Two weeks had passed since Nathan had woken up and felt the essence for the first time. All he could do in that time was train his essence control, but he could only do that for an hour a day.
Not only were his essence reserves low, but they increased with stimulation and use, which Nathan was just starting to do, so this was the maximum time before he became exhausted and lethargic.
The essence, like the normal energy the body used to function, was replenished by rest and food.
In any case, Nathan had made some progress in the last two weeks. On the other hand, his injuries had not shown much improvement, his two legs and left arm were still in plaster, and he could hardly move the rest of his body.
These weeks had been somewhat boring, but also productive. He had asked Syril to bring him some books that talked about calamities, techniques, essence, and anything else he needed to know.
So, the time he wasn't sleeping, he spent devouring the information in the books.
He understood more about the behavior of the calamities, the properties of the techniques, he even discovered things that Boreas had never told him.
Nathan mentally complained to the old man. The old man had kept too many important things from him and had only trained him with the sword. This had saved him, because even if he couldn't use essence, his sword skills were excellent. However, he still needed to train and improve.
Nothing in this world was perfect, and Nathan knew that his level was not comparable to other people's.
As night fell, Nathan closed the book he had been reading and placed it on the desk next to his bed, taking care not to hurt himself. Then he silently looked up at the ceiling and sighed.
These two weeks had been quite lonely, as soon as Syril had healed, she had gone off somewhere without telling him where, while Dilliard had only visited him once to tell him to recover quickly so he could continue his training.
He was quite bored, but he had no way of healing his wounds any faster, so he had no choice but to wait.
And so, another two months passed.
It was now almost four months since Nathan had arrived in Khan, and although he had been in a hospital bed for half of that time, he could not say that he had achieved nothing in all that time.
That day, Nathan left his room for the first time in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse.
He had asked Syril who had seen him without the mask, remembering that he had fainted without it, to which she had replied that Maya and a couple of doctors and nurses who had operated on him when he had arrived injured from the realm.
Nathan could only cluck his tongue in annoyance. Now more people knew his identity and he didn't know how long it would take for the rumor to spread.
In any case, Nathan knew it was his fault, so he had no choice but to accept it and leave the problem for the future.
If his identity was revealed to the whole world, he would just accept it and live with it... even though it would bring many problems he did not want to face.
But now Nathan faced a bigger problem: rehabilitation.
His whole body was weak, he had lost a lot of muscle mass and although the plasters had been removed, he could not stand on his own without using the essence to strengthen his legs.
Soon they were in a rehabilitation room where a doctor began to instruct him in various exercises.
The routine took about two hours, but Nathan left the room completely exhausted. He could not believe the state he was in, it reminded him of when he lived in the slums and there were days when he could barely eat.
He hated feeling weak, so he did his best to recover as quickly as possible. A month later, he was finally discharged from the hospital.
When he got to his room, he opened the door wide and the first thing he did was lie down on the bed after taking off his mask.
Suddenly Nathan heard a voice from the window.
"Congratulations on getting out of the hospital"
Nathan didn't even bother to lift his face and lay face down on his pillow, not bothering to put his mask back on.
"Yeah, thanks…" he said with obvious boredom.
Syril walked into the room and closed the window before sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Nathan with amusement.
"What are you going to do now?"
Nathan turned his head slightly to look at Syril.
"I don't know... training, I guess. I've been told I'm exempt from missions for another two months"
Syril frowned slightly.
"Was this your first time in a realm?"
Nathan took a few seconds to answer.
"No... I entered one a few years ago, it's not my first time fighting against a special category either"
Nathan compared himself with his past self for a couple of seconds.
'I'd beat that kid... maybe'
Syril was taken aback by Nathan's revelation.
"Really?"
Nathan nodded slightly.
"Yes... the old man threw me into a rift without even telling me"
Syril shook his head.
"You... don't think that's the norm. Realms are usually a lot easier, I'm talking about the lower and intermediate ones, just because you only got into two unusual ones doesn't mean they're the norm"
Nathan stared at her for a few seconds. He knew it wasn't normal that he had encountered so many special categories... but he had no experience in a normal rift, so he couldn't really understand it.
"I understand..." Nathan said, even though he didn't really understand it all.
Syril sighed, realizing his true thoughts, and stood up.
"Get up, let's go somewhere"
Nathan grunted slightly as he buried his head in the pillow again.
"I don't want to..."
Syril just grabbed him by his shirt and forced him up. Nathan looked back at her with an annoyed expression.
"Don't damage my shirt"