Aidan looked at the fallen bird then turned to his arm. It shone with purple light. And it also seemed to be brighter than what the students in the forest could give. He moved his arm around to inspect it. His glowing veins were like a road in the dark universe, with black-hole-like spots in between the road.
Wow!
Aidan felt amazed before he recalled the weird voice that entered his head. It spoke a language he had never heard before.
"And go kasakcian c?" Aidan said." What's that even mean?!"
Aidan mumbled the word a few times. Kasakcian ci...
"Mr. Henderson. You need to kill the bird before we can end the fight," Zahir said.
"Okay, Mrs."
Aidan turned around, about to kill the bird. But it already stood and slapped Aidan in the face.
Aidan landed a few meters away, blood flowed from his face again. The bird glared at him. It swept the ground with its feet. Like a bull about to charge an enemy. Yet, the bird leaped before it burst forth with purple energy running through its wings—like an arrow; the bird darted towards Aidan.
Freezing, Aidan tried to brace the impact with his arms. But the purple glow dimmed before the bird crashed into him.
The collision sent him flying through the air. Aidan gasped as he tensed to take the impact of the hard earth. His shoulder hit the ground, followed by his head. His ears ringed.
His head hurt and his vision blurred. He barely saw the bird approaching him as the world turned dark.
Aidan woke up. The wooden ceiling of his dorm and the smell of paper greeted him. His arms were wrapped in a bandage. He ran a hand over his face and felt one wrapped around his head too. Some slimy green thing affixed the cuts on his face. It felt like the gel inside the stem of an aloe.
Aidan frowned. He was spotless without wounds when the vice-dean saved him. But fighting against a baby pecpecdotaryl needed bandages to fix?
"Is that pecpecdotarly that strong?"
"It's called Recpeodatyl."
"Oh, okay. Eh—Mrs. Zahir, what are you doing here."
"I suppose you want me to leave you alone with the bird?"
"No, no. It's just that... never mind."
Zahir stared at him. Seemingly with no intention to start a conversation. Aidan racked his brain to find something to talk about
"Can I ask something Mrs?"
"What?"
"Last time, when the vice-dean saved me. I wasn't wrapped in bandages. So..."
Zahir sighed. "The vice-dean could, to some extent, manipulate space and time. He likely regresses your body to its unwounded state."
Control time and space? You can control time and space with purple energy? Damn, in another universe you need infinity stones to do that. Guess the billionaires really like the movie. Now that I think about it. Didn't the vice-dean draw a circle to make a portal, just like the movie doct—
"He can't use it often. But it doesn't matter. Because no one but him could control these two concepts."
"Why?"
Zahir shook her head and stood up. "Your punishment has not been paid, Mr. Henderson. I will give you time to train yourself. But I'm warning you. Recpeodatyl grew fast. The longer you take to prepare. The stronger your enemy will get."
Zahir went and opened the door to leave. "I prepared some food on the table. Eat and recover."
The door clicked shut.
But Mrs. Zahir. You haven't answered my question yet...
Aidan sighed and looked at the soup on the table. What should I do?
By the word that Zahir said, Aidan concluded that his enemy will be the bird again. And that bird would grow stronger and stronger each day. If he took too long to prepare, the bird would grow to adult size and Aidan could only dream of defeating it.
He remembered the first time he saw recpeodatyl. They tried to eat him. And he definitely did not want to be eaten.
Aidan looked at his pitiful state. He could move his arm, but God knew when he could use them to train. His stomach rumbled, demanding him to move and fill it.
Struggling, he approached the table by his bedside. Taking a deep breath, Aidan took the spoon—
"Ow!"
He felt a stabbing pain on his finger, like a swarm of hornets stung it repeatedly. It throbbed in sync with his heartbeat. The blood rushing to his finger made it even worse. He lay down, trembling in pain.
That forsaken bitchodytl bird broke his fingers!!! Damn, I swear I'm going to skin that bird and pull its talon one by one!
Aidan sighed again. The first day at school and he had already broke a finger. No one in the world would experience such a thing. Oh, how I miss home, how I miss my gaming setup, my ebook reader, and my Thanos hugging pillow! How am I supposed to sleep without it? Those billionaires are really ruthless.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to calm his mind for a while. He might didn't have his huggy Thanos anymore. But he at least had the necklace with him. Staring at the ceiling, he caressed the locket with his left hand.
Mom will always be with you, Aidan
A familiar voice entered his mind. It was sweet beyond measure, anything he would do to hear that voice in his ear—anything.
Aidan sat up, wincing as he triggered the pain on his finger. He took the spoon with his left hand. His hand trembled, making the food fall back to the soup. He did not care and swiftly scoop up another spoon of meat. Just like that, Aidan forced himself to eat. He needed the nutrition to recover, he needed the strength to fight, and he damn needed the power to kill that popodactyl.
After finishing his meal, Aidan lay down to sleep. Sleep and eat. These are the crucial activity every fighter needed to take when they are injured.
The next day, Aidan woke up feeling much better than before. The light that came through his window seemed to energize him. He wanted to do something, but without his phone to scroll through entertainment, he couldn't do anything but lie down. That was when he recalled he had some books to read.
Aidan stood up, grimacing as the pain on his finger struck. He sat down at the table, the pile of books sat in front of him. Aidan sorted them out and consider which one he should choose first.
[Internal Healing]
This is a skill book.
Would you like to learn it?
Aidan blinked. If he knew this book exist yesterday, he wouldn't need to suffer through all that pain!
Yes
The book slammed open, its page fluttering like it was blown by the wind. The words within shone with purple energy. They then came off the page, one by one spiraling towards the ceiling like a chain.
Aidan watched them in awe as the word transformed into all kinds of creatures. A few had some resemblance to the animals he knew. But the rest was alien to him. They then approached and circled his body. From bottom to top, the words fluttered like small fairies.
Curious, Aidan touched them with his finger. A stabbing pain struck his finger before the words freeze and entered his head.
His head burned like it was submerged in hot boiling lava. Aidan gritted his teeth and held his head. The pain intensified every second. It burn! It hurt!
"Ahh!"
Aidan thrashed about on the floor. Slamming his head on the wood as he screamed. Thousands of needles stabbed his head, they wreak havoc in his mind. His nose bled and the pain disappear. Tears fell from his eyes.
Aidan sat up in confusion. That pain earlier felt like a fleeting dream, a faraway past, or maybe a mere illusion. He tried to recall what happened, the pain, the burn, to no avail. Instead, he found new information—[Internal Healing]
The knowledge felt so familiar, like it always belong there in his head.
"So that's how it works."
Aidan breathed in to gather his energy. He channeled them throughout his body, healing it. Aidan stood up, moved his finger around, and smiled when he felt no pain.
Aidan channeled all the energy into his arms. Shattering the bandages to pieces as they fell.
He clenched his hand, proud of his newfound power. The one thing that prevented professional fighters train over 20 hours was—recovery. But with this power, he could train non-stop. No matter how many wounds he got, he would return the next day like it never happened. He could break his bone and cut his skin, yet he would come again.
Zahir opened the door and looked at him. "You're late for class."
—-
Aidan arrived at the door of the classroom, Zahir stood beside him.
"I told you to read the manual. It has everything that you need. Including a map. So you won't need me to guide you again."
"Sorry to bother you Mrs."
"Go, enter your class."
Aidan nodded and pushed the door. It didn't budge. He tried to pull it, but the door did not move. Zahir looked at him by the side.
Is this some kind of test?
Well, then I just have to show off my power.
Aidan channeled his energy into his arms and feet. Pushing the door as hard as he could, but the door was like a mountain. It didn't even give a slight budge. Just what is this door made of?
Embarrassed, he turned to Zahir. "Sorry Mrs. But it seems I can't open the door yet."
Zahir sighed. "Make sure you read the manual after school." She pushed the door to the side. It was a sliding door!
Aidan peered inside. A lot of people sat quietly in the large room. A series of long tables set on a descending level went down into a wide hole where the teacher stood and scrambled something on the blackboard.
The class seemed full, and Aidan looked around for a few seconds before he found an empty seat. He entered the classroom, ducking his head as he passed through. He didn't want any trouble for blocking someone's view. After Aidan sat in his seat, he realized that he brought nothing with him while everyone else had their notebook and pencil with them. Everyone wrote down everything the teacher said. Some didn't bother with it though. And he noticed one person at the edge of the class sleeping with his arms as pillows that made Aidan feel relieved. At least there were some incompetent people in this place.
Nobody wanted to be a fish among dragons.
The next thing he noticed about these people was that they were multiracial. Not in a sense of human racial, but in a completely different race. People with wings, back of a tiger, shoulders of stone. He also saw a few tiny girls with tall black hats and a black cat. They looked like a human, but their snake-like eyes made him doubt his judgment. He waited for them to lick the air to confirm his suspicion, but a voice disrupted his academic observation for the continuation of the human race.
"Mr. Henderson. You seemed to be so smart that you could ignore my lecture. Why don't you come down here and share your knowledge with everybody else."
Oh, snap!