Chapter 17 Infirmary Visit

"Time!?" Neraxis asked in a hurry as he jumped over the fence of an alleyway, the academy right in front of him. [9:59 You have around 30 seconds left.] He let out an exasperated breath. The fatigue from earlier had accumulated quite a lot, and the academy was a tad bit farther than he had initially thought. But finally, he was here. All he had to do was go to the auditorium. However, he noticed the gates were closed, and unlike last time, there was no guard present. Neraxis had no time to worry about that as he ran up to the gate and summoned his sword, slashing the metal clean through to open a path. He was a bit too exhausted to jump over; in the end, it was the same result anyway. [Won't you have to pay for that?] Probably not? He snickered to himself and arrived in front of the entrance before quickly heading in. Navigating the halls, he finally made it to the auditorium. All he had to do was go inside. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the door, but suddenly, he felt someone touch his shoulder, and upon turning around, his eyes widened. "Celina? What are you doing here?" he asked, stupefied. She looked him up and down before a small frown formed on her face as she spoke, "...Are you planning to go in there like that?" As he was about to reply, Evangeline's voice suddenly rang out, [10:00 AM, it started.] Shit... He gulped while glancing back at Celina, who was standing across from him, dressed in the neat, pure black academy uniform. She noticed his stare, and with a sigh, said, "Instead of ogling me, why don't you answer my question?" Before he could answer, she added, "I dislike people who ignore me. Are you ignoring me?" Her tone was growing more and more suffocating. It felt as though he was right in front of the Scrapfang Mini-Boss again. "No, sorry... I was in a bit of a situation a moment ago. Didn't really have much time to change," Neraxis replied as kindly as he could. She seemed like a nice girl—aside from the time she stabbed him in the back. "Gosh, you really are careless. Uncle told me you'd be late, so come with me for now," Celina said as she turned around, walking away from the noisy auditorium. Neraxis followed suit, taking another good look at himself. He really looked terrible. Sal immediately noticed the change and, with a sour expression, lifted him up again, but this time, suspending him in midair. "I'm honestly quite surprised. How are you still awake after acquiring such injuries? Most would either be passed out, or even dead already," Sal remarked, spinning him in a way so his back was visible. "Scrapfang?" he asked, to which Neraxis merely nodded. What a blabbermouth. Just heal me already... he sighed inwardly and waited for Sal to finish inspecting his body. After a few minutes of being rotated around constantly, Sal finally spoke up, "Unless Willi—the headmaster—comes here personally, healing you would take quite some time. However, I still have to perform treatment on you." "All the bones in your left arm are fractured. Your back isn't looking any better either. Some nerve endings are severed, some of which would make any normal awakened paralyzed... You really are made of something else, aren't you?" he said in an amused tone, rotating Neraxis in a way where he would be sitting. Neraxis shrugged before trying to move. However, he found it difficult to do so, as if his body was not listening to him anymore. "And there goes all the adrenaline. Relax, I will get started on your treatment in a moment." Sal whistled and walked to a corner of the room, seeming a little bit out of place. However, in just a few moments, he came back with a towel, one that could absorb any and all liquids up to a certain point, one of the many innovations the world had gone through. "What's that for? I'm pretty sure I bled enough already," Neraxis sarcastically remarked. However, Sal's response made a frown appear on his face. "So you speak," he chuckled before explaining, "Your wounds are infected. Once I start healing you, all those impurities will head right out of the wounds, which in turn might hurt... a lot." "And how long is this so-called treatment going to take?" Neraxis questioned. "Around 10 minutes. I would put you on an anesthetic drug, but that would not really lessen your pain. Sorry." This is not going to be fun... he thought and took one more glance around the room. As he did so, he spotted a familiar face in the doorframe. It was Celina. She was peeking out with only a single eye visible. However, upon realizing that he noticed her, she quickly hid. A smile appeared on his face as he returned his gaze toward Sal, who finally began preparing everything. A row of towels was right below Neraxis. "Kid... if you endure without screaming, I'll buy you a drink once you graduate," Sal said out of nowhere with a chuckle before adding, his tone serious, "I will start in 10 seconds, and trust me, I am not exaggerating about the pain." Neraxis nodded and began counting down inwardly. However, as the count reached 6 seconds, a searing pain shot through his body, growing more intense by the moment. "I lied."