Slowly opening his eyes, Verso saw a white ceiling, the smell of antiseptic filled the air and the faint hum of a ceiling fan above him.
For a few seconds, he simply stared at it, his mind was still foggy as the memory from earlier gradually resurfaced.
Verso let out a long sigh.
"I am in the infirmary… right?"
He spoke quietly while still staring at the ceiling, almost as if he was expecting the room itself to answer him.
Instead, a voice came from the corner of the room.
"You really need to leave this place, Verso."
Verso didn't turn to look at who was speaking because he immediately recognized the voice.
"It's only going to get worse as it gets closer to the Academy Admission Test…"
Verso let out a deep slow breath as he replied.
"You already know I can't do that, Mister Kolden."
He slowly pushed himself upright as he sat up straight on the infirmary bed. The movement caused a dull ache to spread across his ribs and stomach as lingering reminder of the beating he had just taken moments ago.
Verso winced slightly but ignored the discomfort as he turned his head to look in the direction of the voice.
To no surprise, Kolden stood in the corner of the room.
The man looked completely out of place in an infirmary. He was tall and broad shouldered, his muscular frame almost completely filled corner he stood in.
He wore a tank top and loose athletic shorts, his arms were thick with defined muscle as veins ran across his forearms and his posture carried the confidence of someone who was very proud of their combat ability.
He clearly looked more like a professional fighter than a school teacher.
Despite all that, the worried expression on his face softened his intimidating presence.
"Kids and their foolish dreams," Kolden said, crossing his arms.
"Do you really think the clans will just sit by and let an unawakened kid take a position at the Summoner's Academy?"
Verso remained silent for a moment.
But then a small smile appeared on his face.
"This is exactly why I asked you to help with my forced awakening request."
Kolden looked at him.
Then he shook his head slowly as a subtle smile formed on his lips.
"I already submitted the request to the headmaster." He replied.
"But don't expect much. Forced awakenings have always meant that you're not built to be a summoner."
Verso didn't reply instead he just simply kept smiling at Kolden who studied his expression for a second before letting out a short chuckle.
"But I really doubt that it will stop you from awakening."
Verso tilted his head slightly as he wondered what Kolden meant.
"You're talking as if my application has already been accepted?"
Kolden burst out laughing.
"The school would be stupid to reject an awakening request from the school's top ranker." He said.
"Instead, they asked me to get you to the headmaster's office as soon as possible."
Verso's eyes widened slightly as excitement slowly started to appear across his face.
He immediately tried to get off the bed when-
"Ugh…"
Pain shot through his ribs.
Verso paused, his hand gripping the side of the bed as the pain slowly settled.
"It still hurts…"
Kolden smirked slightly.
"Ah, about that." He said casually.
"Ellum and Nathan got suspended for a week."
Verso raised an eyebrow hearing this. Usually the school always prioritized the awakened students over the unawakened ones.
"You really are something." Kolden continued.
"Taking down an awakened with a single punch."
Verso didn't respond to him instead he simply swung his legs off the bed carefully and stood up.
Although the soreness in his chest remained, it was still manageable to move around.
Seeing Verso get up, Kolden turned toward the door.
"Let's go," He said. "The headmaster is waiting."
Verso looked at Kolden's back who was already out on his way out of the room.
'About time.'
He quickly stepped forward and followed his teacher.
As they walked through the hallway, Verso's thoughts drifted.
Three days ago, his entire class had undergone the awakening ceremony. Each awakening one after another the ability to use mana.
All of them except for him were able to awaken successfully. For some reason he had been unable to absorb mana naturally.
Which indirectly meant that he was not fit to awaken, this was not just a surprise to him but to everyone around him as everyone had expected him to awaken with the highest potential.
After going through this, although Verso was shook he took the second best option.
He submitted a formal request for a forced awakening.
This was a process where another awakened individual would inject mana directly into his body, forcing the awakening process artificially.
This was a method that is heavily frowned upon because natural awakening has always meant a person has the potential to be a summoner and that they have a talent that makes them a valuable asset to society.
The forced awakeners are viewed differently as they are viewed as individuals that are rejected by mana which indirectly meant that they did not possess the talent required to be a summoner.
But to Verso, none of that mattered.
He only needed one chance to prove himself.
As he walked behind Kolden he glanced at his teacher's back.
'Sir Kolden really must have stood up for my awakening.'
Verso knew how rare forced awakening approvals were as they were usually reserved for clan nobilities.
So the fact that his request had moved this quickly, it would only mean that someone stood up for him and Verso was no idiot he knew that the only one that would stand up for him that much could only be Kolden.
Verso had always respected him as Kolden had always treated him fairly. Maybe it was because Kolden like himself was not part of any clans, maybe it was because he liked Verso's work ethic.
Verso didn't really care what the reason for, he just felt like he wanted to match his expectations so he always worked harder than anyone else in his combat classes.
After a minute of walking, the hallway grew quieter as they had reached the administrative wing of the school.
Kolden suddenly stopped in front of a large wooden door.
"We are here." Kolden said.
Verso nodded as he looked at the door, this is clearly not the first time he was meeting with the headmaster.
"Only you are allowed to enter," Kolden continued. "So I'll take my leave here."
Verso knew it was about time he walked in so he quietly nodded and stepped forward.
As he pushed the door open he Kolden's voice from behind him.
"Good luck, kid."
A smile appeared on his face as he stepped into the room.