From blessed unconsciousness to relentless agony, Jack woke up groaning.

"He is waking" a deep, rumbling voice like thunder said to someone else in the room. Jack opened his eyes and tried to sit up at the same time. Someone grabbed his shoulders and held him down.

"Take it easy Jack. Don't try to move too fast" Matt said with concern and the room slowly came into focus for Jack. Surprisingly, Zachias was already projecting his illusory form into the room. Were they talking while he was unconscious? He didn't know Zachias could do that. Jack filed that fact away for later.

He looked around, finding himself laying on a soft, king size bed with the smoothest, baby blue sheets that he had ever felt. The room he was in was huge, with a ceiling so high that even the eight foot tall Zachias had plenty of room. If he weren't in terrible pain from head to toe, Jack would probably be more comfortable than he had ever been.

There wasn't an inch of his body that wasn't sore. His arms, legs, head, and torso felt like one big sensitive bruise. Despite the pain, Jack was surprised to find that he could still feel and move his arms and legs. Actually, he couldn't believe that he was waking up at all.

The last thing that he could recall, he was getting the absolute shit beat right out of him by that crazy, mad scientist looking bastard. He'd felt bones snapping in his arms and legs. He remembered coughing blood and spitting out teeth.

"How long have I been out?" Jack asked expecting to hear that he had been in a coma for months. Matt looked pained but answered quickly.

"About sixteen hours."

Jack was feeling like he may be delusional from head trauma.

"How am I not a vegetable right now? Even if I did survive somehow, I should be in a full body cast drinking my food through a tube shoved down my throat."

"You heal" Zachias bluntly answered. Jack looked at him sideways.

"So you are finally done sulking? Thanks for all your help back in the mansion by the way" Jack said sarcastically.

If he were in his real body right now, Zachias would be grinding his teeth in anger.

"I was never sulking. I was concealing my presence. If Janus had discovered that you have my Inheritance, he would never have been so careless as to let you escape. He would have killed you immediately and taken it for himself."

"Janus?" Matt asked. He still had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"The guy who beat me like a rented mule" Jack explained and then turned to Zachias. "Go back. What do you mean I heal? Doesn’t everyone heal?"

"Not that fast they don't. You were on the brink of death when Matt found you and carried you out. Bones were shattered, internal bleeding, you should be dead." Zachias said all of this matter-of-factly like it was nothing important.

"I guess I owe you one" Jack said sincerely to Matt. "You saved my life."

Instead of the expected cocky brag, Matt looked at the floor in shame.

"Your life saved itself" he said softly. "I just carried you out."

"How did I magically start healing so fast?" Jack asked Zachias. "Seems kind of convenient."

He studied Jack for a time before answering. Once again, Jack got the feeling like Zachias was searching his face for some hint of recognition.

"It is not uncommon in the Universe. Usually, it has to do with one's species. Certain races, such as the phoenix or the direct descendants of the End Wolf, have special physiques that heal extremely quickly. For a mortal human, however," Zachias narrowed his eyes and stared at him again before continuing. "It is much rarer."

"Yeah, but if that is the case, then why haven't I always had this healing factor bullshit? Shouldn't I have been this way my whole life?"

"Yes, and no. You have always had the potential for it, but your body has never had the resources to do it before now. It naturally uses your qi to replace damaged or missing tissue. Have you not noticed that your aura is completely depleted right now?"

Jack closed his eyes and sensed his qi. He found that Zachias was right. There was no excess energy floating in his body that he could use to manifest his aura. Even the tiny trickle of ambient qi that was being captured by his naturally slowly spinning tornado of energy was immediately used by his body. It went directly to the places where he felt he was the most injured, slowly repairing his damaged flesh.

"Wow. That seems like an unfair advantage." Jack turned his attention back to the world around him. Zachias shrugged.

"Whoever said that life was fair? Besides, your body may do it naturally, but everyone has the potential to develop their healing ability."

Jack tilted his head in confusion.

"Wait. So if anyone can do it, it isn't actually that special?"

As always, Zachias seemed less than pleased to be answering the questions of beings that he saw as inferior. He looked like he would rather be squashing them like bugs, but he still answered Jack’s question.

"Anyone can do anything. There is no such thing as a unique power in the Universe. Everything is based on the manipulation of fundamental abilities like qi and chakra, which are available to every conscious being. If someone else can do it, that means you can as well. If you knew the proper pattern, you could manifest your qi into shadows just like his right now, and he could manifest his into lightning just like yours."

The more Zachias spoke, the more confused Jack became.

"But I thought my only aspect was lightning?"

"That only means that lightning is the most natural shape for yours to take, but qi is qi. It is the fundamental component of all matter. It can be used to make anything. You can use your qi to make shadows or diamonds or even gravity, if you could figure out how to make gravitons."

As Jack was getting his mind blown, part of him realized that something was wrong. Why was Matt still looking down in shame? He was a genius. This conversation would usually be irresistible to someone like him.

"Matt." Matt looked up sharply to Jack looking like he was dreading what would come next. "What's wrong?"