24: The Mysterious Voice

Next Morning In The Infirmary, Rylinth Academia Of Mages.

As the golden rays of light filtered into the infirmary chambers through the windows, they illuminated the rows of beds and shelves, casting a special glow on the healing pool located at the edge of the infirmary. Evelyn slowly fluttered her eyelids open while still immersed in the rejuvenating green solution inside the large pool. She felt damp as the fragrances of the solution she was immersed in wafted through her nostrils. The smell was strange, yet it was reminiscent of the pungent aroma of herbs and flowers, with a hint of fragrance.

As Evelyn took in her surroundings, she realized that they were different from both the elemental and variant department where the fight had taken place, as well as her dorm room. That was when she realized that she was inside a pool, no longer wearing her academy skyrim uniform, but instead an azure dress.

Panic shrouded her as she thought about her amulet, but she felt relieved when she saw it still hanging around her neck.

She tried to get up from the pool and walk to the nearest bed, but as she moved her body, she felt an aching pain in her chest and abdominal region. Enduring the stinging pain, she climbed out of the pool, dried her wet body using her flames and unsteadily made her way to the bed.

As she sat on the bed, she thought back to what had happened at the lightning elemental section earlier. She remembered being ruthlessly electrocuted by Wilson's lightning field, the excruciating pain she felt coursing through her blood vessels, the ear-piercing scream that erupted from her mouth along with an explosive burst of flame, and finally the voice she heard in her head as she descended into darkness.

'I don't understand what is happening to me... That voice... I'm certain I heard it clearly in my head, calling me a princess. I'm so sure. Even though my ear seemed to have shut down, not processing any sound around me at that moment, I knew I heard it talking about some sort of curse,' she pondered. Her head ached from thinking about all of these things. First, she faced the restriction on her mana core and her inability to unleash her elementals for an extended period. Now, she encountered an enigmatic outburst of flames that she doubted she could ever produce and the mysterious voice mentioning "a princess" and "a curse".

"Hey, can you hear me? Can you speak to me again?" she whispered, eagerly awaiting a response. However, all she heard was the chirping of birds outside the Infirmary and the sound of footsteps moving around the beds.

'Can you hear me now? Talk to me, please,' she said in her head. She decided to do this because that was the way the voice spoke to her. But still, there was no response.'I must have misheard then, perhaps because my ears were affected by that darn lightning.'

Thinking back to the fight and how ruthless Wilson was, she balled her fingers into a fist, trying to calm her anger. Just then, she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her.

When she lifted her head, her gaze met with another pair of black eyes belonging to a woman in her mid-thirties. The woman also had sleek, black hair flowing down her shoulders. The woman, wearing a flowing robe adorned with the academy crest, walked up to her.

"You are finally awake," the woman, likely the head healer of the infirmary, asked Evelyn as she stood before her. "So, how are you feeling? Do you still feel pain in your body?" asked the healer.

Just then, Evelyn remembered her brother, Elvis, and glanced at the bed next to her to see if she could find him. "Where is my brother, the blond-haired boy? Where is he?" Evelyn asked, unable to see him anywhere around.

"Oh! him? He recovered yesterday. He stayed by your side the whole night, by the pool's side. You two must sincerely care about each other. He only went to check on some of your friends who were brought here from the underground prison a few minutes ago," the healer replied.

"Yesterday? I have been in that pool since yesterday." Evelyn muttered as she considered the possibility that Cedric was the person Elvis went to see, as he was the only one he could call a friend. "But I still feel sore around my chest and abdomen. I should have completely healed, right?"

Hearing what Evelyn just said, the healer was so surprised that it was visible on her face, leaving her mouth ajar.

'That healing pool would have healed her both externally and internally in less than an hour. But I left her there since yesterday afternoon, and she is telling me that she still feels sore in her chest. I have never witnessed this in all my years of practicing white magic and healing magic. What sort of attack rendered her like this?'

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Evelyn asking if she had heard what she said.

"Uh... Let me examine your innards again," the healer said. She raised both of her hands to shoulder level, with her palms facing outward as if she were pushing something away. She directed a stream of white energy towards Evelyn's chest.

The energy entered her body, giving her a soothing sensation as it traveled throughout her internal system, scanning for any abnormalities.

But suddenly, Evelyn felt her amulet vibrate, and it began to absorb the white energy emanating from the healer's palms. It wasn't just absorbing the white spiritual energy; it was devouring it.

The healer was stunned as she watched her energy being siphoned by the amulet worn by the student. She couldn't help but wonder why this girl gave her a strange feeling since she was brought by Cedric.

Seeing that the amulet was draining the energy from her hands, she quickly halted the channeling process. She could not even discern what was actually wrong with Evelyn, as the amulet's strange behavior disrupted her concentration while scanning the girl's body with the white energy.

As the source of energy was cut off, the amulet lit up with a golden glow that enveloped Evelyn's entire body, penetrating her through every orifice.

Evelyn felt a soothing sensation washing through her internal organs and vessels. When the glow dimmed and stopped, she felt more revitalized than ever before, and the flow of spiritual energy inside her became even clearer.

Lifting her index finger, it ignited with a golden-red flame immediately and lasted even longer than before, but eventually it extinguished on its own.

"I'm fine now," Evelyn happily exclaimed, but her expression soured as she saw the shocked healer before her who had witnessed the power of her amulet. 'I'm really done for. What should I tell her now? Would she even agree to keep this secret for me?'

"What a powerful artifact! Who gave it to you? I have never seen such a powerful artifact," the healer exclaimed, her eyes still flashing with excitement. Being a healer, she knew that artifacts that hold power are rare in the human settlement, not to mention one of this level. It can be said that this artifact is of high grade, as it has the ability to heal its owner.

Evelyn, seeing the excitement on her face, knew right away that her plan of asking the healer to keep this a secret for her wouldn't work anymore. She must be one of those covetous people the woman in her dream talked about. So Evelyn was thinking of what to tell her when she felt a sharp but short pain in her head. And a voice spoke to her once more.

'She saw your amulet. You must erase her memory of witnessing the power of the amulet.' That was all the voice said this time.