It took some time for his parents to calm down enough to let him go. The first to do this was his father, realizing that it wasn't the best of ideas to crush someone who had just woken up.
"Can you release me soon?" Athos begged red as a tomato for the absence of air.
"Sniff…sorry son, it's just that seeing you wake up filled me with joy and I couldn't help myself." Robert apologized as he wiped his tear-fogged glasses.
"Yeah, you worried us a lot you know? You slept for a whole week." Agatha said still clinging to her son.
"One week? Why did I.…? Urk!!" Athos suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head, as the memories of all the pain he had gone through came flooding back.
He began to shake uncontrollably as he struggled, searching for wounds that weren't there.
"Athos, calm down! It's over, you're healed, the pain is over." His mother grabbed him by the wrists and forced him to stop, afraid he would hurt himself. At the same time she desperately tried to calm him down, but to no avail.
"Son, look at me! Just me. It's okay, you're safe now." Robert held his face with both hands forcing him to look him in the eyes. He spoke slowly and calmly, so that Athos could understand him.
As he repeated soothing words, the shaking began to subside and he stopped resisting his mother's grip. Taking the chance, Robert made him drink a tranquilizer, not taking even 2 minutes for Athos to sleep.
"Phew. How did you manage to calm him down?" Agatha asked as she checked her vitals to confirm that Athos was just sleeping.
"I studied alchemy in the town of Clastro before coming here, remember? The church presence is weak there, so healing and treatment is mostly done by alchemists. We are trained to care for patients, not just brew potions."
Robert sighs before continuing. "I didn't want him to fall asleep right after he woke up, but it would be dangerous if he stayed in that state. The sedative was supposed to just make him relax, but his mind was so messed up that he ended up sleeping.
Their conversation died there. They were no longer worried about whether Athos would wake up or not, but what they would do when he woke up. Luckily for them, Athos only slept for 15 minutes before waking up.
This time they didn't jump on him, but gave him room to breathe.
"Son, how do you feel? Does it hurt anywhere?" Agatha asked cautiously, ready to immobilize him in case he had another attack.
Athos took a few deep breaths, trying to keep calm. After a few seconds he raised his head and said:
"... I'm hungry." His stomach roared with impeccable timing, as if in agreement.
"Hahh." Agatha sighed, all the tension leaving her body. "Let's get something to eat, I'm starving too."
****
After his parents brought him something light to eat, they began to argue about his condition.
"So son, how do you feel?" asked his father.
"Weak. I don't feel any pain, but I'm having trouble moving." Athos answered honestly as he opened and closed his hand.
"Well, that's to be expected. You took a lot of nutrients to heal and even though your mother and I fed you a liquid diet, you're still skin and bones.
It was only then that Athos realized his condition. He was always a skinny kid, but now he looks malnourished.
"You know what happened to me? I know I formed my core, but why was it so painful?"
Robert then spent the next 15 minutes explaining to him what happened.
"And that's what happened. I still don't understand why you passed out for so long, but that can wait. For now, can you feel the mana through your body?" Robert asked curiously if his unique condition would interfere with his abilities.
"Hey, love Athos has just woken up. It's impossible for him to-" His voice trailed off as she noticed a faint glow on Athos's body.
"That's how it's done?" Athos asked, unaware of how absurd his actions were.
"What? How can you already manipulate mana? It takes months just to feel it!" Agatha exclaimed in shock.
"Really? When my core was forming I felt like something was flowing through my body. It's pretty cool." Athos felt better just by circulating the mana through his body. He closed his hand and tried to focus the energy on it, but nothing happened.
"Hmm? I can't get the mana to concentrate in my hand. It just spreads all over my body and doesn't obey me." Athos frowned in concentration, but nothing happened.
"Well, that's obvious son. It's amazing enough that you are able to feel your core and release mana through your body without any training." Said Agatha with a wry smile. "You need to focus your will on the core and make it flow to your hand. Thus you see?" She showed a slightly glowing hand.
She was just trying to show off, but when she saw him close his eyes and raise his fist in front of his face, she started to get lively.' It's impossible for him to do it, isn't it? It took me months to do this. He'd be a monster if he got it the first time.'
She waited anxiously while he concentrated, but soon the glow on his body disappeared.' Well, of course that would be the result. Even so, I must congratulate him on that-' His thoughts were interrupted by the faint glow on his hand.
"Thus, isn't it? "He asked with a smug smile.
"Okay, have you two finished the measuring contest yet?" Robert asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice and a raised eyebrow. As someone unable to feel his own core, the demonstration in front of him was like rubbing salt into his wounds.
"Love, stop being grumpy and let's celebrate! Don't you realize how amazing our son is? If we train him right, he can become a great adventurer in the future! Or maybe even a knight!" Agatha was elated as she imagined her son's bright future.
"I don't know if this is a good idea." Robert didn't share her enthusiasm. "Being an adventurer is a risky job where you face unknown dangers around every corner. Athos is a child raised at home, not used to violence. I don't think he can get used to fighting."
"What? Are you kidding me? Can't you see how talented he is? He has a great future ahead of him, it's our duty as parents to nurture him." Agatha said confused by his lack of enthusiasm.
"I know that, but it's also our duty as parents to look out for his safety. Besides, his dream has always been to be an alchemist. If we think about the future, I'm sure I earn a lot more money than all the adventurers in this city. ." Robert said trying to convince her, but it proved useless.
"I'm not talking here! With a talent like his, he can become a famous adventurer even in big cities. Being able to earn rivers of gold coins, much more than he would earn as a nameless small-town alchemist." Agatha said, immediately realizing the mistake she'd made.
"An unnamed alchemist like me? "He asked quietly.
"Love, I-" She tried to apologize, but he got up and left without listening to her. He stopped in front of the door and spoke without turning around.
"Starting tomorrow I'll open the shop again. We'll resume classes as soon as Athos recovers. And about Athos' training. I won't oppose anything as long as he wants to. It's his life we're talking about after all. " He left the room soon after.
Agatha was rooted to the spot, thinking about the bullshit she'd said and what she could say to fix it.
Meanwhile, Athos was still sitting on the bed with his eyes closed and his fist in front of his face, apparently concentrating.
'Damn, I should have left when they started talking about me, but I was afraid they'd drag me into the mess. If I leave now, it will only make things weirder. Be like the air, be like the air.' He thought praying that the mana didn't run out so he wouldn't blow his cover.