"Are you sure you sensed it, sir?" Ahara's muffled voice ca from the waiting room.
"Positive. It might not be enough for him to have a rank yet, but the boy sure has aura flowing in his body now," Twiller responded with as much secrecy.
Damien stopped in his tracks once he heard their conversation.
'They're talking about ,' he noted, standing upright whilst gluing himself to the wall, ears pointed at the open door.
A muffled groan that could only have been Ahara escaped from the room. "But if he has aura flowing in his body now, doesn't that an the council'll keep a close eye on him since he can't return to the human world?"
"No. I think I intimidated them enough to let them know what kind of decision is more favorable for everyone."
"But you're not the Nun, Professor. Having aura equal to the rank doesn't an you hold the position unless you agree to it, you know?" Ahara sighed.
The old man let out a rather icy chuckle that sent a chill down Damien's skin, leaving goosebumps in its trail. "Still, it's enough to declare war or to convince the council to change so decisions, isn't it?"
'So aura works here like money does in the human world?' Damien wondered, glancing around the empty corridor.
"Though I must say, the boy surprised . All I did was release the pressure in his pulse points, and that was enough to make his aura awaken?" Twiller continued.
"Maybe it's the dicine Sandbloom gave him? Or the lotion?" Ahara replied, her voice sounding unsure of what she was speculating.
"No. Those were for his sore muscles and throat. Sandbloom forgot to unclog the points that allow his aura to flow freely throughout his body, or she might have just ignored it, thinking he was the sa powerless boy from the human world."
"Well, you did say you couldn't feel any aura in him after you massaged his pressure points, didn't you?"
The old man dramatically cleared his throat, cutting Ahara off before speaking.
"Anyway, I'll convince the council to let the boy off the hook this ti. You, on the other hand, need to make sure he stays ho until he is strong enough to roam around Gibbous by himself."
Then in a lowered voice that was barely audible to Damien's prying ears:
"The beings here are, after all, natural predators. Weakness is taboo, and he might get the worst end of it all since he just awakened his aura. Teach him how to protect himself against bullies daily until his aura becos normal."
Blood rushed all over Damien's body, his heart thudding with enough force to be heard in his head.
Natural predators? Bullies? Weakness is considered a taboo?
'Just what kind of place is Gibbous?' He wondered just when Ahara's voice brought him back to reality, pleading.
"Can't you just enroll him at the academy? In loving mory of Uncle's services to Gibbous at least. I an, I could teach him how to survive, but isn't learning how to manage the bare minimum of aura he has from the teachers at Gibforge much better?"
Damien couldn't hear the old man's reply, but when Ahara's heavy sigh reached his ears, he knew Principal Twiller had sohow rejected her proposal.
"I could, yes, but wouldn't that be unfair to those with pitiful conditions like him all around Gibbous?"
"But..."
"The world doesn't favor the weak Ahara. It only works in accordance with the powerful and the rich. I'm not denying that the boy's father played a great role in restoring our peace, but the majority of the people have already moved on. If you don't want your brother facing prejudice from the rest of Gibforge later, then he has to enroll fairly just like the rest of them."
"His aura is barely an E-rank tier Professor."
"Then make him reach that level."
"In a week?"
"He managed to awaken it in a matter of minutes, didn't he?"
A montary silence.
Damien finally debated showing himself to the two, but the thought imdiately left his mind when Principal Twiller sighed.
"The muscle on his body...you used to train him back ho, didn't you?"
"Not to fight. He used to co to the gym I worked at, and I'd help him with training."
"Aha!" Twiller exclaid happily.
"That explains the abrupt aura release after the unclogging. His body is already good enough to accommodate E-rank aura, D too, but the aura itself isn't yet accustod to the body, much like food entering a body with malnutrition."
"Does that an he just needs a trigger that'll set his aura off?" Ahara asked, her voice sounding less depressed now.
At this, Damien drew his ears closer to the door, desperately wanting to hear Twiller's take on the matter.
"Quite likely, yes. I'd advise you to make him exercise daily this entire week. Make the aura filter throughout his body. I have a feeling it'll keep on growing from here onwards."
As if being showered with a warm embrace after a stormy day, Damien's stiff body loosened at Twiller's remark.
'I can beco stronger,' he thought, pumping his fists in the air when he suddenly felt a nudge to his arm.
"What the!" He jumped, standing in front of the door and glancing behind him to see a nurse dressed in a white robe standing right where he had been a few seconds ago.
"Sorry if I scared you, but are you looking for soone?"
"Damien," Ahara rushed towards the door. "What are you doing outside?"
"Are you his guardian?" The nurse asked.
"Yes. Is there sothing wrong with him?"
"Oh no. I was just passing by and saw him standing here, so I approached him thinking he was lost."
Ahara snapped her head to look at Damien, and he imdiately avoided her gaze, tapping his fingers nervously on his thighs.
"Well then, I'll be continuing my journey since it seems he's safe."
"Thank you for your services," Ahara nodded in the nurse's direction, turning her attention back to Damien, her eyes squinted.
"Were you snooping on us?"
Damien increased the tapping on his thighs, his eyes shifting around the corridor, guilt already eating at him.
"Damien?"
"Leave him be," Twiller ca to the boy's rescue, his amour clinking when he stood and walked towards the door.
"It's only natural that he becos curious since everything around him is foreign at the mont. He'll soon pass the phase once he's used to Gibbous and its wonders."
However, even as he backed the boy, once he was near him, Twiller placed his hand gently on Damien's shoulder, drawing his attention to his face in an instant.
"How much did you hear?"
Damien shuffled in the old man's grasp. "Umm...errr..."
"It's okay. No need to be frightened," the old man reassured him. His blue eyes were gentle, a calm only the ocean could present amidst all the chaos going on in Damien's head.
And calm him it did.
Now visibly relaxed, Damien took a low breath and looked the man squarely in the eyes.
"When you started talking about unclogging my aura."
Ahara imdiately let out a relieved sigh, but stopped once she noticed that Twiller was glaring at her. Then he turned back to Damien, his expression relaxed.
"Now that you know you have aura flowing in your body and can't return ho, what do you want to do from here onwards?"
Damien flickered his eyes in Ahara's direction.
He wasn't sure if she'd be on board with the plan in his head. Trying to increase his aura in hopes of becoming a hero like her was indeed a dangerous bargain. He had experienced the pains of battle firsthand to know how much was at stake in every fight.
But that was exactly why he wanted to beco a hero.
If he lost Ahara during one of her bloody battles...
He shook his head, rubbing the thought from his mind and giving Twiller his attention.
"That's what I ca to discuss with you guys," he said firmly.
Ahara moved closer, a gentle expression on her face. "Wanna sit and talk?"
"I don't have the ti to, soone is waiting for outside."
"Oho! Already making friends?" Twiller teased.
Ahara scrunched her brows suspiciously. "Who is it?"
"The vampire queen's daughter. Eden Bloodhorn."
At this, Ahara's eyes widened.
"You t with the vampire princess?" She touched her lips, turning her head to look down the corridor. "When?"
"She was in the bed next to mine," Damien explained, and this ti, Ahara gasped.
"Was she awake the entire ti?"
"No, only after the council released their aura in the room."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Ahara held her chest, letting out the breath she had been holding.
"Nosy and cheeky as ever," Twiller chuckled, glancing around the corridor too.
Damien wanted to ask what he ant by that, but then, he rembered Eden's warning about leaving him if he took too long with Ahara and stopped.
"Anyway, she invited to her house so we could train..."
"And be able to catch up with the school's enrollnt this year?" Twiller cut him, and Damien slowly nodded his head, wondering how he knew that.
"Yes."
Lines showed on Ahara's forehead as she frowned at her brother."Wait, how did you know you have aura in you?"
"Eden told ," Damien explained once again, and this ti, Ahara stood, her hands animatedly grabbing onto the walls.
"You're telling that she could sense the little aura you have? Sothing I couldn't do?"
"No," Damien shook his head exhaustedly. "She just used common sense and a glowing stone that looks like a phone but isn't. She called it an oblong."
"What common sense?" Ahara questioned, ignoring the last bit of information.
"His being able to get affected by another Gibbit's aura," Twiller interjected, pointing at Damien. "I must say, I'm amazed. I didn't expect Eden to figure it out before your sister could."
"I was eventually going to!"
"Yes, of course, but she did it in an instant," Twiller added salt to Ahara's wounds, and she glared at him.
Sensing the pointless arguing about to occur, Damien raised his hands to stop them.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but Eden is waiting for outside, and she said she'd leave if I took too long talking to you. Can I go now?"
"Why, of course you can. But before you leave..."Twiller kneeled on one foot and clasped Damien's legs, focusing his eyes there like he was studying them.
Little by little, the sore pain in Damien's legs started vanishing, and by the ti Twiller rose, it was gone.
"Not to brag, but I used to be an enchantnts arts teacher back in the day, so healing cos second nature to ," Twiller boasted once he saw the amazed look on the lad's face.
"But isn't magic a wizardry thing?" Damien asked, his brows furrowed at the old man.
He hadn't noticed any wand or staff on him to confirm that he used any type of magic at all.
"Oh, but I am a wizard. I just prefer my vampire traits, that's all."
"You can have both?" Damien ogled at the old man.
"It's genetics, my boy. If you train hard enough with Eden and enroll at my academy, you'll soon learn everything about Gibbits and how we work."
"Woah. So can I have two tribal features in too? I an, Ahara told my mom was a witch and my dad a vampire, so I might..."
"Didn't you say Eden might leave you?" Twiller laughed at him just when Ahara grabbed his arm, sighing.
"I'll escort him," she said in a voice akin to an exhausted mother's.
"Wait, I can walk by myself."
"Ah, shut up. It's not because I want to assist you in walking. I have to et up with this Eden girl, so I know when I can take you ho."
"We have a ho here?"
"Oh my sweet sumr child. You'll be surprised at how big that mansion is," Ahara bragged, leading the way as they made it outside the hospital to where Eden was waiting for him with four large n stationed all around her.
The mont she saw him coming, the green-haired girl gave him that familiar grin again, and Damien imdiately understood why Twiller had called her cheeky.
'Foxy,' he thought to himself, returning her grin as the distance between them closed.
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