharpening his daggers. He looked bored, but healthy.
By the makeshift window carved into the stone, Caelum sat in the lotus position, floating a few inches off the ground, meditating. His white mana pulsed gently, heating the room.
From outside the door, a melody drifted in.
Lyra was playing a solemn, relaxing tune on her lute.
Clang. Clang.
From the other room, the rhythmic sound of Kael hammering metal rang out.
Elian looked around. He didn't see Valen, Isara, Roger, or Luna.
Elian tried to speak, but his throat was dry.
He placed his hands on the mattress and pushed himself up. His arms shook, his muscles weak from atrophy, but they held.
I'm alive, he thought. We made it.
Just as he sat up, the door opened.
Luna walked in. She looked tired, her hair tied back in a messy bun, carrying a tray of vials containing red herbal ingredients.
She looked up.
Her eyes locked with Elian's.
She froze.
The tray slipped from her fingers.
CRASH.
Glass shattered. Red potion ingredients splashed across the stone floor.
Luna didn't care about the mess. Her hands flew to her mouth, and her eyes filled with tears instantly.
"You idiot..." she choked out, her voice trembling.
Then she ran. She launched herself across the room and buried her face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
"You absolute idiot! You didn't wake up! It's been ten days!"
The noise—the crash and the sobbing—woke the room.
Seraphina jerked awake, grabbing her staff. "Elian?"
Titan snorted, waking up the twins. "Cap?"
Jax dropped his whetstone, jumping to his feet. "Holy... he's actually up."
Elian patted Luna's back, weak but smiling, feeling the wetness of her tears on his tunic. "I'm... okay. I'm okay, Luna."
Suddenly, the front door of the shelter burst open.
Valen, Isara, and Roger rushed in. They were covered in sweat, panting heavily, weapons drawn. They had been outside patrolling or training.
"We heard a crash!" Roger yelled, aiming his rifle wildly. "Is it a respawn? Is it a raid?"
They stopped dead in their tracks.
They saw Elian sitting up, holding a crying Luna, surrounded by the waking team.
The tension left their bodies instantly.
Roger slumped against the doorframe, letting his rifle hang by its strap, a massive grin breaking across his face. He had watched Elian turn into a monster, and he had feared the Captain would never come back from that dark place.
Valen let out a breath that sounded like a prayer, lowering his sword and leaning against the wall. "Thank the Light."
Isara, usually so cold and composed, turned her head away quickly, wiping her eyes with the back of her glove to hide the relief.
They smiled happily, looking at their leader. They had waited ten long days in the snow, terrified he would never open his eyes again.
"Welcome back, Captain," Roger laughed, though his voice cracked with emotion. "We thought you were gonna sleep forever."