For the rest of the day, Isiah stayed in bed, replaying that painful memory over and over in his head. He even questioned himself for holding on to it for so long, especially when he should have erased it the moment Adelita offered him solace.
His body felt utterly exhausted, as though he had been performing grueling physical labor. He drifted off to sleep without noticing, and when he finally woke up, the room was pitch black.
He heard voices raised in argument coming from the kitchen. He immediately recognized them: Jivan and Adelita were yelling at each other about something related to leaving.
Isiah forced himself out of bed and walked slowly toward the kitchen. The moment they saw him standing in the doorway, both of them froze. It wasn't because he had managed to step inside unnoticed, but because his physical body looked completely different from how it had appeared that morning.
He looked significantly older. His hair had grown long, his frame had broadened, and he carried a far more mature stature.
After a quick, sharp analysis, Jivan broke into a wide smile and said, "Look at you, all grown up!"
Isiah couldn't understand why Jivan said that, but Adelita felt an urgent need to show him what had happened. She conjured a magical projection displaying his current reflection.
Isiah stood speechless, staring at the figure Adelita presented to him. The person in the light looked like him, but older. He shook his head slowly, and the projection mirrored the exact movement.
Jivan walked over, circling Isiah to inspect the changes to his body. "It is a side effect of the spell I performed. Breaking your seal using my humble powers was supposed to be impossible, yet I made it happen. But yeah... these things happen."
"What do you mean by this, you freak?!" Isiah demanded, his eyes still glued to the projection.
"What I mean is... when I stabilized the divine energy..." Jivan paused, looking toward the woman. "Ah, did Adelita explain to you how the spell actually worked?"
Isiah shook his head. "Did you experiment on me?!"
Jivan smirked. "Both spells, the one that restored your sight and the one that unsealed your magic, required raw divine energy directly from Emperium."
"Emperium?!"
"Yep. And let's just say that because your body doesn't belong to that realm, channeling its energy caused an unusual reaction. It forced your body to grow rapidly. I anticipated something like this, but I can't reverse it."
"Shit, Jivan! You just had to mess things up!" Isiah yelled.
Adelita stepped between them, attempting to diffuse the tension. "Don't worry, Isiah. The best part about this is that you can use magic now, freely and without fear. This is just a minor problem, and Jivan will fix it."
Adelita turned to Jivan, glaring at him intensely. "Right, Jivan?"
"Well, I can do something about it temporarily, but not for long," Jivan admitted, throwing his hands up slightly. "He will eventually have to level up or seek a high-tier specialist in that domain to fix it permanently. Apparently, my spell is missing a component that I haven't quite figured out yet."
"So you are asking me to just sit around and do nothing? Is that it?!"
"I can give you something right now to stop the aging process," Jivan said.
Jivan reached out, grabbing Isiah's right hand. Without hesitation, he channeled his energy, weaving a gleaming silver bracelet directly around Isiah's wrist. The process took only a few seconds.
When he finished, Jivan explained, "This bracelet acts as a stabilizer for divine energy. The rapid aging was occurring because the energy from Emperium was unstable inside your core, warping the flow of time within your body. Wearing this bracelet will slow that effect down to a complete halt."
Isiah touched the cool metal on his wrist. "If I keep this on, I will be okay, right? Be honest with me."
"Yes, you will."
Isiah looked back at his reflection in the projection and muttered, "Well, I definitely need a haircut, but the body shape isn't bad."
Adelita offered a faint smile, prompting Isiah to ask, "Why were you two screaming at each other before I walked in?"
Adelita hesitated. "There is something you need to know, Isiah."
"Tell him, or I will," Jivan warned her.
Adelita took a breath. "The world is ending. The old globe is witnessing something that has never happened before."
"Why?! What do you mean by that?" Isiah asked, thoroughly confused.
Jivan stepped in, laughing softly. "Well, the world is ending, and your beloved teacher was desperately begging me to guide you through the apocalypse."
"What are you both saying?! The world is ending?! I kind of knew things were falling apart since the beginning. What actually changed? Tell me!"
Jivan threw his head back and laughed out loud. "Are you slow or something?! She is telling you that the world is literally ending, and I was just telling her that there is no way I'm babysitting you through it!"
"Okay," Isiah muttered quietly.
Jivan began clapping his hands in utter disbelief, pacing around the kitchen floor. "Yeah, he really is built differently, Adie! For someone who just heard that the apocalypse is coming, he is either completely insane, incredibly brave, or both. Personally, I think he's insane. Let's form a cult, you and I! Just you and me. We can call it 'Crazy People versus the World.' I think we would make a fantastic duo!"
Adelita marched toward Isiah, ignoring Jivan's antics. "Cut the crap, Jivan. He doesn't understand the full scale of the consequences yet."
"Aaaaaah... and you do?!" Jivan countered sarcastically.
"No one knows exactly how catastrophic it will be," Adelita said, her eyes fixed on Isiah, filled with heavy guilt. "But thinking about it now... Delwias Island will either be erased by creatures from the world beyond, dragged into the abyss, or destroyed by natural disaster. It is going to be far worse than the Triple Full Moon."
Isiah kept his voice remarkably steady. "Now that I can use magic, I can adapt. I can do whatever I want. I will learn step by step until I am strong enough to level up."
Adelita snapped, her composure breaking into a desperate cry: "It doesn't matter anymore! None of it matters, Isiah! Because... the final evaluation in this region happened today. They are abandoning this place forever!"