Alatar stumbles through the ruined and torched temple, breathing heavily. "You've used my power, kid. Just activating it is like casting ten spells at once! Not to mention using the flames. Your body is barely hanging on." Vorgrimm says as Alatar falls against a wall, barely catching himself. "I'll be fine. I don't need your lectures, and I don't need your help." Alatar hears Vorgrimm chuckle inside his head. "Ironic, seeing that you would've most certainly lost against Nexiloth! You didn't get the chance to finish him off!" Alatar clenches his fist. "Shut the hell up!" He says in between gritted teeth.

Hearing approaching footsteps, Alatar reaches for his holster, feeling nothing there. "Damnit..." He says as he pushes off the walls and runs for it. He makes it out through a side door of the temple and comes face to face with a guard. Alatar grabs his hilt for his sword, scanning the guard. "Weak knees, he's scared, good." Alatar looks at his stance. "Beginner at best, most likely never seen a real battle." He looks at his armor. "Shiny and undented like the guards I fought earlier." Alatar takes a deep breath through his nose. "It's hard to tell, but he doesn't smell tainted with sulfur like the other guards." He lets go of his hilt after taking those short moments to process the situation. "Look, kid, move out of my way, and I won't hurt you. You're not like them."

The guard hesitates a bit. "I-I can't do that! You destroyed a temple and killed guards! I have to arrest you!" He holds his sword towards Alatar as it shakes a bit. "Come quietly and peacefully, please...?" He says, closing his eyes in fear. The guard jumps in fear as he hears a hiss come to the right of him. He glances, seeing a black vulture hissing and flapping its wings at him; it has a piece of flesh in its beak. Returning his eyes to Alatar, he sees nothing but the empty doorway. "Did he go back inside?!" He says in confusion and a bit of relief.

Hiding behind some debris from the temple, Alatar stealthily makes his escape. He holds his side, feeling warmth as he looks at his hands and sees that it's coated in blood. "Damn, no Mana to regenerate.." he says weakly as he makes his way into an alleyway taking shortcuts and hiding from incoming guards. "If you just let me take control, you'd be healed instant-" Vorgrimm says but is interrupted by Alatar as he stumbles into another alley. "No! I will not let you take control. Gods know what you'll do once you actually have the chance to do something. "He hisses as he crashes into some trash at the end of an alleyway. "Look at you, Alatar. Is this how you fall? You need to accomplish the very goal you sought out. You have drive and ambition, but just like that guard, you're inexperienced in the way of war. A war that you have started against an entire realm. You cannot do it yourself."

Alatar sighs. "I don't want a last-minute speech from the Old Demon King of all people; buzz off and let me die in peace." But Alatar knows what he feels isn't peace but the numbing rage that he will die, barely even putting a dent into this self-proclaimed war, knowing that this would be his legacy—one of failure, a final tantrum of the child he used to be.

"No, I won't let this shit keep me down, these measly wounds. Who needs blood anyway?" He says, sitting as blood continues to leak out of his sides. "Divination..." he says, holding out his hand. "You are practically running on empty, and you want to use even more Mana?" Vorgrimm says with a laugh, "You're insane. Undoubtedly Insane." Mana flickers forth from his hand and finally lets out a slight glow. "Healing Hands," he says, touching his stomach. His wounds slowly seal up as he nearly faints from exhaustion.

Alatar stands up, shaking his head. "Come on, Alatar, get to moving. You have limited time until Mana Exhaustion hits you like an ancient red dragon," he says, getting a move on. His vision is blurry, and he can barely keep his balance, stumbling and tripping over boxes as he exits the alleyway.

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Later that night.

Mira wakes up from a sudden stir downstairs. "Huh... is Alatar back?" she says, looking out the window. She looks annoyed. Knowing him, he'd probably come back through the window." She yawns as she gets out of bed. I know he said not to go anywhere, but is that man my father? I don't think so!" She says with a sly smile as she makes her way downstairs.

She sees Elisa helping Alatar inside as he closes the door behind him. "Alatar?!" she says, rushing downstairs. Alatar looks up at her; he has black rings around his eyes from extreme exhaustion. It looks like he got into a pretty big fight; he's somewhat healed but is now experiencing extreme side effects from Mana Exhaustion." Mira helps Elisa hold Alatar up. "Let's get him in the back," he says as they move to the back of the inn.

"Why the back? We need to get him to the hospital!" She says in a panic as Alatar coughs up some blood. "Because of what he did. He is a wanted man; they might have seen his face, and even if they didn't, the wounds he sustained would be enough for them to come and kill him." He swipes the wall as it glows from a sigil, opening up to some stairs leading downward. Torches are lit, giving off a dim light as they descend.

Walking down, Mira uses the wall to keep themselves stable. "The way the stone is shaped, the curves and cracks are almost smooth. Is this man-made? "She says as Elias glances at her. "Yes, I did it for storage. I can't fit everything up there!" he says with a slight chuckle.

Reaching the bottom, Mira looked around at a wide area bustling with activity, seeing columns carved from the surrounding stone; the smell of torch smoke was more apparent. Elisa moves forward as they get glances from the others as they are too busy with their duties to take notice. They take many twists and turns inside this expansive labyrinth, finally reaching a room covered in white curtains separating empty beds. A woman with short brown hair wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with a blue tunic stands with her back turned, working with some chemicals on a table.

Elisa clears his throat, "Uhh Astrid-" He is cut off as a stern but feminine voice immediately interrupts him. "Doctor Frost." She says as she turns around. Her dark green eyes sparkle against the torchlight, and she has a belt with different bottles and pouches around the front of her waist. Elisa rolls his eyes. "Doctor Frost, we have a kid here suffering from Mana Exhaustion who needs your help." He says, gesturing to Alatar's now unconscious body. "Put him on a bed," Frost says, putting some gloves on. "Is this a new recruit or something? He looks like a teenager." Frost says as she pulls out a small crystal glowing with purple lightning. Elisa shrugs his shoulder. "Something like that."

Mira watches as she holds Alatar's hand. Frost looks at Mira. "I'm going to need you to help me, okay? What's your name?" Still looking at Alatar, she answers Frost, "Mira, from the Dia-Bronze Kingdom." Frost squints her eyes at Mira for a second. "I will need you to remove his clothes. Just the top half." She says, moving back to the table, grabbing a mortar, and placing the crystal into it as she opens a bottle. Black smoke emits from the bottle as she pours these grey crystals flowing with murky black energy.

Mira begins to undress Alatar with the help of Elisa; removing his jacket, she puts it on unconsciously as they take off his sword and ripped-up black shirt. He exposed the recently healed wounds and the vast scars over his entire body. "Gods, Alatar, what happened to you," Mira says, slowly tracing his scars. Elisa looks at her. "This is new to you? I thought you both came from the Bronze Kingdom. I assumed you were well acquainted with each other's history?"

Frost comes over with the bowl. "Make room; this will take some time to go into his system since this is-" Mira interrupts. "Demon Crystal, right? At least a variation of it?" Frost looks at her in suspicion once again. "Yes...How did you know that?" Mira looks at Frost. "Doctor, please, don't give him small doses. Give him all of it." Frost crunches her face. "What? That will kill him or completely corrupt his body. That much negative Mana will destroy a human." Mira grabs the doctor's arm. "Please give him all of it." She says in desperation.

Frost looks at him. "No, unless you tell me what's going on."