“Water,” Quin asked with a dry and barely audible voice. “Please...” He tried to get up, but each time he tried to move only a sharp pain was what welcomed him, so he decided to call out for someone instead.

After his third try a nurse has finally appeared and brought him water. She asked a couple of questions regarding how he felt, but when Quin wanted to inquire about his own state, she told him that any question he had, would be answered in about an hour, when the main healer was present.

Damn, I’ve been in coma for this long and I still have to wait!

He was lying in his bed and staring at the wall of the room, as he had nothing better to do. It was still early and no visitors were currently allowed to enter the hospital. Fortunately that one hour passed more quickly than he thought it would and the Chief Healer has just entered the room. He was a middle-aged man, without many distinguishing features.

“Hi, my name is Niohe,” the man greeted Quin.

“Hello, I am Quin,” he answered back. “So is it true that my cultivation got destroyed?”

The man became shocked for a moment. “Cutting to the chase, huh?” He smiled -- probably with the intention to calm Quin --, however in the lights of the current events it was an impossible task to accomplish. “It seems that you weren’t in a complete coma, or at least not for the whole time?”

“Yes, there were times I could hear parts of the conversations around me,” Quin replied nodding.

“Hmm, strange, but to answer your question, well as difficult as it is to say, your cultivation is completely crippled. Sadly we do not know any kind of methods of restoring it.”

Quin became horrified at once. He thought he was prepared for the reply, even if it was what he had feared, but he was not. Having the Chief Healer telling you that there was no possibility that you could ever get back your cultivation and that you had to live your life like that, was simply too much.

Even though he started to inhale faster and faster, he felt like there was no air around him, and also like something very heavy was placed on his body.

“Calm down, take a slow and deep breath,” Niohe instructed him and soon began to cast a spell.

Quin’s breathing normalized slowly, and a warm sensation filled his body, making him feel much better.

“Thank you,” he said. Quin had never felt this much panic before.

“Don’t worry, it’s my job,” he replied. “I know it must be something impossible to cope with, however don’t forget what happened: by sacrificing your cultivation you managed to save your friends. You should be proud of yourself, it’s a noble deed what you did, and not something that many people would be able to do.”

“Yeah, I know. Thank you,” he answered weakly. He knew it perfectly as well, and as crazy as it may sound, even now he would do the same thing again if he had to, but this was meager help in his current situation. Quin still had to put up with the fact that he had become a cripple, someone comparable to a kid in the Derelict stage in power. No, that was not exactly true as due to his Lightning Qi, his body has become quite strong. Maybe he could even fight someone in the first level of Qi Foundation, but what of it?

He had been proud to be able to boast that he could even defeat people in the Qi Culmination sub-stage, and not that he could win against an eleven years-old kid.

“What about my longevity?” Quin asked with a hint of fear.

“We aren’t too sure about that,” the healer answered scratching his goatee. “Except your right arm and dantian region, your body is quite healthy-” Quin’s face was overcome with dread again, as he remembered that his arm was injured during his previous fight. He was slightly able to move his head, so he turned toward his arm. At least it’s not missing...

“Oh, right, the painkillers and other medications are still in effect. Don’t worry, after a few hours you will feel your body completely. You will be able to move your right arm as well, however it had gotten poisoned by the Shriekers, and we had to remove the dead flesh. Unfortunately those were the muscles mostly, thus it will be hard to lift anything heavy with it in the future.”

Great, now it’s not only my cultivation that got destroyed, even my dominant arm is crap.

“But back to your question: without your Qi Cores, sadly your longevity is decreased significantly, but on the bright side the rest of your body is still in its previous state which means that you should be able to live at least to forty or fifty years old. Any other questions?”

“Nothing,” Quin replied. Great, it’s really great, I have about thirty years of suffering ahead of me.

“You will be hospitalized for at least one more week, so that we can make sure that there are no complications. Alright, I have to go now, but if you’ve got any question in the future, just ask one of the nurses here and they will call me.” He nodded to Quin and then left.

He was left there alone, boiling in anger and rage. Why? Why did it have to be me? Why do I have to lose my entire cultivation? What did I do wrong? Why? Thoughts similar to this filled his mind, until a nurse entered the room.

“Hey, you’ve got a visitor, may I let her in?” she asked and Quin looked at him questioningly “Oh, I think she’s your friend. I’ve never asked her name but she visited you everyday.”

Oh, it should be Aline! His mood got instantly better and signaled to the nurse with a nod.

“Hey Quin, I’ve heard that you’ve already woke up,” the female voice said, but Quin thought that there was something strange in it. In the next moment he realized what it was: the girl who entered the room was not Aline, but Leyn! “Are you alright? How do you feel?” she asked.

“How do I feel? Great!” he answered with a mocking tone, angrily. “It feels so great when they tell you the you’ve become a useless cripple, without any chance to regain your cultivation. Oh, guess what? I’ve heard another great news today besides that my right arm is also quite useless now: I’ll only have to leave such a sorry life for only about thirty years and then I can die in peace when all of you’re just about to start your own life!” he yelled at her full with rage and both Quin’s and Leyn’s eyes became filled with tears.

“And I have to thank you for that, you should’ve been our guardian, but in the end it was me who protected you! It’s not fair... Why do I have to be the one who's life got completely wrecked?” He could not withhold his crying anymore, and started sobbing. He felt humiliated to show such a side of him in front of her, but after to what he had learned today, it was nothing.

“I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice, then turned around and ran away.

It did not take much time for another guest to appear, only for a couple of seconds.

“Hey,” his instructor greeted him.

This is just what today was missing, he thought.

“Good day, sir!”

He entered the room but did not sit down, just stood in front of Quin’s bed for a few moment. “You know that I’ve never lectured or scolded you, only if it was about your training, not even when you did stupid things. Honestly, that’s what your parents are for, and I’ve never wanted to do their job or replace them, but I’ll make an exception this time. Consider this as my farewell gift, as we will probably not have any more lessons together,” he said, scratching his beard, and taking a deep breath, his facing turning entirely serious. “Seriously, get your shit together boy, especially now that you’re no longer the genius everyone looks up to.

“I know that it’s easier to find someone you can blame for your own misfortune but I’ve talked to your friends about what happened, and let me tell you that girl isn’t the one you should hold responsible for these events. If you really want to blame her then first you should blame yourself, as you were the reason Dreon separated from your group, and also why you had to enter the danger zone where the Shriekers attacked you.

“But don’t misunderstand me, I don’t think you’re responsible at all, honestly it was only due to misfortune. However, that girl did everything she could’ve done and thanks to her, nearly all of your friends got away.

“When the Shriekers attacked and it was clear that her group was getting overpowered, she used some kind of secret technique and managed to occupy the enemy, while the others were retreating. Unfortunately another group ambushed them from behind, and thus they were still defeated in the end. However the fact still remains that for using that technique she had sacrificed half of her longevity, without any hesitation. Do you understand what that means right? Half of her entire life. Besides, her’s wasn’t the only life she had to sacrifice.

“She’s a healer, no fighter and yet she did something, many of us would be proud to be able to do, just like what you had done.

“Honestly, I just don’t understand why you are so angry at her, and as I said: I know it’s easier to blame someone, but from what I’ve seen, this girl tries so hard to get back your friendship, even when you’re acting like this to her. You know boy, during my life I found that what I’ve considered the most important, changed constantly. There was only a few things which didn’t, and one of the was true friendship. I know, it sounds quite cheesy, but it’s still the truth and by missing out on this one for no real reason you’ll just make your own life harder, especially now that you’re in this kind of situation.

“Alright, I’ll finish this as I’m not very fond of these kinds of talks. Good luck with your life boy and think about what I’ve said,” he said and left the room.

Is it true? Did Leyn really sacrifice half of her life for the others? Am I really the one who’s at fault? He wondered. Whatever, this is my first day awake and I just don’t want to deal with these stupid stuffs. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe the Instructor is, but today I just want some peace, and not thinking about complex matters or about how crappy my life has became. He sighed and closing his eyes fell back to sleep in no time.