"Huh?" Lucas wakes up like he just fell into some sort of dreamland. He immediately took a look around him, only to notice it was the academy's infirmary. Beside him was Lucas, who had his eyes widely opened.
"You're awake?" Lucas asked. He's speaking, but it's odd as he's not moving his head to look at Hespar. From Hespar's understanding, Lucas shouldn't have such an attitude problem, although they're rivals.
Still, that doesn't mean he has to put up with that. After all, uncorrected mannerism would lead to more significant problems if it was ignored.
"What's wrong with you? It's quite rude to speak without looking at another person, right?" Hespar replied. He felt like clicking his tongue while replying to show he was dissatisfied with Lucas's attitude.
"Do you think I was doing it on purpose? I can't even move my eyelids, let alone my head. Only my lips are working." Lucas replied. His reply was totally out of the world. It was beyond their understanding.
Hearing his reply made Hespar check his body condition. The nervousness of falling unconscious out of a sudden finally hits him now after the reminder from Lucas. Hespar was occupied with checking his overall health condition for the next few minutes.
Until the headmaster and baron made their appearance through the door.
"Looks like both of you are awake. I had someone here to take care of you both, so lie down on the bed for your treatment." said the headmaster.
The someone turned out to be Hespar's mother.
"Mo-Mother?" Hespar was puzzled by his mother's arrival here in the infirmary. His mother was nothing more than a regular housewife, from what Hespar always knew. But there must be a reason for her to be invited here today.
Furthermore, the word "treatment" made Hespar more curious about why his mother is here instead of the physicians.
"Oho, this is fun. Don't tell me the boy had no idea who his mother was?" the headmaster chuckled and approached Hespar's bed. Meanwhile, Hespar's mother made her way to the space between the two beds and gently got her son to lie down, just like Lucas.
A gentle water ball appeared in both her hands and followed where her hand went around the two child's bodies. And for every inch of flesh it came across, a hint of black blood was extracted, and getting the water ball seems dirtier.
The process continued until the two water balls turned black from all the contaminated blood.
Although it was a gentle procedure, the level of control over her Aura can be noticed from how long the treatment went. Furthermore, she's not treating one patient but two at a time.
Perhaps, only the veterans could do what she's been doing.
Lucas was the one getting a better result out of the recovery treatment. From losing control over his entire body to a full recovery, even the menial aches from overtraining his body were also gone.
As for Hespar, he had not many issues with his health, so his treatment is more about removing the fatigue.
"DAMN, HESPAR!"
"Your mother is incredible! Now it's making me jealous that your mother is also an expert in utilizing her Aura. No wonder you're so difficult for me to beat." Lucas flexed his muscle and attempted light warmups once he got down from the bed.
Hespar had a puzzled emotion after hearing what Lucas had just said. Would Lucas believe him if he said this was his first seeing his mother using Aura?
But he neither denied nor agreed with what Lucas said. Instead, he chooses to not give any response to that statement.
"Thank you, Catherine." Headmaster Torres nodded as Hespar's mother ended the treatment and prepared to leave. The headmaster didn't stop there and gave her a few silver coins as the treatment cost.
Since this was the academy's problem, it would naturally cost the academy some fee for someone to provide treatment.
"I will bring the forage sack home first. Just pay attention to the class and come home to talk later," said Hespar's mother. She excused herself gracefully before the baron and left the infirmary after that.
"Alright. Since both of you have recovered, there's still an hour of sparring practice before the class for today ends. Go to the class and come to my office tomorrow. Both of you, alright?" Headmaster Torres said before leaving the infirmary with the baron.
"Ah..." today was the compilation of many first times in his ten years studying here. It was the first time he had so many words with the headmaster, but also meeting and sparring against the baron, knowing his mother was an Aura user, and so on.
Even Lucas changed his attitude toward Hespar after knowing that his rival actually had such a fantastic pair of parents.
"With parents like them, no wonder all my effort is for naught in overcoming you. I'm jealous of you, Hespar." Lucas slapped Hespar's back in a friendly gesture.
As for Hespar, he was out of words to say. He can only quietly walk beside Lucas, who was getting more talkative than before, back to the training ground to continue attending the class.
...
...
...
"What do you think about that Hespar kid's ability? His Aura manifested there when his attack struck you, correct?" Headmaster Torres asked after walking into the office and ensuring the door was tightly shut.
"There's no element affinity at all in his Aura. In fact, his attack without a weapon in hand is barely a third of what Lucas can do. With this kind of handicap, he would be overcome by Lucas when the latter mastered the usage of Aura." the baron shook his head.
There were both disappointment and speechlessness in his expression. By right, he should be happy that two good seedlings are appearing in this class, but one of them just had to be a flop of an Aura.
As long Lucas was properly groomed after graduating from the academy, his achievement wouldn't be any less than Baron Arc-Heart in his prime. But it was harder to say for Hespar's case.
Furthermore, his concern is on a much broader scale this time.
From how the baron will go around recruiting trainees from ten different villages, the thousand soldiers strong battalion would likely have at least twenty Aura users amongst them. But the problem doesn't stop here.
His worry is due to the promised special military rights that will be given to the top student in each village he's been to. This means Hespar would likely be the one to grab this benefit even if he's going to end up as the weakest Aura user in the battalion later on.
A dispute couldn't possibly appear at first. Still, there's no promise of what could happen after the new Eastern Front Battalion is formed. This was also the cause of his worry.
Since military prestige is highly respected in the Sauro Kingdom, he would be questioned in case there's a dispute happens somewhere in the future. And this was just the first village on his journey.
...
Meanwhile...
"Gah! How can I lose again?" Lucas complained. He was defeated by Hespar with a sword in his hand again. This time, it took an even shorter time than before.