"How is he feeling, Doctor?"
"He is fine, he just suffered too many stimulations to the brain and got too excited which led to a lot of stress which eventually resulted in the exhaustion".
"As for his injuries, they are not anything serious and have been taken care of. He may wake up anytime now, just give him some time". The female Doctor smiled radiantly at the renowned middle-aged man that was before her.
"Thanks, Doctor, I am really relieved".
"The pleasure is mine". The Doctor smiled before leaving.
As the Doctor's steps faded into the distance, the middle-aged man finally turned around to look at the youth that was currently laid on the hospital bed.
A few minutes ago, he received a call that his only sword apprentice suffered an accident and was now admitted to a hospital.
The news scared this man that always seemed stable out of his wits. Without wasting any time, he immediately set out for the hospital, and here he was.
As he looked at Rex who was now breathing properly and was recovering gradually, clear relief showed on his face as the worst that he feared never happened. Rex survived and that was all that mattered.
At this moment, looking at his sword apprentice's face, he felt a mixture of guilt and joy. The guilt was because of how little help he rendered to the boy when he needed him the most, and the joy was for his fortune.
This middle-aged man was one of the few intermediate mystic warriors of the Obedin Mystic Academy. He was the one who was in charge of the sword domain department of the academy.
He fell in love with Rex on his first day of meeting him. This was mostly due to their similarity in a lot of ways, and the kid's genius with the sword.
Though their personality was different, they had their similarities. The main similarities between them were their hobbies, most especially their love for swords, and their unflinching belief in the mystic swordsmanship system.
Mystic masters of the academy were not expected to develop any bias towards any student, but he could not help but do it subtly.
Of all his students, though he never told the kid, he took Rex as his only sword apprentice. Most of the time, he loved engaging in talks about swordsmanship with the kid who unlike other students never got bored of it.
He used these talk hours as an avenue to impact his knowledge of the sword domain to the young Rex and the kid never failed to amaze him.
Rex absorbed all the knowledge like his brain was a sponge which was amazing. The even more amazing part was that this kid was able to understand everything and even implement them when fighting which was incredible.
Though he helped Rex from the dark, the amount of help that he could render was extremely limited at times.
He had always known about all the problems that Rex suffered in his school life, but he could not intervene due to circumstances.
The best that he could do while not offending the powers that stood like giants in the dark was to make sure that Rex never died from all the suffering.
To his relief though, Rex was a kid who grew stronger through suffering.
Just today, he received another piece of information that validated this. Even when he already thought there was no more hope, the always optimistic apprentice, Rex broke all conventions again and awoke mystic energy at 18 years of age.
Of course, he did a mini celebration to commemorate this achievement of his apprentice. He just never expected to hear a piece of tragic news just a few hours later.
At this moment, he was here as Rex's caring academy master.
Rex took his time, sleeping and snoring for another 30 minutes before he finally woke up.
"Where am I?"
"You are…"
The middle-aged man did not get to finish before Rex exclaimed. "Master Fixten?!"
"Yes". The middle-aged man smiled.
"What are you doing here?" Rex asked before he quickly corrected his words. "I'm sorry sir, it's nice to see you here".
By this time, Rex already recalled everything that happened and from seeing that he was in a hospital, he could guess what happened when he was unconscious.
The only unexpected variable was the appearance of his academy master. He didn't complain though, he felt better with the master around.
Though Rex never really had any close relationship with the master, Master Fixten was one of the few people in this world apart from his friends that could make him feel human and alive.
Though their only relationship was in school which was that between a teacher and student, even if he was blind, he could see that the middle-aged man treated him a little nicer than other students.
The man came from the same background as him, only fighting his way to the top so he didn't disdain him as one of the non-privileged students.
The man taught him swordsmanship simply, he never received insults from the Master about his disgraceful background, about his useless parents, and a lot of other things, unlike other mystic masters which easily made this man his best master in the academy.
In this dark world where everything favored the privileged, things like Master Fixten were what kept him going and fighting.
So of course, Rex was thrilled that the man visited him.
He tried to stand up only to feel pain. "Ouch!"
"Stay still, Rex, you're injured".
This was when Rex came to a realization. Seeing Master Fixten already made him overlook it, but now that he remembered, he was anxious.
"Ben, is he…"
"Yes, he's fine, he is in the opposite room. He suffered some minor injuries, but with the standard of this hospital, he will be ok by tomorrow including you".
This made Rex heave a sigh of relief as he could finally relax. This was when Master Fixten started a conversation.
"So, you awoke mystic energy?"
"Yes, Master".
"Which type?"
"Domain mystic energy".
The middle-aged man finally smiled. "Congratulations, Rex!"
"Thank you, Master!"
"You're welcome. I came today to check up on you, and most especially to congratulate you on finally breaking the deadlock".
"You're now officially a mystic warrior which is a great achievement for you".
"This also means that your chances of getting a good ranking in the graduation battle just increased, you're the face of the Sword domain department".
Master Fixten quickly became formal, giving a lot of advice to Rex on how to make good use of his mystic energy to get a better ranking at the graduation battle and on how to take care of himself in preparation for the battle.
The importance of the graduation battle in a mystic warrior's life could not be quantified or underrated. It could be seen as the emergence ground for the greats and the flops.
The Master spent an additional 20 minutes before he stood up to leave.
Before he could leave though, Rex's body movements gave him hints and he didn't need the kid to speak before he knew what was on his mind.
"I don't know how you and your little friend did it, but killing a mystic beast at your age and in your first battle against their species is an admirable feat".
"Don't worry, the beast hunters who saved you submitted the kills on you and your friend's behalf. The rewards are already in your accounts".
"As for the Butcher". The Master's face turned weird. "I have to confess that deciding to exchange 10 domestic beasts for one cake is incredibly stupid".
"Don't worry about that though, I've settled it on your behalf".
"About the hospital, the bill is free since it is the academy hospital".
"Just focus on recovering fast and preparing for the graduation battle".
"Thank you, Master".
As Master Fixten left, he thought of the words of the principal that kept on reverberating in his ears. In the end, he didn't tell more to the kid, there was no guarantee that he would even make it to the top 50.