Hospital Wing

Before he had applied to join the Academy, Seth Robin was an ordinary individual, No...

he was below ordinary, He didn't even qualify as average.

If not for him awakening a Legendary Guardian soul, not to mention a purple rank Emblem in the entrance exam, no one would have spared him a glance.

And it didn't help that he was even much shorter than the average High Human, standing at a measly 1.8 meters tall.

Yes, he was indeed quite below average.

"Must- Get- Stronger!" he thought to himself repeatedly as he mustered the strength to swing his axe again.

Seth was breathing hard, sweat dripped down the sides of his ordinary face, his hands felt raw, his legs felt like jelly, he had been locked in combat with a Young Red Dragon for 15 minutes, That may not seem like a long time, but Red Dragons were clever, and they were quick, it battered him with wind from its wings forcing him to dig in his feet to hold his position, and when he would stab his axe at the ground to prevent himself being blown away the Dragon would swoop down from above, Its gaping maw spread wide to snap at his head, forcing him to duck, roll, and dodge.

It wasn't like his life was in danger, This was the Arena after all, ever since the commotion Ra and company had stirred up, The benefits of the Arena had become known to all the surrounding islands.

The Dragon roared savagely, Seth twirled his axe as he planted his feet, The reason for this move was more than just to look fancy, he was concealing the bolt of electricity that he was manipulating in his palm.

Spinning slightly as the Dragon began to dive again, he rolled in the direction of its flight path, as it flew low and fast above his head he rolled til his back was flat on the floor, and he could see the Dragon's belly as it soared past him, wasting no time, he released his axe, joining his hands together, he doubled the output and power of the electric sphere in his palms, thrusting upwards he shot his bolt dead center into the Dragon's core, piercing it's molten heart.

The Dragon tried to roar again but instead shattered into particles of light.

[Victory] Time: 19:58:12 Well Done!

Seth's eyes were stinging from the excess sweat in his eyes but he couldn't spare the strength to wipe it away, ejected from the formation he collapsed inside the Arena lobby pale and drenched, his skin felt cold.

"Was that really only a rank 5 challenge?" he thought aloud right before he lost consciousness.

When Seth regained consciousness he was in a brightly lit room, The smell of a thick mana environment and medicine assaulted his nostrils.

"Hospital Wing? Excuse me, how did i get here?" he asked a healer passing by as he grabbed her arm.

"Shit!" The girl exclaimed as the sound of glass shattering entered their ears, he had grabbed her arm so suddenly it had caused her to drop the vial she had been carrying.

Seth looked down at the broken vial, feeling awkward he quickly released the girls arm, apologizing profusely.

The girl forced a smile that was not a smile onto her face before asking him to repeat his question.

Seth felt very awkward but to prevent things from getting any worse he decided to meet her gaze.

Glancing up to her face he became slack jawed, his mouth open but no words came out, he just stared at her.

She was beautiful, Thick auburn hair rested on her shoulders, her eyes were like sparkling silver diamonds and her face was oval shaped with full red lips beneath a cute button-like round nose.

Growing slightly annoyed the girl repeated herself.

Shaking himself awake, "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't." and she turned away from him completely exasperated now.

Walking through the doors she had been originally walking towards, Seth stared at them for a few seconds before yelling exploded from the other side and the girl ran out with tears streaking down her face her beautiful hair swinging right and left as she ran past him, Seth felt horrible.

Glass vials and multi-colored plumes of magical smoke flew from the other side of the now open double doors.

Wanting to disappear, Seth got up from his bed and began to slowly make his way towards the doors.

"I have to at least accept responsibility for my own mistakes." he thought.

Gazing warily through the clouds of smoke, He took a deep breath, shut his eyes, and stepped inside.

Stepping into the room was like entering another world, There were massive trees, literally, Huge, Seth had never seen trees so large in his life, there was a sweetness in the air but also spicy, he could taste it as he breathed in large gulps, The scent filling his nostrils, more than that, The mana here was far denser than anywhere else in the Academy, Even the Library in Grand Sorcére could not boast such high mana quality, Seth's eyes scanned the space before him, He was standing in a forest of Nutmeg trees!

They rose so high they appeared to pierce the heavens.

"Such magnificent trees..." he breathed, gasping in wonder as he wandered aimlessly through the forest.

The longer he stayed here the clearer his mind became, he had no sense of time as he wandered through the forest, he admired the streams that was home to creatures he had never seen before, he watched them wriggle and circle each other beneath the surface, he laid flat on his stomache as he viewed their antics, with no concept of time who knew how long he had lain there before his stomache began to grumble and his mouth began to thirst, dipping his hands into the stream he raised the sweet-smelling liquid to his lips.

A woman in a flowery yellow dress decorated with countless living stars suddenly appeared at his side gently pressing his raised hands back into the stream, she shook her head saying: "I wouldn't do that."

Releasing him, she angled her white and yellow sun hat upwards, exposing her beautiful face, tilting it til no shadows crossed her face, and her beautiful locks fell to her shoulders.

She smiled at him.

"This is the Thousand Mile Nutmeg Grove, The creatures who feed from it may never leave." she said softly.

nodding towards the trees and stream.

Seth sprang away from the stream as he awakened from his stupor.

Nodding in a satisfied manner the woman wrapped him in swirling pink leaves and the two disappeared from beside the stream.

An invisible voice spoke in the silence.

"Interesting." Before quiet once again gripped the forest.

Seth and the mysterious woman appeared within a copse of trees, A small cabin was built in the center atop what could only be called a silver pond, seemingly walking across the surface of the water the woman entered the house.

And her sweet voice entered his ears again as he stood there dumbfounded.

"Are you coming?"

Nodding vigorously, Seth slowly approached the pond.