Chapter 20 –
A white ceiling came into his view.
Azek stared at it, briefly confused.
Where was he?
Slowly, his thoughts cleared. He remembered he was lying in the infirmary —
but why was he here in the first place?
Ah.
Realization came to him.
I was contaminated with mana poison.
Wait… that's right. I expelled the poison.
Then what happened?
Do I have any symptoms?
A tinge of unease rose in his chest.
He blinked slowly, his blurry vision gradually becoming clear. Bit by bit, his senses returned.
But when did I expel the poison?
Confusion crept back in.
Adrian was watching his son closely. The moment Azek's eyelashes fluttered, he noticed. He didn't interrupt — he only observed.
Azek finally came fully to his senses, though a confused expression remained on his face.
"Azek."
Adrian stood up and called gently.
Azek turned toward the source of the voice.
Who's calling me?
His eyes fell on Adrian Willowheart.
"Father?"
Vivian stood on his other side.
Azek looked between them and asked in a cracked voice, "What are you doing here?"
Before they could reply, the door opened and Diaz entered. Seeing Adrian and Vivian standing so close to Azek, he stiffened.
"Marquis, please step aside. You can't get that close to an infected—"
He swallowed the rest of his words.
Azek lay there with his eyes open, fully conscious, with no visible symptoms.
Diaz hurriedly left the way he had come.
Adrian turned his attention back to Azek.
"Azek," he called again softly.
But instead of replying, Azek closed his eyes.
He was trying to recall everything he had gone through, but the details felt mixed up and blurred.
After struggling for some time, he gave up and slowly sat up with Vivian's support.
The door opened again. Theodore entered with Diaz.
Before he could say a word—
Growwwwwl.
A loud sound came from Azek's stomach.
"I suppose you must be starving after not eating for so long," Theodore said.
He sent Diaz to fetch food while Azek went to freshen up.
Plate after plate was emptied, and Theodore watched with growing confusion.
It shouldn't be possible to eat that much, even after prolonged fasting.
Azek looked up, feeling much clearer after regaining some energy.
He noticed Theodore's gaze.
"Is something the matter?" he asked.
Theodore sat across from him. Vivian and Adrian remained seated on either side of Azek, almost defensively, ready to react if necessary.
Theodore snapped out of his thoughts and offered a faint smile.
"How are you feeling now?"
"I'm feeling alright," Azek replied with a small smile.
"Any discomfort?"
"No."
"Hm."
Theodore's expression turned serious.
"Then I'll be direct. What happened after you coughed up blood and lost consciousness?"
The question came suddenly.
Azek's hand paused.
So they found out.
Well… that was expected.
A long silence stretched between them before Azek slowly regained his composure.
"I was contaminated with mana poison. It was most likely a seed."
"A seed, you say?" Theodore frowned.
"Yes."
"The longest a host survives a seed is three days," Theodore said calmly. "You've crossed nearly seventy-two hours without symptoms."
Silence settled heavily in the room.
Vivian's fingers tightened around the armrest. Adrian's gaze never left his son.
Theodore leaned forward slightly.
"So I will ask again, Azek. What exactly did you do?"
Azek swallowed.
"I examined my mana core," he replied slowly. "There was a black, tangled mass inside it. It looked… alive. So I forced my mana around it and expelled it."
Theodore's expression froze.
"Examined?" His voice lowered. "Explain what you mean by that."
"I looked at it."
The room went still.
Theodore's eyes sharpened.
"There is no technique in existence that allows one to visually inspect their mana core. It can only be sensed. Interpreted. Never seen."
Azek's heartbeat quickened.
"I saw it clearly," he insisted. "It was coiled around the inner structure of the core. Like roots."
Vivian inhaled sharply.
Adrian's voice came out colder than usual.
"Theodore."
But Theodore raised a hand to stop him.
"When you say 'saw,'" Theodore continued carefully, "do you mean you formed a mental image from sensory feedback… or did you truly see it?"
Azek hesitated.
The memory was vivid — too vivid to mistake.
"I definitely saw it."
Theodore leaned back slowly and tried to read Azek's expression carefully.
Then he said,
"That… is impossible."
A long pause stretched between them.
Then Theodore spoke again.
"There is no traditional technique in the current era that can examine the mana core. Only forbidden ones."
The room was enveloped in heavy silence.
Mana cores couldn't be examined through traditional techniques?
That was news to him.
An unknown fear gripped his heart.