Waking up at the infirmary, the silver haired boy blinked as he looked at his surroundings. He then sighed.
"Sure enough, I lost."
"Oh, you are awake. They brought you here almost in pieces. I thought you fought against a beast. I didn't know it was just a spar between high grade mages. Throughout the admission process of the other mages no one was brought here with as much injuries as you..." The male nurse kept blabbering on, giving Zahad a headache at this point.
"How long was I out for?" He asked
"Umm, six years."
"What?!"
"Kidding! It's six hours."
Zahad stared at the nurse, he almost facepalmed.
"How was that supposed to be funny?"
"Oh come on, you know it was. Imagine waking up six years in the future in a..."
Zahad completely ignored the nurse this time around, thinking about the fight.
'Was there no way I could beat him? I underestimated him and thought all he had was defense, now I'm in a hospital and he is outside totally fine with the ranking of the first student. '
"Hmm, I need to grow stronger." Zahad muttered out subconsciously.
****"
"You will die soon"
These words kept ringing in my head. I was in a carriage at the moment, on my way to the Iyun manor.
I told Sir Jonathan that I needed some time to think things through.
It would be nice to just start the experiment as quickly as I could. But knowing that my potential could be high grade and that my life would end once I gained the strength had put me in a confused state.
The information of what happened in the past to the dark mage is similar to mine. A boy with the potential of a high grade, partially awakened a year before. Only for him to be proclaimed an invalid.
Honestly, the information on it was well guarded, no journal carried any news on it, none of the dukes have knowledge of it. Only some members of the Iyun family and the Viscount.
Sir Jonathan said the king found out everything after it all happened. Now I know why the King doesn't really care. He knows I won't live long enough.
Arriving at the manor, I was greeted by the serene and peaceful atmosphere. Apart from the servants and guards, no one else was around. It's late morning, the boys should be in school by this time, their parents; at work. Myra; training with her grandfather.
"Welcome back Young master Oscar." I was greeted by the butler.
"Thank you."
"Do you require anything, young master?"
"No, I'll not be needing anything at the moment." I replied as I went straight to my assigned room.
Reaching my room, I laid my back on the bed, looking at the ceiling I got lost in thought.
'If the Iyun family knew about this then does that mean?... I shouldn't jump to conclusions yet, I'll need to talk to Myra and see if she knows anything'.
Pondering on the decision to make and the choices I had, there were few.
It's either I die some time after awakening or I go through some experiments that would help me to prolong my life span while looking for a permanent solution to the problem. The third option was choosing to ignore it, which was the worst option because according to Jonathan if I try to control the flames, it will weaken what I have left of a core and I may end up dead before the year ends, and that's in three months time.
"Haa... Why is there always a problem?"
I stood up and went outside. I've been in my room for two hours now I don't know what decision to make.
I took a stroll outside the house to clear my head. As I reached the sitting room.
"Oscar? What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Myra."
"Aren't you supposed to be at the institute?"
"I was, why are you here at the manor?"
"I finished my training for today. You still haven't answered my question."
"Myra, how long have you known about my condition?"
I had to know if my coming here was coincidental or planned. From Myra's surprised reaction, I could tell.
"... I've always known"
"Please clarify." It was planned.
"From the moment you gained your abilities, when we were kids, I knew."
"How?"
"The moment Omar, the dark mage died. The news was shut and stopped from being spread. But my grandpa told me, in an effort to keep me from awakening too quickly. So the moment I heard you gained the ability to use magic, I understood."
"And you never told me?"
"We weren't friends, neither were we close enough to share a conversation."
"But you should have tried!"
"To tell you what, that you should stop what you were doing or you could die? Don't be stupid, you would never have agreed."
"Then why didn't you tell me recently? Why did you wait for me to find out?"
"I pointed you in the right direction."
"You mean put, this was all planned."
"Well..."
"Why did you choose to help me?"
"I don't see you as a bad person."
"Seriously? You expect me to believe that's the reason?"
"Oscar the thing is..."
"What precisely is your plan, or were you put up to this by your family? Maybe your grandpa?"
"Hey Oscar, I know you are pissed, just calm down for a bit."
"It was your grandpa, wasn't it? Did you guys think I'll be another lab rat for your institute?"
"No it's not like that."
"Then tell me, what is it?" I kept quiet, waiting for her to speak.
"Well, the thing is..."
"Mhm?" I urged her to continue.
"We just didn't want the same situation that happened in the past to repeat itself." Her expression was serious while she said this.
"There's something you are not telling me."
She flinched, this didn't escape my observation.
"You know what, I need some fresh air. I'll talk to your Dad when he gets back. If you can't tell me, then he should."
"Don't!"
"Why?"
"You're still a kid."
I scoffed at this point.
"So are you."
I chose to end the talk there. I was planning to stroll around the manor but now I think I need to get out and clear my head.
"Where are you going?" Myra asked.
"It's none of your business."
"I need to know" She stood in front of me, Myra was a bit taller than I was by almost a head, that didn't deter me.
"Get out of the way."
"I need to know where you're headed. It's not like you know anywhere around here."
"What does it matter? Leave me alone." I tried to move but she kept blocking me.
"Listen, I know you are angry."
"Move." I was annoyed but the scale was already tilting towards anger.
"What?"
"Move now or I'll make you."
"You can't, I'm stronger than you." She unleashed her aura. I didn't care.
I tried to push her aside but she casted a spell and tried to hold me in place. Using my strength and the flames from my hands I cancelled the spell before it took effect but I got hit with another spell before I could close the distance.
"I could do this all day. The difference in our strength is wide enough for me to beat three of you."
"That's a lie you can't stop me." Moving as fast as I could burning her spells off my body.
'I've not taken much damage but I feel tired already, what's with this girl, was she always this strong?' I thought.
Myra had always been an odd variable among my classmates. She never looked for trouble or fought with anyone over anything.
I knew she wasn't weak but I didn't expect a fight against her to be this tough. I have not been able to land a punch since we began.
I tried to throw a punch, Myra caught my arm instead and twisted it, forcing me to turn around. She held the arm with one hand and put one hand on my back to hold me in place.
"Stop acting like a child, this is for your own good." She said as she bound me using her dark mana.
'Child?' That word triggered me. It was okay if I lost but to be seen as a child by my opponent.
"Krak!" I almost dislocated my shoulder which made her soften the hold on me, using that opportunity, I threw a punch laced in flames.
Myra deflected my attack but I followed up with another one. Which...
"Boom!"
Failed successfully
My attack was blocked and I was blasted into a wall. My body was hit hard but I stood up. I knew there was no way to win this fight yet I didn't care. I knew she had the power to stop me but wouldn't hurt me, and I was leveraging on that.