Yes… I love you all too.

And no, no Cliff hanger this time.

If anyone dares call this ending a cliffhanger, there will be hell to pay! (You know what's coming!)

But really, I am sorry. In my defense- In case you all missed it, it was 11pm when I uploaded chapter 28, and I had to wake up at 5 this morning. I wasn’t doing it on purpose. Honest!

On a totally unrelated note, FC has entered the BEST OF 5 on RR!

I did not believe it when I saw it earlier. You guys are just amazing, and I truly appreciate all your supports. Here's to new readers, and everyone who's stuck with me since the very beginning.

Enjoy the Chapter.

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The man’s scream resounded through the hall.

His right arm tore out of his shoulder and sagged to his side. Everyone in the front heard as the muscles tore and snapped. The man fell onto his knees.

The boy who had witnessed a similar display not long ago hid his eyes, crying at the memories.

“KYAAAAAH!!!” Kalwun Heldeins wife screamed out at her husband’s dangling arm.

Everyone else was too shocked to make a sound. They just saw the boy wrench a grown man’s arm out of its socket.

The judges cringed at the dastardly sight. Before they could even stop him, the unassuming child had already stepped forth towards the infuriating man, and dislocated the man’s arm from his shoulder.

The child was now standing in front of the man, watching calmly as the man screamed in pain.

The child reached out his left hand, and the man recoiled back in fear. Placing a hand onto the man’s shoulder, within seconds, the arm jerked itself back into place.

The boy stepped back.

The man’s screams have stopped. His eyes were filled with terror, but there was also a hint of resignation.

The man slowly raised his arm that had been dislocated. He raised it sideways, then swung it back and forth. He clenched his fist and he flexed his arm to make sure nothing was out of place.

His arm was back to normal, he was healed. Phantom pain lingered where he knew his shoulder should have been dislocated.

“Does that constitute as proof?” the boy asked the man in front of him.

… The room was silently watching, waiting for the answer.

“Y-yes…” Kalwun Heldeins finally replied. His head drooped in shame, staring at the floor.

Seeing the young girl come in to testify, hearing both stories, he knew his son was in the wrong.

Yet as a father, he could not back down and avert his eyes from his son’s pain. He fought against the verdict to bring retribution against this child in front of him, but in the end, everything was as the child said. There was nothing left to refute in the child’s story. The boy truly could use healing magic on other people: He himself was proof. The excruciating pain had suddenly vanished, and his arm healed completely. It was his complete and utter defeat.

He remembered the incessant begging for them not to look for the attacker. He recalled the choices he’d made.

If he did not push to bring this issue to a public trial: his son would have been safe from the disgrace of attacking a child, and the matter of Joral’s son would still be in the dark for many people.

Kalwun stalked over to where his wife and the other parents were sitting, regretting his actions.

“This trial is over! Go home!” the head judge called out.

There was nothing else they could do. The child had attacked someone in front of them, but he had also healed the victim, proving himself in the process. They too realized that doing so was about the only thing that could have ended this trial.

The judges slowly made their way through the audience, and out of the room. The audience followed after, chattering about the outcome of the trial.

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Seeing the man’s eyes, Kaidus recognized the look.It was reminiscent of the ones Troyle used to have: full of fear and uncertainty.

The man wanted proof, and Kaidus had given him indisputable proof. The only thing now, was to face his parents and see the fear in them.

Kaidus turned towards his family.

Instead of fright, Troyle was grinning at him. Adalina had on her soft smile, eyes red from crying. Anise stared back at him quizzically, confused about everything that had just happened. Kaidus walked over to them.

“Good show.” Troyle told him happily. “You should have broken his legs too, and his neck while you were at it.” Troyle joked quietly so that only they could hear. A wide grin on his face.

The swarm of emotions earlier had subsided. Being a body guard, Troyle also caught the man’s movement towards Kaidus earlier. Before he could move to intercept, the man had already been immobilized. His anger was at its boiling point, but seeing what Kaidus had done, the demonstration had mollified him.

“No he shouldn’t!” Adalina rebuked. “Kaidus… did you really have to do such a thing?” she asked him.

She was shocked at the display, but it was her beloved son. There was no way she would not love him even if he does turn out to be a demon. She had already come to terms with such things years ago. While many things had shocked her today, she always knew that Kaidus was more than he lets on. Much more. Ever since he was born, there was something peculiar about the boy, something special. The feeling only grew stronger as she witnessed this trial.

“You saw the man. He wasn't about to give up unless something drastic happened.” Troyle replied in Kaidus’s defense.

“But healing magic? You were always an odd child beyond our expectations, but this… this is something else altogether!” Troyle exclaimed with the grin still on his face.

“Since when have you been able to?” Troyle inquired.

“I’ve only just started dabbling with it a couple turns ago.” Kaidus partially lied.

He always knew healing magic, but it wasn’t until he was used to his body a couple years ago, that he began experimenting with it.

The restrictions of using magic to heal others is that: a body cannot withstand foreign mana, and will always reject it. But such rules did seem not apply to him.

Bending the magic to his will, his mana coursed through the body and picked out any forms of irregularity within. Muscle aches, bruises, pains, broken bones, tissues, cuts, etc… anything that was out of place in a healthy state of the body. By infusing his mana into such damages, his mana is able to perfectly conform to the body, becoming a part of the person—repairing the damages.

By having his mana becoming a part of the body, it eliminates the body’s rejection. Although it costs him an excessive amount of mana, along with his complete concentration.

Yet, that was not the extent of his abilities. Through many tests and experiments on himself, he had developed something even more frightening. An ability that he never even dreamt of possible in his past life. Something that would rewrite the known laws of ‘Healing Magic’.

“Sorry mom. I did not mean to scare you.” He spoke to Adalina.

Kaidus apologized for what he did, and Adalina gave him a stern scolding for being reckless: in regards to what he did to himself, and to Mr. Heldeins.

As the Paltos waited for the room to clear before leaving, a man approached them with a girl in tow.

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Joral Valnur had quietly watched as everything unfolded, and he could not believe what transpired in front of his eyes. Upon seeing the small child, he had his doubts, but now it was like stepping into another realm. One that defied logic.

For such a small child to easily perform such an act of violence without batting an eye. To have smashed his own hand and reform it without as much as a cry of pain. The unanswered mystery in his daughter’s story was now clear. This young boy, had truly saved and healed her.

Joral watched in shock as the boy dislocated the detestable Kalwun Heldein’s arm out of his own shoulder, then heal it without uttering a single word of apology.

‘Could it be possible?’ He thought to himself. Without waiting for the family to leave, he took his daughter, and approached the family. The sliver of hope in him overcoming the terror of what he just witnessed.

“Please pardon my intrusion.” He spoke. The family turned to look at him. “I am Joral Valnur. I wish to thank you for what your son has done for my daughter.” Joral made a bow of gratitude as he brought forth his daughter. Celene also gave her thanks.

“I am Troyle Paltos and this is my wife Adalina. This is our son Kaidus, and daughter Anise. Please think nothing of it. Anyone would have helped in that situation.” the man who introduced himself as ‘Troyle’ replied back. “We give you our thanks for coming to our son’s defense.” Troyle gave a bow in return.

Joral was surprised. The family did not look particularly wealthy, but the man held himself with dignity.

Looking at the young boy who was staring back at him with deep dark eyes, Joral got down on his knees.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have done. You have brought justice to me and my family.” He bowed to the boy. “I know that this is selfish of me, but I wish to beg for a favor.” He spoke, his head bowed low.

The few remaining spectators who were leaving stopped in their tracks. The families of the other boys who were also waiting to leave, turned to watch the shameless groveling.

“What is it?” The boy replied, his voice as calm as ever.

“My son… He has been left crippled, unable to do anything for himself. I hear his screams at night. Even though he denies it, it breaks my heart to hear him begging for death... I beseech you, young healer. Please... *sob*” Joral was starting to cry. “W-With your magic, *sob* please, save my son Naran. *sob*” The man was crying now.

“H-He has done no wrong... I beg of you, please save him. *sobbing*” Tears streamed down his face.

-----------------

The man in front of him was crying as he begged. Celene was also crying, along with the woman who is undoubtedly her mother.

Kaidus turned to look at the silent broken young man who was suffering the most.

The older boy met Kaidus’s eyes for a single instant, before looking away.

He was a skinny young man. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes looked as if they have forsaken the world, and was now awaiting the sweet release of everlasting sleep. A tear rolled down his depressed cheek before turning away to hide his sadness.

The young man’s arms looked as if they had been deformed. The arms dangled above the shoulders of the two men who were supporting him. His legs were wrapped in a blanket, hiding the damages to them. Without a seat, the two large men held onto the young man.

There was nothing else to be done. Kaidus stepped forward to the young man. The two men saw, and they lowered the broken boy to Kaidus’s level.

“I am sorry for your pain. This will hurt a bit, but please bear with it.” He spoke softly to the older boy. His voice infused with mana, calming the boy.

The young man turned his resigned face to look at Kaidus. Seeing him up close, Kaidus could see there were scars on the boy’s face.

Kaidus brought forth his left hand, and placed it on the young man’s chest. Without hesitation, he poured mana into the young man. Like a part of him, the mana coursed through the body, detecting anything that was wrong.

The arms were broken all the way from the elbow to the hands, and tiny bits of shattered bones had lodged themselves into the muscles.

There were twelve broken ribs that had mended, but four of them did not set properly.

The femur was broken in two places. In the middle and where it connected to the tibia.

The knee caps had also been shattered, and the tibia was in pieces. Like the arms, tiny shards of bones were also embedded within the leg muscles.

The bones were healing, but had healed incorrectly. At this rate, the boy will never walk again. There were also various cuts that were scarring the body, presumably made by the physicians who had operated on the boy.

“Please hold onto him.” Kaidus spoke. The two men tensed at his words.

Concentrating, Kaidus willed his mana to begin.

“GYAH!!! UGGAAAAAHH!!!!!” The young man screamed out in unbearable pain.

Destruction and Restoration.

Kaidus willed his mana to shatter the brittle bones, triggering intense pain. Without flinching at the screams, he willed his mana to begin the healing process: mending bones, fusing them back together, realigning them, and setting them properly. Within moments, all his mana in the boy’s body vanished, having completed their purpose of healing the young man.

Kaidus took a few steps back towards his family. Wiping away the tiny droplets of sweat that had formed on his face. The ordeal had taken much out of him.

This was only the third time he had healed someone, and to restore a fragmented body of this degree, there had been no margin for error. The difficulty was far from healing himself, healing a dislocated arm, or mending newly broken bones.

The precision of having to break the bones before he could heal it was the most trying part of the process. A single slip up while smashing the bones, and his mana would have crushed the body—like crumpling a piece of paper—killing the boy.

‘I need more practice…’ Kaidus thought to himself. Not because of what could have happened, but because of the exhaustion it brought forth.

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The pain suddenly vanished. Naran could feel that his body had undergone a sweeping change.

Forcing his arms and legs to move, he felt strength in them both. The pain that always assaulted him whenever he tried to do so, was gone.

“Let me go!” He weakly cried out.

As the two men who supported him both withdrew their hands, they slowly placed him on the floor.

“Naran!” His father called out, coming to his side.

“STOP!” He shouted against his father’s help. He had been crippled long enough. He was going to use his own strength to ascertain what had just happened, and to see if this was indeed real, or just a cruel dream.

Naran put his arms on the ground and tried to push himself up. The hands complied. There was no pain in them as the joints locked together, pushing himself up.

He tried standing. His legs wobbled and buckled a couple times before he was able to force himself up, but he was standing. The pain in his legs were also gone.

He tried to take a step forward, and fell back down to the ground.

In his despair, he had been wishing for death to escape the nightmare of being a burden on his family. As each day passed by in the constant care of those he loved, unable to do anything for himself, he fell into self-loathing, he felt that his life was not worth living. Wishing to die, he had started starving himself ever since the beginning of Hiso. The only thing that kept him going, was the hatred for those who had wronged him, and the pain he would cause his family if he were to have died.

Having tasted the sweet sensation of being able to move his limbs again, he attempted to walk towards the young boy who had given him another chance at life.

His weakened body gave out.

In the pitiful position, Naran cried gratefully towards the young boy.

----------------------

Kaidus watched as the older boy was picked up again by the two men. This time, taking his own steps forward while being supported.

“Thank you! *sob* Thank you!” The older boy cried. The scars on his face had also been healed, along with those on his body.

The boy’s mother and father were both crying tears of happiness.

“Please, that is enough. I wish you complete recovery, and good health.” Kaidus replied.

Looking around, many people were still in the trial hall. They had been quietly watching the event.

In his concentration, he had forgotten about all of them.

Seeing that no one was leaving, there was no point in waiting anymore.

“Let’s go home?” He asked Troyle and Adalina.

“Yea.” Adalina and Troyle both replied. They were both smiling at what he had done.

The Paltos family headed towards the door. Troyle carrying Anise.

“WAIT!” A man called out. Looking back, it was Kalwun Heldeins.

“Y-you! Why?! Why our sons?! You could have done the same thing and healed them!” The man shouted at Kaidus.

“They are undeserving!” Kaidus replied, his voice filled with anger as he glared at the man. The memories of Naran's injuries fresh on his mind. He walked away without looking back, or at those around him. Troyle and Adalina strolled after.

As they walked home through the streets of the 3rd ward, there were more stares than usual. Faces filled with wonder, fear, astonishment, hate, jealousy, admiration, all different sorts of emotions—watching them as they passed by. The most unusual of all, were the proud faces of the shop owners as they passed through the shopping district. It seems the news of the trial had traveled quickly within the market district.

“Kaidus.” Troyle spoke as they got home. “…would it be too much to ask for you to heal my left shoulder?” Troyle asked jokingly, trying not to overburden his son.

“Something’s wrong with your shoulder?” Kaidus asked, it was the first time he’s heard of it.

“Yea. An old injury. Way before you were born. I used to be quite the mercenary.” Troyle grinned proudly.

He has never really seen Troyle fight except during the tournament a couple years ago. Even then, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his dad. Although it did look like Troyle favored his right arm more than his left, he had assumed it was a preference in Troyle’s fighting style.

Other than that, Kaidus knew that Troyle used to be a Mercenary, but that he left the mercenary life after marrying Adalina. He’s heard many stories about staying with the Droxxon mercenaries from Adalina when he was still a toddler, but never about an injury.

“Don’t lie. You always came back bleeding and half dead. I had to patch you up every time.” Adalina replied, refuting Troyle's boast.

“Come on now, I'm already feeling useless after all that’s happened today. At least let me praise myself a little in front of my son.” Troyle scowled jovially.

Adalina laughed as she carried Anise—who had fallen asleep on their way home—up to bed.

“If you would like.” Kaidus replied, grin on his face.

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Riding back home were: Alzin Varath, his wife Reanne, and their two daughters Jillian and Sylvia.

“… I wonder who that young girl was.” Lord Varath spoke his mind.

“I’m not sure myself. But it looks like she knows Kaidus.” Reanne replied.

They all saw the otherworldly spectacle and were truly enthralled, but the Varath family were thinking about other priorities.

“How old are you this year Jillian?” Alzin asked his daughter.

“I’ll be fourteen, father.” The girl replied.

“Guh! Already?” He joked.

“What does that mean?!” The girl retorted, her face pouting at her father’s response.

“I guess we’ll have to leave this to Sylvia.” Lord Varath replied, grinning. “It looks like you may have a rival, Sylvia. Work hard.” Lord Varath told his youngest daughter.

“Y-Yes Father!” Sylvia replied, her voice was full of spirit. The meek little girl at the beginning of the Rjus was barely recognizable. In her place was a determined girl, giving it her all to attain what she wants.

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“GAHAHAHAH! Incredible! He’s even able to use healing magic!” An old man laughed cheerfully in a carriage that was taking him and two of his companions back to the Academy.

“Headmaster… is it safe to allow the child to do as he please? Shouldn’t we monitor the boy?” one of the masters spoke.

“Zaele, the boy’s been with us in the academy for a whole term. He took my arm, stopped three intermediate spells from you all without so much as revealing his true strength, and you’re asking me this now?” Nylen tilted his head into a quirky stare of curiosity.

“I understand that, but while he is in the academy, he is within our sights. Outside of the academy, I fear many more of these situations may arise.” Zaele countered, explaining himself.

The four of them: Headmaster Nylen, master Zaele, master Hamin, and master Nion had all wanted to come to watch the trial, but master Hamin was left with the charge of the academy. Zaele got the information about the trial from his friends at the Mystiks guild, and after disclosing it to the headmaster, this was the result.

“Well, I don’t think there is anything to fear. You saw for yourself the reasons why the boy took action. Even our little skirmish with the boy had been because of us provoking him.” Headmaster Nylen threw in his thoughts about the boy. “And do you two really think a monitor will be able to stop him?” Nylen asked the two sitting on the opposite side of the carriage.

“…” they did not give a reply, remembering that night and what the Headmaster had called the boy.

With what they just witnessed at the trial: a healing ability that far outstripped that of headmaster Nylen’s own healing magic. There was only one answer to that question. They knew it, and the headmaster knew it.

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At the same time,

‘I am not mistaken.’ thought Lord Knight Commander Ravon.

He was sitting in a carriage accompanied by his son Huin, and two of his most loyal knights. The knights did not known about the true purpose of the outing, but now they sat across from him. Speechless.

“Well?” Lord Ravon spoke to the three around him.

“... I am still trying to wrap my head around it. Was that really a child?” One of the knights spoke, not trusting what he had seen.

“That was THE child. The very one from a year ago.” Lord Ravon replied.

“Father… did you know about all this?” Huin asked, having finally glimpsed a fraction of the boy’s abilities.

“I had an inkling, but this is the first time I’ve seen the boy using healing magic. I had no idea he was hiding such a thing.” Lord Ravon replied.

When the boy revealed that he healed a young girl, there was no doubt in his mind that it was the truth. It was too late to doubt the boy who has exceeded his every expectations so far. Even more shocking, was when the boy had smashed his own hand, and proved himself to everyone.

In that instant, he felt every action he had taken for the boy was correct.

He was looking at something that had not walked the mortal realm for eons. A true mage, unparalleled and untethered by the laws of men. After untold centuries, a Dvitus has finally appeared.

He shuddered at the unknown destiny awaiting the child.

The only thing he was sure of: is that there WILL be change. His only regret is the possibility of not living long enough to see it.

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And with that, we wrap up this little segment in the story.

I want to take a second and thank the donators who donated what they could. Thank you all very much!

As always, thank you for reading!

Also, honorary mention to bullseye2230, you’ve hit the bull’s-eye! (Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Your name and your comment from the last chapter was… for lack of better words, right on target. :D)

Chapter 28 - CeleneForgotten ConquerorChapter 30 - Peaceful days