When he reopened his eyes, the room's ravaged furniture he had ignored prior t his eyes. The once elegant beds, wardrobe, and desk beca nothing more than rough splitters covering the cracked floor. Glistening shards reflected the moon's glow as the night's wind blew through the glassless windows.
His attention drawn by a glint, he turned, noticing a gladius piercing through the wall and a trail of bloodstains leading to the outside.
'Despite the unfair odds and nurical disadvantage, Julius fought fiercely,' he thought, his head moving up and down in approbation.
He knew the blood ca from the enemy since the boy's clothes were untouched when he last saw him. The dried blood covering the gladius proved it, too. The realisation made him puff his chest in pride as he retrieved the weapon.
"Huff... huff..."
Before he could ponder how incredible Julius had beco, an individual's ragged breathing shattered his thought process.
Eyes trembling and pupils constricting in dread, he thought about the boy who shared the room. Wind whipping against his clothes as he blurred, he rushed to a mound of shattered wood before his voice pierced through the calm night.
"Aurelius, hold on!"
With trembling hands, he unburied the youth, noticing the dust covering his fra like a second skin. Then, he saw the dried blood trailing down his shattered eardrums, eyes and nose, staining his pale face with scarlet markings.
Scared, he gently nudged him, hoping he would wake up. Unfortunately, the boy's eyelids didn't even flutter.
'He is not in the dream place. Instead, his brain forced his body into a coma.'
The urgency of the realisation struck him like a hamr. The boy's life was in danger! He needed imdiate dical assistance.
Without wasting ti considering other questions, he cradled him with care before rushing out.
Yet, in the corridor, a sea of confused youths blocked him.
After declaring they were safe, they imdiately focused on leaving the dream place, promising to wake each other up once they succeeded. And now, here they stood, looking for him with excited smiles stretching their lips.
"Protheus!"
One of them noticed him, yelling in delight and drawing everyone's attention as his brows twitched in frustration.
"Move! I'm carrying a wounded!" He yelled back, silencing them before adding. "Call Protheus again, and I'll lock you back in the Ashford's cages!"
As most of them parted, expressing genuine concern for Aurelius, one stepped forward, eyes glinting mysteriously.
"I was a military dic. Let check his condition."
The youth's confident voice echoed, causing him to lean forward as he observed her features.
Despite her small stature, he could feel her pride seep through her pale skin. Her sunken cheeks, letting the bones show, failed to hide her natural beauty as locks of dry chestnut hair cascaded down her face. Nothing suggested she had any experience as she claid but he couldn't decide based on her appearance alone.
"Inspect him, please."
In the end, he accepted her help. Not because he trusted her, but because Aurelius' state worried him too much. In the worst case, he would lose five minutes while, in the best, the boy would be saved.
With a nod, the lady's hands ca to life, moving with experience as her eyes turned sharp and steady. She first checked the boy's pulse before moving to his breathing. Then, she palpated his head, looking for swelling, tenderness or bumps.
"His skull is not fractured, and his heart beats regularly. There is a bit of blood in his lungs, but nothing too alarming."
She shared her initial diagnosis, reassuring Adam before opening the boy's left eye.
"I need light," she said, knowing Protheus' prowess.
Unlike the explosion she expected to hear, Adam outstretched his finger, letting a beam of soft light filter into Aurelius' eye.
Simultaneously, the boy's pupil constricted before she let the eyelid drop back into its place.
Relief filled her voice, and her seriousness disappeared, replaced by a smile as she gaze at Adam.
"He is not in danger, and the coma is not that deep. He'll need ti to recover from the shattered eardrums, though." She tucked her finger around her chin before continuing. "We must clear his ears from the blood if we don't want them to be infected."
"Thank you. Can I leave him with you for now? I'll return later with a mage," he asked, causing the girl's smile to widen before asking. "By the way, what is your na?"
"We'll take good care of him. My na is Gwen!" She answered, straightening her back and offering a military salute by habit. After all, she had nothing but deep admiration for Protheus, who suffered to give humanity a chance at survival.
With a grateful nod, Adam turned, leaving the five hundred summoned behind and rushing to the college's darkened main building. Now that Aurelius was taken care of, he could finally investigate what happened to Shepard's tower while looking for a teacher proficient in healing magic.
Despite his concern, the boy could heal naturally in a few weeks, making him subconsciously focus on the ruined academy.
After a few minutes, the main building's golden-plated doors creaked open before him, revealing rows of mangled students resting on scarlet sheets. They once had been entirely white, he could see it through the few untainted spots. Then, he heard their agonising moans and imagined how terrible the sll would be, sending a jolt to shake his wooden fra.
"State your na!"
Before he could recover from the dread of seeing so many kids suffer, a familiar voice resounded, the tone comnding and the air cracking under the individual's pressure.
He turned, looking at the short teacher in the eyes and letting a tense silence pierced by the students' groans linger for a second.
"It's , Adam. What happened here, teacher Thurin?"
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"Lies!" Thurin roared, his brown eyes turning golden and his beard catching fire as his veins throbbed on his forehead.
Then, the dwarf's voice thundered with fury, as he channelled his mana.
"Die intruder!"
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