Spectral Regalia Resurgence

The joy had died down somewhat, and Avrin got an understanding of his situation. He had been in a one-week coma after what had happened. His mother was sitting to the side, her hands holding both of Avrin's, his father sitting beside her.

"Kid, your natural recovery is pretty good. They told me you did something interesting; you're destined for danger," Forson said. Avrin's mother glared at Forson, causing him to clear his throat a little nervously. After all, a woman's scorn was quite scary.

"One week. Well, it's better than not waking up," Avrin spoke, looking at the things around them. "What are all of these things, Dad?" He asked his father and got a response.

"Heh, well, after saving those kids and killing the magic beast, a lot of people sent get-well gifts and gifts of thanks. I'd be more surprised if they didn't."

Nodding, Forson spoke up. "I need to check up on the boy, if you will let me," he awkwardly asked. The parents gave in, making way for him. Forson approached and checked Avrin, first examining to see the color returned to his face, then his eyes. "You were bleeding from your ears, eyes, and nose when they brought you in. It's a miracle you're alive," he gave his opinion.

"Miracle?" Avrin wasn't sure how to respond. He could see a look in Forson's eyes as if he wanted to say more but not with his parents around. "Mum, Dad, can I speak with him alone for a bit, please?" he asked. His mother huffed but sighed as her husband gently took her hand. They both nodded afterwards and headed out.

Forson took a seat and began to speak. "Kid, let me tell you, in my heyday I was an early Grand Wizard. Even in the empire nearby, I could get a good position in the court if I wanted," he uttered proudly.

Avrin wasn't sure why Forson was suddenly speaking about this. "Uhh, is there a point to telling me this?"

Forson seemed offended but laughed it off. "Let me get to it. What I mean is, despite being a cripple, I've been around for a long while. What happened to you doesn't happen for normal people. The hunters told me you used a spell or some power that ripped away that magic beast. I examined its corpse; I've never seen an injury like that before. At the very least, it's not the result of any spells that I know of. Any idea how you triggered it?" His tone was skeptical about Avrin.

Avrin wasn't sure how to reply; he couldn't tell him about the heart and his situation. "I just remember being desperate. I don't know what happened, but all I know is I needed to save my father. Is this going to be a problem for me?" Some worry was in his voice.

Forson was silent for a bit before pulling out a misty orb, the size of an orange. "Don't worry, it's very rare, but not unheard of. There are many unique things in the world; many people have weird kids that can do odd things. Do you remember this orb?"

Avrin looked at the orb. "Yeah, I asked you when you started teaching me if there was a way to check if I had spirit veins, and you told me to try and use my mind to fill it up."

Nodding, Forson spoke. "That's right, let's give it another try just to be sure. Won't lose out on anything. Just like last time, place your hand on it, and imagine filling it up with your mind." When Avrin reached over with his right hand to do as he was told, he shut his eyes and pictured an invisible energy from within himself, entering inside the orb.

Minute specks of mana began to vibrate before they suddenly started to split and distort, gradually becoming a blackish purple miasma that filled the orb. The orb soon gave off a strange glow and vibrated as well, but then, it cracked and quickly broke into several pieces.

Avrin and Forson were stunned, the latter looking dumbfounded. "Ah, dammit! That was my only one!" Cursing under his breath, he looked at Avrin again. "Well... Congratulations are in order. It looks like I might have been wrong? You do got spirit veins. Well,I think..." He picked up the pieces of the orb and looked at it strangely.

"You don't seem so sure. Maybe I got one of those unique constitutions? I've always been told I'm talented," Avrin spoke, as if to stroke his own ego, grinning a little.

Forson scoffed as he looked at Avrin. "Heh. Don't let it get to your head. Maybe the hunters saw wrongly, and it could have been some odd natural accident… or the magic beast may have had its own issues. After all, a creature like that shouldn't have been in the outskirts; it was probably kicked out and had internal injuries."

His words attempted to pour cold water on Avrin's excitement, though it didn't dampen his mood. "Regardless, I think this is a good opportunity for me. I've always wanted to leave the village and explore. If I do have spirit veins, I can do more."

When Forson heard this, he suddenly smiled. "That's the spirit. You know, before this, I've been trying to convince your parents to let you go study Alchemy in the city. I even got some other villagers involved, but since you got spirit veins, you might have a good chance of entering the Crystal Reach branch academy. This way you can kill two birds with one stone."

When Avrin heard Forson bring up the academy, his interest peaked. "Can you tell me more about it please? Wasn't that the place you studied at?"

Forson caressed his own beard and nodded. "Well, not this empire's branch, but yeah. I was even on my way to enter the main academy if it wasn't for that stupid bitch!...cough cough… Anyway, despite being a branch in this run-down countryside, it still has some standing. You can learn to be a mage and even alchemy. I'll tell you now kid: alchemy is very important. A good alchemist is invaluable, and you can get famous quick. But if you pair the two together, you're gonna be well off."

Avrin listened to Forson, taking in the new details. For Avrin, as far as he knew, alchemy had a supportive role in this world. Avrin tried to picture Forson for instance; despite being a cripple in a countryside using normal herbs, he could create such remedies and ointments. So, a proper alchemist with more resources and skills would be a godsend.

"Can you tell me more about the academy? Where is the main one located?" Avrin asked.

Forson, seeing no need to hide details, told him. "This continent is large, kid. Other than Crystal Reach, there are 3 other academies, each taking a piece of the pie that is the lands and competing for talents and resources. Even then, they get too many applicants. So, to solve this problem, they developed a hierarchy system called the branch academy system, where the more qualified can earn their way into the main academy, sifting through the trash you could say."

Avrin found this method made sense. He didn't know how many people would be in the world, but he didn't doubt it would be so much more than in his past life. "I won't worry about all that for now I guess. I still have to convince my parents, and even if I can get in." Avrin forced a smile, more so towards himself imagining his mum crying and yelling at him, sighing quietly.

"Kid, don't worry. The other villagers and the village leader and I have been making progress. A parent loves to brag about their successful child. In the meantime, you've lost several years of a head start compared to others, so take the time to adjust yourself to the feel of mana." Forson then stood up after placing some medicine on the side and headed out.

Avrin looked up at the ceiling then at his hands. "Better late than never, but I got something others don't have. Let's see if there's a change." Avrin laid down, shutting his eyes as he began to meditate, feeling his body with his mind. He found his heart had changed. He could see fine hair-like veins had spread a few inches from his heart. Avrin was confused about this; it didn't seem like what Forson described.

Shifting his focus elsewhere, he went to the book in his mind, moving his mind to touch it. He was soon delighted. "I can open it!" he thought, wasting no time as he turned the cover that had previously seemed so heavy no matter what.

Gazing at the page, at first it was blank, but then dark mist began to gather and form all sorts of letters. These were letters both modern and ancient from Earth's history; the ones Avrin recognized most were English and Egyptian, as well as Latin. The letters all overlapped with each other before melding and forming a sentence Avrin was familiar with. He read the line of text that appeared.

" I, Pathless, break limits, and tread beyond the infinite." The moment Avrin read this, his mind shook, and his heart skipped a beat. The sentence had an effect on him as if some deeper thing became eager. "This is the same sentence from that dream I had..." he thought. He watched as the text vanished and soon more new text appeared.