Cosmic Seal

Chapter 10: Rocky Canyon

Dark Abyss, Rocky Canyon. At the edge of the shattered Wilde's. A broken and battered figure lay lifeless on the rocky terrain. A few moments later, his fingers moved, and a painful groan escaped his bruised lips. He tried to move, but a jolt of intense pain ran through his entire body.

"Urghhhh!!!!"

Alator groaned in pain and clenched his right hand into a useless, trembling fist. His head throbbed painfully, and the sound was like a drum beating in his ears. His eyelids slowly parted, but his vision was blurry. He blinked a few times, trying to regain his vision.

Alator didn't dare to move his body again. He only moved his eyes around and scanned his surroundings. The place was dim, and the wind was cold and carried the foul smell of stagnant water.

Alator shifted his gaze to the right. He saw colossal walls of jagged, black, ancient-looking rocks surrounding him. The height was so great that Alator had to rethink if he really survived the fall, or maybe he was already dead, and probably in the Underworld.

"Yeah... I guess that should be the case."

Alator looked towards the ground. He saw a small, dark, liquid around the rocks. As his vision finally cleared, he realized that the dark pool around him wasn't just water, it was actually his own blood mixed with the water of the canyon.

Alator finally gritted his teeth and tried to push himself up. He focused on his left arm, which seemed less broken than the rest of him. Gathering all the strength left in him, he moved his body to the side, sending a sheet of agony across his ribs, but he bit down on his lips and forced himself to roll onto his side.

He lay there for some minutes, panting with sweat rolling down his forehead. He moved himself again, and scrambled forward on his elbows and knees. Then he pushed himself up until he was on all fours. He was shaking violently like a wounded animal.

Alator began to drag his broken body forward, ignoring the sharp edge of the rocky terrain grazing into his skin. Soon, he finally moved away from the wet, blood-soaked spot where he fell. He crawled towards the massive boulder that lay sturdy on the ground and rested his back on it.

After resting for a while, Alator checked his injuries. There was a deep, bloody gash on his chest as a result of the breath attack. The half piece of cloth left on him after the attack from the Bloodscale Serpent had been finally vaporized by the breath attack from the Silver-Eyed Wolf. Right now, he was half naked, with only a half-torn pant left on him. His hair was messy and dirt's were all over his body.

Alator shifted his gaze towards his right hand. His wrist was twisted and his left ankle was dislocated too. But surprisingly, all other parts of his body were fine, with just wounds and scratches riddled all over his body. Alator couldn't believe it; he thought he would have turned into a bloody mess after falling from such a height.

He suddenly narrowed his eyes to the side as he seemed to have remembered something.

"What was that?" He muttered. He seemed to have seen a shadow zoom past him right before the breath attack struck him. But he wasn't entirely sure.

Alator wasn't comfortable sitting down on the wet soil with almost his bare ass, coupled with the annoying, smell of stagnant water. He really wanted to leave. But with his broken state, he was forced to stay and fix himself. He had seen several bandits fix their dislocated bones before in the outskirts, but this time, he was the one doing it. Honestly, he had no experience in this kind of thing, and there was no one here to help. Hence, he had no other option but to try.

Alator grabbed his right wrist. He took a deep breath and braced himself for what was about to come.

With a quick turn, he snapped his wrist with a sharp, agonizing twist, fixing the bone back in the joint. The sudden action sent a convulsive tremor through his torso.

"Ahhh!!!"

Alator screamed in agony as his hand instantly became useless with excruciating pain. He roughly shook his head with his eyes squeezed shut, trying to subdue the pain.

He was panting heavily and sweating profusely. But he wasn't done yet. After resting for a while, and the initial pain had subsided. He gritted his teeth and held his broken left ankle. With a strong resolve, he moved the bone and forcefully forced it into alignment, sending a racking pain shooting to his head. Alator groaned and his body jerked back and forth like a crazy person. He tryed to stop himself from screaming out loud. But in the end, he couldn't hold it in.

"Ahhh!!!!!!.... Damnit!"

Alator screamed in anguish, abruptly raising his head up and his voice echoed in the empty space.

After resting for two good hours, Alator scrambled through the boulder behind him and finally got on his feet. With his left leg being temporarily useless. He calmly began to limp with his broken leg, looking for a way out of the canyon. He continued to walk, but every direction he went ended up being a dead end, walls of stones were blocking every angle. But Alator didn't stop.

As he continued to move towards a particular direction, his ears picked up a sound in the distance. He quickened his pace and dragged his broken towards the direction.

Alator noticed a bright light pouring into the canyon from the distance. A smile stretched on his bloody lips as he continued to move towards the direction.

------

"Wow."

Alator muttered to himself as he stood under the blazing sun. He was staring at a massive boulder like a mountain, spilling water down the river in front of him. The sound he was hearing earlier turned out to be the water from the boulder crashing into the river below. As he looked around. There were pieces of black rocks scattered on the ground.

Alator gently removed the tattered pants left on him and the Spatial Pouch. He threw them aside and walked towards the river.

Alator slowly dipped his injured leg into the water. An extremely cold sensation ran through his leg, and he felt relieved. He took a deep breath from the cold and slowly dived into the river. He swam towards the middle, ignoring the pain from his injuries.

Alator stood inside the river. The river was deep, but not so deep that it could swallow him up; the water level ended just right at his chest. He began to wash off the dark, thick clots of blood on his skin.

He submerged himself in the water for a while, taking in the cool sensation. He pulled himself out, and washed his body with his hands. He scrubbed off the dirt's and remnants of blood before dipping himself inside the water one last time.

Alator pulled himself out of the water and turned to leave, but he suddenly froze. He felt something cool under his feet, which was giving off a strong energy. It wasn't a rock; it was a bit long, metallic and cold. The edges were sharp and jagged.