Recovery

The day after his confrontation with Vaella, Arnik resumed school as usual. He was known to be a usually quiet person in class but the coldness emanating from him was a new feeling. Even Vilma who usually sat with him noticed it and decided to keep her distance.

Classes went on as usual and soon it was time for lunch break. He waited silently in his seat as everyone began leaving the class, Vilma noticed this and hesitated a little before approaching him, when she got to his seat she began speaking to him,

"Hi Arnik, I was -uhm wondering if you'd like to join me for lunch?" she stuttered,

Arnik looked at her, the usual bright blue eyes she had gotten used to seeing were gone and what remained were deep blue dead eyes,

"No thank you" he replied flatly.

" Oh, ok then " Vilma silently before she began walking away. Arnik had been this way since the fight, could it have been due to Rowan's injuries? she couldn't be sure but she genuinely cared for his well-being.

When she got to the door, she stopped to look back at him, he was still seated with his hand under his chin, "Please be okay" she muttered before leaving.

Immediately Arnik was left alone in the class, he closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He was aware that he was being cold to everyone, but at the time it seemed like the most reasonable thing to do."What's the use of having friends if you can't even protect them" he muttered to himself.

He looked at his Atephra and quietly tapped on it and the familiar blue window that contained his stats popped up,

[NAME]

ARNIK RAGNIEL

[LEVEL]

PRIMARY MAGE

[ELEMENTAL AFFINITY]

FIRE{FLAMES OF BASAN}- Lvl 8

LIGHTNING-Lvl 2

[MAGIC GEAR]

RAGNIEL SOULRUNE- Lvl 2

His Fire affinity had risen considerably but his lighting affinity hadn't developed as fast. This was because he predominantly trained with his Fire affinity while he was in school.

He could only absorb mana to boost his Lightning affinity occasionally when he was alone to avoid raising suspicions from others.

"This isn't enough, I need to get my Lightning affinity to at least level 5" he muttered to himself. Also, he needed to get money in other to purchase magi-cores which he could use to upgrade his Soulrune.

He quickly remembered that he had an appointment with Olea and rushed to meet her in her office.

In front of her door, he knocked and waited for a response before he quietly let himself in. Olea was seated at her desk as usual and he sat opposite her. She was typing something on her computer and didn't even spare a glance at Arnik who patiently waited till she was done.

" I spoke to my friend and we agreed, meet me at the school gate at 7 pm sharp, I'll be taking you somewhere to meet him", she said.

Arnik nodded and left the office as quietly as he had come.

********************

The day dragged on and it soon came to a close. Unlike before Arnik was the first person to leave class, he intended to check on Rowan in the infirmary and then head to the Serdana dorm to meditate till it was time to meet up with Olea.

He quickly made his way to the infirmary and was pleasantly surprised to find Rowan sitting on his bed. When he had come here the previous day, he had been informed that Rowan had gained consciousness but was resting and so decided against disturbing him.

Rowan turned to look at who had just entered and wasn't too surprised to see Arnik after all he'd been told by the nurses that his friend had visited him almost every single day while he was unconscious.

" Hey buddy," Rowan said, smiling brightly. Arnik, desperate trying to hold himself, couldn't help but smile back, " Rowan" he muttered softly.

Rowan rose to his feet and spread out his arms, Arnik walked towards him and gave him a tight squeeze, he hadn't realized how much he has missed seeing his friend in the past few days.

"Too tight, too tight, you gonna break me in half" Rowan said laughing and Arnik released his grip,

" So what did I miss," he said, sitting back on his bed, he gestured for Arnik to do the same which the latter did.

" Well for starters, this" Arnik responded holding up his right hand, almost immediately, a small blue flame appeared in his palm.

"Hoooooo!!!" Rowan exclaimed, he was wide-eyed " This, blue flame, when, how, why," he asked rapidly,

Arnik then proceeded to tell him all that had happened while he was unconscious not skipping out on anything.

" I see," Rowan said, putting a hand under his chin, he remained like that for while before, putting the hand under his chin on Arnik's shoulder, he took a deep breath and then smiled at Arnik,

" Well, thanks for teaching that jerk a lesson," he said.

Arnik laughed a little before responding,

" Don't mention it" he said. He spent an hour talking to Rowan, updating him on what had happy while he was hospitalized and finally it was time for him to go.

" The doctor says I'm healing quite fast and I should be out by the end of the week, so don't worry about me okay?", Rowan said as Arnik got up to leave, the latter nodded and smiled at his friend before quietly leaving the room.

Arnik immediately headed for his dorm and wasn't surprised to find his room empty. Asides from Rowan's absence, the two seniors Crin and Resort shared the room with him and would be in the training room at this time and so would most of the other students.

" Perfect, just what I wanted" Arnik muttered to himself, he quickly changed and sat down to meditate. This was all according to his plan, classes ended at 4'o clock after which he had spent an hour with Rowan. He was supposed to meet up with Olea but Seven which meant that he had two hours he could dedicate to meditating.

"I was just about to enter Level 3 in my Lightning affinity, two hours should be more than enough," he thought to himself as he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

****************^^

About an hour and a half later, Arnik opened his eyes. He had successfully entered level 3 Lightning affinity and was happy with his new achievement. He quickly freshened up and hurriedly left for the school gate.

He got to the gate at Seven on the dot and looked around a bit before he saw a slim yet curvy figure walking toward him. Olea had changed out of the skirt suit and lab coat she usually wore in school and was now wearing a white top with a black jet and tight black leggings with sneakers. Arnik was at a loss for words as Olea walked up to him and spoke,

"You're punctual, that's good, let's go"

They stopped a taxi which they both entered and left for their destination. While in the taxi, Arnik played with his hands anxiously, Olea was seated beside him and he could smell the scent of her floral perfume.

"Dumb Arnik, focus," he told himself as he looked outside the window, they had left the wealthy part of town and headed towards the outskirts,

"Where are we going?" he asked facing Olea

"Bizma" she answered simply, Arnik wanted to ask more but decided against it.

Bizma was notorious for being a rough part of Lirdunia city, the living conditions were terrible and a lot of poor people gathered here. It was also home to robbers, kidnappers, and anyone that participated in social vices. Arnik, even though belonging to a low-class family, had never been to this part of town having lived in the Frost mansion his whole life.

The taxi driver drove for a while until Olea told him to stop in front of an old building that Arnik guessed served as a store.

They both got down and stood in front of the building. Olea looked at him and spoke,

"This, this is where the fun begins," she said smiling at him