5.5

After the grandiose toast declared by Randolph to everyone, the anxiety between people who bore different social status eased and turned into a friendly atmosphere.

If the hero could disregard his title and ranking in the academy and spoke to John in a respectful manner, it meant that everyone else should follow suit.

The hero, Scywell Shatterstep, despite his young age of 23 had power and status equivalent to the Immortal Emperor’s children. Being a hero meant he would one day be the strongest person in the world, it also meant that he would carry the burdens of fighting monsters and calamities, all for the people’s prosperity.

In Scywell’s case, he was particularly special since he was chosen at a young age to bear the responsibility of being a hero and the second ever human being to be chosen by one of the Five Archangels to be a hero. He was granted powers that was beyond anyone’s imagination, powers that grew stronger with time.

It was natural that his impartial attitude would be adopted and followed by everyone. Those who came from nobility no longer put up their arrogant façade and spoke to everyone equally, while the commoners had a newfound respect for both the hero and was no longer fearful of offending someone.

All thanks to the public display of the hero’s party talking to John in a friendly manner, all manner of friendships that was formed without bias, and for the sake of enjoying the other’s company. This in turn, allowed John to mingle with people, other than the hero’s party, easier.

John moved from one group to another to make his presence known, he would stay for a couple of minutes before leaving if the conversation at the group that he was in did not interest him.

After talking around with various people in hopes of meeting for the silver haired girl he met in Purefold Town, he allowed himself to take a break when it brought him no results. Having saw her again while he was spectating in the arena, he was expecting to her here, but apparent he was wrong.

That was then he spotted a lonely Randolph by a sofa and went to speak to him.

“Hey, Randolph, you look free, mind if I ask you stuff?”

“Sure thing.” Randolph quickly agreed but his eyes lingered towards the opposite side of the pub where a group of girls chatted energetically among themselves.

“I have heard about this hero thing a lot from you guys. Does that mean you guys been through countless battles before coming to Moxnet Academy?”

“Scy’s been through the most out of us. Then next would be Helen, she is the earliest to join, that’s why they are somewhat closer.”

“I see… What about the rest of you?”

“…Oh my, they look so cute…” Randolph completely ignored John and had his eyes shifted to another group of females that piqued his interest.

“Umm…”

Angeline who listened from afar moved to them and continued on behalf Randolph, “Following that list would be me, Gobbert, then Randolph here…” and proceeded to slap the back of Randolph’s head.

Smack!

“Hey! Stop doing that when I am people watching!” Randolph protested, rubbing the spot on his head where he received the blow.

“If you haven’t ignored John and looked at women like the pervert you are, maybe I will.”

“What? I am not a pervert!”

John put his hands in front of him to defend Randolph. “It’s fine, it’s fine. I was the one who came back to ask questions.”

“See? He understands the male mind, that’s brotherhood for ya. Unlike you Angeline, all you know is your little experiments.”

“Those experiments will improve our lives!”

Randolph ignored her by flicking his wrist at her, shooed her and her voice out of his mind as he wanted to resume viewing the ladies from where he sat.

“Maybe instead of looking, would it not be better for you to talk to them?”

“You think so, John?”

“Never know if you try. You can’t win if you never participate.”

“That makes sense. If it’s alright with you John, I’ll leave you with Angeline. See you around sometime.”

“Yeah, later then.”

Once Randolph left them, Angeline rubbed her temples with a hand, “This Randolph. I am so sorry about him.”

“It’s getting late either way and I will be going back to my dorm after another question about the hero business. Maybe stick around an hour or two if things got interesting…” his eyes then scanned the crowd for the sixth time of the night as he finished his sentence, “…maybe not.”

“Looking for someone?”

“I was wondering if this is everyone from East Wing. From what I know from asking around earlier, only one out of three who won the tournament present is in this meet and greet party. What happened to the other two?”

“The third winner was announced half an hour ago. I doubt that person could finish medical checkups from the doctors and finish their registration quick enough to attend before this party ends. Regarding the other one, maybe that person is simply tired from the battles earlier.”

But she had no injuries… Perhaps mana fatigue from the invisibility spell she used was too much?

“Oh yeah, I forgot how intense that battle was. The contestants of the first round of the five person battles were vicious. Talk about how desperate people want to get into the academy”

“Oh! You were there to watch it! How was it, how was it!?” Angeline perked herself at the mention of the battle that decided the first winner of the tournament. “I heard only the winner herself got out of it without a scratch and three died. People were said the other battles were child’s play compared to that first five person battle.

“Three…died?! Was it not one?”

“One decapitated, one petrified, and one had his internal organs all melted into nothing but gooey muck. I was there when they tried to use a higher grade potion on the half giant but his body was already melting

“He died? I was sure he could’ve survived that… I thought…” he was at a loss for words. “But I was told that the academy will take care of their wounds…”

Angeline saw his unease and tried to comfort him, “All of them knew the risks for the tournament. If anything, we would experience similar dangerous situations as they would, of course, we would be properly taught to handle ourselves before given impossible tasks.”

“R-right, things like this happen on a daily basis…” John calmed himself, though he was informed that deaths would be mitigated from the tournaments due to how violent they can be, but a part of him wondered if he should have went to help then.

“Enough about that. You have a question about the hero, right? Ask me, and I will answer to the best of my ability,” she had a hand at her slender and petite chest, arching herself upwards with great confidence to answer whatever question from him.

“Does Scywell happen to know anything about demons? It is his duty—”

But she did not expect that question from him.

Angeline quickly placed a finger on his lips, interrupted John before he could finish his sentence. Her light brown hair dangled in front of her glasses as she desperately tried to keep their conversation quiet, “Shhhh…” she looked around, and once she was sure that no one overheard them, she spoke to John in a low hushed voice. “Listen carefully. Don’t ever ask Scywell that. He may be open to many topics, but mentioning the word ‘demon’ in front of him is not something you want to.”

“What? Why? That is his duty. Shouldn’t he know a lot about it?”

“Yes, I agree, it is his duty,” she nodded, then raised a finger before she continued, “But he has a past that involved demons that he doesn’t want to speak about. There was this one time before Randolph joined our party, Gobbert was asking about it, and Scywell got so angry that he froze everything in our campsite.”

“Then…”

“Helen told me something about demons slaughtered his family when he first became the hero, but even she was not sure of the full story. And mind you, Scywell tells her everything under the sun. To give you some perspective, the Scywell and Helen are closer than just friends, she’s been by his side for at least a decade, she was by his side long before he was deployed to missions like he does now.”

“…”

“I know you are a good person and did not mean any harm by it. But my advice for the average person who wants to know about demons would be to not mention them at all. The texts and documentations regarding them seemed to indicate something huge involving them are all hidden and confiscated from the public eye, replaced by vague descriptions.”

“You mean…there is something behind the scenes?”

“Yes, at least, it is my theory along with what Scywell has told me. Perhaps they are keeping the knowledge from the masses is to prevent a horrible event, perhaps by speaking about them alone will bring their rise to power, whatever it is, I hope I can know about it someday.”

“Curious, huh?”

Angeline answered with a push of her glasses with a hand, “That’s the reason that got on the hero’s party. I get to learn about things that your average scholar can’t, I get to interact with artifacts and see the world for myself instead of what they cram in noble schools.”

“And here you are in Moxnet Academy, in the end you still end up in not seeing the world for yourself, hahaha. Stuck with people like me who came from unknown backgrounds.”

“Hey! Firstly, we are here because the empire wanted us to be here, it is my job. Secondly, this is additional training before we actually handle more national threats that are…”

“Ahahaha, why are you getting so defensive? All I said was you are not seeing the world for yourself since you are currently crammed here.”

“Y-you! Don’t get cocky just because you have that crazy [Heal] of yours. I will have you know you won’t be able to replace me as the healer for my party!”

“Someone’s getting defensive, ahahaha. Did someone cram the idea that I will replace you in your head?” John flashed a smug grin.

“To think I was speaking to you seriously, I—"

“Relax, Angeline, I won’t be taking your job away from you, moving around the world isn’t the lifestyle I want. But I am happy to help out if you ever need my help.”

“Hmph! I doubt my high grade potions will lose to your magic. You are the one who should feel free to come for me for help. I am so close to perfecting my healing potions that could cure any disease! Bet you can’t do that!”

“Diseases, I can heal them, I can rid them permanently at times, but other times, not so much. It depends on the type of disease, if it is natural illnesses that was inherited, it would be harder, you know, it’s kind of weird like that.”

“What about limb regrowth? I bet you even that—”

“Yes, regrowth is also possible.”

“Then, complete immunity from curses for a short duration of time?”

“No, I don’t think that one counts as healing magic. I might dispel a few curses, though I haven’t tested it, don’t think I want to play around with that… You’ve got me there.”

“See! I am better! Just you wait, I will make it so my potions are better than you, I am so close on figuring that out. It is such a great timing that I am in Moxnet Academy when I am in its developmental stages, I am confident I can make something that surpasses you.”

“So you don’t have this all so powerful potion of yours. And you are boasting them to…me?” amidst his verbal sparring with her, from the corner of his eye he caught a blur of silver and blue outside the pub.

Is that…

“Yes, I mean— No. I have made potions that can do all of these but each effect is separate. So you have to drink or apply them in a specific order for the full effect to be there, I think...”

“You don’t have the complete product, which means I am better than you after all.”

“No! I mean, once I complete—”

“I am joking, Angeline. Your work is useful, there is no doubt about it, maybe more useful than I ever will be. So, keep up that spirit of yours and if you don’t mind, I will be going back, later then,” he gave a vague excuse as he went to investigate the lone person who stood outside of the pub

Angeline had an outstretched hand towards him as he left with a wave. “H-hey! You dare mock me and take your leave soon after! Gah…what a rascal…”

John who made his leave and gave a quick apology that was drowned out by the noise in the pub.

Sometime during his little banter with Angeline, he noticed the blue-eyed girl from Purefold Town, the person who won the first round of the five person battles, was observing him by the doors in secret.

She noticed him when he moved to the entrance, their gazes met, but before he could call out to the girl, she took off and ran away from him.

“Hey, wait. I just want to talk,” he called out to her but she did not answer and went down the cedarwood stairs, hurried footsteps echoed as John chased after her. “Just who are you…”

When he reached the bottom floor, there was no one, the girl had disappeared without a trace. John clicked his tongue and seethed his teeth in annoyance.

“You were the one who was stalking me, can you at least have the courage to speak to me in person? We crossed paths in Purefold Town didn’t we?” he spoke to the empty space in front of him as though he was speaking to the girl herself.

After a minute of staring into the blank fields that was around the east wing without a reply from her, he shook his head disappointingly.

“Tsk, she must have used her magic to hide herself like before. This girl…”

As he grumbled to himself, a series of violent coughs from a nearby corner traveled into his ear, jolting him upwards.

Ack! Ack!

“Is anyone there?” he asked aloud, concerned about how sickly that cough was.

“Ack! Y-yeah…n-no problem…” a male’s voice traveled from a wall on his right.

“Are you sure about that? Because I know what a healthy cough should be…”

“A-absolutely fine—”

The weak voice suddenly stopped short and a loud thud followed.

“Hey, hey! Are you okay?” he called to the person and there was no reply.

He clenched his teeth at the eerie silence that filled the nightlife of Moxnet Academy, fearing for something serious had happen to the person, John moved to the spot where the voice was from.

He was greeted by a sickly pale person on the ground, groaning as blood was splattered across the person’s face, result of the violent coughing that he heard earlier

“What happened? Are you hurt? Did you miss your medication?” he asked with his hand at the ready to cast his magic on the person.

“Arggh...I...gggrrr…” pink foam leaked from the person’s mouth as a moan escaped.

“[Heal].”

His blue ethereal aura came forth and started covered the person, the glow of his magic flickered dazzling in this cold night.When he was sure that the person had been properly healed up, John slid an arm onto the stranger’s shoulders and lifted him off the ground.

“All that coughing must be hard, try to lean onto me for a little while.”

“Thanks. I owe you for this,” the person said in a weak voice.

“Where do you live? I’ll carry you there, my [Heal] may have taken your illness away for the time being but your body still has to adjust itself.”

“Just walk ahead and take a turn to the left, I live on the first floor.”

John nodded and moved slowly with the person on his shoulders. Now that this person was had his head up in the air, he could see that the person had ears on the top of his head, instead to the sides.

They were round tipped, not too large, not too small, just like the type of wolves that John saw on a forest trip when he was a child. And behind the person was a bushy tail that swayed like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.

“Are you perhaps a wolf beastkin?”

“C-call me Aurelius, and yes, I am a wolfkin.”

“What happened to you earlier?”

“The coughing? Bah, it is just something I get once in a while. You don’t have to worry about it, I will be fine…”

“Are you sure? Because it took some time for me to heal you back up. Aren’t you beastkin supposed to be stronger than the average human? You know, less on the creative mind but stronger and faster?”

“You are a worrywart, kid,” Aurelius chuckled at John’s concern, his whole body trembled as his hearty laugh echoed throughout the silent hallways. “This is normal for me.”

“Not a kid. I am 19, for your info.”

“Well so am I. The ‘not a kid’ part of course. But you look younger than most people I know. And I have traveled many places, even the desert... Ah, this is my room.”

John slid Aurelius’s arm off his back the moment they came to stop in front of a door that had a wreath hung on it, the circular ornament was made out of different branches such as longevity rod, placeholder’s totem, kroomtails, and pashvines to name a few, all of which promoted the soothing of the soul and commonly used for meditation.

What is he, a monk?

“Thanks for your help, kid— I mean, um...”

“John, John Sarvod.”

“Ah! John, yes, I will remember that name properly! Thank you once again! I will do my best to repay you!” his voice became energized when he got to know John’s name, the weak Aurelius that John had helped gotten up to his feet was now replaced with someone of great vigor.

“Just get well for now, Aurelius. You can thank me if you no longer cough blood like that.”

“I certainly will! I can feel myself better already from that magic you used on me!” Aurelius wagged his tail with great enthusiasm, almost looking like he was dusting the door to his room with it.

“Glad to be of help,” John said before he left the wolfkin to his room.

Did it helped him though? Aside from the coughing, he looks perfectly normal…

[Heal] served as an all-purpose healing spell that could bring someone on the verge of death to a healthy state, though it may get rid of immediate negative effects and illness but when it came to things that someone was born with, or without he could not make any permanent changes. If someone was born missing a limb, he was unable grow an arm for said person.

That’s why when it came to decrease the effects of aging, and prolonging his life, it was hard to make an accurate estimate on whether it would work. If his mana pool dictated that he would live another sixty years, [Heal] at most would probably stretch him another decade if he his body was still allowed to regenerate his cells.

Because of this, he had been a little too obsessive in the past to extend the type of magic he can use, even if he was told that it was impossible. As long he would bring Raina another decade of happiness, it was well worth trying.

Not that it matters now.