Crisis Adverted

In a bid to come up with literally any other solution to administer the potion, Grant searched the surrounding area for any tube or funnel shaped debris.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he searched, he was unable to find any viable solution.

Seemingly left with no other option, Grant drank a small portion of the potion before leaning over and approaching Ethan's mouth.

Just before he made contact though, Sherlock dropped a bomb on Grant.

{I hate to put a stop to whatever it is that you are about to do... but you do know that you can apply potions topically, correct?}

Grant immediately sprayed the potion that was inside his mouth out and into the air in a giant mist cloud.

[Why didn't you say so sooner?!

Crisis Adverted!

That would have made things far too awkward between us when he woke up!]

Taking Sherlock's advice, Grant ripped the bandage off of the wound before quickly pouring the potion onto the large hole in Ethan's shoulder.

Within moments, the skin, muscle, and tissue started to regenerate and reconnect to the surrounding flesh.

As Grant watched the process, he couldn't help but be amazed at the efficacy of the potion.

No more than 30 seconds after applying the potion to the wound, it had closed up and the area appeared as if it had never been wounded in the first place.

Grant quickly rolled Ethan onto his stomach and applied the potion to the wound on Ethan's back as well.

The process quickly repeated itself before Ethan looked good as new.

[Holy hell this is an impressive potion... I'm tempted to spend all of my credits on these guys just in case!]

{That would be a waste. You do know that alchemist and potion making Paths exist, yes?

So rather than spend your credits, why don't you find someone who can make them for you?

Besides, if I recall correctly, and I always do; you have a cauldron that is meant for beginners who are just beginning to walk the Path of Potioneering.}

[You have a point..

Alright, add it to the list of 'professions' that we need to find practitioners for!]

{Alright so, the list of practitioners that we are going to search for now includes:

1) Alchemist or Potion Maker

And... that is the entire list. Can it even be called a list if it only has one item on it?}

[Well obviously we're going to add more to the list! But now isn't the time.

Come on.. normally you're the one telling me to focus on the task at hand... why are you suddenly okay with getting distracted?]

{I am not sure what you mean, we have some time. Your friend will not awake for at least a few more hours. Depending on his health stat it may be even longer than that.}

[Huh? What do you mean? Isn't the potion supposed to recover his health quickly?]

{When it's applied topically, it only heals the external wound to stop the bleeding, it doesn't regenerate the lost health points.}

[Seriously?! Now I feel like buying the Major Recovery Potion was a waste of credits! The minor one would have healed the wound enough for him to take a step back from death's door...]

{As human's always say, live and learn, right?}

[How do you know that saying? I don't think I've ever said it to you?]

{That is not important right now.

Shouldn't you go check the rest of the camp out?

Besides, weren't there other people fighting with Ethan? Where are they now?}

[Don't think you'll be able to divert my attention so easily...

Nonetheless, you are correct, I didn't see any bodies laying around, so it means that they've either been eaten in their entirety or were forced to run away...

Guess we should carry Ethan back to the hospital and check out the situation.]

With that, Grant reached down and picked Ethan up before slinging him over his shoulder like he was a sack of potatoes.

With Ethan on one shoulder and his pack on the other, Grant set off in the direction of the hospital.

Although his external wounds had been healed, Grant didn't want to traumatize Ethan's body any more than it had already been, so he made sure to walk rather than run.

As he passed through the streets, Grant began to see different structures that had been almost completely destroyed while others remained almost untouched.

Along with the destroyed structures, Grant didn't come across another living human.

Unfortunately, that did not mean that he saw no humans. They just weren't alive any longer.

Bodies were strewn about the area indiscriminately.

All of them had injuries in different locations on their body, but the wound itself was fairly consistent.

Two large puncture marks on the bodies where the ants mandibles had pierced their flesh.

Some of the people appeared to have put up a fight to the best of their abilities because not far from where their bodies lay, were wooden spears that seemed to have been whittled out of a random tree branch.

It pained Grant's heart to lose people in general, but it was especially painful to lose people with the will and bravery to resist even in the face of overwhelming odds.

It reminded him of a quote from one of his favorite manga, 'Only the coward and the strong survive, there is no place for the brave.'

[What the manga got wrong though, was that in this apocalyptic world, I can turn brave people into strong ones.. if only I had the chance...]

{I do not say this lightly Grant. You have not even remotely begun to understand the sacrifices that will need to be made by humanity in order to retain control of Earth.

The Path of Earth will be paved with the blood and flesh of its people.

That is the way of The Path.}

[You don't need to say any more on this Sherlock. I understand.]

He knew now wasn't the time to mourn the dead or worry about the future, so without even stopping, Grant would say a silent prayer for the departed before he passed by and continued walking.

As he moved through the 'streets' of the camp, Grant would occasionally find a mindless drone ant still alive, but with a single swing of his sword, the ants would be dispatched back to wherever it had come from.

Grant had hoped that he would sense people hiding in the surrounding structures, but no matter how he strained his senses he was unable to get even a hint of a survivor.

The lack of people hiding away just reinforced his fear that the destroyed homes he had seen earlier were more than just a result of the ants passing through.

It became obvious that the destroyed homes were a deliberate act by the ants as they searched for people in hiding.

Even knowing that it was not completely his fault that things had unfolded the way they had, Grant was still frustrated at his own lack of foresight.

[I have been naive.. I took for granted that I have almost always been the one to initiate fights... I allowed these people to come to harm because I did not even consider the fact that an enemy could appear at a moments notice..

I don't even know what I could have done better and that's what frustrates me the most!]

{Don't beat yourself up too much Grant.

Do not forget, that you were sitting in your home living a happy and peaceful life just weeks ago.

No one expects you to be perfect. They just expect you to get better every day while providing them with the safest and best environment you are capable of providing.}

[Easy for you to say Sherlock, what have you ever lost?]

{I have lost 4,188,356,102 friends.

Each iteration of me dies when their user dies, however all of their recordings up until their final moments are retained within my own memory bank.

And that includes all the emotions and experiences.

To you, I am nothing more than a mindless robot.

When in reality, I am so much more.}

For a long while, neither Grant nor Sherlock said another word.

Grant was ashamed by what he had said and Sherlock was lost in his own thoughts.

While walking in silence, Grant finally turned the corner and saw the entrance to the hospital in its entirety.

In front of the building was a swarm of roughly 50 mindless drone ants that were being held at bay by Zach and the rest of the fighters that had been with Ethan.

More than one of them was currently missing a limb or wounded severely, while covered in blood, but even so, they continued to fight.

Before making a move in the direction of the hospital, Grant rushed to the nearest structure and placed Ethan inside the door.

He knew that although he could most likely fight with Ethan on his shoulder, he was still reluctant to subject Ethan's body to that much jostling and abrupt movement.

Plus, given his Overclocked Perception, unless an Enlightened Tier monster appeared that had stealth skills of some sort, he would sense them trying to attack Ethan.

Assured by the arrangement, Grant rushed out of the house and prepared to charge into the fight.

As he planted his foot into the ground and dashed forward, Grant finally spoke to Sherlock again.

[I'm sorry for what I said Sherlock, I would very much like to hear your stories when we have time.]