Gors came to his side to inspect Damien himself. He confirmed the situation and backed up slowly in disbelief.

“That’s impossible. Even with the Reinvigoration spells he should not be waking so soon.”

Cal was by Damien’s side and Yuki came up to him after the commotion. They were both in the room keeping an eye on him. After Cal heard what happened he insisted on staying the night in the infirmary but he was denied by Gors. Cal then pretended to be sick so he could stay the night.

Gors knew what was going on but he let it slide when he saw how adamant he was. Yuki followed the same plan as Cal and that was how they were both able to stay the night without violating curfew. Yuki had been resting on a bed in the corner while Cal was on the one next over to Damien. After Cal had noticed that Damien was showing a reaction, Damien began to hyperventilate.

“Hey Dr. Gors, somethings wrong. He started to breathe heavily!”

Gors snapped out his disbelief and remembered it was on him to secure his safety. He used all sorts of effect spells to calm Damien down, until he relaxed. Seeing that Damien was about to wake up he went to send a message to Ari about Damien’s condition. He thought Ari would like to be present so mentioned he was waking soon.

Groans came out of Damien as he slowly opened his eyes. All Damien could see for a while was the piercing white light he was blinded with. He slowly regained his sight and saw that Cal was right in his face. He also saw Yuki behind Cal and was confused with the circumstances he was in.

“Why are you two in my room?”

Cal immediately reacted by rubbing his forehead.

“We aren’t in your room, you blockhead!”

In a rare sight even Yuki cracked a smile from her stone face. Luckily for her, Damien’s sight was not fully there yet.

“Where am I?”

“Look around again, you’re in the infirmary. Don’t you remember what happened?”

Damien looked around again and the blurriness in the background disappeared from his sight. He noticed the multiple beds contained in the room along with the medical equipment that were placed on the shelves.

“Why am I here? All I remember is cultivating in Professor Cloudshade’s classroom.”

Before Cal or Yuki could respond to his question Gors came to the other side of the bed and started checking his vitals.

“How are you feeling sweetie?”

For a second Damien was caught off guard by the tone of his voice, but he ultimately checked his body. He flexed every muscle he could and rotated his limbs to see if he had any discomfort. After a minute of going through the motions, Damien checked his inner core and was surprised to see how much more Mana Mist he contained.

What used to be a deserted core was now filled with a steady stream of Mana Mist. It was circulating around his core and out into his meridians, pulsing through his body. Damien just learned he went through a great boon. His strength was pulsing through his entire body and he never felt better.

“I feel amazing. I feel so energized that I could go and start training right now!”

Everyone including Yuki seemed a bit shocked by his statements. They understood the consequences of Mana Exhaustion and how it affected your body. It’s as if a river were to dry up and all the surrounding vegetation died as a result. If the water were to return it would take time for the vegetation to come and thrive again.

His body needed to reacclimate after losing all its mana, but to their surprise not only did Damien wake up he was raring to get up. Gors got up from checking him and flicked his forehead. The sound of a whip shot of his finger when he landed his flick. Damien yelped pain and held his forehead with both of his hands. He looked at a loss of words as tears almost came out of his eyes.

“What you need to do is stay still until I clear you. Okay honey?”

Damien nodded his head with puppy eyes and decided to stay in bed. Cal snickered on the side while Yuki covered her face with her face turned the other way.

“Don’t you dare laugh, Cal! And Yuki what happened to your stone face!”

The two couldn’t help but laugh even more in his misery and desperation. Before Damien got riled up again the entrance doors opened and everyone put their attention on the people walking in.

Ari walked in the room wearing his usual pristine white mage robe that was decorated to show his authority. The aura he emanated was juxtaposed by his rather short height and round belly. Behind him was Wexley who was towering over Ari. His back was hunched and his eyes were sunken like he hadn't slept for days. Multiple strains of hair were poking out and he lost his dignified aura.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

When Yuki noticed his entrance she walked back to the corner of the room and sat by herself in silence. Ari just smiled meekly as he looked back at Wexley and continued on to Damien’s beside.

“You really have recovered this quickly. Your recuperative ability is truly astounding. I have never seen anything like this.”

Damien thanked Ari for his praise, but he didn’t know he had done something so spectacular. Gors chimed in to inform Ari of Damien’s current condition.

“This little boy here says he feels much stronger and better than before. He may have had a breakthrough which could have caused his accelerated recovery. Or it is just his natural talents. Either way he is fine now and ready to check out in the morning.”

Ari took the information in stride and was ready to speak about why he was here. It was then that he noticed he was in the presence of Cal and Yuki. He looked at them with a confused stare as he realized it was past curfew and visiting hours. Gors noticed his expression and knew exactly what he was thinking.

“They both insisted they were ‘sick’ so I checked them in.”

Gors shrugged his shoulders indifferently and accepted the circumstances. Ari understood the situation and in turn gave them both a look like he would deal with them later.

“Damien, I am here with Wexley to corroborate the events that unfolded earlier today. He has extensively told me his side and now I want to hear yours.”

Damien let go of his forehead that revealed a huge bump that made him look like a rhinoceros. Cal and Yuki both tried their best to hold their laughter so they would not be reprimanded. Ari decided to ignore this matter as he had a more serious issue to address.

“Headmaster Sord, what events are you talking about?”

“The explosion in Wexley’s classroom that happened when you were there. It laid waste to it.”

Damien sat there like he was lost on the subject. He had no idea of any explosion happening while he was there. All he could recall was his enlightenment, the events that happened inside of him and now waking up here.

“What do you mean? There was no explosion that I remember, Headmaster. Am I in trouble?”

Ari expected this scenario so he explained to him that he was not in trouble and he only wanted to confirm what Wexley told him. He told Damien about the occurrences that he had caused. Assuming everything Wexley told Ari was correct then Damien was the center of it all.

“…in the end it seems like you gained enlightenment into the Dao and released a burst of energy.”

Damien took everything in and thought about his own experiences. He could only confirm his enlightenment, but did not know of anything else happening.

“The easiest way to conclude this matter is by replicating what you remember. Of course I’ll have everyone leave the room so you don’t expose yourself.”

“It's okay Headmaster, I don't mind. They can stay in the room.”

Damien looked at everyone in the room and thought to himself that he could trust them. He looked at Gors last and realized he was a stranger.

Noticing his gaze, Gors soothed his concerns.

“I believe in patient-doctor confidentiality sweetie.”

Damien forced a grin at him and then began to calm his mind. He opened his hand in front of him and produced a tiny white flame. Everyone in the room was fascinated by the color of his flame. Even though Wexley, Cal, and Yuki had already witnessed it before it was hard to not be interested in something unique.

Damien continued to pour his mana into the flame and with his understanding of the Flame Dao it reacted with the surrounding environment. The flame in his hand started to collect the heat around it. Cal and Yuki were the ones who felt this effect the most. Their body’s were losing the heat contained in them causing them to feel colder and colder. Small objects in the room were pulverized from losing their heat energy.

Ari realized the effects of Damien’s flame so he coated the two students with his mana. Ari’s face grew more solemn by the second opposed to Wexley’s sunken eyes coming back to life. Ari waved his arm in the air fiercely.

“Enough!”

Damien flinched in fright and stopped powering his flame. It stopped absorbing the heat and it stabilized in his palm. Compared to what Wexley witnessed before it was a fraction of its power that caused the explosion. Ari walked toward Damien and reached his hand out.

“Here pass it over.”

Damien meekly nodded and handed over the flame he produced. As soon as it reached Ari’s hand he covered his palm with a shiny silver metal. It appeared as if it were liquid covering his entire hand. Ari held the ball of flame that was the size of a tennis ball and decided to crush it between his hand.

He squeezed down with force slowly compressing it down with his metal fingers. Ari created a vacuum in his hand to contain any outburst of energy. Eventually a muffled sound was produced from Ari’s hand indicating it had been crushed completely.

“I have confirmed your report Wexley, you are excused.”

He didn’t even look back to address him, instead he kept his sullen stare on Damien. Wexley exited the room without a fight as he was too tired to even try. That was when Damien noticed Wexley was walking with a limp due to him wearing a prosthetic limb for his leg.

“Damien, I’ll admit the Dao you comprehended is amazing and something I have not seen. I know the Dao is limitless and I’ll always be in the dark about it all, but I am not here to speak about the Dao. What I do know about is the execution of a spell and yours has major flaws.”

Damien looked away from his judging state and dejectly put his head down.

“I know you have just begun learning, so I will help you understand this once. First of all, who are we to you?”

He opened his arms wide to show he was talking about everyone currently in the room.

“Cal and Yuki are my friends. You two are my elders?”

“Which means we are on the same side, at least not enemies. So why is it that your spell is targeting us as well? You need to realize the cause and effects of what you do. You can’t do things without putting thought into it!”

Damien felt needles going through his body. He didn’t know he was harming his friends. When he looked at them with wide open eyes he realized that their skin color was paler than usual. He didn’t dare look them in the eyes either.

“Another flaw is the buildup of your spell. You would be vulnerable in a battle. You need to maximize efficiency and your strategy before you continue. Until you have it under control I forbid you from using that spell in my academy!”

Ari walked away with steady strides as he cursed Veron under his breath. Damien got up from his bed and bowed his body toward Ari before he left the room.

“Thank you.”

Once Ari closed the door behind him he looked down at his hand. He put away the metal liquid that was still covering his hand. Underneath it unveiled a cavity in his palm that penetrated into his bones. Blood was gushing out of the freed wound.

“That bastard Veron, didn’t teach this boy any common sense.”

Ari covered his hand once again and used his metal liquid like a bandage. Inside the room Damien looked at them with words stuck in his mouth. His mouth was open but nothing came out.

Cal dug into his pocket and pulled out a ball of lint. He launched it with a flick straight into Damien’s mouth. Damien gagged and coughed until the lint came out of his throat. He looked up to see Cal and Yuki right in front of him. Surprised he fell back on the bed and made a sorry scene of himself. Cal reached his arm out with a cheeky smile on his face.

“You said it yourself, we’re friends right? So there’s no reason to hesitate with us.”

Even Yuki reached out with her hand to give him support. Damien grabbed both of them by the hand and lifted himself off the bed.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. I should’ve been more careful.”

“Don’t worry about it. Consider that ‘hairball’ payback.”

The two laughed together as Yuki smiled.

“What a sight youth is. A beautiful blossoming friendship. You three are so cute.”

Instantly all three of them froze and looked at eachother. They all seemed to think the same thing and decided to get back into their beds. Gors let them know he would be in the next room over and checking on them every so often.