The Ascension Of The Extra Chapter 10 Chapter 9: Aftermath

I'm strapped to a hospital bed. The steady beeping of my heartbeat monitor is a constant. This scratchy medical gown is annoying.

And.. there's an angel hovering over me with a concerned look on her face.

Her presence is strong enough to make it hard for me to breathe, like an invisible pressure was stopping me.

Is this some weird version of heaven?

It isn't, because next to the angel is Aleyna Delacroix — who looks mildly inconvenienced at being here. There's a frown on her lips and her arms are crossed.

"You're awake. Finally." Aleyna huffs, irritated, looking away from me like she's mad or something.

No, definitely not heaven.

The angel smiles, looking delighted to see me up. "Hello, Dorian. I'm Evelyn Lumiere. How are you feeling?"

The long, fluffy golden hair on her head might as well be a halo. Her eyes are warm and sparkly. The smile on her lips looks godly.

"Fine," I say, still a bit confused. I attempt a normal tone of voice, but my words come out huskily and rough. "What happened?" I quickly follow up with.

Wait.

Evelyn Lumiere?

She's the one and only SSS Class hunter.

I blink multiple times, registering this information.

Evelyn continues on. "You were knocked unconscious after having dangerously low mana levels and blood loss. As for what happened after you were unconscious, Thorne was apprehended, and the banquet ended early for investigation."

She sighs, shaking her head. "You were reckless. Either way, after thorough examination, we realized that there was a detonation device hidden in Professor Thorne's pocket. We also found the mana bomb in the generator room."

Evelyn gives me a look. One of being impressed, and also doubtful. "You managed to break the device through your affinity. I assume not by mistake." Her piercing eyes sweep over me. "But, right now, I'll cover for you. No one should bother you anymore about that happened, despite two counts of assault on your end."

She walks around the room, a thoughtful expression on her features. Aleyna sits on a cushioned chair nearby, eyes narrowed.

"Somehow, you knew about this. And there's also the fact about the guard you assaulted, who was protecting the bomb." Evelyn is talking to herself, getting the facts straight.

I can assume Evelyn is here because she was at the banquet, and therefore is handling all the after effects. It's sort of her job as the top professional hunter, to take care of anomalies like this. And a bomb threat at such a high scale event is likely something worthy of even her attention.

While the police also have a hand, Hunters normally supervise — with extra knowledge about beasts and mana.

I'm thankful to still be alive. My memory is hazy, but I remember clear enough. I was totally drained after being stabbed. I try moving, but then remember I'm bound to the hospital bed. Like a mental hospital patient.

Evelyn gasps. "I'm sorry. I forgot you were still tied down," she quickly mutters. With a wave of her hand, all the restraints click free. "It was a precaution some of the Horizon staff wanted to take. After all, you were rampant at the banquet, attacking two people in a short time frame. Apologies." Evelyn bows her head humbly.

For someone who is miles above me in the food chain, she is surpringly kind. Seriously? No ego at all? No complex?

Aleyna speaks up, interrupting my train of thought. "What do you both know about Archeron?"

She sounds.. contemplative and almost worried — very out of character for her.

Archeron.. right. That was what Professor Thorne had hollered out right before I blacked out.

Is it a person? A thing? A place? I really have no idea. I say as much.

"No clue," I shrug helplessly.

Evelyn snaps her fingers, nodding with emphasis. "Archeron. That's my next lead I'm going to follow."

She looks to her watch, and then sighs shortly. "I'm off. I need to interrogate Professor Thorne." Evelyn focuses on me, "I know you're hiding something, Dorian. But I'm not going to probe just yet. Update me if you find anything else out about Archeron."

She strides gracefully to the door, and leaves.

I look to Aleyna. "Do you know anything about Archeron?"

She gives me a deadpan look. I think she's about to slap me. "Why else would I ask if I know what it was?" She runs a hand through the fine strands of her hair, "Well, it seems like you aren't dead, so I'm leaving too now."

I find myself smirking. "Oh? So the reason you came was just to see if I'm safe?" I snicker at the disgusted expression on her face. It's totally hilarious.

"Are you stupid? I just came to see Evelyn Lumiere up close. You were an afterthought." Aleyna rolls her eyes, exaggeratedly, and promptly walks out.

Almost as if waiting for her exit, 5 nurses rush in after.

—

After another few hours of getting discharged, bandaged up, and my condition being confirmed as stabilized —

I'm home. Finally.

Well, home meaning my drab dorm room. Turns out the hospital I was in is on campus, which sort of makes sense now that I think about it. It was just a 15 minute walk away. I got a multitude of stares as I came to the dormitory building.

I doubt the fact I acted crazy, charged on Professor Thorne, and beat up a guard helped anything with my reputation.

I fall into my bed, and open up the system.

[System]

Name: Dorian Hawthorne

Rank: D tier Hunter [Potential: Unknown, former potential: C tier]

Progression: [————77%——]

Affinities: Lightning [One more, unknown]

Abilities:

Skill: Copy + Paste [SSS+]

Recharge [B]

Enhance [C]

Blessing of the Gods {Innate, Evolving} [A]

Stats:

Strength: 37

Intelligence: 32

Stamina: 38

Agility: 37

Health: 31

[Open Inventory]

[Quests] [1]

[Close System]

—

My rewards.

I can claim them in peace.

I eagerly click on the quest tab.

[COMPLETE]

[MAIN QUEST 1: START OF YEAR BANQUET]

REWARDS: 30% RANK PROGRESSION + AN A RANK SKILL

[CLAIM]

I'm going to rank up.

I slowly bring my finger — and press claim.

The sensation I feel afterwards is unlike nothing I've ever experienced. A surge of energy, warmth running through my veins, feeling wide awake all of a sudden. It feels like I could take on the world.

[CONGRATULATIONS! YOU RANKED UP TO C TIER]

- Mana pool increased

- Affinity proficiency increased

- Mana recovery time decreased

- Mana purity increased

[CHOOSE ONE SKILL AS YOUR QUEST REWARD]

Zeus's Bolt [A]

- Summon a high power holdable lightning bolt, able to be thrown and recalled at will.

- Can melt almost all materials.

- Will last for as long as the user can manifest it for [uses mana]

Meta Awareness [A]

- Enter a state of mind that is purely logical and rational — able to consider all possible facts, scenarios, possibilities like a supercomputer.

DURATION: 10 minutes

COOLDOWN: 8 hours

- User will feel side effects depending on their level of talent and stats

Having two options suddenly thrown at me is surprising. But I immediately choose one over the other. Strength is something I can rapidly train, because that's where my largest gap is right now in my offense. If I get it up to what my body can actually do, I will be fine for the time being.

Intelligence, on the other hand, is set in my stats. I can enhance it by using mana to fortify my brain, but that is temporary. It's much harder to increase intelligence, because it's not like there's a gap between my technique and physique like there is with offence.

[YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THE SKILL META AWARENESS]

A psychedelic rush, dizziness, and blurry vision later — the skill is within me.

I check my profile.

Name: Dorian Hawthorne

Rank: C tier Hunter [Potential: Unknown, former potential: C tier]

Progression: [0%——————]