In mere seconds System is snoring again and Ke’an decides to give up on waking her now. He stands up and walks out of the room. He finds himself walking towards the sound of people talking in the distance. As he turns a corner he sees that the two people talking are a stravani and a human magistra. The two women are shocked to see him and the stravani magistra quickly runs to get someone. The human magistra wastes no time in walking up to Ke’an and placing a hand on his forehead.
“Master Ke’an you should not be up, you are burning up.” The human woman says as she places a hand on her own forehead. “I will guide you back to your room.”
Ke’an raises his hand in a dismissive manner. “There is no need for that… um.”
The woman takes a slight bow. “How rude of me I am Magistra Lahana. We are supposed to be taking care of you and the Lady. It appears that both of you have expended all of your magic and you should be recovering so I must insist on taking you back to your room. I will bring you anything you will need.”
Ke’an felt a little weak but felt like he is good enough to walk around but after looking at the insistence of the magistra he felt like he should comply. She reminds him of Jo'hai, his magistra teacher in his village and how strict she can be, luckily it did not look like Lahana had a ruler to smack his hands for talking back. He just has a few questions and she could answer him so there is no reason in causing a scene.
“I just have a few questions” Ke’an says.
Lahana holds out her hand in a guiding way as if to tell him to start walking back down the hall. “What is your question? I will answer anything I can.”
“How long was I unconscious? What happened to Azeraath?” Ke’an says stumbling a little as a sudden weakness hits him.
Lahana quickly moves to support Ke’an throwing one of his arms over her shoulders and says. “You were only just brought to the temple a few minutes ago. That is why you shouldn’t be up.” She pauses for a second. “I am guessing that Azeraath is the name of the demon that attacked us?” Ke’an nods and she continues. “It is dead. When they found you they also spotted its body beneath you. From what I was told it disappeared shortly after.”
“It disappeared?” Ke’an’s eyes open wide. “Was any of the body left, A hand or some hair?”
“I don’t think so, but I wasn’t there.” Lahana admits. “I know monster hunters often take parts of their kills as proof of their kill so I will ask around for you. How do you feel we are almost back to your room.”
Ke’an was feeling more sluggish and out of breath despite only having walked a few feet. He could feel himself leaning more and more on Lahana to keep himself upright. Unexpectedly he finds himself in his bed again feeling rested unsure of how he got there and if he passed out again. This time the room is fully lit and System looks over at him. She has a tray of soup which she is eating while swaying side to side and humming happily.
“You’re finally awake I see.” System says as she places another spoonful of soup in her mouth. “Lahana told me you went for a little stroll before your magic veins recovered. You should take it easy right now. We definitely over-extended in that last fight.”
“So I still have to worry about magic veins even though I am a transcendent?” Ke’an asked.
System slurps down the last of her soup and places the bowl on the nightstand next to her table. Ke’an notices that it is her second bowl and most likely his soup she just finished. He opens his mouth to complain that he hasn’t eaten but notices he isn’t hungry anyway.
“Yep. Especially since you are level one.” She pauses to pat her stomach approvingly. “Everything you are right now is more closely tied to your magic. You shouldn’t even need to eat, unlike me since I am a fallen. Arguably the health of your magic veins are more important than anything else now. Your body can function without most organs but not your magic veins.”
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“I don’t need to eat?” Ke’an asks.
“Not right now, no. Eventually the tutorial might make you require food.” System responds.
As a human mana veins are not a physical vein in the body but instead a pathway of life energy and therefore magic. Where mana is created in the body is called founts, the pathways magic takes are known as veins and where magic pools in the body, mana chambers. When a human expends mana it is the same as intense exercise for these metaphysical parts of the body and overuse can cause disruptions to one’s internal energy. Ke’an’s clan is well familiar with how the body reacts with the magic fount, veins and chambers but his knowledge is limited to human anatomy which he isn’t anymore.
“So this is just some weird transcendent biology then?” Ke’an asks.
“You can think of it that way for now. As far as food is concerned, think of it this way. The tutorial beta is made to allow transcendents understand mortality to a certain point. Transcendents don’t eat, drink, breath, feel pain and other stuff like that so it eases us into it. You have those potions right? I would go ahead and drink the mana potion if I were you. It will replenish all of your mana but you will still need to rest for a few hours. You’ll feel magic fatigue.”
Without hesitation Ke’an pulled the bottle from his inventory and saw the glowing golden liquid within the bottle. He opened the stopper and drank the tasteless liquid in a single gulp. The vial vanishes as soon as the contents are emptied. Ke’an feels a warmth spread throughout his body and he could feel the mana return like a rush of power.
System stands up out of her bed and walks over to Ke’an’s bed. She sits down on the corner beside him as he sits up to face her.
“Congratulations on completing the quest.” System face turned serious. “I know that all of this has been crazy and you are really handling this well but I know that you were human not too long ago. You have been thrust into something far grander than any mortal was meant to see and alot of it is my fault. So, through it all you have me… even if it feels like everything else starts crashing down around us I will be there every step of the way.”
“Oh wow.” Ke’an says dumbstruck by her proclamation. “I don’t know what to say. But I do have a question.
“What is it?” System asks sweetly.
A smile stretches across Ke’an’s face. “Who is Ampersand?”
System’s face blossoms into a bright red. “How do you… know…” System climbs up on to Ke’an bed facing him like a leopard about to pounce on her prey. “You know what? I just remembered something. One of the problems we were facing during that fight was your insistence on breathing.” She emphasizes the word breathing. “So I am going to throttle you now. Think of it as part of your training.”
Before Ke’an can react, System jumps on him and begins choking him with a vice-like grip while he struggles to escape. After a few minutes of not being able to breath he is finally able to fight the instinctual desire. Even while being choked Ke’an can see the changes to System's body he hadn’t noticed during the fight. She is slimmer and much more muscularly defined like a professional martial artist. Her skin is no longer extremely white and in fact she has tanned quite a bit into a pale beige. Her ears are longer and more knifelike. Her most striking feature are her nebulous eyes that shift and sparkle with multicolored stars. She is now wearing the colorful robes worn by the stravani women which look good on her.
System realizes that Ke’an no longer offers any resistance and that he is no longer trying to breathe. She lets go of his neck and Ke’an rubs his sore throat. He looks at her and decides not to bring up anything about the mysterious name he heard while she was asleep. As she sits on top of him--he can’t help but look at her body and remember her naked form from when she first appeared as a fallen. She doesn’t seem to notice or care that his eyes are now drifting and he also doesn’t feel anything besides annoyance that she hasn’t moved from atop him. System returns to her own bed and the two sit in silence as they meditate on their own individual mana flows.
Ke’an turns to face the wall and mumbles to himself. “Oh great, I am not into asphyxiation now am I?”
After a few hours pass Magistra Lahana and her assistant return with food and check on their condition. Lahana informs Ke’an that there were no remains of Azeraath which is upsetting since he can’t take any of his abilities now. Ke’an tries to force himself to eat but feels weird so he relents and gives his food to System who happily accepts. Once she is done he feels ready to leave eager to make it home by the end of the week although Lahana is admittedly against it. After another half of a day in Lahana’s care she permits them to leave though she cautions them to be careful. Before they can leave they are informed that the elder wants to have a word with them.