Panic

"Merida, he will recover?" A concerned voice echoed.

"He will recover from the physical wounds, Silvia, unfortunately, for reasons unknown, he has undergone a type of mutation in his underdeveloped circle, so it is possible that it may hinder her growth in the future."

At that moment, I opened my eyes startled.

I looked around confused, and realized I was lying on a hospital bed that I was already familiar with.

In the room were the healer Mérida with a solemn expression and my mother, Silvia with tears in her eyes.

I looked at a clock hanging on the wall and realized it was 1 pm.

When I tried to sit up, I felt a sharp pain coming from my heart, as if it had stopped for a fraction of a second.

"Better not make any effort, child, you're weak, you need to rest" Mérida told me.

I obeyed Mérida and proceeded to lie back down on the bed.

As I got into a more comfortable position, I noticed small crystalline tears falling from my mother's face.

I had a small sense of déjà vu since the last time a scene like this happened, I was left with an incurable scar on my face.

"What's wrong, Mom? I'm fine, don't worry" I exclaimed in an attempt to console her.

My mother rushed towards me and, breaking into tears, began to murmur:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

With clear confusion etched on my face, I asked:

"What's going on?"

"Kid, does your heart hurt in any way?" Mérida asked with a somber expression on her face.

"Yes, now when I tried to get up, I felt my heart stop" I replied.

"You wanted to enter the agora academy, didn't you, Liam?" Mérida asked.

With a bad feeling of unease in my body, I exclaimed:

"Yes, that's been my dream since I learned of its existence."

Mérida looked at me with a look of pity and said:

"You see, kid, this may be hard for you to grasp, but you probably won't be able to create any more circles in the future, so I advise you to start looking for other options."

Faced with such an ultimatum, I didn't know how to react.

'No, no, I shouldn't worry, I can use some protagonist's trick to move on,' I thought.

Mérida, without waiting for me to finish processing it, continued speaking.

"You see, Liam, I can't explain what happened to you myself because this is the first time I've seen this, but apparently you've undergone a mutation within your first circle's development."

Confused, I gestured for her to elaborate a bit more on her answer.

Mérida, without saying a word, took out two photos from her pocket.

In one image, you could see the black and white x-ray of a heart that seemed to have a kind of ring around it made of what looked like small particles.

On the contrary, in the other photo, there was another photo of a heart, but unlike the other image, in this one, small particles were directly attached to the heart, scattered without any apparent pattern.

"You see, Liam, this is an x-ray of your friend Anna's first circle, as you can see it is exceptionally well formed, and there is enough space for mana to flow naturally throughout her body" she explained, pointing to the photograph of the heart with the ring around it.

Unconsciously, I swallowed saliva as I realized what Mérida was trying to say.

Mérida gave me one last pitying look before continuing to speak.

"However, this other x-ray taken yesterday when you were brought here shows that your first circle has suffered a malformation in its development, so it has not been able to separate completely from your heart."

When Mérida said that, I already knew what was happening to me.

The scientific explanation is simple, in this world, that supernatural element we call mana is everywhere, including oxygen.

When we breathe, that small concentration of mana in oxygen enters our bodies.

As we grow, our bodies adapt to mana and assimilate it as part of our organism.

Most of the mana absorbed goes to our hearts, which eventually causes our bodies to assimilate it as a new organ, the circle.

At least, that's what should happen.

For a circle to be functional, it has to be at a certain distance from the heart because otherwise...

"It's just what you're thinking, Liam, as you use your circle, it will gradually move further and further into your heart, which will gradually cause more mana to seep into your veins, not only making your control over it unstable but also causing you a slow and agonizing death due to the continuous mana poisoning in your blood" Mérida interrupted.

My mother couldn't take it anymore and left the room in tears.

As all this scene unfolded before me, I didn't quite know how to react.

The novel didn't mention anything like this, it was the first time I felt confused since I came to this world.

'How did this happen? Was it because of the plant? Did I rush too much? Or maybe it was this strange creature?' I thought.

As I was immersed in my darkest thoughts, I heard someone knocking on the door.

"Oh, kid, I'd like to give you time to process this, but the Lotus agent who brought you here yesterday wants to talk to you urgently" Mérida said as she opened the door.

Then a woman about 25 years old entered the room. T

he first impression she gave me was of someone out of the ordinary.

Her appearance at first glance was that of a careless person, she had short, poorly cared for orange hair and small brown eyes that conveyed a deep sense of boredom.

However, around her, there was something that made you want to flee just by being in her presence, as if she were a lion resting before eating its next prey.

For a strange reason, she feels familiar, but i didn't know why.

Apart from that, in her hands, you could see calluses and scars that seemed to be the product of constant training.

As I analyzed her, something about her seemed familiar to me, as if I had seen her before.

The strange woman approached me and, waving her hand, said:

"Hello, kid, my name is Kiara Spencer, a special agent sent by Lotus and the person who saved you yesterday."

When the woman pronounced her name, I realized why her appearance sounded so familiar.

In the agora academy, the place where the events of the first arc in the novel take place, Seth, the protagonist when he arrived at the academy, there were very few people who truly supported him.

One of those people was Kiara, a prodigy who left Lotus's military life to become a teacher and teach the new generations.

Seth became so attached to Kiara that he even saw her as the maternal figure he never had.

Unfortunately, due to a few events that happened around the middle of the second arc, she dies, leaving the protagonist with a trauma that he carries until the end of the work.

"Well, I know you have to ask him some questions privately, Kiara, I'll leave you alone" Mérida said as she left the room.

The moment Mérida left the room, Kiara's deep hazel eyes focused on me, giving me a strange feeling.

"Well kid, I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I have to do my job, so I'll go straight to the questions" she said with a cold tone.

I nodded nervously.

"Okay, Liam, first question, what were you doing out of the house so late last night?"

"I was coming back home after planning a surprise for my dear friend Anna because tomorrow is her last day in town."

"Do you have any evidence to support your claim?" Kiara said suspiciously.

I wasn't going to tell her that I had swallowed an enhancer plant because there are currently laws restricting the consumption of these objects so I had to come up with an excuse quickly.

"Ma'am... I... I was just trying to give a gift to my friend, I didn't want to get into any trouble," I said between sobs.

My tears were not fake, as I was truly sad about the news of my circle.

Kiara seemed to take pity on me because she relaxed her expression for a moment and tried to give me a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry, kid, I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I promise I only have a few more questions left and then we're done, okay?"

As in the novel, she have weakness for the litle kids.

"This... This is fine," I exclaimed in a childish tone.

Sighing, Kiara continued.

"Next question, do you remember what happened to you yesterday?"

"Yes, I was coming back home, when out of nowhere a deformed creature resembling a reptile attacked me" I replied.

"Kid, it seems like you hit your head very hard" she said seriously.

With a look of confusion on my face, I signaled for her to continue.

"When I arrived at the scene, you were surrounded by deceitful bats, known for their ability to provoke illusions, there was no creature resembling a reptile at the scene."

"But I clearly saw..."

"No kid, it's okay, sometimes your mind can play tricks on you, but it was bats that attacked you" she said, interrupting me.

After that strange statement, the questions continued until the mysterious Kiara thanked me for answering and left the room.

'Finally, a bit of peace' I thought.

It wasn't until someone knocked on the door that I realized I couldn't have peace.

"Come in" I said disdainfully.

But the person who entered the room was someone I wasn't expecting at all.

"Hello son, are you okay?"

It was none other than my own father.