Armin wiggled uncomfortably in his bed before he slowly opened his eyes. With his nearsightedness, he couldn't really see his surroundings, but he was still able to make out at least where he was. He felt an irritating pain in his left leg, remembering that it had broken during the battle.
'I'm in the hospital,' Armin thought, realising where he was now.
He lifted his arm closer to his face to see that he had an IV tube inserted in his vein in his left arm, as well as some white gauze wrapped around his arms. He tried to open and close his fist, but he felt a bit of pain every time he did it.
Armin hoped that he had passed the test, even if he hadn't done much on it. He sighed as he covered his face with his hands.
'I really hope I pass…'
He heard the sound of the doorknob twisting, but Armin still hid his face in his hands. He heard the door close, and the sound of footsteps became louder until he heard a feminine voice asking for him.
"Mr.Arlert."
"Yes?" Armin said with worry in his voice.
"Good, your hearing hasn't been affected. Do you have a headache?"
"Surprisingly, no," Armin answered, remembering the clobbering he received from the Ossiboros.
"Not bad. It seems that you're more durable than expected."
'Great. Good to know that I make a good punching bag for people and monsters alike,' Armin thought bitterly.
"According to the info here, you suffer from myopia?"
"Yes, my glasses broke during the battle."
"Did you bring another pair?"
"I…did not…" Armin said, feeling a bit stupid that he didn't bring an extra pair. Then again,his grandpa couldn't afford another pair, even with his insurance.
"That could be an issue," The nurse said. "How well can you see without your glasses?"
"Not very good," Armin said, moving his hands away and trying to look at the nurse. He squinted to try to make up the nurses's appearance. The nurse seemed to have long brown hair, fair skin with a blue shirt and a white coat.
The nurse hummed in thought before the blurry figure walked out of the room. Armin lifted the blanket to see his left leg covered in grey. Armin assumed that it was a cast, and when he leaned in, his assumption was correct.
"Geez, I broke my leg that badly?" Armin said, rubbing the cast.
He felt the urge to bite his nails. How can he continue the exam if he broke his leg and his glasses? He will be more of a liability than he already is.
'I'm such an idiot…' Armin slumped his torso back into his bed, staring at the blurry ceiling.
He heard a knock on the door. He turned on his side to make his back face towards anyone who came in.
"Who is it?"
"It's Mikasa."
"You can come in."
The door creaked open and closed. He heard his dark-haired friend approach his bedside.
"Mrs.Feins told me that you were awake, so I wanted to check up on you," Mikasa said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm alive, so I'm grateful for that," Armin said, his back still facing her.
"Seems that your vitals are normal now. Sorry, I wasn't able to witness the rest of the test. What happened to you?"
"My arms got caught on fire and the monster hit me with its tail," Armin summarised.
"Impressive. You withstood that and survived. That tail looked like it could kill anyone who receives a hit from it."
' Great, even Mikasa is congratulating me for my 'impressive' durability...'
"Not that big of a deal," Armin said dismissively. "Any metahuman can survive a hit like that. I mean, you got stabbed and you're perfectly fine."
"Maybe… but I'm glad that you're okay. According to the doctors, you should be ready before the next test. "
Armin gripped his sheets. "What are you talking about?"
"Your team ended up killing the Ossiboros while you were unconscious. Your team passed."
Armin tucked his lips, trying to avoid shedding any tears. "I see…that's great…"
"Rest up Armin," Mikasa rubbed his shoulder before heading for the door.
"Wait."
"Hm?"
"I don't have any spare glasses. I can't take part if I don't have glasses," Armin said.
"They'll figure something out. They already know about your condition, so don't worry about it."
Mikasa left the room, closing the door and leaving Armin in his solitude once more.
He hoped that the Association could supply him with a temporary spare at the end of the exam. But what if they didn't give him the correct prescription? It would make his eye even worse than they already are.
He wondered how the others were doing. Well, he was more worried about Floch than the other two. Armin turned to rest on his back and looked at the blurry light blue ceiling.
'I'm one step closer to passing, Marco…' Armin raised his right hand, growing a smile.
He heard a knock on the door again. Armin let his arm drop before he granted them entrance.
It seemed to be the nurse, Mrs.Feins, if he remembered what Mikasa told him. She handed him some sort of hard case. The case felt very leathery and rectangular. When he brought the case closer to his eyesight, he realised that it was a black leather hard case with the association's logo on top of it. When he opened the case, it revealed a pair of glasses.
"Do these match my prescription?" he asked, concerned.
"Yes, they do. We've had them custom-made to accurately match your prescription. You're not the only one who has broken their glasses in the middle of a test."
Armin swallowed some of his saliva. "Well, here goes nothing."
He closed his eyes and put on his glasses. When he slowly opened his eyes, his sight had returned. He can clearly see everything: his vitals, the ceiling, the wall, the nurse's soft smile. He was amazed that they managed to make a replacement for his glasses so efficiently, but then a troubled thought crossed his mind.
"Do I have to pay for this?" Armin asked.
The nurse shook her head. "They're all yours. We're responsible for making sure that you have the highest chance of passing the exam. Plus, they're technically yours."
"What do you mean?"
"We used a piece from the lenses of your glasses to create the new lenses. Since everyone's severity of eyesight problems tends to be different, we use a piece of the lens of the glasses to accurately replicate new ones."
"That's amazing! Thank you so much! I thought I would have to be blind for the rest of the exam!"
The nurse gave him a gentle smile. "No problem. Say, why are you here? Seem a little too young to be here."
Armin looked down at the bandaged hands before he began to open and close them. "Well, it was supposed to be my friend and me doing this together, but he got hospitalised two weeks ago."
Mrs.Feins gasped. "Is your friend okay?"
"When I visited him yesterday, he was stable, but he's still in a coma," Armin said in a sad tone.
"Sorry for asking."
"No, no, it's fine. All that matters to me is that he's still breathing."
"Well, maybe when your friend wakes up, you can tell him that you're an Adventurer when you pass."
'That's even if I pass…' Armin thought.
"Well, thank you, but I have to use the bathroom and I would like some privacy," Armin lied.
"Oh yeah, I need to check your arms. Can you unwrap them or do you need help?"
Armin waved his hand. "Don't worry, I can do it myself."
He began to slowly undo the wrapping on his arms, exposing his pale skin to the air again.
When he finished with his left arm, it looked as good as new, as if he had never burned his arm. He began to unwrap his other arm to see if it matched with the other one. When he finished, his right arm was fine as well. Armin turned his arms to see if there were any signs of burns on the other areas of his arms.
"Amazing, huh? That's Madison for you. Her mixture works miracles."
"What about my leg?" Armin moved the blanket to reveal his injured leg.
Mrs.Feins hummed in thought. She walked over to his cast and carefully opened it. The bone was back in his leg, but whenever the nurse touched it, he felt a light stinging sensation.
"Does it hurt?"
"A bit."
"Ok, well, I'm going to get you a pair of crutches and your clothes," Mrs.Feins said as she wrapped the cast back on his leg. "In the meantime, since you have your glasses, the remote for the television is right there."
Armin turned his head to glance at the remote on the coffee table on the right of his bed. Mrs.Feins told him to relax before she got a call from one of her coworkers to attend to another patient. Armin waved goodbye before he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.
He began to watch another team fight a monster. Armin didn't know what monster this was, but it seemed to be a brute wyvern with its stocky build, big legs and stubby arms. Its hide was a dirty gold colour with jagged, cylindrical crystal-like pillars on its back, from its head down to its flat tail. Its chin was bulbous and rock-like, with small tusks protruding on each side of its lower jaw, with 2 rows of teeth inside.
He saw each member of the team pulling their own weight, swiftly dodging and attacking the monster with patience and efficiency. Half of their team had a long range fighting style with one of them using a rifle and the another with a bow. It seemed that their strategy was for the long-range fighters to assault the beast with arrows and bullets, so its attention would turn to them, but then the closer-range fighters would attack it immediately after.
Armin remembered his test and paid attention to the long-range fighters. Although they were far from the battlefield, they were still able to contribute. But their roles seemed to be nothing more than just being distractions to the monster.
As for the close-range warriors, they were the true risk-takers. The ones who truly put their lives on the line and have no fear in facing their enemies head-on, like the brave swordsmen or brawlers in the different manga series that he would read or the action games he would be playing. He wanted to be just like them.
He yanked the blanket off of him before the cast reminded him of his leg injury.
'That's why the Lord gives her children two legs.' Armin thought.
He got off his bed and stood on his uninjured leg. Armin thought of what exercises he could do with just one leg.
"I guess I could practise my balance. I've seen Sasha do some balance exercises," Armin said.
He raised his arms and placed his hands together. Although he was training his balance, he would watch the television in the meanwhile, seeing the monster rolling around and leaving a trail of fire behind it. Armin felt that this pose was a bit too easy, so he decided to raise the heel of his foot.
He wobbled a bit, but he laughed in triumph as he actually managed to maintain his balance. But he began to waver again. He shifted and tilted to keep his balance but he fell to the left and slammed himself against the wall.
He was now sitting on the floor, rubbing his left shoulder. He heard a roar piercing through the television. He witnessed a massive cloud of dirt and debris covering the area.
When the dust cleared, Armin saw the unconscious beast lying in a crater. He saw one of the examinees standing on top with a hard, red-orange brick-like shell encasing his arm and parts of his side and face.
Parts of his loose outfit were torn, revealing a glimpse of a strong, tanned upper body. The tanned man lifted his arms and shouted in celebration as the AI announcer declared the test to be finished.
Although Armin was impressed by the strength of his competitors, he began to bite his fingernails. He might have to fight one of them if the next test is a PvP combat test, or in this case, the Ps will mean for an actual person, not a virtual player.