Chapter 5: Ticket for the Hunter Academy!
The Combat Hunters did not shoot. They lowered their glowing hands. Their aggressive combat stances broke the moment they saw the state of the two teenagers.
"Get the medics!" one of the officers barked into his shoulder radio. "We have survivors from the blast radius."
They were wrapped in heavy thermal blankets and loaded into the back of an armored medical transport.
'Perfect! I should have been awarded Oscar for my acting there.'
Draven kept his head down. He was playing the part of a traumatized victim perfectly.
"Get them to the National Hunter Hospital. They are in dire need of the ICU."
Beside him, Estella was drifting in and out of consciousness. Her head was resting on his shoulder.
At the National Hunter Hospital, things moved fast. The blinding white lights of the emergency ward replaced the dark, wet alley. Nurses and doctors swarmed them the second the transport doors opened.
Draven was forced onto a gurney.
"I need to stay with her," Draven rasped, forcing a panicked tone into his voice.
A doctor gently pushed him back down on the mattress. "She is in severe mana shock, son. We are taking her to the trauma wing."
Draven watched them wheel Estella away. His mind was in a state of panic.
'If the doctors found out her mana is violently corrupted, they might lock her up in a high-security containment facility. She is my asset, and losing her to the government is not an option.'
It seemed Fate had a different plan.
As Draven was being rolled down the hallway, a woman in a pristine white coat over a silver combat suit stepped out of an elevator.
'Wait!! Why is she here right now? She might be the best Healer in the Country but I don't think she would be able to heal her with her abilities.'
She had an aura that felt incredibly heavy.
Even from fifty feet away, Draven could feel the air pressure in the hallway drop.
[Target Identified: Seraphina Vance]
[Status: S-Rank Hunter. Guildmaster of 'Silver Aegis']
'Only an Elixir can heal her in this state! The chances are not Zero then! She is the Guildmaster of the Silver Aegis. She must have the Elixir needed to save her.'
Seraphina glanced at Estella's passing gurney. Her eyes narrowed as she sensed the violent, corrupted magic radiating from the girl.
'This Girl is in quite a serious situation! She is lucky that it has not spread to her Internal Organs. Or it would have been too late!'
Without a word, she reached into her coat and pulled out a small, glowing vial. It was an Elixir. A high-grade consumable that cost millions of credits.
She popped the cork and poured the glowing liquid directly over Estella's chest.
The violent purple glow of the corrupted mana instantly dissolved into a calm, soothing blue. The violent trembling stopped.
'This would heal her up. I hope this investment would bring back great surprises.'
Seraphina nodded to the stunned doctors and walked away, completely uninterested in sticking around for a thank you.
'Well,' Draven thought, relaxing his tense muscles. 'That saves me a massive headache.'
An hour later, Draven was sitting in a private examination room. He had been scrubbed clean, his wounds had been treated with minor healing magic, and he was wearing a standard hospital gown.
An official from the Hunter Association walked in holding a transparent crystal orb.
"Draven Mordis, correct?" the official asked, looking at a digital datapad. "We ran your biometrics. You have no records. No prior Awakened status. Place your hand on the orb. We need to measure your mana capacity to register your ID."
Draven looked at the crystal. He needed an identity, and he needed power.
'If I hid my rank entirely and pretended to be an F-Rank weakling, I would be treated like trash and sent to a government shelter.'
'If I revealed my true S-Rank potential, the Hunter Association would immediately try to turn me into a restricted military weapon. I need freedom! The Freedom to steal the opportunities of the Protagonist!'
'I need to be valuable enough like Gold, but not something that needs to be seen and controlled,' Draven calculated. 'An A-Rank Late Bloomer is perfect. It gives me money, respect, and direct entry into the Academy.'
He placed his bare hand on the orb. He let his kinetic power flow into the crystal, carefully restricting the output with his mind.
He pushed the energy just high enough. The orb glowed with a bright, solid gold light, completely illuminating the small room.
The official gasped, nearly dropping his datapad. "Solid gold! That is an A-Rank reading! At eighteen years old? You are a Late Bloomer. This is absolutely incredible."
'Step one complete,' Draven thought, withdrawing his hand. 'I have my ticket. This would be enough to place me in the Hunter Academy in the Scholarship Quota.'
He was soon moved to a quiet recovery room where Estella was already sleeping peacefully in a pristine bed. The dark, sickly veins on her skin were completely gone.
Draven sat in a comfortable chair by the window. A wall-mounted television was playing the local news.
"The explosion at the abandoned Church facility is still under investigation," the news anchor announced. "Authorities suspect a clash between rogue syndicate elements. In other news, the prestigious Hunter Academy entrance exams begin next week."
The screen cut to a bright, smiling teenager surrounded by reporters. He had perfect blonde hair, spotless features, and wore a tailor-made Academy uniform.
"Neville Hennesy," a reporter asked, shoving a microphone forward. "As the most anticipated incoming freshman of this year's class, what are your thoughts on the tragedy today?"
Neville looked into the camera with practiced, sorrowful eyes. "It is a profound tragedy. I only wish I could have been there sooner to save those poor souls. A true Hunter never arrives late when lives are on the line."
Draven felt a muscle tick in his jaw.
'You pompous idiot,' Draven thought, crossing his arms. 'You would have died in that basement.'
As he glared at the screen, a familiar, crisp chime echoed in his head. The twenty-four-hour timer had finally hit zero.
[Ding! Daily Sign-in Available!]
[Would you like to Sign-in? Yes / No]
'Yes.'
[Sign-in Successful!]
[Reward: Kinetic Mana Circulation Technique (Passive)]
[Effect: Refines the Host's kinetic ability. Passively regenerates and increases maximum Mana capacity by 0.1 every 60 seconds.]
Draven took a deep breath. Instantly, he felt a subtle, rhythmic pulse in his chest. It matched the beating of his heart. With every pump of his blood, a tiny, microscopic fraction of pure mana was permanently added to his core.
It was 0.1 mana a minute. It sounded small, but it was relentless. That was 6 points an hour. 144 points a day. In a month, without lifting a single finger, his energy reserves would be massive. It perfectly solved the stamina issue of his Vector Manipulation.
'Let's see you try to play the hero when we meet at the Academy, Neville,' Draven thought, a cold smile forming on his lips as the steady pulse of new mana warmed his chest. 'I am coming for the top spot.'