Chapter 111: Recovery

Chapter 111: Recovery

At some point, my Aura projection faded into darkness with my consciousness. The pain had eventually subsided and I was so exhausted I didn’t really have a choice.

I didn’t know how long I slept, but when I finally woke up, I realized I had my senses back.

Yet I couldn’t quite use the one I was most eager to test since my entire face was wrapped up.

Even my body felt as tender as my face, every touch with the bed and sheer sheets they laid over me overstimulating my nerves.

Not only that, but when I tried moving my limbs, they didn’t feel like my own body parts. Mere twitches of the fingers came with such mechanical ease, clarity, and precision they felt completely alien.

And my movements didn’t go unnoticed. I heard a voice not long after.

“John? He’s awake!”

“Seems so. Time to finish this up then.”

I heard Terrace’s voice before feeling a hand grab my own. It was Umara’s.

“Can you hear me John?”

I nodded slowly in response to her question, feeling the muscles in my neck move with unerring responses to my subconscious desires.

At the same time I could tell just how unbelievably sensitive my hearing was. Every tremor in the room sounded like it was right next to me, every breath, even their very heartbeats. Their voices rang in my ears like they were yelling, yet it didn’t feel like too much to handle.

Like that, I felt the wrap around my head get taken off. It wasn’t long before I was able to see again.

And what appeared in my vision was quite the... sight.

Umara was the first person I saw, and yet I almost thought I was looking at a whole different person. The image of her was so clear that I thought I could see the cells that composed her skin.

And the colors all around me were so vivid. The color depth that I was experiencing had to have exponentially increased. In fact, I soon realized that I was seeing more than just colors. Dare I say, I could actually just barely see the Magika in the atmosphere, something that could only be sensed by my Aura before.

It felt like a whole new world had opened up to me, as if I had been looking through an unfocused lens all this time and suddenly got upgraded to the best.

My field of view was widened, the range of light I could see expanded, the resolution multiplied, and even magical power became somewhat visible.

Once my nose was uncovered, A whole host of smells slammed into me like I had gotten the nose of a dog, though the amplification was quite subdued compared to my vision or hearing.

My mouth was already uncovered, and I didn’t immediately taste or sense anything different. All my teeth were there and my tongue still functioned as normal.

Or, at least I thought it did. But then I felt something odd and stuck my tongue out.

I could swear it wrapped under my chin, Umara recoiling from the sight in front of me.

“...Why the hell did you make my tongue so long?”

“That’s the first thing you say when you wake up? Every sense of yours has been enhanced. You should be thanking me.”

Maxwell scoffed from the side, my tongue slithering around before getting pulled back into my mouth.

I suddenly smiled at Umara.

“You’re going to enjoy that later.”

“O-Okay?”

“Tsk, kids.”

Terrace clicked his tongue, walking up to me and handing me a mirror.

“Here. Your eyes are different. You should know what they look like.”

“Oh. Wow.”

My brows raised when I saw myself.

My eyes used to be hazel, but now, they were a bold golden color. Not only that, but they seemed to be a bit larger as well.

The pupil and iris filled a much larger area, so the eyeball wasn’t necessarily bigger. There was just less visible sclera. If my memory served me right, these eyes were identical to the Royal’s, at least in appearance.

Functionally, I could dilate and contract my pupil if I really focused. I could kind of feel the muscles in the eye, and by manipulating that feeling, I could focus in on something.

I looked off toward a wall of the room, focusing my eye and watching as my vision effectively zoomed in. I focused on a seam of the stone wall, able to see even the tiniest details of its surface and variations in the coloration. I even noticed that we were in a different room.

And that was just from a casual glance. I suddenly wanted to go outside and see for myself the extent of this enhancement.

But when I tried to get up, I found that my body was far more sensitive than I initially thought. Controlling my own limbs felt difficult, and the slightest change in touch made me so uncomfortable that it was painful.

Terrace put his hand on my shoulder.

“Relax. Your body needs time to adjust. I want you in bed for at least the next day. After that you can start moving around. At that time you’ll need assistance until you can function on your own, so if necessary, I can give you a doctor.”

“Maybe. We’ll see how I feel.”

“Mm. You did well, getting through that. You seem to be fine, but take a week to wind down. It can be a traumatic experience, especially what you went through.”

“Yeah, especially when there’s no numbing agent.”

“Sorry about that.”

Terrace looked apologetic.

“Some people outright refuse to get the operation done due to expectations of pain. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I could’ve given you to dull that beyond what the paralytic solution gave. So I felt like it was better if I didn’t tell you at all.”

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I let out a breath and looked away.

If I was being honest, that pissed me off. Fighting through all that pain while paralyzed was something I never wanted to experience again. Thankfully, I would never have to as this was the only modification to sensory organs I would ever get for the rest of my life.

But I felt so mentally drained, and it wasn’t from the operation. That level of pain seemed to age me a few decades, and he was right in that it would take time to get over it.

Maybe my attitude was just bad because of it all, but I didn’t really feel like I could look at him. And refusing to thank him would temporarily be my way of expressing my anger.

I raised my hand to my face, touching it and feeling all the odd sensations. It would take time to get used to this.

“If I understand this situation correctly, I can do whatever I want to you, and there’s nothing you can do right now to stop me?”

“Something like that.”

“Hmm, then I think I’m going to enjoy you for a little while.”

She leaned in, but at that moment, we heard a noise.

*Knock Knock*

“...Dammit.”

She cursed before letting out a long sigh, making me smile.

“Who’s that?”

“I forgot that I asked Vetsmon to come. Tana is here too.”

“How long was I out?”

“From the start of the operation, about three days have passed.”

She responded while walking to the door and opening it, letting Vetsmon and Tana.

Surprisingly, Feiden was with them.

“Hello!”

“Hey guys.”

“How’s the bossman doing?”

“Getting better.”

Feiden and I clasped hands before giving a quick hug.

I recoiled a bit from it, not to mention the weakness pervading my body.

“Careful guys. He’s sensitive.”

Umara chuckled while handing me back my tray of food. I ate the rest of what was left while watching the others.

Vetsmon’s brows raised.

“Your eyes. They’re golden now.”

“Mm. Just like the Royal.”

“How much better are they?”

“Just from the couple hours I’ve been awake, they’re already a few magnitudes better. I’m basically a Scout now.”

“Hm, I can’t imagine what you’re going to be able to do now. I’m a bit excited for the next time we deploy to the frontlines.”

Vetsmon rubbed his chin in thought, Feiden tilting his head.

“We have the tournament first.”

“Oh yeah, forgot about that.”

“What’s the deal with that anyway?”

I asked, prompting an explanation.

“The tournament is just that. The entire school competes in a few different categories. There’s the Warlock, Knight, and Summoner divisions to determine the best in each one. Then there’s the Champion Tournament where everyone regardless of type shoots for the crowned title.”

“It already started a day ago, but the Elites are exempt from the preliminaries, going straight to the semi-finals for the division tournaments. We’ll need to be back in a week in order to compete. The Champion Tournament happens after all of those conclude.”

“Do you think you’re going to compete?”

Vetsmon asked me, causing me to shake my head with a baffled look on my face.

“Are you kidding? Hell no. I’m not trying to accidentally kill someone.”

“I guess. It would be pretty cool though. You’d probably be able to take the Crowned Title if you didn’t hold back.”

“I just need to get through the rest of this year. I don’t care about some school game. Besides, I’d rather train. I’m really close to Authority 5.”

“Already?”

Umara asked in surprise.

“Yeah. That operation packed me full of Psyka, and I had a dream while I was sleeping, though I can’t really remember it. Give me a week or so and I’ll advance.”

“You should focus on recovery.”

“I know. I factored that in.”

“Just making sure.”

We nudged each other before Feiden asked.

“When are you going to recover?”

“Mentally, not for a while. Physically, I should be good to move around normally in a day. Until then I can’t really move though, so unfortunately I can’t go anywhere with you guys.”

“That’s alright. We’ll just have some fun here.”

“A medical room isn’t very fun.”

“No reason we can’t make it work.”

He smiled before grabbing a seat, the others following suit.

I smiled and relaxed. It was nice having good friends.