Man With Many Faces - Volume 1: Chapter 3: Healing

Unbearable pain, agonizing him to his very being

Burning sensation, as though his entire body was coated in oil and set aflame.

No, this was different. His flesh was not melting, but the heat was suffocating. And the heat was coming from his body.

With tremendous effort, the boy awoke from his slumber.

But the reality was no better.

He tried to call out to his father, when no response came, to his mother, and then his twin brother, Shengyn.

Where are they? Where is my family? Where am I?

As he slowly turned his head, he realized how hard it was to move, it was as though his body was incapable of moving without feeling enormous amount of pain.

His eyes caught sight of a person sitting not too far away, about two meters distance to be precise, squatting on the ground, both hands upon one knee.

This person looked weird, bandaged all over, Sabgyn couldn’t tell if this was male or female, wearing ragged but simple clothing. Nothing was visible aside from his eyes.

“Whhhoo arrrrtyuu?” Sabgyn managed to speak but with tremendous effort, his lungs seemed to have hard time keeping up with thoughts.

Why is my body like this? Why can’t I talk let alone move without pain? What is going on?

“It seems you have indeed survived, I was afraid you were not going to make it.” A strange, raspy voice came from the bandaged person, Sabgyn couldn’t tell whether the voice belonged to a man or a woman. Then bandaged person proceeded to cough.

“Where am I? How did I get here? Where is my family?” Sabgyn finally managed to force his voice not to break while speaking, but he felt as though his body was going to break if he pushed too hard.

“Inside my hut, after I found you, caught on my net while I was fishing, hanging by your foot. You were lucky, another few minutes under water and you would have been far beyond resuscitation. However, your body was severely damaged; I patched you up to the best of my ability; however I am surprised you managed to wake up. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if you had perished in your sleep, your wounds were deep and numerous; however it seems your desire to live was stronger.”

“Thank you for saving me, but no, my elder brother is the strong one. My elder brotherMy brother! Where is he? Where is my family? If I am here, they surely are worried”

Sabgyn ended up sitting over a makeshift bed he was lying on, but his body couldn’t take the sudden movement and he ended up choking on blood in his mouth. He cringed from pain; his body was in constant agony.

“Don’t move too much, your body might have been treated, but if you move recklessly your wounds will reopen, and the blood I took so much pain to transfuse into your body will spill out. You lost a lot of blood, if you lose any more, you will inevitably die.”

Sabgyn’s body was shaking.

I am going to die? What the hell is this bandaged guy is saying? How did I end up like thismore importantly, my familyI need to know if they are safe!

“My family, please tell me, where are they? Are they ok?” Sabgyn pleaded to the gods to not let anything happen to them.

“Your family, was it in the Sunflower village?”

Sabgyn nodded.

Bandaged person sighed; his eyes closed and opened slowly, now those yellow eyes were staring right at Sabgyn.

“I am afraid that Sunflower village is gone, everyone within it has been killed, by what seems to be an external attack upon the village.”

No, no, no, nothis can’t be happening! My village, my family, my brotherHow can they all be goneI

Sabgyn’s body was trembling; he could not accept what this person just told him.

“You’re lying. It has to be a lie, a joke, a very sick joke. A prank played by my older brother to make fun of me after I get fooled by it! And you are in on it, aren’t you?”

“I am afraid that this is no jest. The entirety of Sunflower village has been destroyed. After healing you, I went up to check upon the village. So many corpses, everywhere, not one breathing, not a single one. I could not sense a single mana signature aside from yours and mine. There were no survivors. That is the truth.”

“That can’t be right. Then that would mean that my family, my father, my mother, my brother, are they all”

“Yes. They were all killed.”

No.

No.

No.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOO!

Sabgyn pushed his body to stand up but his arms gave in and he ended up falling on his chest.

“I told you not to move. Your wounds were sealed and patched up, but if you move too much they will open up, are you trying to die here?”

Bandaged person’s ranting bore no meaning in Sabgyn’s heart. He was convulsing like a madman. Desperate to deny the reality as it presented itself to him. He wanted this reality to be a nightmare, a nightmare from which his older brother would wake him up from with a playful tap to the forehead.

However, the reality refused to change. And soon, Sabgyn’s sight faded into nothingness while the bandaged person screamed in panic.

* * *

“Ah, you have regained consciousness. Thanks goodness. Do make sure not to move, the only life at stake is yours, try cherishing your life a little more, otherwise, you will die young.” The grass the bandaged person was holding in his hands now left his hands, scattered away by the wind.

They were outside the hut. But the bed and Sabgyn lying on it were somehow put outside the hut.

“You need sunlight and fresh air if you hope to heal. So, pardon me for moving you while you were sleeping.”

Sabgyn could see this person was standing, no, he was leaning on a large walking stick. His left leg seemed fine, as for the right legit was bandaged and twisted. Sabgyn could the right leg was severely damaged, almost as if it was broken multiple times until it ended up in such a sorry state.

“Your leg! It’s”

“Do not worry, it has been like this for quite some time. No use fretting about it.” bandaged person quickly dismissed Sabgyn’s worry.

“Thanks goodness.”

“Kiddo, there is another reason I brought you outside the tent, take a look.”

Sabgyn turned his head while sitting, his eyes opened wide. They were on the shore near the river, but what caught his eye was not the river, but what lies beyond it, the waterfall, from this far away he could see the waterfall and the hill upon which it was. The place where the sunflower village is located.

However, instead of the luscious green hills, trees, and grasslands, there were grey and black colors of death. What were left were the charred remains of grass and tree trunks, the entirety of the ground were burnt black.

Rather than a village of life, this looked more like the image of hell.

His eyes were filling with tears.

“So it was not a dream. They are all dead.” Sabgyn said calmly, he was surprised at how calm he was. It was as though at that moment everything stopped mattering.

With a clanking sound of the walking stick, the bandaged person walked over to Sabgyn and sat next to him.

“I am so sorry, little one.” Bandaged person put his left arm upon Sabgyn’s shoulder, trying to console him. The small gesture turned into a full embrace as Sabgyn’s emotions spilled from him as he was crying his eyes out.

Bandaged person could feel the weight of Sabgyn’s feelings, his sorrow, his despair they were now being released to the outside.

This child, poor child, a demon who lost his family, everything he loved was gone. Bandaged person wished he did not know that feeling, however it was a feeling he was all too familiar with.

It was the feeling of true loneliness, not when one cuts off contact with others out of spite, but when you are the last one left when everyone else is gone.

And to experience such a feeling at such a young age.

Bandaged person found his left eye leaking tears.

Am I crying? It has been so long since I criedYmit

* * *

“So Sabgyn, until you can regain your body’s movement, you will be under my care.”

“Ok, but I told you my name, how come you never told me yours?”

“Is it necessary for you to know? After all I am just an ordinary fisherman; there is no need for familiarity.”

“Still it would be nice to call you something other than fisherman, I know! Fishman!”

“No. I changed my mind. That will not do.”

“So”

“Call me Shan. Just Shan.”

“Sure thing Shan sensei.”

“What is your problem!? And what’s up with the sensei? Don’t give me weird labels all of a sudden?”

“Yes Shan Sensei.”

“Uhh, you are one annoying brat aren’t you?”

“Only to those I like.”

BANG!

Shan ended up punching Sabgyn on the top of the head.

“Ouch! What was that for? Am I not the patient here?”

“Your head unlike your body was not injured. If it was damaged you wouldn’t be so annoying.”

“Huh, sensei is being weird~”

BANG!

“Ouch ouch! Ok, ok, I will hear you out, Shan sensei.”

“Goodness gracious. Sigh, we will begin your rehabilitation. Your body might feel numb, but you will have to force yourself to stand up.”

“No kidding, I can’t feel my legs. How long was I sleeping?”

“You were unconscious for five days since I caught you on my net.”

“That long? Seriously? It’s a miracle my legs are still attached to my body and did not rot away! I need to walk quickly before my body shuts down completely” his attempt ended in painful failure.

“Two knife stabs, multiple arrow wounds on vital area, and three broken ribs. That is your current condition. If you think it will be easy to shrug it off, then you are mistaken.”

“C’mon sensei, cut me some slack. I can’t even lift my head.” He was lying on the ground, trying to get up.

“And I told you to stop calling me sensei!”

Shan grabbed Sabgyn’s arm, the pain was almost negligible, it was obvious how much effort Shan put into making sure it was as painless as possible.

“Here, put your hand on my shoulder. Now try to stand up.”

With effort, Sabgyn managed to stand up, while leaning upon Shan.

Sabgyn knew that with his own strength he could not hope to stand up, but Shan, he was surprisingly strong, despite leaning on a crutch.

Just like this, Shan made Sabgyn walk like this every day in order to regain his ability to walk. The rehabilitation was brutal. Although Shan helped him, Sabgyn experience extreme pain at every step, sometimes passing out from exhaustion.

After three months of this painful healing process, Sabgyn finally managed to regain his ability to walk.

One day, he witnessed Shan using water magic in order to cut fish into fine pieces.

“Shan! Can you teach me that? What you just did?”

“Oh, you ended up seeing, huh. I suppose there is no use hiding it.”

“So you are a magic user; that is amazing!”

“A magic user? Is that what you thinkI mean, yes, I am a magic user!”

“So can you teach me, please?” Sabgyn was almost begging Shan to teach him this formidable ability.

“Alright, but I warn you, I am a strict teacher, do not think I will let you slack off just because you’re lazy.”

“C’mon, I already help you with fishing, how hard can it get?” Sabgyn smiled confidently.

“Hehehehe.” Shan ended up laughing at Sabgyn’s naivet.

He was finally healed, he would bear the scars on his body and his mind, but at least he did not lose his ability to be smile. That was good. If he never loses that, perhaps he will not turn out like Shan