Luz, on the other hand, woke up later in a hospital bed. The first thing Luz saw was him being connected to several machines. These hummed and beamed all the time. Luz tried to come to himself. After remaining silent for a few minutes, he stretched out his arm. This action hurt him. "Time to pull these plugs out," Luz muttered as he reached for the tubes on his arm.

"No, no, no. Stay still, Luz," called Master Simon, who immediately rushed to Luz. "My body hurts," Luz groaned loudly."Understandable because your body, as well as your parasites, have both risen a rank," commented Jodoc, who flew from Master Simon's shoulder to Luz's.

Master Simon, on the other hand, tore open the curtains, which had mage diagrams on them as patterns.

"My eyes. How long have I been asleep?" asked Luz, covering his eyes as the sunlight blinded him too much. "Does my beauty blind you," Simon asked back with a smile? "No, but it rather convinces me that I am heterosexual," Luz answered with a chuckle. "You despicable one," Master Simon replied, reaching for Luz's cheeks. "Help me, Master Brian. Master Simon wants to use me as a guinea pig again," Luz cried while laughing.

"I'm totally going to use you as a guinea pig again. Regarding your previous question, you were unconscious for two days," Master Simon replied as he continued to stare at the measurement data.

"Luz, your body is just weird. For whatever reason, the mana pumping through your body seems far too pure compared to others at your level. At the same time, our readings have shown that strong impulses are shooting through your mana core to other parts of your body. The communications between your parasites seem to be getting stronger. Furthermore, we have taken samples from some of your cells, and the parasites do not resemble others of their kind," Master Simon told.

"What do you mean by that last sentence," Luz asked, puzzled."We gave you decentralized parasites, but the parasites in your body seem to be centralized, with different characteristics depending on the place of the taken cells," Master Simon explained to him with excitement.

"Please stop taking my body under the magnifying glass. I am not your guinea pig," Luz sighed. Master Simon only replied, "Oh yes, you are, little one. You are my guinea pig. Be glad that I found you and not some medical institute. They would give me enough resources to reach the next mage rank if I sold you."

"Thank you. Okay, but what rank am I now?" asked Luz. "Now, you are a beginner mage. So rank 0," Master Simon replied. "Huh, what was I before that," Luz asked with a confused look. "Not a recognized mage, my dear. Anyway, the books I gave you should be enough for the beginner level. The important thing is that you continue to improve your control of mana because that will be very useful," Simon told him.

"I'll get to it tonight," Luz said excitedly.

"No. You're supposed to rest today. Master Brian thinks I should reward you for being a mage now. Well, your reward shall be a week's vacation," Simon said while taking notes. "That's it," Luz asked. "Yes. Well, I might give you some spare money after you continued working under me," Master Simon answered with an awkward smile.

"Meh, you are as stingy as ever," stated Luz. "Listen here, you little shit. Saving your life already cost me a fortune. Let's say that it was your reward," remarked Master Simon while looking for the receipt.

"Thank you for saving me a few days ago," Luz replied, embarrassed. "I would gladly do it again since you are my most valuable research subject," Simon replied. "It seems like we are still a long distance away from a Master and apprentice bond," Luz remarked with a sight. "Well, a master guinea pig binding is not so bad either," commented Master Simon.

***********************************************************************************************

Az troop of three skeletons ran through the small town. Meanwhile, people kept their distance from them out of fear. Instead, some watch the four from afar. Az, as well as his followers, were not dressed on the level of the nobility. But compared to the everyday citizen, they were dressed above average.

"Ogron, where are we going?" asked Az, hiding his face under a hood. "We wanted to take you to one of the doctors in the village," Ogron whispered in Az's ear. Az nodded, and it wasn't long before the three of them entered a hut on the outskirts of the town.

"Why are you here," called an old voice. "Ehm, is there a doctor here? Am I in the right place," Az stuttered at the sight of all the animal heads decorating the wall? "Of course, you're in the right place if you're looking for a doctor. But my services are not cheap little man," the voice called, and a figure smaller than Az opened a curtain. "A monster," Az shouted at the sight of the person as he jumped into Simaev's arms. The person standing in front of them looked very old, with scars all over his face. Her face was not symmetrical, and it looked as if her right face was a few inches above her left. Her skin seemed all dried out, and flaps of skin hung from her bony arms. In summary, not a pretty view.

"Well, well, well. Monster, you say," the old one said while reaching out for a cane. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT A MONSTER YOU ARE, RESPECTLESS CHILD," she shouted while going after Az. "Ogron, should we jump in," Otaz asked quietly. "No. Let him deal with the situation himself," Ogron replied.

The old lady hit Az a few times on the head, and it didn't take long before Az summoned a bone helmet to protect his head. "Well, well, well. If you want a mage fight, you will get one," she shouted, and suddenly plants grew from the ground and attached themselves to Gab's legs.

"Ahhh, I'm sorry," Az replied. "You should be. What patient is so disrespectful to a doctor," the old lady muttered.

"So follow me," she replied, and the four followed them. Gab was still wearing his helmet. "Take off your helmet too, please," she sighed while Az was allowed to sit down on a bed. "Okay, I will," Az replied half aloud.

"You three can go ahead and take off your helmets. I know that the three of you are skeletons," she commented. "Are you sure about that? We'll kill anyone who sees us," Ogron replied coldly while slowly gripping after his spear. "A skeleton that can talk. The boy must be talented. Wait, he's way too young to control something of that caliber. Ah, I see, I see," she muttered to herself.

"I promise you that no one will see us here. I swear on my life that I will not reveal this secret." She replied. Ogron slowly put his spear away, and the three took off their helmets. "Much better," Simaev replied in her feminine voice.