In the deepest part of the facility, in a room Nathan had visited almost a month ago. An emergency meeting was in progress, with everyone wearing slightly grim expressions as they watched the discussion between Syril and a man in a black suit.
"Are you satisfied?! You knew we couldn't handle that intermediate Realm, and yet you sent us!" Syril shouted, regardless of the difference in rank (position within the organization) between her and the man.
The man remained silent, unperturbed by Syril's complaints. At that moment, a black-haired woman stood up and put her hands on the table in obvious annoyance.
"That's enough, Syril!"
Syril glared at her teacher.
"No, it's not!" she shouted, looking back at the man in the suit "I don't care what kind of grudge you had in the past! But that doesn't give you the right to play with our lives!"
Syril threw the bag he was holding onto the table and then turned to leave the room.
"I hope it was worth it"
Without another word, Syril left the room and the doors closed again. Everyone stood in silence, watching the man in the suit.
Dilliard, Dinna, the brown-haired woman, and the man with the dark glasses. All the generals looked at their boss in silence.
The man ignored their stares and just stared at the bag in the middle of the table with a look that showed no emotion.
The man raised his right arm slightly, and with a slight movement of his index finger, the contents of the bag floated directly into his hand.
The man looked intently at the fragment that the cadets had obtained after killing the blood ogre. The generals looked at the fragment with curiosity, not knowing what the relic was.
"Are you sure it was the right thing to do, Marlon?" asked Dinna, seeing the man completely engrossed in analyzing the fragment.
Marlon looked away from Dinna and seconds later stood up from his seat at the end of the table.
"It is"
Marlon started to leave the room without bothering to speak to his generals, pausing only when he reached the door and whispered:
"…At least for me"
***
Light streamed in through the translucent curtains of the window, slightly illuminating the white room where several machines monitored the health of the person lying on the hospital gurney.
Suddenly, in the absolute silence of the place, where only a faint beeping sound could be heard from time to time, Nathan opened his eyes abruptly and looked up at the ceiling above him in obvious confusion.
His thoughts were scattered, and the puzzle of memories was still being completed in his mind. Meanwhile, he removed the breathing mask from his face and tossed it aside before breathing heavily a few times.
His chest felt heavy with each breath, and he could barely move his body. With every slight movement, a wave of pain washed over him, forcing him to stay still.
'How annoying...'
Nathan was uncomfortable with the amount of wires connected to his body, but he just endured the discomfort, only frowning slightly every time he remembered what had happened.
'I guess we won...'
If he had woken up and was still alive, then it was logical to assume that they had won. Nathan didn't know what had happened after he'd shot the arrow to free Syril, he'd passed out a few seconds later, so he could only assume he'd hit it and freed Syril.
Nathan sighed in disgust.
He thought he was ready to enter an intermediate realm, but seeing what had happened, he understood that he still had a long way to go.
But he couldn't deny that he had learned things during his time in the realm. Fighting a calamity was very different from fighting a human, which he had always done.
Calamities were more predictable, their movements driven more by their own instincts and less by prepared tactics... unless, of course, it was a special category like the ones Nathan had encountered.
They were supposed to be rare, so rare that Nathan had encountered three of them in only two realms. It was supposed to be normal not to encounter a Special Category in a lifetime. Apparently, Nathan had been too lucky... or unlucky, depending on how you looked at it.
In any case, one thing he had learned in the realm... was to feel his essence, which he could not yet control, but to feel it was the most important thing.
Carefully, Nathan lifted the white blanket that covered his body and sighed lethargically.
His entire body was bandaged, both legs and his left arm in a cast. According to his injuries, he would need at least a couple of months to recover, during which time he would be unable to train.
But Nathan had no intention of wasting time, he would use the time to learn to control his essence, and perhaps when he could move again, he would be much stronger than before.
But that was just speculation, Nathan had no idea what the future would hold, but from now on he would always be prepared for any situation that might arise.
As Nathan considered what to do, the door to his room opened and Syril entered before closing the door behind her.
Nathan watched her in silence as the young woman was surprised to see him awake, suddenly a soft mocking smile appeared on her face, and she approached Nathan.
"I'm surprised you're alive" she said in an amused tone.
Nathan sighed and moaned slightly at the sudden pain.
"I'm surprised too"
Nathan didn't know what kind of injuries he had suffered, but he was sure that the ogre's fist had brought him to the brink of death. Suddenly, a small doubt crept into his mind.
"What kind of calamity was that ogre?"
Syril's face tightened slightly before he sighed.
"Is that what you're worried about...? Well... in the seventy years of history since the first rift appeared, there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of different kinds of calamities recorded. But... this has never been recorded before"
Nathan was slightly surprised.
"How strong was it?"
Syril smiled.
"Second Rank-Second category"
Nathan was slightly taken aback.
'Wow...'
He had stood up to a second-rank calamity with only his sword skill, without even using essence to strengthen his body.
Nathan then looked back at Syril.
"So, what happened?"
Syril was silent for a moment.
"I killed him... you managed to free me, and I surprised him with an attack from behind" Syril made no comment on the wound Nathan had inflicted on his hand tendon, only lightly massaging the bandage covering his wrist.
"And you, how are you feeling?" Syril looked at Nathan's various wounds and remembered the time he had examined him in the realm.
'I don't know how... but he's a lucky bastard'
Syril knew, she knew that with the injuries Nathan had there was no way he could have lived... but for some strange reason he was still alive.
Some of his organs had been completely crushed, some of his bones pulverized... there was simply no way that modern medicine would be able to heal him.
But without knowing her thoughts, Nathan sighed and pushed back the hair that had fallen across his forehead.
"Well... like shit"