Chapter 17 - Medical Ward
A small while later, Delta awoke. He opened his eyes slowly, adjusting himself to the glaring light before looking around.
There was a large, opaque blue curtain around him, cutting him off from the rest of the place he was in.
He didn't know for sure, but he roughly presumed that he must be in the hospital ward.
"It would appear that leaning against the table was a good idea…" he chuckled to himself.
Delta tried to get up, but he quickly felt a flash of pain in the side of his head as he got up.
Not wanting to do himself any more harm, he fell back into the bed, looking around with as little movement as possible.
After a quick scan over his body, he didn't find any external injuries, and there weren't any signs of major internal ones either.
He sighed in relief, before thinking back to what had happened earlier. Where had he been? What were the secrets behind the collapsing galaxies?
Groaning in pain, he lifted himself into a sitting position before clenching his fists and counting down from 100 to take his mind away from the pain.
A headache wasn't going to keep him from doing what he did best. It didn't before and it definitely wouldn't now.
Delta's clothes seemed to have been changed whilst he was unconscious, although he didn't care for it much, whoever did it hadn't left any shoes for him.
He sighed inwardly before easing himself onto the cold floor. Delta opened the curtains before stepping out, looking around for whoever was in charge.
"No, no, no! You should not be out of bed, Mr Delta! What will happen to my clinic when you pass out?"
Delta turned around and found a short, pudgy man with a long, styled moustache and a napkin tucked into the breast pocket on his suit.
He was carrying a box which seemed to contain all of Delta's stuff, other than the ring that he wore on his finger. The man set the box down, then grabbed Delta's arms firmly and shook him slightly, muttering things under his breath from which Delta had been able to make out the words "eyes" and "focused".
Begrudgingly, Delta once again masqueraded as an 'Arrogant Genius'.
"Old man, what do you think you're doing?"
"Shut up, Mr Delta. You're getting in the way of my research."
Delta went to say something, but he had a hand clamped over his mouth, which shut him up.
A few minutes later, the man patted Delta on the shoulders, and then on the head, making Delta's headache slowly dissipate, as if it were never there in the first place.
"You're free to go. Leave a good review with your friends, eh? I heard you carry a good reputation with the people."
With that, he turned and started walking the other way, whistling softly into the air as he went.
"Old man, what's your name?"
"They call me Stitch. Professor Stitch. As for my real name? Don't worry about that."
Satisfied, Delta turned around and began putting all of the clothes in the box on, throwing the clothes he had been dressed into the box.
A disturbing thought flashed into Delta's head. He hadn't seen anyone else around here, and he had been changed into other clothes. That could only mean that the old man had changed his clothes… and seen him naked…
"I had an assistant change you, Mr Delta. Don't worry about your innocence."
Delta chuckled, before turning pale as he heard the words "yet" come from Mr Stitch's direction.
Seeing as he had no idea what time it was and where he was meant to be, he pulled out his calendar and used his finger to trace it down to the lesson he was meant to be in.
Mana Lecture 1 - Potions and Alchemy
"I would've enjoyed listening to that one… it's like magical chemistry, but with more magical plants…"
He packed all his stuff together then stepped out towards where the large fluorescent signs were taking him.
After navigating a maze of corridors, he finally arrived at some stairs down to the outside.
Now that he was out, he began walking to where the mana block was, arriving at the receptionist's table at the front.
There was a teenage girl there, wearing a badge on her left breast wearing a blue shirt with black jeans.
"You guys need a reception for this place?"
"We don't just do classes here, you know. This place is one of the largest businesses at the academy. I have to deal with a lot of trades every day!"
She seemed rather proud of her jobs, but she was clearly working long hours considering how she was slouched over with bags under her eyes.
Her nails were well taken care of, however, and her hair seemed like it had been styled many times, so she was clearly making good money for her job.
"That sounds fun."
Delta had helped Caligula manage his stock portfolio back when he used to work for him on Earth, so he had a little experience in the ways of the market.
He had no interests in doing anything now, but he kept the idea of the market in mind if he ever needed any money.
"My calendar says I need to be in Lecture Room 3. Know where that is?"
"Miss Sienna's Class? You better run along then. She gets mad at latecomers. Just turn that corner, head along to the end and turn right. It's the room at the end. You can't miss it."
"Thanks"
Delta took off quickly in the direction she had shown him, before arriving before a room with a large metal sign saying 'LECTURE ROOM 3' mounted upon the wall above the door.
He entered as quietly as he could, heading towards the ascending rows of seats that faced the teacher's desk and work area.
In front of each seat was a table full of equipment, a pot full of a chalk-like substance and several test tubes containing different liquids, giving the room a very strong odour.
Sienna stood at the front with a large cauldron clasped down to the table and a test tube in her hands. The test tubes contained a green liquid that gave off smoke of a similar colour. She wore a large mask over her mouth and nose to protect herself from the smoke, so Delta knew it didn't have very good effects on the human body.
"I'd brace yourselves if I were you."
The students put on masks that were on their desks, and then it occurred to Delta that perhaps standing a few metres away from dangerous chemicals wouldn't be the greatest idea…
As Vienna began to pour into the cauldron, Delta dived out of the room, sheltering behind the wall. Suddenly, he heard a loud eruption, followed by a horrible odour of rotten eggs.
"And that, kids, is how you make stink bombs".
She waved her hand the odour seemed to flow back into her ring, disappearing as if it never happened.
"By the way, kids, keep this between us. I doubt the director will appreciate us stinking the whole place out."
After that, the bell rang, and the entire class streamed out the door quickly, heading to their Lunch Break that came after the lecture.
After standing awkwardly on the corner for a few minutes, the students finished leaving and Delta could enter.
"Did I miss much?"
She was currently cleaning up the desk and emptying the cauldron into a waste disposal tank that emptied into a chute.
"Just us making the best stink bombs of your lives. How was the infirmary?"
"What do you think?"
"Oh? Mr Stitch isn't that bad you know."
"How did you know I was talking about Mr Stitch?"
She tapped her nose twice, before turning back to the desk.
"So do I have to do any catchup work then?"
She handed him a folder full of lined papers, with the first three pages being filled with details and ingredients of the experiment.
"Don't miss my next lesson. Now go enjoy your lunch."
After that, she clicked her fingers and disappeared, making Delta jump in shock.
Getting used to the magic in this world would definitely take a while.