Quin was completely puzzled and felt that something was not right. Leyn told him that the she and the others did not know about the soldiers, nor about Mang being there. Is he alright? What had happened to him? If he’s fine then why didn’t he stay? He did say he wanted to infiltrate that damn cult, but would he really stay behind because of that? But that still doesn’t explain why the others haven’t seen him. Was the dust cover really enough to hide him?

Then what about the spell I had supposedly cast? Was it his work as well? He snorted. Yeah, as if he’d be able to use someone else’s qi and especially one of a different element. Maybe I was able to cast something like that subconsciously? It sounds more plausible, but it’s still something hard to believe.

Furthermore they didn’t even realize the true strength of those adult Shriekers, but that’s at least something easier to explain. They have never fought something in the Qi Culmination sub-stage, so I don’t think they have a benchmark and Leyn was probably just too worn out from her special technique to notice it.

Alright, so there are a lot of things I just don’t understand, but these are important information, so I should tell them to someone who I can trust and is in a high position, but the question is who would this be?

Although there were a couple of people Quin thought of, none of them were suitable for what he had in mind. The Instructor was not high enough in hierarchy, neither was his father and after hearing what Nyra had said he did not dare to try and speak to her. There was no other teacher he had a good relationship with, and though the Instructor had previously said that the Grand Duke had a favorable impression on him, that did not mean that he could just visit him and ask for an audience, did it?

Anyways, he had to stay in the hospital for a few more days and thus he still had time left to figure things out.

It was not only Leyn who visited him in the next day, but Alinor as well. Quin was quite happy about it as he thought he could finally find out how Aline was doing.

“Hey Quin, how are you doing?” Alinor asked.

“Hey, thanks, I am a lot better compared to when I first woke up, although it’s still hard to move my right arm,” Quin answered.

“That’s good to hear, what did they say about your injury? Will you be able to completely recover from it?” Alinor asked. “I tried to ask the healers, but they said they were not allowed to share their patient’s condition without their consent.”

“Well, unfortunately for a long time I won’t be able to use my cultivation, as it was my Cores that got seriously injured during the fight, and so I have to let them recover,” Quin replied, faking a smile to make it more believable that he would be alright. He did not like lying to his friends, especially not to his best friend, however he did not want to receive anymore pity; he had already got enough of that. Though Leyn already knew it, but he asked her to keep it a secret from the others.

“That’s a shame... I’m really sorry to hear that. If you need anything just tell me,” he said. “Well, it’s a relief that at least it’s not something permanent.” Although Alinor was naturally sad about these matters, he felt relieved to hear that even if it took a long time, his friend would be able to completely recover eventually.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“And how’s Aline? Will she come by one of these days?” Quin asked.

“Oh, well, she’s uhm,” Alinor said, with a slight hesitation audible in his voice, “She’s been really busy these days with, uhm, family matters. You know how it is, being a man, I could more easily get away from my duties, but she doesn’t have that much of a choice. She did ask me though to give you her well-wishes in her stead and to tell you that she’s sorry that she won’t be able to visit you.”

“That’s quite unfortunate, but tell her that she shouldn’t worry about that.”

“Right, guess what? We will all get medals for our performance against the Shriekers, and what’s more, you will even get the Crystal Medal of Ade Lai!” Alinor said excitedly. “That’s something they give out only to the ones who had done great heroic deeds for our nation!”

“Really?” Quin asked quite surprised. He knew that what he did was worthy of respect, but he had never imagined that he would get the Crystal Medal of Ade Lai.

“Yeah, my father told me about it. You know that he works at the government, so he’s quite knowledgeable about matters like this. Besides, he also told me that the Governor himself will visit each of us personally to congratulate on our braveness! Can you imagine that?”

“Haha, finally some good news, at last!” Quin said and his mood got improved by quite a bit. It was not just because the medal he would get, but also because it meant that his problem was finally solved. He would be able to meet Gorman in person, and that meant he would be able tell him about that cult, the stronger adult Shriekers and about this whole situation.

Alinor stayed for an hour or so, but then he had to leave as he had some other important things to do.

Although he got better -- both mentally and physically -- during the week-long stay in the hospital, it was still quite hard for him to cope with his condition. Most of the times he could ignore his hidden feelings and thoughts, but not at night when he was left alone in the quiet and dark, only with his own mind. His thoughts were trapped in a vicious cycle, and the anger, rage, sadness and desperation just got stronger and stronger. Often, he found himself at the verge of crying, and trembling in fear of what the future would bring.

It did not matter how hard he tried to accept the facts, that he said to himself several times that he had accepted them, each day, or that Leyn tried so hard to show him the positive side of the things, in the end these were simply not enough.

The worst of all were the dreams. They were not nightmares, -- no matter how much Quin had wished they were just those -- but the best ones he ever had in his entire life. In these dreams his cultivation was intact, he soared the continent with his mighty Elemental Lightning Dragon or just prevailed over mighty foes. Each time with the awakening, however, came the bitter realization of what he no longer had. It’s not enough that I’ve to live like this, I must be constantly reminded of what I had lost and what I could’ve became... Why? Why is fate playing with me like this? he thought.

At the end of the one week, the healers had examined him thoroughly another time, but they did not find anything unusual or worrisome, thus he was finally allowed to leave the hospital.