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The dormitory was quiet, broken only by the soft wheeze of boys asleep. The envelope lay untouched on the bedside table, but Darius wasn't looking at it. His attention was drawn inward, to the faint light behind his eyes.
[Body Scan: Complete.]
A translucent sheet of text unfolded in the darkness.
Status:
Age: 11
Height: 139 cm
Weight: 29 kg
Stamina: Low
Magical Energy: Trace detected
Condition: Malnutrition / Micro-fractures in ribs and left forearm / Minor scar tissue / Weakened immune system
Seeing it laid out like this—numbers, conditions, weaknesses—made his chest tighten. He'd known he was fragile. He had lived every day carrying heavy brooms, dragging buckets, keeping pace with tasks that left his wrists raw. But seeing the truth written plainly was different. Cold. Final.
"…Bones of glass," he whispered.
[Repair Protocols: Available.]
[Warning: Cost — Stamina + Minor Magical Energy]
He swallowed, dry-mouthed. "Do it."
The sensation was immediate, subtle at first. A quiet warmth spread through his ribs, easing the pain until it dissolved entirely. His left arm tingled as the fractures knit themselves from the inside, careful, precise, invisible. Breath came easier than it had in years, and for the first time, his chest felt unbound.
Stamina: Draining
Magical Energy: Draining
He clenched the sheets, gripping the mattress until the warmth ebbed. The light dimmed, the screen settled.
Status Update:
Micro-fractures: Healed
Respiratory efficiency: +11%
Circulatory strain: Reduced
Stamina: Very low
Magical Energy: Faint
Darius flexed his fingers, rolled his wrists. The ache that had always been there—subtle, constant, a part of living in a body that was never quite whole—was gone. He let out a small, quiet laugh, quickly stifled. If the matron heard, she would have dragged him from bed for no reason at all.
He rose carefully. His feet met the floor steadily. He stretched, arms and spine loose. Nothing resisted. Nothing hurt.
"…Nano Machine," he murmured. "How do I increase stamina? And magic energy?"
[Stamina may be increased through consistent nutrition, exercise, and regulated rest. Recommendations: protein intake, resistance training, aerobic activity. Projected gains measurable within weeks.]
[Magical Energy: Insufficient Data. No method available.]
Darius frowned. Figures. Science could quantify strength, but magic… that was something else. Something messy, unpredictable.
He thought back to old theories, fan discussions from his previous life. Magic could grow if it was used, expanded gradually through strain and control. Reckless? Probably. Worth testing? Certainly.
"Nano… help me sense it," he whispered. "The magic in me."
[Affirmative. Mapping energy signature.]
A faint warmth stirred in his core, subtle and flickering like a candle guttering in a draft. Awareness stretched along it, tentative, until he could feel threads running beneath his skin.
He raised his hand. Focused. A spoon lifted from the table. Then a scrap of paper. Then a sock draped over a chair. They hovered for a heartbeat, suspended in still air.
His pulse raced. He didn't exhale, didn't move, until the objects returned gently to their places. The room was still. No one had stirred.
[Magical Energy: Depleted]
Darius sank back onto the mattress, chest rising and falling rapidly. Hollow, drained, yet inside him, something quiet and steady remained. Tomorrow, the spark would return. And if he was careful, it would be stronger, steadier.
He turned onto his side, letting his body settle. The aches and fractures that had been constant companions were gone. He didn't fully understand what had happened. He didn't need to. For the first time in years, he could lie here without pain. And maybe, just maybe, that was enough to start seeing what could come next.
The envelope remained on the table, still and patient. Not tonight. Tonight, there was only the quiet and the faint, fragile hope that tomorrow would be different.