Destroying My Own Novel

Everyone was checking the fallen Awakeners' bodies and they lost more than they thought. Asmond was being treated by Kastor and Caesar while the others were watching him in disappointment.

Mykel was sitting down and looked at the big hole on Asmond's left shoulder. "Here, drink this, you're going to need it," he said as he offered the [Health Potion] that could remove the pain and fasten the recovery.

"Thank you," Asmond said with his trembled stuffy voice while Enma was helping him to drink the potion.

"You could have helped us, Mykel," Kastor said as he stared at Mykel with a bit of anger on his face.

Mykel raised his eyebrow while smirking. "You're telling me it's my fault? Is that what you're trying to say?" he said as he raised his tone so the other Awakeners could hear him clearly.

Everyone looked in their direction and Caesar immediately put his hand on Kastor's shoulder. "Stop it, everyone is watching and it's not really his fault because it wasn't him who made the decision to enter the tenth floor," he said as he looked at his surroundings.

"Is that how it is now?" Mykel asked as he stood up and looked down at all of them. "The point of the joint team is now to bring you guys to the higher floor by using the people from the Guild Association? We have given everything to you and you're still asking for more?" he continued with his eyebrow raised.

"Mykel, please calm down," Caesar said as he stood up and stood in front of Mykel.

Mykel lifted his hands as he backed away because he got all of their attention.

"Mykel isn't in the wrong, it was me who think that we could do it. He didn't try to save me because he wanted me to become strong on my own without his help. In the end, I was wrong and he came to my help because I asked him immediately," Asmond said weakly as he looked at Kastor.

"Let's wrap it up, we should leave now and treat the injured," Enma said as she held her broken shoulder.

All of them left the tower and Asmond was being carried by Kastor and Caesar. The look on those people's faces was priceless when they saw Asmond come out from the tower with a hole on his shoulder.

The reporters surrounded Kastor and asked him about what happened in there, but since Asmond was injured, he didn't give a comment and went straight to the hospital with Caesar. Mykel stayed behind and watched the others giving statements about what happened inside. Some were telling about what happened, and some were complaining about the lack of teamwork.

Many people listened to their words and could tell that something happened with the Fraternity. Mykel knew that it wouldn't take long until the Awakeners speak up about the discrimination between them and Asmond.

"Where do you want to go next, Mister Mykel?" Edith asked while she was hugging the bag.

"Well, we should go and check our friend in the hospital," Mykel answered and looked at Edith.

"But, I thought you have a plan with Miss Lyneth already to visit her father's grave?" Edith replied.

"It can wait, for now, I want to check on Asmond," Mykel said as he entered the car. "Come on," he continued and looked at Edith.

Mykel went to the hospital and checked on Asmond's condition, he waited for hours until he finally got out of the surgery room. Kastor was still angry at Mykel for not helping them even though the others knew that he was mad about himself.

Mykel, Kastor, Caesar, and Edith entered the room, they looked at Asmond's condition. He was awake and he looked a bit shocked when they saw him laying on the bed.

"What's wrong, Asmond?" Kastor asked as he sat down next to his bed.

"My skills, something is wrong with my skills..." Asmond said as he moved his eyes rapidly. "My Pain Resistance skill is gone, and my Strength skill suddenly becomes level 1!" he said with disbelief.

All of them looked so confused. "What do you mean you lost a skill? How is that possible?!" Kastor asked as he looked stared at Asmond with disbelief.

"I don't know, the last time I checked after I got the skill scroll from Mykel, my [Pain Resistance] skill was still there. My [Strength] skill level used to be 9 but now it went all the way down to 1, it's so weird," Asmond answered as he looked at them while panicking.

"Is that the reason why you're so weak back then? Something is wrong here," Kastor asked while he rubbed his chin and furrowed his forehead.

"I think so, what should we do now? I can't join the next joint team if I didn't get my skills back," Asmond asked as he looked at Kastor and gulped nervously.

"We will put you back on track, we will train you again, it won't be a problem if we do it every day for the next six days," Kastor answered and put his hand on Asmond's arm to calm him down.

Caesar looked at Kastor with a bit of disapproval. "It's going to be hard, Kastor," he said calmly. "You have to look at the news," he said as he pointed at the TV on the wall.

The title of the news was An issue about discrimination between all the Awakeners and Asmond caused bitter dissension in the Fraternity. The reporters played back the interviews they got from the Awakeners who were displeased by the way Kastor treated them and only prioritized Asmond Redfeld.

"Rumors have been spreading since that, Kastor. Do you still want to prioritize Asmond after watching that?" Caesar asked and sighed.

Kastor took a deep breath as he massaged the bridge of his nose. "What should we do?" he asked with his eyes closed.

"Deal with the problem that's in front of us, of course. Why are you still questioning the obvious? Do you think Asmond alone can help us clear the tower? You need to realize that we built the Fraternity so everyone can work together and be treated equally," Caesar answered with his arms crossed. "Ever since you saw Mykel and his team in the tower, you ignored our real purpose and I don't think we can't ignore it any longer and we should go back on track, Kastor," he explained.

"I can do it on my own," Asmond said. "I will get my skill back as soon as I recover from this," he continued.

"That will take a while to recover, you might not be able to join for a whole month with that kind of injury," Caesar said as he looked at the bandage on Asmond's shoulder. "Just focus on resting and you said you have meditation skill, right? You should use it and gain level while you're resting," he continued.

Kastor looked at Mykel and furrowed his forehead. "Don't you have that guy who can heal wounds? Can you lend us his skill to heal Asmond?" he asked.

"I could but right now I'm sending them to clear the twelfth floor and I don't think they will be coming back soon," Mykel answered but then his phone vibrate. "Oh, speaking of the devil, they just got out from the tower. I will send them here," he said as he walked outside.

Gunnar and the other came out from the corner and heard about what happened on the news. They approached Mykel and looked at the room next to him, Jeanne looked at Asmond from the outside and looked a bit worried.

"You guys stay here, I will only bring Gunnar and Jeanne inside," Mykel said as he opened the door in front of him.

Gunnar and Jeanne looked at Asmond, he was surprised to see Jeanne in the room and he immediately looked away.

"What happened to you?" Jeanne asked with a monotone voice.

"I made a mistake and something else happened," Asmond answered as he glanced at Jeanne.

Mykel told Jeanne about what happened from the moment Kastor decided to go to the tenth floor and when Asmond got beaten by Estrel. He also told her about the missing skills in Asmond's skills tab, but she didn't care at all about it because she was glad it happened.

"So you're not just endangering those guys' lives but also putting yourself in danger? What were you thinking, Asmond?" Jeanne asked as she squinted her eyes.

Everyone was standing still and it felt so awkward in the room while Gunnar was busy healing the wound on Asmond's shoulder.

"I did it because..." Asmond paused and averted his gaze as he sighed. "I wanted to impress you and I wanted to show you that I'm also capable," he answered.

Jeanne, Kastor, and Caesar looked at Asmond with disbelief.

Jeanne scoffed and shook her head. "Wow, you're risking people's lives just because you wanted to impress me? I'm disappointed..." she said and then left the room.

Kastor and Caesar looked at Asmond and they both shook their head in disappointment especially Kastor because he made the same mistake as well and learned it the hard way.