'What is—?! Something in my body is waking up!'
The feeling began all the way at his back as a mild inconvenience. The type of pain of being in a bad posture for a long time.
However, it quickly moved to his neck, his arms, and his legs. It spread through his body with fast yet consistent speed—not making sudden accelerations.
'Agh!'
A sting painfully struck against his forehead, making Icarus groan loudly.
Another followed in his neck.
Then in his wrists and ankles.
'Fuck, fuck! It h— AGH!'
Elbows and knees.
His bones were quickly followed by his muscles.
Soon enough, his stomach began twisting alongside his intestines, lungs, and kidneys. His heart began beating erratically, yet keeping blood flowing.
He could feel something moving at the edge of his skin, making his hair stand on end continuously. Three minutes later, he could move his body again.
So could the rest of the students by the five-minute mark.
And it was at that moment that everyone understood why the bed was equipped with sturdy rails to grasp onto. Except for the unlucky ones that trashed around enough to fall, the majority were tightly clutching to the rails.
The first scream came.
"AAAARGHHHHHHH!"
That was the beginning of a symphony of cursing alongside screaming.
"IT FEELS LIKE BOILIN— AGH FUCK!"
"MAKE IT ST— SOMEONE— ARGH!!"
Icarus began taking deep breaths to the best of his abilities. His diaphragm was convulsing heavily, with electrical shocks making every single muscle contract at once.
One almost broke his wrist.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck… hng!"
He didn't scream like others did, keeping himself grounded to reality by staring at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes.
Instead, he tightly grasped the railing at each side of the bed and held on for dear life.
Rank 4 Merovea slowly walked down and up the hallway made out of beds. He gave quick glances to those on the floor, most of them unconscious but some still holding on.
Those who were sleeping were taken care of by some Rank 1s that Ayzic and Nuveth periodically called. Those would be sent to the actual medical hall instead of the awakening room, and get treated.
As minutes went by, less than half of the students remained.
'Keep holding, keep holding, keep holding, keep holding…'
Icarus began keeping himself sane by repeating the same two words in his mind at different tempos. That way, he kept his brain active and away from the thought of shutting his body off.
After all, the pain now will become the peace of the future.
No matter how painful, at some point, it will stop.
"To those that are still holding, you have already surpassed the top ten percent. I can estimate that your Affinities are beyond 50%. However, that is no excuse to give up. Push your body to its limits!"
Red Waters Merovea spoke with determination, giving some of the teenagers the courage to get the surrendering thoughts out of their minds.
Fifteen minutes passed. Most students gave up at the same time around this mark, with few of them still holding on.
'So tired… fuck, I'm so tired…'
Time gradually began speeding up for Icarus beyond this point.
The sharp pain stopped linearly as an intense exhaustion began building up as well. His body was extremely sensitive, and, hence, he had no strength to even sit up.
'Don't fall asleep… you've done great so far…'
It was beyond the seventeen-minute mark that an unstoppable tide of drowsiness struck his brain. He tried fighting it off—his body still in fighting mode—but it was too much to handle.
Letting go for a mere second, Icarus' world turned dark.
***
Slowly opening his eyes, Icarus found himself staring at an unknown ceiling. It wasn't as white and pipe-filled as the awakening room.
Instead, it was a gentle and beautiful carving of mountain stone in arches to support it.
Frowning and rubbing his eyes, Icarus mumbled.
"I fell unconscious…"
Acting out of instinct by putting both hands against the bed mattress, Icarus tried to push himself to the ground, but his arms had no strength whatsoever.
They even began wobbling as he tried to push harder.
With a sigh, he looked at his hands and said.
"Why the hell…"
He tried another time, but he couldn't do anything. His strength seemingly disappeared. However, Master Merovea's words echoed in his mind at that moment.
Closing his eyes with a deep breath to calm his mind first, Icarus thought: 'Right. Weakened state…'
Still, he opened his eyes and gave a quick sweep to the place he was in. It was a far more sophisticated hospital with rows of medical beds set up.
With a quick glance, he could vaguely tell that the place could hold at least three hundred people.
In the beds near him, he could see his classmates sleeping. However, in another section, Half-machines were also receiving treatment.
His heart almost stopped after he saw a woman stepping in with most of her nanobots melted. He could vaguely interpret the rushed chatter as two nurses quickly assisted her, bringing her to a bed.
"Hell…"
"Hmm?" A voice replied. "Oh, you're awake!"
Appearing in front of him was a woman wearing a number two patch and small flowers throughout her back. She warmly stared at Icarus and slightly bowed.
"Congratulations on completing your awakening procedure! I'm Alice, a Rank 2 Implant Wielder. You are currently in Red Waters's main hospital. You have been sleeping for around seven hours alongside most of your friends."
"Most?" Icarus echoed her words.
Red Waters Alice replied.
"Indeed, some have already taken their leave. The awakening procedure's lethargy is proportional to one's Affinity, hence, some will leave faster."
The boy slowly nodded.
"My recommendation is that you take more rest. The hospital has been blessed by Red Waters Merovea, and you'll return to your best self in no time.
"However, you should also read the email that has most likely been sent to your bracelet."
'Email?'
Quickly raising his numb hand, Icarus awkwardly touched the bracelet and turned it on, revealing a red dot in the emails category.
Expanding it, he could already see that its sender was Rank 4 Merovea.
"Oh, I see…"
"Said email contains the details of your awakening and Affinity. So, take a rest after you read it. I'm sure the letter brings great news."
Bowing away, the Rank 2 nurse went back to her job, which mostly consisted of watching over the state of the sleeping, new Rank 1s.
Rubbing his eyes again, Icarus opened the email.
"To Rank 1, Red Waters Icarus."
And it began with a dumb smile.
'It has a nice ring to it… Rank 1 Icarus,' taking a deep breath, he momentarily pushed both arms up. 'I did it! Yes! Haha!'
A sense of pride and relief overwhelmed his body, making it forget the hell he had to suffer.
Laughing at himself as his arms dropped to the bed, he continued reading.
"Congratulations on holding through the entire process of the awakening! Do not fret. Your inevitable fainting was due to the assimilation of all active nanobots in your cells. In other words, you have successfully awakened your entire body and achieved your best possible Affinity.
"Your perseverance through the awakening marks you as a Half-machine with true potential. Cultivate your Affinity, and you may one day stand among the greats."
Icarus's smile softened as he read the last paragraph.
'Well, at least it's not bad.'
"You have a Grade B Affinity of 61%! Tomorrow's class will cover the essentials behind this percentage as well as the introduction to the Half-machines world."