"It's about time you came back, " a small soothing voice called out to Ash, forcing him awake.
His thoughts were slow, and it took some time to move.
'Weird, ' he thought, looking at the white ceiling above his head, which was a much brighter color than the one in his room.
He looked around and noticed he was in an unfamiliar room.
The air inside was not fresh by any means, sterile with the smell of antiseptic.
He looked around the strange place for a little while.
The room seemed too bright, and the bed was too comfortable.
It didn't take him much to realize that he was in the bastion's outer infirmary.
He gave out a sigh of relief while touching his face and noticed his eyes were still present, which was a sign that he had won the fight, or it had ended in a draw.
He didn't know what had happened in the final moments before he passed out, but if there was one thing he was sure of, it was that He didn't pass out from exhaustion.
which could have been the case, but he couldn't tell what had happened.
There was the possibility of being knocked out by Captain Kruger, which was a possibility, but it was not right since it was somewhat beneath her.
The possibility of him being knocked out by another of the soldiers in training was also there, but there was little chance that Kruger would let that happen.
Or worst still, it could have been done by Ken while they were struggling, but that had the lowest chance of happening since he still had his eyes apparently.
He threw those thoughts to the back of his mind, staring at the ceiling,
recalling what had happened when he met with Alex and how he noticed that his memory seemed to have been tampered with,
making it hard for him to remember things.
Straining his head, he tried his best to see if he could remember anything this time, but most of it seemed to be obscured and clouded.
But he kept trying, but then he felt a sharp pain in his head, as if a nail was being driven into his skull.
followed by a strangling feeling around his neck.
He yelped, clutched his head, and almost rolled off his bed.
The pain continued for some time before subsiding, leaving him drenched in sweat.
He remained motionless for a long while, letting the terrifying feeling fade away.
This kind of pain was foreign to him, so he didn't know how to deal with it.
It was like his mind was being crushed,
and his soul was being torn from his body,
His head even felt like it was swollen and on the verge of exploding before he stopped.
It felt more like a trauma than something a human was supposed to go through.
'What the fucking hell have I been doing?' Ash shivered just thinking about it,
folding himself into a ball, remaining motionless, trying not to think about it,
He now knew why Alex was scared of ' them ' because just trying to peer into his memories had almost killed him right where he was, and their existence had to be something he had to be extremely wary of.
But deep within Ash had a weird feeling inside, something very similar to excitement,
He was weirdly intrigued thinking about the kind of problem he was already in.
Anything Alex was doing was going to be a temporary relief.
He didn't need a soothsayer to know that fact; he was currently stuck in a warzone like jail filled with opportunities,
Which, if used properly, could be used as an asset, but he couldn't use it due to having a trash body, and worse still, he was a child.
Even then, children his age could use mana and enhance their bodies with it, while he could only summon and use atmospheric essence,
bypassing the core formation step, but he didn't really mind it.
He had to find a way to become stronger.
There was a saying that he knew very well by heart:
" In the world of magic, there is no such thing as impossible… it's only the will and the right tool that needs to be found ".
Another thing that bothered him was the fact that Alex told him he had tried to be good in the first place,
But when in his life had this happened?
And what was the outcome of it?.
He was itching to know, but he knew better than to try again. The pain wasn't something he was willing to go through again.
He gave out a loud sigh and thought,' This life is going to be one hell of a bumpy ride… isn't it?'
The pain and the sore had subsided by a large margin, allowing him to move properly.
He turned his head to the other side of the bed, only for him to freeze as he set his eyes on someone who seemed to have been present, watching him with keen interest, way different from the spiteful eyes.
"Took you long enough," Kruger's voice called out to Ash, who was frozen, not exactly sure of how long she had been in the room.
"How long have you been here ?" he asked, trying to move his now somewhat free body and sit.
"From the very beginning .... You seemed more hurt than we anticipated," she said with a pause, staring at him more like she was trying to find out something deep inside of him, making him uncomfortable.
The awkward silence continued for a while before Ash decided to break it." Am I still going to lose an eye ? "
He asked, trying to know where he stood in all the mess he had created for himself. Her expression didn't change; rather, she seemed to have gotten more curious.
"No, you are not going to lose an eye," she said, adding a weird smile that made him give out a sigh of relief, but at the same time feel unsettled.
" ….. but you got a whole new set of problems on your plate." Those words didn't sound like something he wanted to enjoy.
"What kind ... exactly? " he asked, adding emphasis on the last word. Anything that looked like trouble was next-level outrageous.
"Your recent performance earned you a shiny, well-deserved promotion, nothing too fancy." Her words sounded fancy,
like it was the best thing that could happen to him, but who was a fool to be enchanted by such things, not him, though, because now it was obvious how large the problem on his plate looked
" Welcome to the second ".