With the help of two nurses and a pair of crutches, after nearly half a day of trying, Aaron finally managed to stand.
His left leg, while being mostly intact, still could barely support even a fraction of his weight, causing him to nearly buckle.
Using the remnants of strength he had, the boy persevered, making his way to the bathroom without any aid.
After returning from the loo, he lay drearily in his bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling while thinking of his recent encounter.
She called it an Oblivacis…
On his bedrest, a small textbook about their once rampant escape from the Abyss had been left by the exam proctor, a little solace to his suffering.
Heh… I survived something even a Sea King struggled against…
Laughing slightly, pain surged throughout his body, grounding him back into a steady sense of existence.
Thinking back to the moment before he lost consciousness, the arrival of Lepaie Quinn and the strange turquoise mist floating through his mind.
H-He must've sensed Penelope when I unleashed her presence and thought it was something dangerous… Well… It was dangerous, I guess, with that terror there…
His thought, whether it be because of the girl inside the sword or not, was true; the presence of both an ancient blade and an Apex terror attracted a variety of gazes from around the world.
But what was that mist? I felt something pressing down from above me, then it just erupted… Did somebody try to pry into my mind?
Remembering how Eleanor had been eviscerated upon entering his mindscape, he felt a pang of guilt towards whatever had tried to interlope.
As he exhaled calmly, he felt the voices inside his head reawaken, and a strong tug towards the direction of the Naelith.
Its gravely voice was deeper than before, an odd sense of respect surging from its presence as if it had found something to worship.
What a strange terror… But more importantly…
Silencing the Apex of Life, who spouted on about the sinking of the world and the death of humanity, he focused on the quiet voice of a certain princess who had awoken along with him.
『Why is it so dark in here…』
Penelope's serene words drifted through his mind, soothing his agonized figure that lay sadly in the hospital bed.
"I-It's the middle of the night…"
Aaron's reply was relaxed, a light smile forming across his face as she replied.
『Ah… Of course…』
She paused for a moment before resuming.
『Anyway. What in the world were you thinking, fighting an Apex at your level without me!? Do you have a death wish!? What the hell happened to your goals and motivations!?』
Her berations continued endlessly, the harsh words only further chiding Aaron into a light slumber.
"I-I'm tired… Good night Penelope…"
With his eyelids fluttering to a close, he could still hear the angry woman's words at his foolishness resounding through his ears.
『No! You're not going to sleep yet!』
Unfortunately for her, at that moment, the blond boy's long history of passing out grew by another example, a snore coming from his mouth.
『Hmph! And to think I was going to help you with your cripple problem…』
…
Knock, Knock.
The hospital room door rasped gently, the shallow breaths behind it a clear sign to the injured boy who stood there.
"C-come in."
His voice was rickety; however, as the brown-haired Marshal entered the room, he sat up, disregarding the pain he felt.
As before, she was wearing her proctor outfit, the black trench coat hanging to her knees as she held something rectangular in her hands.
Upon closer inspection, Aaron realized it was a tiny chest, one that resembled his own leg in shape.
A-Am I getting my leg back as a spoil of war…?
Nervous and slightly disgusted, he tried to show his appreciation, whether it be real or a complete falsehood.
Noticing his displeasure, Cam spoke in a quiet tone.
"Do you remember the tracking glyph I imprinted onto your back?"
Her voice was steady, examining the blond boy's every feature, trying to determine what he was thinking.
Furrowing his brow, Aaron shook his head, his already hazy memories further clouded by the pain.
Cam, who sat down slowly, spoke again, trying to clear up the boy's confusion.
"Back when we first met, I imprinted it onto you. I was under the assumption you were far more dangerous than you ended up being…"
Pointing her hand out at his crippled form in jest, she continued.
"These glyphs scan the body, taking note of every detail, location, and action performed while engraved. All this data is sent to the spellcaster networks placed in the headquarters."
She stopped herself, noticing Aaron raise his hand like a schoolboy, his turquoise eyes glistening with worry.
Allowing him to answer, his gravely voice came out in a sputtery response.
"D-Doesn't that mean they have data about the Ghostship and my abilities—"
He was cut off by a vicious fit of coughing that made him double over, tiny bits of blood coming along with the bursts of air.
As the doctor had said, such small fragments of crimson were fine; it was something Cam had personally checked before speaking with the boy.
"Aaron, you know who I am, do you not?"
She paused for a second before watching the boy nod his head.
"I myself cannot use mana; however, as a Marshal, all the information sent from your glyph is stored inside this instead of the main office."
Placing the box on her lap, she held the badge that identified her as a Marshal in front of her, the diamond surface glittering in the sunlight.
For a moment, the boy could see a flicker of mana within it, while faint signals radiated from his own body.
"W-What d-do you need it for…?"
Worry crept into the boy's heart as he thought about all the data she stored, every piece of his life from the moment they met to now, in the palm of her hand.
"Ah, I can see you're worried; do not be, the sensitivity of your data is set rather high, meaning the information not explicitly requested isn't recorded… However, the reason I've brought this up today is because of the body scan itself."
Quickly putting away her badge and picking the leg-sized box back up, she began to open the lid, the darkness within being dissipated by the sun.
"With this knowledge, I was able to get a blacksmith to forge you this."
Aaron's eyes widened as he gazed upon the mystical armament before him, a tool brimming with such energy that it made his skin twitch.
His own leg, yet, made of a strange steel, lay before him, rippling with streams of multi-colored mana.
Whether it be divine energy or the magic of the sea, this limb had it all, a tool that could rival even the greatest of the weapons forged for the Sea Kings themselves.
"H-How is it…"
The boy's words weren't left unanswered for long, the brown-haired woman responding almost immediately.
"Forged from the very tooth that took your leg. One stolen from the mouth of a terror of blistering orange, and to be blunt, a tool rivaling that of my own dagger."
Passing the leg to its new host, Aaron could only gawk at the sheer energy flowing through each metallic vein.
Using his depleted strength, he brought his amputated leg close to his body, the fake limb in his hands.
Slowly moving it closer, he began to turn the crank, flesh coming into contact with bone and mana entering his bloodstream.
Crackkkkk! Ripppppp!
Nearly letting out a scream as the leg tore through his knee, connecting nerves to the artificial and veins to the metallic ones.
His mana core exploded with power, a pain so agonizing that it rivaled the loss of his limb once again coursing through his body.
However, this time, he did not scream, he did not yell, nor did he cry.
Aaron simply gritted his teeth, watching the leg bind with his body and the mana filter into his own system.
The fresh doses of energy surged throughout his body, siphoning off to various regions that he could barely keep track of.
About half went towards his ring, the Ghostships' repairs being prioritized over his own health.
One quarter of the energy spread out throughout the beings that rested inside his head, the slumbering Penelope stirring as she was berated with the soothing mana.
Even the Naelith croaked with rigid approval as its loaned power was restored, no matter how slowly.
Finally, the remainder of the lifeblood entered his own body, healing muscles, repairing tendons, and even mending his organs.
Color began to return to the boy's face, the metallic limb a blessing granted through pain and hardship.
Turning to Cam happily, he smiled, the brown-haired woman still wincing from the brutal sight she had witnessed.
"I-I don't know how to thank you for doing this for me… I thought it would take months for me to even be able to walk again—"
He was cut off by the woman as she stood suddenly, her hair falling behind her in long strands.
"You can repay me by heading to the Sea of Mystery to rejoin your fellow challengers on the second mission. You have been given special permission to continue the test so long as you can walk, and now, you can."
Her personality changed in real time; the gentle teacher that had whipped Aaron into shape and pieced him back together had vanished, the rigid Camilla Buckley of the Hunters' Guild appearing to take her place.
"This mission is safer than the previous ones, a result of your outstanding scores in the first round."
She paused, pulling a small slip of paper from her pocket and passing it to the rather energetic boy.
Without another word, she stormed out of the room, a smile tugging at her lips barely seen by Aaron, who watched her.
Forming a grin of his own, the blond boy opened the paper carefully, reading the text written inside.
The three challengers of the Sea of Dreams will head Northeast to the Sea of Mystery. They will aid the residents in any way possible until the date listed below. The village these contenders will be placed in is the home of the Mystery guild office on the Bay of Thorn. Failing to complete the mission(s) or an expulsion record listed by any of the residents will result in immediate disqualification from the third mission and a final ranking issued instantly.
Scanning the document, Aaron nodded gently, his nervous heartbeat soothed by the relatively simple task.
At the very bottom of the document, he noticed small words scribbled in shoddy ink.
"The end date of this mission is October 30th, 3125."