Nothing's bleeding.

[ Gingerly, Zelgadis rubs his throat. ]

There's this burning spreading from where it grabbed me. Damned thing had me by the neck.

[ They find a place to sit, and Zelgadis is reminded of being a kid again, skinning his knee or elbow and seeking out Rezo for healing. He'd do his best impression of a stoic adult (to moderate degrees of success), because crying over a scrape was unbecoming.

Simple injuries with simple fixes. Everything back then was so simple.

Zel affords himself a moment to hold his head in his hand. ]

The last thing I wanted was for you to have to do damage control because I screwed up.

[ It's an injury to his pride. It's a distraction from the worst-off cases.

And he just... didn't want to burden Rezo like that.

But this isn't a disaster. He screwed up, yes, but Flow Break will probably work.

So what's this feeling in his gut saying otherwise? If it could be so easily dispelled, the smart thing for that mazoku to do would have been to try and kill him right then and there...

Maybe it miscalculated? How, though, would it not have taken into account the presence of a white magic user on Rezo's level...?

We'll find out soon, won't we. ]