"Damn it. The doctor was right!" Emily saw his expression of shock and misinterpreted it as bad news. "Your mana channels have shrivelled! Damn!"
"Shri-shrivelled?? Pui! Don't use such an inauspicious word to describe me!" Kaero immediately grabbed the wooden table next to him and smacked it several times to ward off bad luck.
"Damn it woman! Don't you know that the word shrivelled is usually used to describe my male body's majestic sword in its shrunken form?!"
"Inauspicious? Majestic… sword?! You still have the energy to think about such useless stuff?" Emily narrowed her eyes.
They were now comrades, yes. But men are still men. They needed to be smacked hard sometimes before common sense could sprout. This seemed to Emily to be one of those times.
"Yes!" Kaero glared at her indignantly. "No part of me can ever be described as shrivelled. They can die. They can break. They can even turn to ash. But they can never shrivel. They will stand strong till the end!"
Emily's hand twitched violently.
She was holding back the strongest urge to give this damned punk a massive smack on his head.
"He's still injured. He's still injured. Plus he saved my life. He saved my lifeeee!" Emily muttered to herself and managed to bring her urges under control. Barely.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Emily said through gritted teeth.
Such an irritating boy. Even his breathing annoyed her now.
"About what? I don't know what you're talking about. Why would my mana channels be… um. Injured? What did the doctor say?" Kaero frowned.
"The doctor said you fainted due to mana overdraft. And in cases like that, there is a chance that the mana overdraft will cause damage to your mana channels, causing it to shri… to dry up and become impassable."
Emily explained with great patience, feeling like she was approaching the saints of legends in terms of patience and forbearance in the face of extreme stupidity.
"Isn't that why you were so shocked earlier?" Emily added.
"Ah that. That's just my uh. Thoughtful face. See? This is how I look when I am thinking." Kaero made a shocked face that was completely different from before.
Emily's eyes rolled back as the last of her self control evaporated.
Bang!
Her right hand shot out and smacked Kaero's head with great power.
"Ow!! You evil woman! You violent demoness! You fierce tigress! Why did you hit me! Owwww!!" Kaero squealed like a stuck pig.
"Forget it! I don't care about you anymore. You can lie in here forever if you want to. Humph!" Emily fumed and stormed out of the infirmary.
Her angry footsteps boomed heavily down the room, fading away from Kaero.
Kaero watched her go and smiled wryly to himself.
I'm sorry Emily. It's not that I do not want to build our bond as comrades. But I walk a different and more dangerous path now. You… Should stay away from me.
Kaero sighed deeply. Too many of his men had died following him.
Perhaps this time around, he should walk the path of a lone wolf.
"To think I was so concerned about him for the whole day." Emily muttered to herself and slammed the door, causing the old nurse on night duty to chuckle loudly.
"Ah, the fiery love of youth. How I miss it." She remarked wistfully to the old man sitting with her in the staff room.
"You miss it? You don't have to. I am here, we can start our own fiery love story right here right-"
Bang!
"Owww!"
Kaero chuckled.
The two old nurses definitely didn't expect Kaero to be able to hear them through the thin wall.
His sense of hearing had become much stronger as well!
"She would make a good mate." A low, growly chuckle that sounded like steel scraping against gravel appeared in his mind all of a sudden.
Kaero smiled.
There you are.
He had been waiting for it to make an appearance ever since he woke up several minutes ago.
"What? No shock? No stuttering? No "What are you? Why are you in my mind? Get out!"" The low growly voice said in amusement. The power behind the voice caused his mind to vibrate and buzz slightly.
"No." Kaero said very simply. "But I could do that if you want. I'm a pretty good actor. I'm sure I can pull off a good one."
"No thank you." The voice snorted in disdain. "This is good. I can do with less drama."
"Hm." Kaero agreed.
He had sensed the being's presence in his mind when he unleashed the wolf during the battle against the demon leader.
The powerful will that took over his body for a brief instant, the messy thoughts and all encompassing sense of anger that overwhelmed him completely.
He could never forget it.
Deep within his mind, Kaero instantly connected the dots.
The Blood Rock that the Great Demon General Valar had toyed with, the one Pale Moon Captain Selune had flicked into his skull, the sudden awakening of the wolf called Fenra inside him, and the strange, growing changes within his body.
There was no other reason.
In fact, it was also probably the reason for his regression back to eighteen years old.
There was something extremely secretive and important going on in the world. Something which he completely missed in his previous life.
What was the Blood Rock? And why did the Pale Moon Captain Selune know what to do with it? Was she undercover?
Kaero had many questions that needed answering. He had no wish to waste time being in shock and saying stupid things like why are you here? Get out!
On the other hand though, he also didn't want to be the one initiating the conversation.
Kaero was a master of relational positioning.
He knew how to take the upper hand in relationships, and he was determined to be the master of this new relationship that he would probably have to live with for the rest of his second life.
Between parties of near equal standing, the one to start the negotiation takes the lower ground.
That was basic knowledge for a relationally savvy human being.
It was not the case for a wolf.
"So. Ehm. Human. Do you know who I am?" Fenra boomed majestically within his mind. His voice seemed to roll endlessly like distant thunder over the horizons.
Kaero had to give it to him. He really did sound super awesome with his deep, monstery voice that carried the weight of ancient royalty and unlimited power.
"Fenra, right? The one who was howling non stop earlier today?" Kaero replied with a light smile.
"Howling non stop…?! You little punk. If you put it that way, you are making me sound like a stray wolf!" Fenra snarled with displeasure.
He was so powerful that his displeasure actually carried with it a heavy pressure that pressed down upon his soul like a small mountain.
But Kaero merely frowned and stubbornly summoned all of his strength to resist that pressure.
He would not give in, not even a tiny bit!