The lights grew brighter and brighter until a voice rang out.
"You seem to be doing fine hmm?"
My eyes refocused themselves and I was in the medical bay from what I could see.
"What happened?"
I tried sitting up while the doctor was busy on his computer.
"Ah ah ah, careful kid you passed out from over exhaustion a few hours ago."
The doctor ushered me to lie back down on the bed.
"If you rest up for a few more hours you should be okay to leave without any issues got it?"
"Haa-yeah, got it thanks doc."
The doctor got up with his laptop and headed to the door before briefly saying goodbye.
"Have a good evening Keir."
He waved casually before opening the door and walking back to his office.
'What the hell happened back there?'
I could feel my body harnessing RC and yet I still couldn't do anything. In fact, I believe I had a higher chance of success if I didn't try to use RC at all.
My body wasn't used to having this energy and power stored within it. It felt like my body was overwhelmed and conflicted with how I reacted.
I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong.
I want to get stronger, not only to earn the respect of others but the respect from myself. I've always felt so privileged due to my friendship with Kiran and the status of my family.
I just never felt deserving of that privilege in a way.
As I was deep in thought I looked up at the ceiling for a while before closing my eyes. I tried to envision myself where I wanted to be and what endeavors I should work for.
Tap Tap Tap-
'A knock?'
My eyes widened in curiosity of who was at the door.
"Come in!"
After replying to the knock my doors slid open. What was on the other side was a young boy with crimson red eyes with neat black hair sporting the black and silver Aethra uniform.
"Well you look like shit."
The boy instantly said as he saw me.
"Good to see you too Kiran."
I said with a sarcastic shrug.
"So what are ya in here for specifically? Heard you got your ass kicked…again."
Kiran took a seat next to my bed and chewed on some gum.
"Apparently they said I passed out from over-exhaustion when I was sparring."
"Sparring? What lucky bastard got to spar with you?"
Kiran said jokingly.
"I sparred with Rank #4, Jenna Leclair."
Kiran stopped chewing his gum and made a face of disgust.
"Those guys made you spar with a Scion? Especially Jenna nonetheless?"
"You know Jenna?"
I asked in curiosity.
"Well duh- of course I know who she is, she's a Scion just like me. Our families keep one another in check."
That makes sense now that I think about it, it would be weirder if they didn't know who each other was.
They've probably met plenty of times before being some of the most renowned people in the human domain.
"Anyways, Keir you really look like shit. You gonna be okay for our research class tomorrow?"
"Eh we have research tomorrow?"
Kiran let out a sigh before continuing.
"Yeah, Professor Li told me to tell you since you weren't available after classes today. Funny enough we also have 3 Scions in that class."
"3???!"
I asked In disbelief.
"Yeah 3 including me so that's two others, if I remember correctly it's Jenna and Fukuyo."
This is truly gonna be interesting with half of the Scions in one class.
They'll either be avoided or insanely popular like how Kiran usually is. Sounds like a problematic and annoying class if I'm being honest.
Tap tap tap-
"Speak of the devil huh?"
Kiran said with a cool expression.
I took my eyes off of Kiran and looked at the entrance to the room. A girl with long parted blonde hair and golden eyes was wearing glasses while smiling and waving in my direction.
"Hey CareBear Hehe!"
This girl just liked to torment me.
I've barely known her for a day and yet here we are already giving me strange names and visiting me in the medical bay.
"Hi Jenna, also I told you to stop calling me that."
I said in a displeased tone.
Jenna walked towards our direction waving her hand in the air.
"Fine fine I'll stop, Mr. Keirrrr. Oh hey Kiran."
"Hey Jenna."
Kiran waved to Jenna with a smile.
"So you two guys know each other?"
Kiran and I both looked at each other before giving her a response.
"We're good friends."
"Unfortunately"
Kiran said with a sigh.
"Mhmm okay then, so we have the renowned Rank #2 Kiran Azar being friends with Rank #995 Keir Licht, right?"
Kiran and I both nodded in sync.
Jenna raised her eyebrows and made a face of doubt.
"Sounds right mhmm, Keir are you okay? Are you sure you aren't being blackmailed by this Kiran guy?"
"Huh?"
I was surprised at her sudden assumption. Tilting my head towards Kiran I saw his face twisting into a disappointed expression and he started to heat up with anger.
"Eh? Oh no Jenna I'm fine, my family works with his family and we've known each other since we were toddlers basically."
Did our friendship really look like that? Was it just that hard to believe he would be friends with someone like me?
It needed to change.
"Oh my bad then, this guy just looks super sketchy hehe."
Kiran glared at her, which resulted in her putting her hands up and retreating.
"Anyways I came to check up on you to see if you're alright, didn't mean to go that far in the second round."
"Oh it's fine, you looked pretty tired as well."
I wasn't angry at Jenna for going as far as she did.
"I'm glad you're okay then, also all 3 of us have the same class tomorrow right?"
"Yeah that's right, speaking of that I need to get some stuff for Professor Li. See you guys tomorrow."
Kiran left the room with a wave, leaving only Jenna and I to talk.
"At the end of the fight, I saw you use some sort of energy attack. What was that?"
I curiously asked.
"Ah, that was also another technique passed down by the Leclair family we call it the Heaven's Arc."
Jenna was the same age as me but she was infinitely more powerful. Her techniques were amazing and the ways she utilizes them are smart, for defense and offense at longer ranges.
They were the things I could only dream of, but someday I'm sure of it. Someday I'll reach the place I want to be, to be able to stand side by side with powerful Riftwalkers.
I've found the endeavors I wanted to chase.
****
9:00 PM, Aethra Academy.
"Today was so tiring."
Spoke the voice of a young yet mature woman.
The room she was in was decorated with minimal effort which gave off an atmosphere of elegance.
The woman walked towards her desk with her dark hair following suit, her aquamarine eyes focused on her tablet.
When she got to her desk she pulled out her chair and sat down swiftly, placing the tablet on its charger.
"Ahhhhh I have to review all the fights from today what a pain."
Naomi said with a long sigh.
Despite her fatigue and laziness, she took a cigarette and lit it.
After taking a few hits, she started punching in numbers on her computer. After hitting one last button, holographic videos of the duels were projected all around the room.
"I gotta grade all this shit?"
She took another hit of the cigarette in her fingers.
After an hour or so of going through videos, she only had a few left to look over. A projection of a young boy with black hair and white eyes covered in bandages was seen sparring a young girl with long blonde hair.
Seeing this specific projection Naomi squinted her eyes and brought the video closer to her. She pinched the hologram and swiped it to her larger screen.
As Naomi looked through the video, she paused and slowed down certain scenes.
"He's not a bad fighter. Why is his rank so low?"
The boy in the video could clearly be seen holding his own against his opponent without much trouble.
In fact, if the round had kept going on he might've won the spar. Although Naomi was curious about the boy, she was more focused on the elegant movements of the girl with golden eyes.
"She's an amazing fighter, she is a Scion after all."
Naomi said with a smile.
As the video of the first round finished up she projected the video for the second round. The round that was significantly advantageous to Jenna.
The speed of her attacks in the video were fast due to them being imbued with RC which made it hard for a regular person to see them, although this wasn't an issue at all.
Naomi wasn't a regular person.
After taking another hit of her cigarette, Naomi touched her chin and thought for a moment.
"Hmmm I'll give an A to both students."
*****