Nameless King

"Okay. I'll do it! But it doesn't mean anything!" Ceozi exclaimed.

"That's more than enough." Gladius nodded.

Ceozi headed toward Wain with uncertain steps. For others to hand over their blood to save a man would not be difficult, but for Ceozi, it was a real ordeal.

"Whew... I hope this helps him." Ceozi sighed, pulled out a knife, and left a long cut on her palm.

She opened his mouth and brought her palm to it. Scarlet drops of blood fell on his tongue, gradually moving inward as though a small stream.

"That's it! That should be enough." Ceozi said as she hurried away.

Whoooooosh.

Suddenly Wain's hand moved and grabbed Ceozi's wrist.

"What...?!" Ceozi exclaimed as she thought Wain was awake, but his eyes were closed, and his breathing was calm.

"Ahahahahaha, it looks like even his body understands on an instinctive level how important your blood is to him." Gladius laughed in a powerful voice that shook the room.

"No! Go away! Let me go!" Ceozi shouted while trying to remove her hand, but Wain's grip was dead.

Blood continued to flow into Wain's mouth as his aura gradually intensified, then he, with a sharp movement, brought Ceozi closer to him and leaned his lips against her wound.

Ceozi flinched as she became even more embarrassed than before. She didn't know what to do, so she just stood there until Wain was done. He drank all the blood that flowed from the wound then his grip loosened.

"This is the end... I should have given him a few drops, but this happened instead... What do I do now?" Ceozi muttered with a worried look while looking at her palm.

"You're taking this too personally. Relax, you have no feelings, so it doesn't violate your traditions." Gladius uttered in a serious voice.

"Feelings...? Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, it's already happened... I need to rest." Ceozi muttered before heading toward the exit of the cave.

"Damn... She's acting so weird... Hasn't a woman, this tough on the outside, had a man yet?" Gladius uttered while in disbelief.

...

Ceozi sat on a stone ledge, on the edge of her ruined forge, with a cigarette between her teeth.

'Damn... What is happening to me...? That sword is right, it's only a few drops of blood that will keep him alive, Wain doesn't even know what happened.' Ceozi said to herself as she blew out a puff of smoke, 'But... I know, right?'

After a while, Ceozi shook her head, tossed her cigarette aside, and headed for the wreckage of the forge.

"All right. It's time to get this place back to normal. I need to get back to forging weapons now, but that's impossible to do in a mess like this." Ceozi uttered with a serious look, grabbed a boulder, and tossed it outside.

...

"Agh! Agh! Agh!" Wain coughed as he woke up.

"Fuck... That hurts..." Wain muttered while holding his head.

"Welcome back." Gladius said as he soared in front of Wain.

​ "How much sleep did I get?" Wain asked before extending his arm forward.

"Quite a lot, but you'd better check with your new friend about that." Gladius uttered in a mocking manner as he turned into a seal.

Wain sighed, got out of bed, and his eyes went wide.

"What the hell! What's wrong with my body?!" Wain exclaimed while in disbelief.

His muscular, athletic body had become emaciated and so thin that some bandages were falling off it.

Wain touched his face, found a mirror, and was horrified. He looked as though he hadn't eaten in a year, with only skin and bone left on him.

'Ceozi... I've got to find her now!' Wain said inwardly before heading upstairs.

...

"Hmm? You finally woke up...?" Ceozi muttered as she was distracted from forging her weapon.

"Yeah..." Wain nodded, "How long have I been asleep? From the looks of it, it's been a hell of a long time."

The forge was already fully restored, but Wain wasn't paying attention, all he cared about was what happened to his body.

"Three months." Ceozi uttered in a serious manner.

"Shit... That's a hell of a long time..." Wain uttered with a dazed look as he fell to the ground.

Ceozi just nodded silently.

Wain muttered something to himself for a while, then he shook his head, sighed, and said, "Okay. I can't bring back what happened. Where are the nearest monsters?"

"What...? Do you want to rush into battle already? Wain, you just woke up, you need to rest and gain strength. You can stay here as long as you need." Ceozi uttered with a worried look as she held out her hand.

"Are you kidding me?" Wain shouted in an angry voice, "It's been three whole months! The world could have changed a hundred times in that time, but I haven't changed at all! On the contrary, I've only gotten weaker, so you better answer my question."

Ceozi gulped as goosebumps ran down her body, she didn't expect Wain to get angry over the help offer.

"Okay, if you want to fight, go ahead, I don't care about you!" Ceozi uttered, crossed her arms, and turned away from him, "There are a lot of monsters outside my forge, but something strange has happened to them."

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Wain raised an eyebrow as he paid absolutely no attention to Ceozi's behavior.

"After your fight... The monsters gradually returned to Dragon Ridge, especially on the Ash Coast, but they were much stronger than before, as though they ate a more powerful monster than themselves. Also Fifth Chronicle one disappeared somewhere. This has never happened before, so I would advise you to heed my words after all." Ceozi uttered as she stared at Wain.

"Huh, that creepy bastard disappeared? Great! You should have told me that right away, thank you!" Wain smiled, put his hand on Ceozi's shoulder, and ran outside the forge.

"Tsk... He doesn't care about me at all..." Ceozi frowned, then her eyes widened, "What the hell am I thinking! Time to get back to work!"

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

Ten minutes after Wain left the forge, there were sounds of battle outside with powerful explosions that shook the ground.