Hikari awakens within the pseudo-Infinite Azure. Arcadia sits cross-legged in front of him, and Sabyin is nowhere to be seen. Slowly raising his body, he groans and blinks his eyes to adjust to the light of his surroundings.
"Good to see you're awake now. Just in time, too; I don't have much more time left." Arcadia stands up and gently levitates just above the ground. "Don't say anything, Hikari, just sit and listen. The gods gave you two ears and one mouth." Hikari opened his mouth to say something, but sighed, closing it instead, and focusing on what Arcadia would say next.
"First, I want to say I'm gonna miss you. Without this divine energy overflowing, I can't hold onto my being. So, after you awaken, your energy will vanish, and I'll return to my diminished essence state. However, by killing Umbra and demons," Arcadia raises her voice, "REAL demons, I can be brought back to life. Is that understood?" Hikari nods his head in acceptance. Hikari's heartbeat sped up a little as he noticed the color in the fake infinite azure drifting away.
"Secondly, Hikari, you are seriously unbalanced." Arcadia drifts closer, putting her hand on his cheek. "You've been through so much and done many terrible things; it would be an understatement to say that your mana is off, so I'm giving you a new training regimen. I don't want you to do any physical training from now on."
Hikari speaks up in shock, "Wait, what? I'm not following that train of thought. Why would I need to not physically train?"
Clearing her throat, Arcadia silences Hikari. "I can think of a few reasons. Your worldly energy is too strong, Hikari. Most humans lack a holistic understanding of Mana. It is incredibly complex, more complex than you know. Mana can be split into 3 main categories. There is the spiritual side of things, the soul. The physical side, the body. And most importantly for you, the mental side of things."
"Your mind has been poisoned. After suffering such incredible trauma within such a short amount of time, your core has been destabilized." Arcadia takes a deep breath before saying, "And I am partially to blame. The training we engaged in when we first met was not healthy in the long run, let alone in the short term. For such cruelty, I apologize. You need to heal your mind, make it whole."
"Did you just call me insane?" Hikari asked, his voice carrying a hint of offense.
Arcadia raises her eyebrow. "Really, Hikari? Mr. Genocide himself thinks he's not insane. Sir, you may be able to think clearly, but what conclusion did you come to about the dark elves? I should slap you again, dumbass."
A crack appeared on Arcadia's hand, causing her to wince in pain. Hikari stands quickly. "I'm almost done for…again. Come here, Hikari." Hikari rushes over to her and says, "Yes, master?"
"Every morning and every night, I want you to meditate. Reflect on what you've done, what you wanted to do, and everything you want to do now. Steady yourself, balance yourself. Cultivate your inner self, and reflect that inner self outward for the world to see. You are special, Hikari, a human blessed by the Goddess. Heroes are here for a reason." Arcadia smiles sweetly at Hikari as she places her hand on his cheek. "Be good, Hikari, and make the world a better place." Arcadia starts to fade away, her body dissolving as the world grows brighter around him. Unable to follow Arcadia's order any longer, Hikari reaches out for her, screaming her name. And then everything goes dark.
Hikari wakes up, and a tear rolls down his cheek. His memories are still fresh, and the pain that comes with them. However, while the pain is still there, the endless rage isn't. He can think clearly, and looking around him, he sees that everything within view is burnt to a crisp.
He stands slowly, his clothes somehow still intact. As he continues to look around, he sees an unconscious, burnt man with horns. Taking little time, Hikari rushes over to what could only be Sabyin's side.
"Shit, you're burnt really bad. I can't believe something like this happens even when I'm not trying to hurt your kind." Hikari says hurriedly under his breath. Hikari started channeling his mana into his hands in an attempt to heal Sabyin, but he was met with a sharp pain as his hands reddened. Hikari, who usually learned things quickly, then remembered something: He never learned healing magic.
"No, no, no! Not again! Come on! Figure it out, you idiot!" Hikari yelled at himself over and over again as he tried to repair the damage he had dealt to Sabyin. However, each time he tried a new approach, he would only be met with pain, and with each new attempt, Sabyin's breath would grow shallower. Hikari thought to himself how foolish he was for not trying to learn healing magic. Even though he never had the opportunity to, he continued to blame himself for putting Sabyin in this horrid condition. In a burst of desperation, Hikari summons the energy within him, his Eye of the Sun, to try and heal Sabyin.
In a turn for the better, Sabyin starts to heal, but only by Sabyin starting to heal did Hikari know just how injured he was. Most of his muscles had been burned from his frame, leaving just enough to cover his vital organs, and all of his skin was gone. He hadn't realized he was naked either, but only when organs from below the waist started healing did he realize that he had burnt away his member and jewels too. His toes regrew, lips developed anew, and eyes developed within his skull. Bones that had collapsed under the heat of Hikari's magic made snapping sounds as they reformed within his arms and legs. How Sabyin managed to survive was nothing short of a miracle. His being healed to live another day is a stroke of luck. The longer Hikari healed Sabyin, the more nauseous he felt. While the healing process was happening quickly, Hikari grew weaker and weaker by the second. The only thing that kept him going was not some moral high ground but the idea that Hikari owed Sabyin.
Within three minutes, it was done. Sabyin's bones, muscles, and skin had regrown without flaw.
"There…all…finish--" Before Hikari could finish his sentence, he vomited next to him. It was almost as if his insides were flying from his throat. The immense, he feels very weak, very vulnerable. His vision starts to blur as he collapses to his knees. Hikari brings his hand up to his face, groans barely escaping his mouth as he barely notices the blood dripping from his nose. His breath is shaky. He thinks to himself, "Need…to rest. Need…help. Ro..na." Hikari passes out, falling to the side, his face barely avoiding the contents of his stomach. The stench bothers him, but it is nowhere near strong enough to keep him awake. As his eyes go dark, he notices Sabyin's figure stirring and what looks like a small group of people in the distance. Hikari is too tired to care as his body gives out on him. He sleeps soundly, not knowing how he'll wake up and not caring either.
Hikari groans as he tries to lift himself, but falls backward onto something soft. He can't bring himself to open his eyes, as they are too heavy. He feels around himself, barely able to move his arms, and takes notice of the softness of the cloth he's lying on. He tries to use his mana to sense his surroundings, but as he tries to summon an ounce of power, his body goes into shock, and it feels as if his entire nervous system is on fire. On reflex, Hikari goes to scream, but not a single sound escapes his body. All his body can do is manage to squeeze out a singular tear from each eye. Internally, Hakari writhes in pain, wishing he could rip his nervous system from his body and be done with his suffering, but he can do no such thing. Whatever strength he had has left him. Try as he might, he cannot endure such pain, a pain so great that his waking mind could bear it no longer, and he passed out. A brief reprieve from the hell he had brought himself.
A few days later, downstairs, Sabyin is talking with a doctor. The doctor, who would normally have an air of calm and refinement, seems nervous. He clasps his hands together, twiddling his thumbs in a circular motion as he looks at the records before him.
"Sabyin, I don't know where you found this boy, but his recovery is astonishing to say the least. The state we found him in was absolutely terrible. A severe case of mana is no laughing matter. It wouldn't have surprised me if he had died. So, for him to have healed so much in only 4 days, while unconscious, I might add, is a miracle. Who is this human, Sabyin?" Sabyin, who is leaning against the wall, springs off using his elbow and says, "Truthfully, I don't know. All I can say is that he's a young man with plenty of potential, especially with the current political climate." The doctor sighs and stands up from his desk. "That brings me to another question, Sabyin: what are you doing with a human, let alone a human this far removed from his side of the continent. I've been patient and kind, very kind, and given him the life-saving treatment he needs despite the war going on because of our friendship. However, it seems that you won't come fully clean with me about how you met. This is a time of war with the humans, and yet I heal one with immense latent power. This village is basically harboring a potential enemy because of you. And we do it because we trust you."
Sabyin stiffens slightly. Not from fear, but anxiety about what to say. He asks himself if he should let him know everything. He and the doctor go way back; they enlisted in the army together. However, how would he react if he told him that he found one of the human heroes? Humans that had the potential to surpass the dark elves and all other races in all matters of learning and war. That he was saved by him? What about Queen Akal's decree, a decree that, as the doctor mentioned, Sabyin was breaking? Akal doesn't play around with treason, and he's seen her wrath firsthand.
Taking a deep breath and bowing his head, Sabyin says, "The boy…he saved me. There was a monster in the woods that day as I was hunting the wyvern. It's where I ran into the young woman who also lies unconscious." Moving from in front of the desk, he leans against a wall.
It was a terrible creature that wielded its flames in the most destructive of manners. It's why our surroundings looked the way they did. It was only with us combining our strength that we were victorious." His eye twitched slightly.
The doctor stares at him, unfazed and in disbelief. Looking Sabyin up and down, he takes a moment before sighing and shaking his head.
"Sabyin, you're a good Elf and strong warrior, but by all that is holy, you are a terrible liar." Sabyin bows his head a little, feeling a twinge of shame for the first time in fifty years.
"Look, doc, it's not all lies. I promise. There really was something out there in those woods, something dark. It really was the cause for the state I was in when you all found me. The boy did save my life. There are just some details I can't tell you. I wouldn't want to put you in harm's way."
Sabyin walks over to his friend and stares him dead in the eyes, inviting him to check him for lies once more. The doctor reevaluates Sabyin, searching for even an ounce of deceit. Refusing to use magic, he looks Sabyin up and down, only to find nothing. Not even a small shiver to give away loose nerves. Knowing that he'd finally gotten the truth from his friend, the doctor smirks softly.
"Your voice always was sweetest when you told the truth, Sabyin." Flustered and caught off guard, Sabyin coughs and chuckles before softly pushing his friend to the side.
"That was pretty gay, Cryst." The doctor, Cryst, lets out a hearty laugh.
"So what if it is? What are you gonna do, kick my ass? If I get injured, who's gonna deliver your next child, and the child of your mistress? Hmm? Answer me that."
Partially covering his mouth, Sabyin feigns surprise and grabs the hilt of his sword.
"Who told you this? I must silence all that know." Both men laugh and joke for a few minutes, like young men who may be a little too close, before going their separate ways. The Doctor, Cryst, looks over his documents, going through his patients' files, stopping when he gets to the file of a recent new admission that was found with severe burns around her neck near the location of Sabyin and Hikari.
The girl was not in good shape. While not malnourished, it was clear that she hadn't had a good meal in a long time. Her teeth hadn't been taken care of for what could be assumed to be weeks, leading to slight yellowing. Whatever she had been through caused her teeth to be worn down, which was rare for a Dark Elf as their bodies were hardy. And then there was that burn mark around her neck; it was so peculiar. It was almost as if someone had placed a white-hot steel collar and left it there for hours. After multiple sessions, the girl has recovered to what she can be assumed to be her normal state, what she says she looked like before, but something about her recovery makes Cryst uneasy. On the surface, she only seems to have had a few burn marks, some slight malnourishment, and an excess of filth covering her skin. Likely from the muddy puddle she was found writhing in.
Nothing too crazy to heal or fix when advanced healing magic is at your fingertips; however, through closer examination, and what was put in her files, she had a severe case of Mana fracturing. It was as if someone literally burned away her internal Man network. She was basically a human weakling when they found her collapsed; she was lucky to be alive, let alone breathing. And more importantly, what THING could even do such a bizarre torture? Destroying a magic core was extremely rare but possible, but the way in which it seemed to be done. Completely new and cruel, there was barely anything left to heal. Most of their healing sessions were rebuilding her Mana network so she could breathe the mana-rich air without difficulty.
Cryst thinks about her for a few minutes, his mind focused on all the information he'd gathered from treating her before ultimately choosing to just let it go for now. He had nowhere near enough information to make any conclusions other than what was already apparent. Something was off, most definitely, but what? He could not say, and he would not drive himself mad when he had an entire village to take care of. This would have to sit on the back burner for now, and it was not his jurisdiction to handle causes of absolute mystery and danger. However, he could call some people. If something that can do that is in the area, then everyone around him is in danger.