Reentering the quaint but moderately sized home of Dr. Cyanmay, Darren led Essairyn into Aispin's resting chambers where the doctor himself was tending to the patient. Instantly, Essairyn's heart and mind spurred awake at the sight. Similar to how she found herself tucked away in bed, Aispin was also cocooned by quilted covers and fluffy pillows. Soft waves of hair aimlessly crowned and framed his pallor like some sleeping beauty. Essairyn turned to the doctor, a middle aged man with a worn yet bright and kindly face.

Dr. Cyanmay felt the two youngsters' quietly intense stares on his back since they entered the room and approached the sickbed. Propping up his metal rimmed glasses back on the bridge of his nose, he wiped away the sandy blonde fringes obscuring his vision while getting up from the bedside seat. He extended a hand in greeting toward Essairyn who accepted the polite gesture.

"Please call me Eisso. Doctor is too stuffy of a title in my own home. As you can see," Dr. Cyanmay skipped straight to the point, "Aispin has been in a coma for a week, just like you had been until today. To be honest, I wasn't sure when you were going to wake up, but I did know that it would be sooner than Aispin at least. He's... in a bad condition, to put it bluntly. I've diagnosed it as critically extreme exhaustion and mana deficiency, but I fear that his soul was also somehow tampered with in the attack that your group suffered."

Essairyn deeply furrowed her brows. "His soul was tampered with? What exactly do you mean? How could his soul be possibly messed up due to that attack unless—" She involuntarily clenched her teeth in mer momentary pause. "—he used his soul to bear that blow? But is that even possible? He couldn't be that stupid or desperate unless the situation was...that..serious..."

As her words trailed off, a budding guilt bloomed in her gut as she acknowledged the possibility that Aispin had to take drastic measures because he foresaw the difficulty of beating Balgair more clearly than herself. If that was true, then she was truly stupid. And Aispin was truly selfless and stupid too. Running away might be for cowards, but if being one meant that Leœss would be alive and Aispin well, then Essairyn would rather be deemed a coward by foes and her self-critical ego any day.

However, Dr. Cyanmay quickly debunked her distress, explaining, "No, he didn't voluntarily use his soul to bear such a blow. At least, not in the sense that I believe you're thinking of. Magic flows through both the body and soul, the latter of which can be thought of as the nucleus of magic ability. Everyday, the soul is constantly being employed, that's how one stays alive. Aispin's soul was damaged due to his incompatibility with demonic energy. Or rather, the better way to term it is that his soul is unstable and was easily affected by demonic magic."

"An unstable soul?" Essairyn echoed.

But Eisso just shook his head regretfully. He didn't know magic and its intricate connection to the soul well enough to elucidate her on this theory. The only reason why Eisso Cyanmay could confidently theorize about Aispin's strange condition was due to being taught by his best friend back from his olden days of school. His friend was a brilliant genius and incognito leader of As'pyze along with the Knights Order. He was a man that Eisso could never hope to match but never tried to compete with as medicine was his own proud specialty. Medicine was more accessible to common people than healing mana potions, so Eisso strived to make his impact upon the land in this way.

"Although I don't know why he was affected by demonic magic to this great extent, Aispin is sure to wake up, it's just a matter of when." Dr. Cyanmay chuckled lightly, trying to lift the oppressive mood. "He might look like he's on the verge of death, but I assure you, his external and internal injuries are all healed. It's just the imbalance and disruption of his soul that's delaying him from waking."

Essairyn breath a small sigh of relief. "Then, is that what happened to me too, but on a smaller scale? For me to wake up later than Darren?"

Eisso readjusted his glasses in a thoughtful gesture. "No, your soul was fine. It was just in an extreme state of shock due to over-tapping your mana stores. While most humans have a low m'u requirement for survival, those with more powerful magical abilities tend to require higher levels to sustain their magically endowed bodies."

Essairyn slowly nodded as Eisso continued. "A body can become more sensitive to collapsing like this, so to speak, if the mage depletes their mana stores to a low level very often. I heard from Akari and Darren that you've overtaxed yourself multiple times before, so it's likely due to these repeated occurrences that a critical strike like this could knock you out for so long. Please make sure to take care of yourself better. Try to keep your m'u levels more consistent. Manage it with amulets or magic stones like the Ayvirdizite you have."

"Hm?" Essairyn's eyes widened. She had worn the gem so long as a necklace underneath her shirt that she had forgotten it could be used as a mana storage. But it hadn't yet been fully purified and stayed the same dull, dark green. Tapping her chest, she felt its familiar presence and pulled it out. Surprised by its now vivid green color, she looked up at Eisso for explanation.

"It became completely purified through the enormous magical explosion during your last fight. Empty mana storage gems can assist in recovering from magical depletion by retaining the magic which naturally escapes from your body. You regenerate m'u slower than usual with severe injuries, but to fully recuperate, you need more mana than necessary. This is why first aid procedures often include wearing magic stones. It maintains and cycles your own magic back to you when needed."

"Ah, I see," murmured Essairyn. "That makes sense. Thank you for your help, we couldn't have recovered this quick without you."

The doctor looked a bit abash as he smiled. "No, it wasn't that quick. I wish I could've done more, but I'm an expert in medicine, not magic healing."

She shook her head gratefully. He was being too humble. From her observation on the way back from the outside garden, she had spotted some lab equipment scattered conspicuously among the potted plants on top of shelves and tables inside the house. Loose papers were similarly strewn around the outermost rooms, close to the exterior garden and what appeared to be a greenhouse. From these scenes, Essairyn deduced that Eisso was an adroit doctor who was passionate about experiments and corresponding documentation. Then again, perhaps she was easily impressed and convinced by the breathtaking whorls of liquid color bubbling inside the glassware and spiraling tubes.

"No Dr. Cyanmay, we really do appreciate it." Darren insisted. "You didn't have to open up your home and tend to us for a week, but you did."

"Well, I couldn't possibly refuse Cae—Akari's request for help." Eisso figuratively perspired on his back upon almost revealing the identity of the man who had helped the spirit fox god transport the injured team to his home. While Darren did not think much of his slip-up, Essairyn latched onto it, rolling the syllable over in her mind.

"So Akari wasn't injured too badly?"

Eisso bobbed his head firmly at the girl's question. At least he could deliver some good news. "Akari is all good. In fact—well, it's better that you see for yourself."

Just as they exited Aispin's room, a little girl came dashing toward them, skidding to a stop in front of her father who hadn't yet shut the door.

"Wait, daddy! Let me replace these flowers in the vase!" She bounced on her toes and looked up with eager, round, hazel forest-green eyes at her doting father. Eisso smiled, easily acquiescing to her demand. After she hopped inside and carefully exchanged the flowers in the vase by Aispin's beside, Eisso introduced his daughter to Essairyn now that she had woken.

"Whoa! You're such a beautiful lady, Miss Sairyn! But not more beautiful than my husband Aispin!" She giggled with twinkling eyes and a small hand over her mouth. Her light mocha brown wavy curls jounced jauntily upon her shoulders as she tipped backwards on her heels.

Her bold statements had shocked Essairyn to speechlessness. She didn't know how to respond to the little girl of six except with a chagrined grin. Kids... they have no filter, saying whatever is on their minds. I know I'm not as good-looking as Aispin, but that's a direct strike to my delicate—not really—ego! Also, I don't know about how he would feel being called beautiful instead of handsome by a little girl, but then again, I had the same reaction seeing him for the first time, haha... Essairyn leaned forward with her palms on her thighs to thank the spunky little missy while also giving her a teasing tousle to her locks.

"Eeee~!! Sister, you can't do that, hehe!" Lyressa Cyanmay covered her head while grinning brightly, contrary to her words of protest.

"Hoh!" Essairyn smirked and gently pinched Lyressa's cheeks. The little girl reminded her of Kyla, Leœss's sister. Essairyn's smile took on a shade of bittersweet. As she swiftly stood up, Eisso offered an apology while chuckling.

"She fancies being a princess, and it seems Aispin is the prince she found for herself."

"Haha, I totally understand," Essairyn giggled while giving a soft pat to the back of the child's head. "It was nice meeting you, princess Lyressa."

Upon being called a princess, the little girl couldn't help but blush happily with the brightest of grins before skipping away to go back to play. Eisso then guided the two to Akari who was seated in the grass a short distance away from the house.