As the blinding light faded, Ray registered the shift in his surroundings.
The sterile, almost luxurious scent of polished marble replaced the stench of death.
In an instant, the internal pain in his lungs subsided. A sense of relief washed over him as he looked at the luxurious awakening hall.
Once again, multiple gems embedded in the walls flashed before his eyes.
The family dome chandelier in the center illuminated the central hall in multicolored light.
He was standing on top of an elevated stone platform right in the center of the hall. Though this time, no other teens from the family were here.
Hundreds of eyes landed on him once again. He looked up at the balconies all around the platform.
More than a hundred adults stood there in silence. Unlike when Aren came here, this time none ignored him.
Even from such a distance, Ray saw multiple emotions flashing across their faces, predominantly shock mixed with jealousy and even a bit of anger.
All of them stared at him as if waiting for something.
Before Ray could make sense of it, dozens of warriors jumped onto the platform.
The next instant, all of them rushed at him, placing different kinds of sharp weapons inches away from his neck.
Ray was baffled by this development. Didn't he just survive the trial? What more was there?
He had only read half of the first volume. There was not much mention of the aftermath of the trial in that part of the novel, so he was truly clueless here.
He pressed his almost detached limb next to his chest and stared back at the warriors.
But all of them had poker faces, as if they were waiting for someone.
'Shh, it would have been much better if Aren had told me about this stuff.'
Just then, the warrior in front of him shifted slightly, and an old man with a thick red beard walked toward him with a cruel smile plastered on his face.
His hard-honed instincts screamed at him to get away from this old man. He almost moved to snatch one of the weapons, but the intense pain helped him snap back.
The old man leaned close and asked with a not-so-friendly smile, "State your name."
The moment the old man spoke, the warriors pressed their weapons closer to his skin.
A few even dug slightly into his neck.
It hit Ray. This had nothing to do with Aren. Not wasting even a second, he uttered in a hoarse, almost broken voice, "Aren. Aren Duisburg!"
The tension around him fell instantly.
All the warriors jumped back a step and bowed in unison. "Welcome back, Hex Master."
Even the old man nodded this time with a calm, tender smile that looked even more fake.
The elder patted his shoulder and shouted aloud, "Hex Master Aren Duisburg has succeeded in the Trial of Chaos."
As the elder revealed that he had passed one of the ancient trials, a round of buzzing started on the balconies.
Then the elder took another look at him and shouted again, "Chaos element at Eminent-level core."
The chatter increased at the mention of the chaos element, but once the Eminent-level core was announced, gazes scattered.
Only now did Ray understand why these people treated Aren as a dead man.
This Eminent-level hex core was just barely enough for Aren to enter the Hex Master Academy.
And then there was the chaos element. Just thinking about the madness that came with it made his head hurt.
Even the elder sighed as another wave of people rushed up.
This time, they carried different kinds of bandages and other medical equipment.
As Ray looked at them, the pain came back, and this time he simply dropped to the floor.
One of the medics rushed to him, placed a hand on his head, and started mumbling.
Everything suddenly blurred around him, and then he blacked out.
…
Ray woke with a nasty headache. The vision of the trial flashed through his head as he pushed himself up.
To his surprise, he felt no pain whatsoever. He stared wide-eyed as his left arm was back in place, as if it had never been injured.
He only noticed that it was a bit thinner compared to his right arm. As for his leg, it had no deformities at all.
Ray knew about healing arts from the novel. He had even experienced them inside the prison. Still, there was a big difference between knowing something and experiencing it with control over the body.
He touched his arm in marvel.
Just then, a person spoke from the side. "You don't have to worry."
Startled, Ray looked up and saw one of the medics in a white robe sitting beside his bed.
The man pointed to his arm. "Your arm just lacks energy. After a good meal or two, it will be back to normal."
Only now did Ray realize he was inside some kind of medical room, as the walls around him were covered in white curtains.
He nodded to the medic. "Okay."
The medic stared at him for a moment and asked, "Do you feel any discomfort?"
Ray rubbed his forehead and replied, "Just a headache. By the way, how much time has passed?"
The medic stood up and raised two fingers. "Don't worry. Only two hours have passed. You still have time." With that, the medic walked away.
Ray stared after him, eyes wide. Shit. He had thought a day or two would have passed, but it was this fast.
Then he sighed. After all, he was inside one of the top ten noble families. For this occasion, they must have called top Hex Masters for sure.
He took another look around the room, unsure what the medic had meant by the second part, when the two familiar people who had taken him out of prison walked in.
Once again, both of them bowed to him.
"Young Master!"
"Young Master!"
Unlike last time, the two remained bowed for a couple of extra seconds. It was clear that Aren's passing the trial had some effect on them.
Just like before, the older one took the lead and said. "Young sir, someone wanted to talk to you."
Before Ray could respond, the old guy pointed to the door.
A middle-aged man dressed in a long back coat walked into the room.
Both guys just bowed to this person and slipped out of the room, leaving two of them alone.
Ray tilted his head, trying hard not to frown. He did not even get time to process everything, and there was already someone calling for a meeting.
He stared at the man. "Who are you?"
The person walked up to him, looked him up and down for a moment, and said with a smile, "Young Master, I am William, the assistant advisor who works for the second lady."
He glanced around before adding, "My lady has a message for you."
It took a moment for Ray's pupils to expand. 'The second lady? Wait, isn't that Aren's mother?'