Slowly opening his eyes, Verso saw a white ceiling, the smell of antiseptic filled the air and the faint hum of a ceiling fan above him.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at it, his mind was still foggy as the memory from earlier gradually resurfaced.
Verso let out a long sigh.
"I am in the infirmary… right?"
He spoke quietly while still staring at the ceiling, almost as if he was expecting the room itself to answer him.
Instead, a voice came from the corner of the room.
"You really need to leave this place, Verso."
Verso didn't turn to look at who was speaking because he immediately recognized the voice.
"It's only going to get worse as it gets closer to the Academy Admission Test."
Verso let out a deep slow breath as he replied.
"You already know I can not do that, Mister Kolden."
He slowly pushed himself upright as he sat up straight on the infirmary bed. The movement caused a dull ache to spread across his ribs and stomach as lingering reminder of the beating he had just taken moments ago.
Verso winced slightly but ignored the discomfort as he turned his head to look in the direction of the voice.
To no surprise, Kolden stood in the corner of the room.
The man looked completely out of place in an infirmary. He was tall and broad shouldered, his muscular frame almost completely filled corner he stood in.
He wore a tank top and loose athletic shorts, his arms were thick with defined muscle as veins ran across his forearms. He clearly looked more like a professional fighter than a school teacher.
Despite all that, the worried expression on his face softened his intimidating presence.
"Kids and their foolish dreams," Kolden said, crossing his arms.
"Do you really think the elites of the world will just sit by and let an commoner kid take a position at the Summoner's Academy?"
Verso remained silent for a moment.
But then a small smile appeared on his face.
"This is exactly why I asked you to help with my forced awakening request."
Kolden looked at him.
Then he shook his head slowly as a subtle smile formed on his lips.
"I already submitted the request to the headmaster." He replied.
"But don't expect much. Forced awakenings have always meant that you're not built to be a summoner."
Verso didn't reply instead he just simply kept smiling at Kolden who studied his expression for a second before letting out a short chuckle.
"But I really doubt that it will stop you from awakening."
Verso tilted his head slightly as he wondered what Kolden meant.
"You are talking as if my awakening application has already been accepted?"
Hearing the boy's accurate deduction, Kolden burst out laughing.
"The school would be stupid to reject an awakening request from the school's first placer." He said.
"Instead, they asked me to get you to the headmaster's office as soon as possible."
Verso's eyes widened slightly as excitement slowly started to appear across his face. He immediately tried to get off the bed when-
"Ugh…"
Pain shot through his ribs making Verso pause, as he his hands gripped the side of the bed till the pain settled.
"It still hurts…"
Kolden smirked slightly.
"Ah, about that," He said casually. "Ellum and Nathan got suspended for a week."
Verso raised an eyebrow hearing this. Usually the school always prioritized the awakened students over the unawakened ones.
"You really are something," Kolden continued.
"Taking down an awakened with a single punch is quite a feat."
Verso didn't respond to him instead he simply swung his legs off the bed carefully and stood up. Although the soreness in his chest remained, it was still manageable to move around.
Seeing Verso get up, Kolden understood he wanted to get his awakening done with as soon as possible, so he turned toward the door.
"Let's go," He said. "The headmaster is waiting."
------
As they walked through the hallway, Verso's thoughts drifted.
Three days ago, his entire class had undergone the awakening ceremony. Each of them awakening one after another, receiving the ability to use mana and summons.
All of them except for him were able to awaken successfully. For some reason his body had been unable to absorb mana naturally.
Which indirectly meant that he was not fit to awaken as a summoner. This was not just a surprise to him but to everyone around him as they had expected more from the kid that performed well in school.
After going through his unsuccessful attempt, Verso was only left with the the second best option.
He submitted a formal request for a forced awakening.
This was a process where another awakened individual would inject mana directly into his body, forcing the awakening process artificially.
This was a method that is heavily frowned upon because while natural awakening meant that a person had the potential to be a summoner, it also meant that a person would awaken with an impressive talent which makes them a valuable asset to society.
The forced awakeners are viewed differently as they are viewed as individuals that are rejected by mana, meaning that force awakening them is basically going against nature.
But to Verso, awakening naturally or unnaturally did not matter. He only needed one chance to prove himself.
As he walked behind Kolden he glanced at his teacher's back.
'Sir Kolden really must have stood up for my awakening.'
Verso knew how rare it was to get forced awakening approved, as they were usually reserved for clan nobilities.
So the fact that his request had moved this quickly, it only made sense that someone stood up for him.
'I don't get why he looks after me so much?'
Verso was no idiot he knew that the only one at the school that would stand up for him that much could only be Kolden.
After a minute of walking, the hallway grew quieter as they had reached the administrative wing of the school.
Kolden suddenly stopped in front of a large wooden door.
"We are here." Kolden said.
Verso nodded as he looked at the door, this is clearly not the first time he was meeting with the headmaster.
"Only you are allowed to enter," Kolden continued. "So I'll take my leave here."
Verso knew it was about time he went on with his awakening so he quietly nodded, stepped forward and pushed the door opened.