I woke up in a daze. I thought, I just had the weirdest dream ever.
Hmmm… I was talking to a baby, having a civil conversation, and even having some tea with the said baby. As it was a dream, I could not remember much. I could tell though, the baby has been very cordial to me.
If I am not mistaken, that baby might be the 'Infant' that I saw in my mental world.
"You are awake." It was an unfamiliar nurse that called to me. "Let me check your blood pressure, but before that, I'll give a call to the academy doctor." She added.
I could hardly move as I was bandaged from head to toe. I would love to move the partition and have a change of scenery, but I could not with all of the bandages restricting me.
SWOOSH~
It was the sound of the partition moving and from behind it was Deron.
"Wow, you are awake now. Congratulations, Mr. Alfir." Deron politely addressed me. As expected of the protagonist, he is polite.
"Thank you, how are you doing Mr. Deron?"
"Deron is just fine."
"You can call me just Alfir too."
Finally, we made acquaintances with each other. Deron looked concerned, but it looked like he wanted to tell me something.
"I don't know what happened. But you've been in a coma for a week. I don't know what you are going through, but I think it's not right to forsake your own life." He sympathetically said.
Rumors of my failed suicide attempt must've spread in the academy already. But a week of coma? I have to ask Doc Celine about that. If a week has already passed, a lot must've happened already.
"How about you? Did you come for a visit?" I casually inquired trying my best not to sound suspicious.
"No, I was knocked out cold. Lorie and I were the first to be discharged since then." Deron rubbed his nose in embarrassment. "If you were there, things might have ended differently" He added.
Ended differently!? As if. I knew the story. The duke's insecure son visited East Sector to roughhouse his juniors and while at it, procure some information on his competitors.
Carlos Orland Dromas, he's a hardworking, cunning, and strong bastard.
I bet I'll be the first one to be downed if I were really there when it happened. It was just a guess, but I believe if he were to copy my mutation, there would be hell to pay.
It was just my theory, but I am almost certain that his and my mutation will have a crazy strong synergy. I could not imagine what the guy will do to me if he learned that.
Cell Copy + Mind Over Body = ??????
I whistled in my mind as my imagination started going wild.
I am not naïve enough to trust my life to a fictional character. Though I knew he is actually a good guy, I could not still risk it.
"Hey Deron, would you please do me a favor?"
"Sure, anything."
"Can you please tell Zia to come to see me? I wanted to apologize to her badly for overdoing it in the Tournament Setup. I know I am in the wrong, so I wanted to apologize and make it up to her. Can you help me, man…"
I directed Deron my most sincere gaze, and it looked like it got through him as he reluctantly said yes. "S-sure, but I won't force her if it comes to it."
With that, I was able to advance my plans bit by bit. There was something crucial I must ask Zia. Moreover, the plot was advancing. In three months' time, there would be carnage in this academy, and I have to be prepared for it.
For that, I have to get ahold of Zia first.
Deron bade me goodbye as do I.
I idly waited for the Academy Doctor as I contemplated the meaning of my existence. It's a tedious task I don't appreciate at all. However, I have to do it.
There are things I could not explain and all sorts of thinking that have to be rationalized. Like how the question of existence was perceived. There is no meaning to the act of doing it, however, people still tried to rationalize them. This was the same with the worship of god.
Transmigration, my isekai story, could also be said the same thing.
Finally, Celine V. Kelon arrived. She looked overly haggard. It was not a surprise to me as the recent enrollment has caused many students to be injured, thus increasing her workload. Not to boot her responsibilities as a head professor.
Well, it was one deadly enrollment!! The thing was, I can't believe Celine has not snapped her grandfather's neck yet, especially with her personality.
"Are you thinking badly about me?"
"N-no… No, I don't…" I panicked for a moment. This woman was not even a psychic!! She might look naïve, sweet, and a good-hearted person, but I knew better.
If it gave her a just reason, Celine would not hesitate to implement the harshest punishments on her students off the record… as in beat, the living daylights out of you… Unlike Merrick who was more known as a gentle slaughterer, Celine was more of a hooligan brute.
What was that again? In her own words, she was someone who was as good at fixing people as destroying them.
"Alfir, as I said… you'll continue staying here for the month. If it were not for the sudden emergency, I would've made you stay the whole semester."
"Emergency?"
"N-no. Forget about that. Do you remember what happened?"
"No," I succinctly replied and offered an explanation of my own. "The last thing I remember is I was talking with prof Merrick and Mr. Simmons and then, I suddenly fell asleep."
Celine thought in calm silence. What it is, I don't know…
"Hmmm… Anything else?"
"That's it."
"Okay. Mr. Alfir, let me enlighten you. It was in the middle of your interview with Mr. Wander when suddenly you went into a shock. Your convulsions were quite brutal as you puke blood again and again. It was drowning you, and your lungs are filled with them."
"…"
"We thought it was an aftereffect of your fight with Ms. Zaratul, but even after talking to her, no conclusive evidence was found. In the end, we can only admit that we don't know much about psychic battles as much as the academy would like to boast itself. It's not just because psychic-related Special Abilities are rare, but because the mind is just too profound for our current technology to understand."
"…"
"Mr. Alfir, I hope that you don't involve yourself with mental skills anymore especially if you value your life. From what we gather, you possess an empower-enhancement ability. I don't know how you were able to derive a mental ability from your Special ability, but I suggest you stop doing it."
I just listened, but to hell with that. I even didn't know if my own mind was my own. What I could ascertain though was that I could not be more awake now than I was before.
Just like that, Doc Celine left me to my own device.
...
Zia was having a hectic day lately. Since her defeat in the Tournament Setup, her clout among her peers was weakening which was bad news in every way.
The political structure of students in the academy was quite biased toward the outside world. In fact, it might as well have been a mirror of the outside world.
The academy's propaganda of separating itself from the influence of the outside world was quite far from effective.
There was this very simple reasoning behind this... It was because the academy is an excellent entry point for various people to get in touch with the Hero Society.
The system working on the Hero Society was impregnable from corruption, decay, and maneuvering of outside influence. The secret to this perfection remained a mystery even in the current world.
That 'perfection' however stopped when the four academies were formed.
Though the secret behind the system still remained a mystery, it is a fact that it was no longer perfect.
Anyone with power knew this, and so was Zia... Her father taught her the importance of going to school. It was not something as basic as learning a few things. It was about building influence.
That was why it was alarming for Zia that her clout among her peers was decreasing. She was having a hard time as to how she could remedy her situation.
The idea was to wait for the exams so that she could take a shot at it... Maybe through this, she could take the spotlight again and build some momentum.
"Zia, Alfir wants to talk to you... Do you mind?" Suddenly calling to Zia was Deron.
Though Zia found Deron rude, she reigned in her anger as she was not someone who can go against Deron.
In a popularity contest alone, Zia was already on the losing side.
"Alfir, is it? I don't... mind..." Zia could not bring herself to deny Deron's request. "I will surely go if you'd eat with me this lunch?" Bringing her brightest smile, Zia flirted with Deron.