CHAPTER 28

FORT685 quickly went to Savio's laboratory and went to the massive shelf containing thousands of bottles with materials, pills, and substances. When he found where the medicines were located, he immediately scanned them to locate the recovery pill. After he was done, he ran back to Hirayon's room and gave Savio two pills. Although their recovery medicine is the highest of class and quality, FORT685 doesn't think one would be enough with the amount of blood pooled on the white floor.

Savio closed his eyes after consuming the pill and waited for his wounds to heal.

"Did you see what happened?" he asked FORT685 while trying to get up. He was already feeling better and would be fine after some more time.

"I did. Hirayon moved really fast and threw you on the wall," FORT685 answered warily as he was worried about what Savio might do to the child.

The trainer held his throbbing temple, "Did you notice something strange other than his skin getting red?"

FORT685 tried to recall what he saw, "I think he was angry after what you said about the Torneo being deadly," he said and remembered the dark clouded look Hirayon had in his eyes.

"That might be really it, but what caused him to berserk like that? Stay here. I need to figure this out," Savio ordered before leaving the room.

Getting inside his office, he immediately called Oddi to get him the surveillance camera recordings inside Hirayon's room.

Savio watched the video repeatedly, slowing it down occasionally, and carefully observed the child. However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't figure out the cause of what happened, which he now decided to refer to as a manic phase. What's sure is, Hirayon was affected by anger that made him go into the phase.

'For now, what I can hypothesize is that there is a huge chance this has something to do with his Blood Ability,' Savio thought, as the only possibility he could think why Hirayon's skin turned red was that his body was heating or that his blood was boiling.

After giving it more thought, Savio decided to return to Hirayon's room. Before stepping out to the hallway, he looked back. His gaze was intently looking at a jar.

"For safety precautions," he muttered and went to the shelf to get more recovery pills before leaving.

Hirayon slept for 24 hours and woke up with a sore body the next day.

'What happened,' he asked himself as he tried to remember what might've caused his body to ache.

"Good Evening," FORT685 greeted Hirayon, who was still disoriented from sleep.

The child frowned at FORT685 and tried to sit properly, but his efforts were useless as his arms were too weak to support his body.

"What happened?" Hirayon asked.

FORT685 stared with a confused expression at the child, "You don't remember?"

"No."

"Watch this," FORT685 said instead of answering, showing Hirayon a slowed recording of what he did to Savio.

'I did that?' he asked himself in bewilderment, his eyes never leaving the hologram. In the video, he could clearly see himself effortlessly throwing Savio to the wall. The next second, he saw himself walking toward his trainer, who was sitting on his own pool of blood with eyes reflecting incomparable fear.

"What? How?"

"We don't know as well, but trainer Savio thinks it has something to do with your Blood Ability. After what happened, all of your Aura was also drained as if you had used it in those seconds."

'It can't be my Water Element, so it is definitely the Blood one. But why? If the ability they injected can do that, Savio will know. Is it a side effect? Or could it also be a hidden skill of Blood Oddities?'

Hirayon read in a book before that powerful oddities rarely reveal their abilities. It also differs from one another even if they have the same elemental ability because many factors affect the abilities that an oddity might acquire. This makes it difficult to record every single one and the extent of what it can do.

Savio wanted Hirayon to have a Blood Ability because most of the recorded information on the Blood Element users were capable of using the ability to heal. Most doctors around Diwana were also from Blood Clan, so it was the best choice if he wanted Hirayon to be capable of healing himself.

Hirayon's thought was broken when he heard someone clear their throat.

Looking up, he was met with Savio's cautious eyes. He looked hesitant and reluctant to look Hirayon straight in the eyes.

"How do you feel?" Savio asked softly, making Hirayon frown. That was the first time Savio used such a caring tone, even after all his injections and pain inflicted on the child.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Hirayon asked instead and returned his gaze to the still-playing recording of him throwing his trainer.

Savio cleared his throat once again. He was feeling extremely uncomfortable. "I feel alright," he answered, avoiding looking at the child.

He expected it, but Savio could feel his body trembling slightly whenever he looked at Hirayon. He could also hear his heartbeat getting louder and his breath laboring.

'I thought it would be alright because I'm not scared of Hirayon, but my body seems to be traumatized.'

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Savio averted his gaze and tried to compose himself. "I need to ask you some questions so we can figure out what happened," he informed while pretending to look at a hologram.

Hiraron didn't say anything and waited for Savio to give him a look. Noticing the quietness, Savio hesitated momentarily before finally looking at the child. When he saw that Hirayon was looking at him, he awkwardly returned his gaze to the hologram.

This gave the child the idea that Savio's behavior toward him would never be the same as before.

'I might've really scared him without even knowing.'

For the ninth time, Savio cleared his throat. "Do you remember what happened?"

Hirayon slightly shook his head, "No."

"What was the last thing you remembered?"

"You said that the games are deadly and..." Hirayon trailed.

Savio glanced at the child, expectant as he was really curious about what caused Hirayon to go manic, "And?"

Hirayon recalled what he felt at that time. "I felt my body heating. No, more on burning."

"Hmm, then you don't remember what happened next. This is a possibility, but were you angry when I said the games were deadly?" Savio asked, confirming if what he and FORT685 thought was correct.

"Yes," Hirayon answered with a cold gaze that made Savio recall the moment he felt he was one step away from death.

Calming himself, Savio swallowed hard. "F-for now, we can say that your berserk mode happened because of your emotions. It lasted about ten seconds but consumed all of the Aura you gained from the stones."

"Will I be able to do that again-"

"What?!" Savio shouted, his heart beating faster at the thought of the child in a manic phase again.

Hirayon raised a brow at his trainer's reaction, "I want to experience it consciously."

Savio stiffened and looked at Hirayon with shaky eyes, "We don't know yet. We have to find out," he said. Although he was trembling with the thought of Hirayon in that state again, his passion for research overpowered his fear.

'It will be safer as well if we know what could trigger him to be like that,' he thought.

"FORT685 buy more stones at the store. Also, check some protective gears,"

"In Hirayon's size?"

"No. It's for me," Savio said without shame. He wasn't embarrassed at all that he was being wary of a child. To him, it is more critical for him to stay safe while figuring out the cause of the manic phase.

Hirayon looked at Savio with disbelief. 'He's wary of me now. Well, that's a good thing. He won't be able to experiment on me whenever he likes.'

The child spent the following days training the Blood Ability. He also has a sparring session with FORT685, where they try to make Hirayon enter his Manic phase. Although they never succeeded, they discovered the child could use Water Abilities, which Hirayon decided to reveal as necessary in his plans.

During his free time, Hirayon either studied or trained on his own. He did his previous exercise plan and dedicated most of his remaining time to mastering his Water Wall.

The day before the first game, Hirayon could already make a sturdy Water Wall for defense.

"You have not acquired any new ability yet?" Savio asked as he watched Hirayon make a thick wall of transparent, bluish-violet water full of swirling current. To him, the Water Wall was already perfect. That was why he was wondering why the child was still practicing it.

"Not yet," Hirayon answered honestly. It was difficult for others to see, but his wall was still incomplete.

'I will need to use it in the game to see the problem.'

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" FORT685 asked while preparing a late-night snack for the child.

"Not much. But I'm curious what kind of game it will be. Do you have any idea?" Hirayon asked. He wasn't really looking forward to the game but was excited about gaining many award points to buy Water Aura Stones.

"It might be a battle royale or an obstacle course. They usually do that when there are still a lot of participants," FORT685 said as he recalled the previous batches' first games.

"Will they reward the rank one a lot of award points?" Hirayon asked his main concern.

"It depends, but they usually reward more than 1,000 to motivate the children to work hard."

Savio stood up, preparing to leave. "Since we don't know how long the game will take tomorrow, you should get plenty of rest. You're also not allowed to take recovery pills a day before and during the game, so make sure to save a lot of your energy. If possible, don't reveal all your abilities from the start. They like putting twists in the middle to make the games more challenging, so always be alert and listen to Tedie," he said, making Hirayon feel weird.

'I'm still not used to him showing me concern.'

"Alright," Hirayon nodded and decided to make a strategy tomorrow after hearing the rules of the game.

In a different room located on the other side of the facility, Hirang was squatting in the middle of the room with his hands each holding a sack of sand. His clothes were wet from sweat, and his legs were shaking from staying in the position for too long. Yet, he didn't dare to give up or show weakness as his trainer was looking at him with a cold eccentric smile. Beside him was the female servant, watching the child intently while secretly glancing at the trainer from time to time.

'Tomorrow's the first game. Does he plan on not letting Hirang rest?' the female servant thought as the child had been squatting for four hours already.

"FOSV463, make sure he stays in that position until midnight," the trainer said with a smile, but the servant could see the looming shadow in his brown eyes.

"I understand," the woman dutifully said with a slight bow.

"I'll be watching tomorrow. Make sure to get the first spot again," the trainer stated and was about to step out of the room when he remembered something.

He looked back, "Don't waste your time by befriending Savio's kid. You don't need friends here, he said and started walking away. "You can never have one," he added in a mutter.

FOSV463 stared at Hirang when they were left alone. "Why did you do it?"

Hirang understood what the question was about. "I felt a connection with him," he answered with a shaky breath. His legs were still trembling, but he didn't show any signs of complaining.

"What connection are you talking about?" FOVS463 asked with a frown. She was finding the situation peculiar as Hirang wasn't a friendly child.

"Like we were meant to be friends," he answered and smiled. Like in the Torneo, his eyes were still cold and dead, making the female servant wonder if the child was messing up with him or telling the truth. However, FOVS463 knew it was not his personality to kid around.

She shook her head. "Whatever it is, don't approach the child again. Trainer Eliu hates Trainer Savio," she expressed, as there was an evident rivalry between the two. Although trainer Eliu seems more obvious in showing his hatred toward the other man, FOVS463 was sure that the other trainer was feeling the same, as all trainers are competitive, particularly regarding their trainees losing to other children.

"What does that have to do with me?" Hirang asked stubbornly.

"You'll get him mad. He will make your training more difficult."

Hirang let out a smile. "I don't mind. Training is meant to be difficult," he reasoned.

FOVS463 gave his master a confused look, "You want to befriend him that much?"

"Yeah, if I don't, I know I'll regret it," Hirang answered, his cold orbs showing a rather warm emotion that the servant had never seen before.

FOVS463 resigned. "Then, at least try to be discreet about it. Don't make it too obvious. I'm saying this for your sake. If Trainer Eliu got pissed, he might not give you a recovery pill, and you might not be able to join the games."

Hirang fell into thought. He knew that his servant had a point, and even if he wanted to openly befriend Hirayon, he couldn't afford to not join the games as he needed to earn many award points to grow stronger.

"Are there phones in the Facility Store?" Hirang asked.

FOVS463 sighed as she understood what the child was planning. "There is, but it costs around 10,000 award points."

"I can earn that much."

"Yeah, but how about the child you want to befriend? Is he willing to spend so many award points for a phone?" FOVS463 pointed out the problem in his master's plan.

Hirang fell quiet for a moment before smiling sheepishly at his servant, "Then I'll buy him a phone as well."

FOVS463 shook her head in disbelief, "Do whatever you want."

R E H I L I Y A