In an instant, the towering tree appeared again—but this ti, a small, pale-green sphere of light hung from one of its branches. The tree seed to be wrapping around it, absorbing it. And deep inside, Axel could feel his very cells shifting, transforming.
Before going any further, he checked his current status:
Spirit: 102/115
Force: 78/109
Physique: 82/110
Still too low. The injuries had taken a serious toll. "The last ti I absorbed an Awakening skill and pushed my Force past 100, sothing changed in my body." Axel frowned slightly. "I wonder what’ll happen next ti?"
The light orb finished rging into the tree, and new information flooded his mind.
[Healing]
Effect: Removes negative conditions such as cold, burns, and disease. Can also heal wounds, including severe injuries like blood loss and limb damage.
Level: Primary
Axel’s eyes widened in surprise. After everything he’d just been through—the fight, the injuries, the near-death monts—he’d been hoping for a combat skill. Sothing that would make him stronger, deadlier.
Instead? He got… Healing.
Sure, the textbooks claid healing-type Awakeners were highly sought after. A fully trained healer could supposedly restore entire groups, even revive severely wounded fighters. But he had never wanted to be a healer.
"Recharge, now Healing…" He muttered under his breath, rubbing his temple. "I’m turning into a goddamn battlefield dic."
Still grumbling, Axel glanced at his status bar—and then froze. His breath hitched. Because sothing was different.
Spirit: 102/145
Force: 78/153
Physique: 82/155
The numbers had jumped significantly. This was by far the biggest increase since Axel had started training.
According to Kieran, his current pri condition was already enough to et the entry standards of the Four Major War Schools—a feat that no more than five students from Brookhaven High had achieved in recent years.
"This must be the red crystal's effect," Axel mused. "I was too weak before, so I never noticed how much of a boost these things really give."
But now, he had another problem to solve—getting back to peak condition before test day.
"Force isn't a big deal. I can replenish it with raw stones. Four days should be enough."
"Spirit? A couple of good nights’ sleep should do the trick."
"Physique… Maybe I have a way."
Physical fitness was directly tied to overall health. And while Axel still wasn’t satisfied with Healing, he had to admit—this ability was perfect for his current situation.
Snapping out of his inner vision, Axel raised a hand. A faint energy surge rippled through his fingers. Healing.
It felt completely different from Recharge—like his body was being bathed in warm milk. A subtle tingling sensation spread across his wounds, and he could physically feel the pain in his abdon fade away.
Checking his stats again:
Spirit: 95/145
Force: 37/143
Physique: 103/155
Hell yeah. A smirk tugged at Axel’s lips. Just as he suspected—using Healing significantly sped up his physical recovery. Sure, his Spirit and Force had dropped, but both were easy to replenish.
"Four days should be enough to get back to full strength."
Excitent thrumd in his chest. He’d spent a full day lying in bed, and his body was starting to feel numb from the inactivity. Ti to move.
As soon as his feet hit the floor, the door swung open.
A nurse stepped in, then froze mid-step. Her eyes went wide as she saw Axel standing there like nothing had happened.
"Axel, you have a visitor. Wait—why the hell are you out of bed? Get back in there!"
Her voice was half-shocked, half-scolding. She’d never seen soone who had a literal hole in their stomach up and walking around the next day.
Axel's focus shifted to the doorway, where Drayke and Cassia stood, carrying a fruit basket. Behind them, Storm lingered as well.
Drayke’s eyes lit up as he dropped the fruit basket on the table.
"Axel! Holy shit, you’re totally fine! Kieran made it sound like you were on your damn deathbed. I swear, I thought we’d have to plan a funeral. You’re not actually dead, are you?"
"Get lost, dumbass. I’m fine." Axel shot him a glare but couldn’t help the smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Cassia, who had been watching quietly, visibly relaxed. Seeing Axel up and moving eased the tension in her shoulders.
anwhile, the nurse was still fussing. "You can’t be out of bed! Your wounds—"
Before she could finish, Drayke threw an arm around her shoulders and grinned.
"C’mon, gorgeous. My brother knows his own body. Besides, I just saw a patient calling for you outside—shouldn’t you check on him?"
The nurse hesitated, eyeing Axel warily. But after a mont, she sighed and left the room.
As soon as she was gone, Cassia leaned in close, resting her elbow on Axel’s shoulder with a teasing smirk.
"Looks like you really are fine. Your big sister’s been worried sick. If you were still laid up, I was ready to start spoon-feeding you myself."
The faint scent of vanilla and sothing floral drifted from her, stirring sothing in Axel’s chest. Not that he had any delusions about it.
Cassia had always treated him like a little brother to tease—and she was the only person at school who could actually make him nervous.
Besides, he could faintly sense the Force values of the people around him. Cassia’s energy fluctuations were slightly stronger than Storm’s, but compared to his current self, they were far weaker.
Seeing Axel's blurred eyes, Cassia was also a little surprised. Usually, when she teased Axel, he’d turn shy and flustered. But today… he seed different. For so reason, this made her a little unnatural.
"You’re not… thinking of hugging , are you?" she asked, her tone half-joking, half-curious.
Axel blinked, then laughed, waving his hands frantically. "Hug you? Hell no. That’s not even a thing. Where would I get the balls for that?"
"Oh?" Cassia smirked, leaning in as she plopped down beside him. She tilted her head, her big, watery eyes narrowing slightly.
"So… does that an if you got a little braver, you'd actually make a move on ?"
"Ahem!" Drayke, who had been watching from the side, coughed loudly twice—then imdiately looked away when Cassia shot him a murderous glare. He whistled awkwardly, turning toward the window. "Damn. Beautiful day out, huh?"
Storm, standing nearby, deadpanned. It was already dark. What the hell was you talking about?
"If you guys keep this up, I’m leaving," Storm muttered, crossing his arms.
Axel chuckled. After everything that had happened—with Wolfe, with the Enforcent Bureau—he’d been wound tight for days. Now, surrounded by friends, he could finally relax.
"Alright, alright," Drayke grinned, nudging the fruit basket closer. "We just ca to check on you. Now that we see you're not six feet under, we can rest easy."
"But for real, man—you've got balls of steel. You actually took on Wolfe? That’s insane. And the craziest part? You won."
Cassia and Storm nodded, their expressions turning serious. When they first heard about it, they didn’t believe it.
Axel wasn’t an Awakener, he wasn’t so big-shot, and yet… he got tangled up with the damn Enforcent Bureau. What kind of high school student does that?
Though Axel hadn’t been the one making headlines, the incident had already blown up across Dune—the dia was eating it up.
Axel sighed. "I didn’t have a choice," he said simply. "He wanted dead. I had to fight back. This whole thing had nothing to do with —it was the Enforcent Bureau handling their business."
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