Chapter 16

Death was running rampant, pulling out the green light energy of the doctor, and slowly destroying and corrupting it from within. The once fully healthy doctor began to age and wither before Frank’s eyes.

Her once smooth skin began to age and wither as liver spots poked their way through, pulling and stretching patches of skin until they formed discolored pools on her skin. Her face, once young and blemish free began to wrinkle and lose its elasticity. These were just some of the changes that occurred to the doctor on her outside, what was happening internally to her was far worse and far more devastating.

Still, Frank knew what to do, as if he had been prepared for this very thing by his seemingly prophetic dream.

Holding out his hand, he focused on the dark energy that was rampaging within the doctor, then remembering the dream he had just had, he focused his will and pulled.

“Gah!”

The doctor winced as Frank made a grasping and pulling motion with the dark energy. There was a struggle for the briefest of seconds, then he felt a snapping sensation, as all the coils of energy began to break free from one another. Only after which was Frank able to pull the dark energy free from the doctor’s body.

Quivering.

“Ahh!” The doctor moaned in a mixture of pain and ecstasy as the coursing power that had been threatening to tear her apart from the inside out moments ago was gone.

Gasp.

The two military officers let out surprised breaths, as they stared at the dark energy that seemed to float in the air, weightless for a moment.

It was clear from the reaction of not just them, but of the doctor who stared in wide-eyed amazement at the sight of the floating energy that they could all see this dark energy. The same way Frank could with his F-Rank talent, Energy Sight.

Realizing that they could all see the same energy, Frank tried to hide it, or at least remove it from sight, as the doctor was clearly frightened in place at its sight. Though she began to look much better, especially as her normal streams of green life energy began to course through her body.

Realizing there was nowhere else to put the dark energy, Frank did just like he was shown in his dream. He beckoned the energy forth and forced it to enter his body.

Pain.

Once again, he felt the muted pain that his mind now associated with the dark energy. While this was nothing compared to the pain he imagined feeling while in his dream, it was still there, a slight lingering pain as if pushing his muscles to the brink of exhaustion. It was a good pain, a pain that Frank knew meant he was about to get stronger, that if he continued to push himself, he could get that much faster, lift just a smidge more weight. He knew that if he did this long enough, he might finally be considered useful. That he wouldn’t be cast out and forgotten, abandoned to die in isolation in the slums.

These were the feelings and emotions that this dark energy brought up in his mind. Inwardly, he accepted the facts that this energy seemed to show him, a sad pathetic life needing validation from others in order for himself to feel fulfilled. He acknowledged these emotions, then buried them deep. The time when he needed to workout harder to not be forgotten were over. Those times when he continued to push himself relentlessly to hopefully be able to feel the adoration of others was also over. Now, he worked out for himself. Not because he wanted to be validated by others, but because he liked who he was becoming. Despite being smaller, he didn’t cower in the corners. While he did still run from stronger and faster opponents, he now did so with a plan. As he remembered going into the darkened alleyway, in order to have the advantage of surprise on his side, being able to strike out from complete darkness without mercy.

Yes, he might be weaker, but that didn’t mean he was a quitter.

Panting and groaning.

There was a deep primal sound that echoed in Frank’s ears, momentarily pulling him away from the thoughts of self-reflection that this surge of dark energy caused to well up in his mind.

Only after a moment he calmed down, did he realize that everyone was staring at him. After a moment, he realized why, as his body was reacting in pain to the dark energy it had consumed. This was a self defense mechanism that Frank had developed from countless beatings due to Luther and his gang. His mind detached itself and went to a separate pocket where he could think and process information free and independently from the impulses of his body. This was why he was now able to remember these past memories, as his mind tried to find thoughts to distract him, to pull his consciousness away from the pain that was coursing through his body.

Pausing for a moment, Frank was surprised to see that he was still standing. That despite how much pain he had clearly gone through, it hadn’t been enough to drop him to his knees or worse.

Looking around, Frank found the soft bed that he had apparently been sleeping on just behind him. Somewhere in the whole exchange of following the doctor who had dropped to the ground, Frank had jumped out of the bed, landed on his feet and then began to siphon the dark energy away from the doctor.

“Right,” Frank said, then reaching behind him felt for the bed and let his slightly trembling legs collapse onto the soft mattress. Only once he was sitting did he add, “sorry about that.”

With that the three sets of eyes still looked at Frank with wide eyed stares, but the looks went from horror to that of something that Frank could not quite place.

Seeing that Frank was sitting comfortably on the bed, the doctor got up. Then looked down at her hands and arms which were still in the process of un-aging, at least that is what Frank would call the process. The liver spots that had grown to be the size of coins and bottlecaps were now shrinking away into nothingness. Her face that had seemed to crack with multiple wrinkles began to tighten back up into the nearly perfect face of a young doctor. Only now did Frank realize that the youthful appearance of the doctor was likely a result of the life energy that ran rampant throughout her body.

“Well, now that was…” The doctor began to speak, her voice and posture still showing that she was ruffled from the experience. “That was intense, but I think we can safely say that you are going to be a welcomed addition to the medical corps.”

Hearing that, Frank could only pause, as he looked first to the doctor, then to the two soldiers behind her that both had their mouths open in slack-jawed amazement.

Listening to the doctor, Frank realized that something clearly wrong. He assumed that the two military members behind the doctor were to take Frank in and arrest him for his crimes against Luther, crimes that were clearly undeniable given how many people were around to witness the entire process.

“Medical corps?” Frank asked, trying to make sure he heard everything correctly.

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Nodding her head, the doctor let a faint smile show on her lips. This was a look that might have been appealing had he not seen her true age and form a few moments ago, as she was so close to death.

“Yes,” the doctor stated confidently. Frank for his part was wondering if this was part of his work detail, where he would be forced to work as a medic on the front lines as a convicted cultivator. He had heard about such stories, were people with promising powers were forced to go to the front lines and either die, or serve out their sentence for crimes committed.

The doctor looked on excitedly at Frank, who could only stare on, knowing that he had been handed an effective death sentence. Then after pausing for a moment, she seemed to realize something as she stared into Frank’s confused gaze.

“Wait, you don’t know where you are do you?” The doctor asked, suddenly realizing that her coma patient awoke, then she went to immediately test his vitals, before being able to explain what had exactly happened to the boy, well nearly man given his bulging muscles and form, but a boy nonetheless.

“No.” Frank answered honestly.

“Well, that is terrible manners on my part. I’d say you should shoot me for lack of bedside decorum, but I did have a slight scare that threw off my whole introduction.” The doctor said, then letting out a breath to calm herself, she said. “Let me be the first to welcome you to your new life of Service to Humanity, of St. Huma, as we like to call it.”

Frank heard the words and then just stared.

The doctor cocked her head to the side for a moment, before realizing a key detail. “Oh right, you are from the lower levels. You clearly have no clue about anything I am saying do you?”

Hearing that, Frank felt slightly flustered, but answered truthfully. “I know the words you are using, but I don’t know what St. Huma is, nor where we are.”

“Right, knocked out the entire travel from the lower levels up to here. Okay, so this is the Primary Military Academy, here you will be assigned a military role to fill. While this role is important, as it will define your life and goals for the next five years, know that it is not a death sentence. After your first five years, you can come back, get retrained in a new MOS, or Military Occupational Specialty, which you will then serve for another five years.” The Doctor stated.

With this things made a bit more sense. He was now in the military academy, where he would be taught how to cultivate and to fill a specific role for the military, which would lead to the safety of humanity. With this job he would be able to change out after a five-year commitment to this role he would be trained for, which he would then be forced to fill out the role of that next position for an additional five years.

“Two questions.” Frank stated.

“Oh, okay that is a lot less than I thought you’d have. But yes, let’s hear them.” The doctor said excitedly.

“First, am I already enrolled in the Medical Corp?” Frank asked.

“No, and that is a good question. You will be given two main classes. The first will be morning training and focus classes on your types of energy that you use. Since you are a dual focus, you will have to take a second class on your, secondary, energy type at night.” The doctor said, trying to find a nice way of saying death energy apparently. Seeing her discomfort Frank felt slightly sorry for asking the question, but the doctor continued on apparently able to quickly forget about the death energy that had nearly consumed her. “The afternoon classes that will happen before your night classes will be towards the MOS that you choose to follow. Since I will already be your morning instructor for life magic, it would only make sense for you to continue following me in the afternoon with medical training where you can put your powers, both of them to good use and save lives.”

Hearing that Frank nodded, then asked a follow-on question. Or at least he tried to ask but was cut off shortly after the beginning. “As for the evening classes…”

“I will not be teaching you. That will likely be Major Demoniker, or Demon as they call him here. He is the only other one who managed to take the darkness as an element and not be consumed by it.”

Hearing that, Frank could only nod. Frank was about to ask his second question, when the doctor continued.

“Though, I will warn you. He is an internal darkness user, while you are clearly an external darkness user.” The doctor noted and paused as if that said everything.

Frank just looked at her with a confused look on his face. The doctor paused, and then seemed to sigh to herself as she realized her mistake. “Right, the applications of internal and external energies are always different. While you can clearly interact with dark energy from a distance, Demon, or Major Demoniker, can only do so while touching a person. This is great as he has helped us pull the darkness from people before it forces full on transformations, but he might not be able to help you learn to control the power from a distance.”

Hearing that Frank could only nod in slight understanding. He knew that there was something about the meridian pathways that people used as primary and secondary that caused the energies used to go at different distances. But he also knew that green life energy was denser than most of the others, making it nearly impossible to move and manipulate from a distance. This was why Frank had made peace with the fact that he would always be F-Ranked, due to his power only being able to be used immediately around him. Now he had this further understanding of dark energy that seemed to be simultaneously dense and light, though he didn’t know if that was just due to him not being familiar with cultivating, or if there was something more to this process.

Honestly, this was only causing more questions to form within Frank’s mind. Yet, the more he asked, the more questions seemed to pop up. Pausing, Frank realized that unless he was in class, things would not make much sense.

“Any other questions?” The doctor asked.

“Yes, actually. How long will I be expected to serve as a St. Huma?”

The doctor paused, hearing Frank’s question. Then looked at him as if he had tried to tell a joke, then pausing and staring at him for a second it was clear the boy looked even more confused by the slight smile that was forming at the corner of her lips.

Only after a second of staring and realizing that Frank was completely serious did she break and realize. “Oh, you were serious about all of that, the St. Huma thing too.” With that the doctor shook her head, and then pausing for a moment composed herself.

Cough.

Forcing a cough out, the doctor calmed herself and then spoke. “You see, life as a cultivator is permanent. Well up until the point of your second awakening, you always have the chance of being allowed to retire from the military. Now that you are what we consider a re-awakened you will no longer be eligible for the junior enlisted program. Instead, you will be forced down the officer candidacy program, which is a lifetime of dedication, resources, and constant training.”

Hearing that Frank could only nod his head, only now did he realize just how much he truly didn’t know about the world that he had lived in for all of his life. For the first time, he wondered if his desire to leave the slums was the right choice for him all along. Then he realized that regardless of what he wanted, he was here.

Slowly, other facts began to make sense as well. The way the soldiers were all too happy to let him take his second awakening, meaning he would be forced into the service, for life.

Inwardly he nodded, realizing that he had been played.

All along he thought he was pulling the wool over Holsy and his commander’s eyes by sneaking in and forcing a second awakening, only to realize that they had played him like a fiddle. Letting him think he had the upper hand, when really they were just welcoming another lifer to the cause.

As he realized this, a slight smile crept onto Frank’s lips. That was all he could do, either laugh at the fool he had been, or regret where he was now.

Thinking for a moment, he didn’t regret where he was now. He had power now, enough to kill Luther his nemesis and get taken here where he could start his new life, nemesis free.

That’s when Frank remembered the two soldiers that were standing behind the doctor. Remembering those two, frank asked yet another question.

“Can I ask why those two are here?”

Hearing that, the doctor paused as the slightly jovial expression her face faded away, and was quickly replaced by a grimace.

“Yes, you see these two are here to talk to you about what happened during your re-awakening ceremony.”

And like that Frank could almost hear Luther’s mocking laugh accost his ears from beyond the grave.

***

(General Graves)

“Sir, I have the report that you requested.” General Graves’ staffer, Colonel McDuffie stated.

“Go on.” General Graves said, turning to see the colonel bowing before him.

“It is about that Cadet Candidate that you asked to be made aware of?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it seems that he has awoken.”

“Anything of note?”

“Yes, that is why I came. Dr. Evans noted that upon inspecting him that his primary meridians were perfect. Then when attempting to monitor his secondary meridians, it was noted that there was a reaction.”

“A reaction?”

“Yes, the Cadet Candidate’s secondary affinity is for darkness energy, which the doctor found and then inadvertently pulled into herself upon making contact with it in Cadet Candidate Fotos’ meridians.”

Hearing this General Graves jumped to his feet ready to go and check on the good doctor himself.

“She is fine, more than fine actually as the Cadet Candidate was apparently able to pull not only the new dark energy, but the other spots of dark energy that had made it so she could no longer serve on the front lines from her body.”

“He touched a superior officer?”

“No, that’s the thing, he did it all from a distance. Dr. Evans has already requested that the cadet take up training under Major Demoiker for his evening classes.”

“Yes, he would be the best choice, especially if the secondary power is darkness energy. Any candidates for his primary?”

“Yes, Dr. Evans has stated that she now wishes to teach life magic classes again, as long as she can train this new Candidate.” McDuffie noted.

Hearing that the General could only nod his head.

“I take it, the good doctor also wishes to train the Candidate on how to be a medic?” The General asked, already realizing that a candidate like Fotos would be too hard to pass up.

“That is correct.”

“Has he made up his mind about his occupation yet?”

“About that, he still has not had time to even make a decision.”

“Why not?”

“Well, you see he is still being deposed about the death of Former Candidate Camello.”

“Why? Didn’t we already wrap that up?”

“I thought we did, but you see there is a complication.”

“A complication?”

“Yes, a civilian auditor was brought in to be impartial to the military operations. Part of the whole Keep Cultivators Accountable Act.”

“Yes?” General Graves stated, trying to move this along.

“Well, you see there might be a problem. While not directly involved, the lead foreman for the civilian oversight committee is Chairman Camello, uncle and godfather to the now deceased Luther Camello.”

“I see…” The General said, as he began to come up with contingencies of his own. “And this is not a problem, conflict of interests?”

“That’s the thing Chairman Camello specifically recused himself openly due to his own interest in this case. Even stepping aside to take personal time to mourn the loss of a loved one. A step that will only garner him sympathy from the non-cultivator community.”

“I get it, so he is gone, but the agency he runs is still working on his behalf.” The General stated, making sure he had all the facts.

“That’s correct.”

“Okay, looks like we need to go to plan B.” The General stated, and with that Colonel McDuffie just nodded.

“Understood sir, I will begin preparations immediately.”