After Klyde and Lauren left Nick’s room, Celia rushed back in while Alyson treaded behind her. Now that Nick got a closer look at her, Alyson seemed to have dark circles under her eyes.

‘Did she stay up for me?’

Nick thought to himself.

“How are you feeling?”

Celia asked Nick as she scanned his body.

Compared to how he looked before he was definitely in better condition, but that was only on the outside. She knew that he could be feeling pain mentally and not physically.

Nick gave her a small smile.

“I’m fine, where are the others?”

“They are around here somewhere, after what happened we hurried back here to get you treatment. After that we sort of scattered, and i’ve been here with you since then.”

Celia sat in the seat she was sitting in before Lauren came into Nick’s room.

“I was actually talking about my friends, Matthew, Freya, Katherine. I haven’t seen them since I woke up.”

Nick didn’t really care for his squad members, that was only a temporary thing so he wasn’t too attached to them.

“They’re fine, they are across the hall in the other room getting treated. It’s nothing serious, just some minor injuries. Katherine is with them since we were here with you.”

Alyson was the one who spoke as she stood in front of Nick’s bed with her arms crossed.

“Unlike you two, the majority of us did not encounter any difficult demon beast. There were a few exceptions though, but no one wants to talk about that.”

Alyson bit her lower lip as she looked to the side as if a bad memory emerged in her head.

Nick didn’t ask about it. In the time he was unconscious it seems something serious happened.

“Where did Charles go?”

Nick looked towards Celia as he asked that question, making sure to change the subject.

“There was some strange guy looking around for you, so Charles went to go get him.”

After Celia said that, Nick’s eyebrows furrowed.

Who could be looking for him? No one came to mind.

“Mind filling me in on what happened after I fell unconscious?”

Nick asked Celia as he looked her in her eyes.

“I’m not entirely sure myself. What I do recall is that some man saved us, but i’m not even a hundred percent sure it was a human. I was surrounded by wind, and when the man spoke to me he said the debt was repaid.”

Celia told Nick what she knew, but she did not tell him everything. The man said something else to her, but what he said was only meant for her ears.

“That’s it?”

“That’s all I can remember. Under the pressure of his essence my body fainted. Truthfully Nick, i’ve never seen or met anyone like him. This is the first time in my life i’ve collapsed due to someone else’s pressure.”

“Are you sure it was his essence?”

Alyson spoke up and asked as she was curious.

From the information she knew about essence and EXO users, this was the first time she ever heard of someone ever fainting.

“What else would it be? I recall that moment clear as day.”

“It’s just… this is a first. Think about it, let's say you have a rank A ability, and your body can hold a lot of essence right? You stand in front of a D rank user whose body isn’t use to handling a lot of essence. Releasing your essence upon them wouldn’t cause them to faint, they’d just feel the pressure causing their movements to be sluggish. It’s been proven.”

Alyson explained.

Nick looked over at her and thought over what she said. She wasn’t wrong, even his sensei told him about it.

“Then what do you believe caused it?”

Celia asked Alyson.

Alyson shrugged her shoulders.

There was no way she’d know, nor did she have an idea in her mind as to what caused it. This was way beyond her and she knew it.

“No idea. Maybe his ability, but if it wasn’t we should report this discovery to the higher ups. They should know of this.”

An EXO user who could cause others to faint. This was new, there hasn’t been any ability like it before, but Nick felt something was off. He just had a gut feeling that was all.

“I don’t think that is necessary. Someone else has probably reported it, and even if they did not I highly doubt it is a new EXO ability. Every ability has been discovered already, there has not been a new one in over a hundred plus years.”

Nick told Alyson.

Alyson sighed as she knew Nick was right, but she still felt in her heart it might be a new ability.

Celia reached over and grabbed the star pendant on Nick’s chest. She carefully looked it over.

“You have a nice gift here.”

Nick looked at Celia in confusion.

Seeing his confused expression Celia explained.

“It’s a Vago, no one really uses them nowadays but it’s an item that recovers the essence in a person's body at twice the usual speed. That, or you store your essence inside of it and use it when you’re running low to continue fighting. Overall it's a good item to have.”

She pointed towards the pendant around her neck.

“Even I have one.”

Nick gazed at the pendant around her neck, he never thought it was anything special, just another accessory. Turns out everything is not what it seems.

He knew a lot, he learned a ton, but he was still lacking in some aspects. What sort of other tools were out there that improved EXO user’s abilites?

“Mines stores my essence, so while other people only have the essence in their body, I have some outside. It’s able to store up to two hundred percent of my own essence. However, what yours is capable of is something you’ll have to figure out yourself.”

Celia finished as she sat the pendant back down.

As much as Nick wanted to touch it to explore what sort of secrets it held, he couldn’t right now.

Nick, Alsyon and Celia continued to converse with each other but soon the curtains surrounding Nick started to move as a relatively handsome man appeared.

“Vance?”

Nick asked in confusion as Vance shouldn’t be here, he should still be at home.

Vance grinned as he looked at the injured Nick.

“You look like crap.”

“And feel like it too!”

Nick added with a smile.

Whatever his reason, he was glad he was here.

Vance glanced at Alyson and Celia for a moment before he returned his gaze to Nick. In his mind he was picturing something, but it was best left to himself.

He stood at the edge of Nick’s bed as he sighed.

“I sent you a message, but since you never replied back I assume you never got it. Looking at you now, I can see why.

Anyways, glad to see you’re holding up. I came to tell you a few things. One, i’m sure you’ll hear of it shortly, but New York is done for, it’s been taken over by demonic beast. As for your school, it’s safe to assume that it’ll be closed for the foreseeable future.

Two, I haven’t heard from my mom in a while, which has me worried. With the things going on here currently, I think it’s best if I leave for now. When I find her if everythings ok, i’ll return and help clear up things, if not… then who knows how long i’ll be gone for.

Lastly, when you recovered contact me and i’ll update you on my progress.”

Before Nick had a chance to speak up and ask questions, four more people appeared before him.

“Nick!”

“You sure are a tough one, did not think you’d be awake so soon.”

Freya, Matthew, Katherine and Charles appeared.

Matthew and Freya had bandages wrapped around them, while Katherine was holding a pen in her hand.