~Ring ring ring
With my mind well-rested, I woke up to see that it was twelve o'clock.
The sound of a phone ringing could be heard from the desk on the other side of the room.
~Ring ring ring
"Yeah yeah I am coming"
After raising my body from the bed, I tried to place my legs on the ground and walk in the direction of my phone.
As soon as I stood up, my head began to ache.
My balance was thrown off due to the now hindered coordination between the right and left brain hemispheres.
Although I had invested all my magi in repairing the severed connection of the two as soon as I finished the Contract with Tsormug, the process was taking a lot longer than I had expected.
{You need any help human?}
With the Dark One having vanished from my body and becoming a Spirit, I had now full control over all my body parts.
However, utilizing both simultaneously proved to be more complicated than one could expect.
"Shit, I can't walk"
~Ring ring ring
"It's getting annoying"
I decided to make a run for it, hoping for my agility and senses to make up for the lack of coordination.
-Let's see, right leg first then lef-
~Crash!!
"Argh, fuck..."
My descent to the floor was a quick one, with my body unable to properly maintain its balance and me collapsing to the ground head first.
A small lump became visible on my forehead, and the slight headache had now evolved into a mild concussion.
"Gasp!! Are you okay?"
From the loud noise I made, a passerby nurse had heard me and barged into the room, quickly grabbing me by the sides and helping me get up.
"I don't need any help"
"What are you talking about, you obviously are suffering from head trauma, you should not be getting up so soon"
I could sense no ill intent from the young woman.
Her black hair was in the shape of a ponytail and her cheekbones were rather eye-catching for a woman of her age.
-She must be an intern
The kindness she showed truly caught me off guard and the feeling of someone showing concern about my health really took me aback.
"I will call the Doctor and inform him that are awake, please stay there for the moment"
"No don't..."
By the time I could voice my objection she had already disappeared and was on her way to call a doctor.
The phone had by now stopped ringing so I decided to listen to the nurse's order and stay put.
{Growing soft aren't you human?}
"You are doing an awful lot of commenting for someone who has lived for eons secluded from the outside world"
{...}
After a brief moment of silence, the Doctor in charge arrived, with his excitement and curiosity being visible from miles away.
A short man probably in his 50's who had grey short hair and an oddly long mustache, entered the room, with the "Chief Surgeon" description written below his name tag.
"I can not believe it, he said that you would wake up soon, but I would never expect you to make such a fast recovery"
-His voice reminds me of something, but I can't recall ever meeting him
Accompanying him was the cute nurse who had previously assisted me.
"Can you understand me, young man?"
"Yes?"
-Why is he so interested in my condition?
"It is remarkable! To think that you suffered such an injury and have regained consciousness in the span of a day"
"How do you feel? Are you able to control all your body parts?"
"Sort of..."
"May I take a closer look?"
"I guess...?"
Until the nerve linking my two hemispheres had fully healed, there wasn't really much I could do in the ways of physical training, and I would have plenty of time to practice my sixth sense and affinity with the Darkness Element in the meantime.
Therefore, spending some extra time and getting a medical diagnosis from a professional wouldn't hurt.
Upon my agreement, he approached me and began to conduct a few tests to examine my reflexes and coordination.
In the beginning, he closed my left eye, pulled a pen from his coat, and put it directly in front of me.
"Can you see this clearly young man?"
"Yes..?"
"Hm, and how about this?"
In a rapid motion, he placed his arm on my right eye and positioned his pen right in front of my other eye.
"Can you distinguish the object in front of you?"
"Yes, I can still see the pen..."
"Hm, very strange indeed"
"Young man, could you try and take a few steps?"
"But Doctor, he previously fe-"
"It's okay... it's okay...Yes doctor, I can try"
I did not wish for more people to know about my handicapped state, and above all, I could not tolerate others thinking that I was weak.
-I will be prepared this time
-Come on Jay, you have killed a King and made an ancient being succumb to you
-A few steps won't stand in your way
With my resolve set on not making a fool of myself for a second time, especially now with a higher number of observers, I prepared myself for what was about to come.
-One more time
After placing my feet on the floor, I slowly stood up.
-It's going well so far
In comparison to the first time, I now moved my left leg first, and with an adequate amount of effort, I managed to land it successfully on the ground.
Due to the unfathomable amount of force I used in order to properly anchor my foot in place in an effort to properly stabilize my core, my knees began to slowly tremble.
"Are you fine mister?", the nurse with the long ponytail asked me with a soft and relaxing voice.
With every ounce of concern I received from that kind-hearted woman, I could feel my pride plummeting to the ground.
-Don't call me mister, I am not that older than you dammit
"Yes Yes, I am perfectly fine, it's just I needed to warm up a bit first"
It was now time to move my right leg.
-I can do this
With a swift and unnatural motion, I raised my leg from the ground and awkwardly landed it four feet away.
-YESSSS!!! Eat that gravity!!
"See? I can move just fine"
The feeling of success took hold of me and I lost all that concentration required to stabilize my center of balance.
-fuck
~Crash
My descent this time was a small one, as I landed on top of the desk next to my bed.
"Mister, are you hurt anywhere?"
Ignoring the two obvious head injuries I had by now amassed and my confidence having taken a dive into nothingness, I slowly limped my way to the bed.
"Doctor why are you making him walk when he just regained consciousness"
"No...please no"
The nurse whose kindness was that akin of a saint pierced my body like the sharpest blade and made me filled with embarrassment
With my memories of the time my parents being alive being extremely blurry, this was the only time I recalled a person showing such kindness to me.
-How can I be so weak against such simple words
-I need to get the hell out of here
"Hm, I think I know what is going on. Nurse Suzy, can you please leave us alone?"
"Have a nice day Doctor!!", carrying a cheerful smile that would revitalize any man's soul she quickly left the room.
-Bless you doctor...
Now that this sentient kryptonite was away I could finally think rationally and at the very least partially regain my shattered confidence.
"Young man, I have already spoken with your employer so you have no reason to be wary of me. "
-Employer? Could he be one of Rick's people? Doesn't really seem like it. He seems more like an acquaintance
"In all my career as a Doctor, I have never witnessed someone making any recovery from such a serious injury"
"Tell me, does your recovery have something to do with you being a challenger, or is there another reason?"
-!!!
-So he knows uh?
-Then he must have been the one that examined me in the first place.
"What's that got to do with you?"
At the moment I had no interest in explaining how magi worked to an ordinary human.
"Till now, I haven't had the opportunity to examine any challenger's body as they all either die on the Rifts or are treated in a Military Hospital"
"From what Mister Sullivan had informed me, you people have acquired supernatural abilities from clearing Rifts, therefore I can't help but ask you, did you receive any ability related to Healing?"
"I would be grateful if you could show it to me if that's the case"
-So that's how it is
"Sorry doc, magi is something all challengers have in common, but it's not that great as a source of healing."
"It is pretty useful if you are able to precisely manipulate it, or if you need an additional boost in energy, but it does not work well with healing serious injuries."
"And apart from boosting the body's recovery rate, it can't instantly heal someone, so to say"
Back in the Elyan Kingdom, I had personally witnessed how effective even a Rank F healing item was, and its usefulness largely overshadowed what magi had to offer in terms of healing capabilities.
Even more, every precise operation I had performed on my body using magi, was only feasible due to my high senses, and without them, such degree of control would be impossible.
"Ah I see, thank you for explaining it to me though, my discussion with you was really eye-opening"
"By the way, since from what you say, it is possible to regain full functionality of your brain, then I think I know a way that will certainly speed up the procedure"
"I will come again in two hours, by then I will have finished visiting all of the important clients and will have plenty of time to "
"Sure, I will see you then"
If he could really help me expedite the rate of my recovery then I was not going to risk missing such an opportunity.
"Oh by the way, almost forgot to introduce myself, my name is Samuel Keller, pleased to make your acquaintance"
Before even allowing me to say another word, he left and went on to resume his schedule.
-He must be a busy man...
Speaking of magi though, it made me wonder what my status currently looked like.
And given the many events that had happened in such a short span, I was truly curious whether anything changed
[??? has granted challenger full authority over the Shadow Realm]
[Unrecognized energy signature has assimilated with challenger's aura]
-Stats
Vitality: 1.4
Endurance: 1.7
Strength: 1.4
Agility: 3.2
Sense: 4.9
Magi: 4.2
Spiritual Power : 0
??? : 11.3%
-Skills (3/5)
[Devil's Speech (Rank E)]
[Darkness (Rank ???)]
????
[Shadow Realm (Rank B)]
You are the sole master of the shadow realm. Shadows are now under your command.
Able to manipulate the form and shape of existing shadows.
While inside the shadows, agility is increased by threefold.
-Rift authority: Wanderer
[Communication]
....
-Damn my magi and sense increased by a sizeable amount.
-And being able to control the shadows does sound alluring.
"Hey Tsormug, what's wrong with all those question marks in my status?"
{What is that human? I've been meaning to ask you about that strange crystal you have hidden underneath your left wrist}
"What do you mean what is it? It displays information about the artifacts I come in contact with and about my stats and skills"
{Did you implant it on yourself?}
"No...? It appeared after a short while of me entering my first Rift"
"It is something that is given to all challengers after they enter a Rift as far as I know"
{Hm...whoever implanted this status thing on your wrist clearly has no knowledge about the Dark Ages}
{But in order to perform such a feat on a massive scale it must be a really powerful entity...}
{I am baffled as to why it would help a measly race as you humans}
"Hm, it really is strange when you put it like that, who knows what are the hidden motives of this entity"
"Nevertheless, we have more important matters to attend to"
With that said, I mentally prepared myself.
For I was about to delve deeper into the mysterious Darkness that now resided within me.
....