Free Web NovelChapter 51: The Academy Healer
The corridors of the Trillah Academy were pristine, illuminated by expensive glowing mana-stones set into the polished marble walls. Against this display of overwhelming wealth, a lone boy could be seen limping through the night. His battered, dirt-stained uniform and dark purple bruises made him look incredibly pathetic and entirely out of place among the elite noble children. He passed by groups of whispering students who were heading in the opposite direction, while others simply sat by the grand windows, doing nothing but chatting.
"Hey, look. It’s him," a noble girl whispered, discreetly pointing at Isaac.
"Huh, he is limping again. What happened to his leg this time?" another girl asked, her eyes following his battered figure.
"I heard Dave challenged him to a sparring match during sword training yesterday," a third girl chimed in with a scoff.
"A sparring match? But he isn’t even an Aura User! Why would he accept a challenge from Dave, of all people?" the first girl asked in disbelief. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com
"I don’t know why he accepted it, but now he has to pay the price. He can’t even walk properly," the second girl gossiped. "I also heard that Miss Merra refused to heal him yesterday, saying she was tired of dealing with him or something."
"Tired of what? She doesn’t even do anything at this academy except sleep all day. Talk about being heartless."
"Who knows? Maybe she is finally starting to get annoyed with him."
Isaac walked right past the group of gossiping girls, not even sparing them a single glance or saying a word in his defense. He just silently limped forward, pushing open the heavy oak doors to the academy’s infirmary. freēwēbnovel.com
"I guess he went to go beg Miss Merra to heal him again," the girls snickered, continuing their gossip even after Isaac had disappeared inside.
Inside the Infirmary
"Mmmm... you are here again," a girl complained, rubbing her eyes as Isaac walked in and casually sat down on one of the pristine white beds.
The girl was around the same age as Ian. She wore a crisp white robe denoting her status. This was Merra, a Third-Class Mage who specialized in healing the academy’s students.
"Do you know there are nasty rumors going around the student body saying I refused to help you?" Merra sighed, crossing her arms. "Even one of my colleagues started asking me questions about it today."
"I know about it. It’s just a rumor anyway," Isaac said, giving a slow nod. "Just don’t listen to those ants in the future. All they know how to do is spread their wild guesses."
"Ants, huh...?" Merra smiled, staring at Isaac in amusement. "It is pretty funny hearing the biggest ant in the school say that."
"If you are done staring at me, can we get this over with? I have plans today," Isaac complained, his golden eyes dull.
"Fine. Do you only want me to take the pain away again today?" she asked, already rolling up the wide sleeves of her robes.
"No. Today, I want you to fully heal me," Isaac said, staring directly at her.
Merra froze. "What? Fully heal you? Did I hear that correctly?" she asked, sudden panic rising in her chest.
Isaac just gave a single, firm nod.
"Are you crazy? Aren’t you afraid of what they will do to you?!" Merra rushed forward, grabbing his bruised hand, her face full of genuine worry. "They will just break your leg again tomorrow! Or even worse, they might break something else this time! Don’t you see that ever since I stopped fully healing you, the severe bullying has reduced? Now they only send you on errands because they think you’re crippled!"
"....?" Isaac just stared at Merra and he didn’t say anything. Then he glanced at the hand Merra was holding.
"Sorry to be blunt, but I’m not into older women, and I’m not at the proper age to be doing that kind of stuff," Isaac said with a completely blank look on his face, gently pulling his hand out of her grasp. "I just came here to be healed, not for counseling."
"What ’stuff’, you idiot?!" Merra yelled, her face flushing bright red. "Now I see why you are always getting bullied! I was just caring about your safety, and you act like I want something from you!"
She huffed, aggressively thrusting both of her hands out in front of Isaac’s injured leg. "Just remember, if you ever get beaten up again because you’re fully healed, don’t you dare come crying back here! Understand?"
Merra then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she spoke, her voice sounded hauntingly beautiful, like it was layered over itself three times.
"Oronis vaha, elariath. Kael nym, sera fira..." A soothing, mint-colored mist seeped from her delicate fingertips. The magical mist washed over Isaac’s broken leg, sinking deep into his pores. The overlapping voices faded back into one sharp, final command.
"Heal."
Immediately, the bones in Isaac’s leg began to shift, painfully but swiftly snapping back into their proper positions. The dark purple bruises on his arms and face rapidly faded away until his pale skin was completely flawless once again.
Isaac didn’t even need to check if the spell was successful; he was far too used to being healed by her at this point. He stood up smoothly, testing his weight on his newly repaired leg.
He then looked over at Merra, who had slumped back into her chair to catch her breath.
"Thank you for everything you did for me while I was here in this school, Merra," Isaac said sincerely, offering her a rare, polite bow. "If not for you, I would have truly suffered."
"What are you talking about? It’s my job to heal the students here, you know," Merra waved him off, relaxing in her chair with a tired smile. "Besides, you kind of entertained me by coming here every day. Students don’t usually get severely injured in this school, so I usually spend most of my time asleep."
"But still, thank you nonetheless," he insisted.
"You are acting really weird tonight. Why are you thanking me all of a sudden?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.
"It’s just..." Isaac paused, his hand resting on the brass doorknob. "I am going home. So you won’t ever see me here again."
Without looking back, Isaac opened the door and walked out into the corridor.
"Whaattt?!" Merra’s shocked scream echoed from inside the infirmary.
