An ophthalmologist was called to check on Matthew's eye. According to him, Matthew's eye was perfectly healthy. The only thing that could explain his blindness was the aftereffects of mana overuse. Soul damage as it was called. Only a Greater God could repair souls and to gain their favor was rare.
Matthew was to wear an eye patch, even though his eye was still healthy, because he lost all sensibility on it, leaving it exposed could lead to injury.
"Yar! Matey!" Sarah tried to cheer him up when they put the eye patch on him, but it didn't land.
Matthew only gave a small half smile to show her he appreciated the effort.
"You ok?" Sarah asked holding his hand.
"Yeah. You said I saved them?"
"It's what that beautiful woman said. Van…" Sarah put a finger to her chin trying to remember the name.
"Vanessa?"
"Yeah. She said that the owl transformed into a powerful bird and killed the werewolf. Your party all survived." Sarah shook his hand. "You saved them. All of them."
"And I only lost my eye." He smiled sadly.
"That's why God gave you two."
Matthew chuckled. "Thank you, sis."
After lunch, they heard a knock on the door. Sarah was the one who said whoever it was to come in. Matthew saw Erin's head pop around the door.
"It's here!" She said dragging Faralynn by the arm inside.
Faralynn's eyes fell upon Sarah and then Matthew before darting to the floor. Erin, without any hesitation, darted towards Sarah saying:
"Oh my god! It's Sarah! It's Matthew's sister!" She said the last part to Faralynn with a knowingly smile. "I love your photos! Look! Look! I bought this shoe because it looked so cute on you."
"Really?" Sarah was surprised. She had never met a fan before. "I-I'm glad you like those. It's not like I'm a pro…" She said with her cheeks flushing.
"Really! You're so beautiful! Are you going to sign with any modeling agency? You're 16, right? Have you ever thought of becoming a professional model?" Erin held Sarah's hands with stars on her eyes.
"I-I…" Sarah was never bombarded with questions like this before.
"She wants to become an idol." Matthew said from the bed.
"An idol?!" Erin's eyes doubled in size. "You sing too?!"
"I'm… I'm having singing and dancing lessons." Sarah answered flustered.
While Erin fangirled over Sarah, Faralynn's eyes darted between the window and Matthew. She held herself almost shrinking in the corner of the room.
Erin realized her shyness and pulled Sarah outside:
"Let's go grab a coffee. Leave this two alone to talk."
Sarah tried to protest, but Erin was too energetic for her to stop.
When the door closed, Matthew was alone in the room with Faralynn who was still trying to hide in the corner averting her eyes. He smiled at her:
"Hey Faralynn."
"Hi…" She answered so low Matthew barely heard her.
"Come sit here." He gestured to a chair close to his bed.
Faralynn hesitated for a moment, but complied. She sat embracing herself like she was trying to hide behind her arms.
"What's the matter?" Matthew asked trying to look her in the eyes, but she was looking to the floor counting the dots in the tiles.
"Are you alright? You got hurt?"
"I'm fine. Lost a lot of blood." He said showing a scar on his neck where the werewolf bit. "But I'm fine now. Almost. But I'm not in pain."
Faralynn shuddered when she looked at his scar. "That could've killed you."
"I was lucky a healer was nearby."
"And what happened to your eye?" She asked now looking at him.
"Soul Damage…" Now Matthew was the one who looked down. "I overdid it…"
"Oh…" Faralynn was at a loss of words. There wasn't anything that she could do for him.
"But I don't regret it. I did it to save everyone. There were people there who got it way worse."
"You keep sacrificing yourself." Faralynn commented with a bit of awe and sadness.
"It's not like I seek this situations. They just...They just keep happening to me." He laughed to himself. "I'm just unlucky."
"But you're also brave." Faralynn said holding his hand. "I'm very thankful for your help… In the dungeon… And in there…"
Matthew looked at her hand squeezing his. A comfort he didn't expect from her. She was not this bashful the first time they met. On the contrary, she was aggressive. Was this the real Faralynn Erin talked about?
Faralynn quickly withdrew her hand when she realized what she was doing. A moment of silence passed between them. Faralynn went back to looking at floor feeling self-conscious about Matthew's gaze studying her features.
Her purple eyes. Her pale skin now pink on the cheeks and on the tip of her ears. Her silver hair covering half of her face. Matthew could only think about how cute she looked. His thought went back to her kissing him making his own face flush with color.
"About…" Faralynn broke the silence trying to find the right words. "About that kiss."
"I know. It was the demonic mana, wasn't it?" Matthew smiled.
"Yeah…" Faralynn looked back to the floor. "I had demonic mana in me. Erin too. All the survivors had."
"It was tough for me. I found out inside the gate." Matthew said in a tone that resembled a joke. "Almost did things I'd regret for the rest of my life."
Faralynn looked at him. Her face showing empathy. His tone did nothing to break the tension.
"Did you went to a priest yet?" She asked.
"I got a level in priest." Matthew said while showing her the light of the purification skill on his hand. "I got rid of it eventually."
Another moment of silence fell between them until Matthew broke it.
"But the demonic mana did save my life. I could not have survived without it."
Faralynn didn't answer. She just looked at him with a bit of fear on her eyes.
"But I'll never use it again." Matthew said sensing her fear. "Those feelings… I never want to feel them again."
"What did you feel?" Faralynn asked. The only thing she felt before purifying herself was an incredible lust for Matthew.
"Aggressiveness. I wanted to kill. To feel the blood of my friends on my skin. To rape. To…" Matthew's eyes filled with water remembering those feelings. He shook his head and fell silent.
"Don't worry Matthew." Faralynn took his hand again. "We're out. We survived. You don't need to feel those things anymore."
"Thank you Faralynn." He squeezed her hand.
"That reminds me." She said taking an envelope from her purse. "My father wants you to have this."
"What is it?" Matthew asked taking the envelope with care like it was made of crystal.
"It's a letter. He's offering you a scholarship at the Laufgraan School. As a thanks for saving me." Faralynn said getting flustered at the last words.
Matthew opened the envelope. It was a formal invitation to the school and a letter from Farzan thanking him for being there twice for his daughter.
"You didn't have to do this. I only helped when I could. And it's not like you didn't fight either. I would be dead too if you weren't there."
"You wouldn't be in danger at all if it wasn't for me." Faralynn replied. "I'm really grateful for your help."
Matthew didn't say anything to that. He just looked back at the letter.
"And Erin really wants you to study with us. She's already picking a name for our party." Faralynn said in a high pitch looking at the ceiling.
"Erin?" Matthew laughed a bit. Our party? He would be in the same class as them?
"Yes. Erin…" Faralynn's face went red.
Soon after, Sarah and Erin returned with ice creams on their hands. One for each of the four of them. The room was then filled with the loud voices of Erin and Sarah talking. They became friends instantly. Both loved to talk about fashion which led Matthew and Faralynn to stay silent, but happy enough just to listen to their laughs.
Erin and Faralynn left after another hour. Then Sarah sat really close to her brother and with a mischievous smile she asked:
"You're dating Lynn?" Already using a nickname.
"N-no." He said nervously.
"Why not?" Sarah played with him.
"Because…" He was out of words. "I barely know her!"
"You seem to like her. I saw the way you kept looking at her."
Matthew got red at the remark. He could not deny he thought her very pretty. And that she seemed nice and charming. He'd love to date her. However, he could not admit it to his sister.
"I think she likes you too." Sarah commented nonchalantly.
"What makes you think that?!" Matthew asked unable to hide his enthusiasm.
"She also kept looking at you. And Rin also thinks she does. Rin said she was really happy when her father said he would be offering you a scholarship." She said using a nickname for Erin. "Lynn tries hard to hide her feelings. But you can see them on her ears if you look close enough." Sarah laughed using her fingers to show how Faralynn's ears moved.
Matthew smiled and looked at the letters on his hands. Studying with Faralynn sure seemed a nice dream. But would he go back to adventuring? Now that he lost an eye? He took a deep breath. He didn't know how to answer that question.