Rise of the Strongest Soul Mage

Chapter 5 Useless

"Let's go" Head nurse moved toward the foot nurse and guided her towards the door. She took one more look at him before walking out of the room but he avoided her eyes.

When he was finally alone. Sora took in the room. There wasn't much to it but it was functional. There were also bowls of water at every corner in the room. They were healing bowls, each water bowl would have been infused with mage energy and several other things only Healers knew about to aid his healing process just from breathing them in. That also let him know he would not be able to leave soon.

Healers had the ability to heal themselves and others at an incredibly fast rate. The Ivy mages attended to everyone, both humans and mages. Although there was a level to which humans could be healed. Usually, they placed their hands with concentrated healing energy on the other person's injuries, quickly healing the victim's wounds but for patients they wanted to keep for extended periods, they would infuse their healing energy in water sources close to them. Exactly what they were doing to him.

The Ivy's best healers were assigned to Hunters, the city's protectors. Some said the Hunters had the best of everything but shouldn't the best go to the ones who put themselves on the line for the people everyday?

Hunters were generally recondite. Not much was said or known of them. Masters at Ivy hardly taught about them too, they only gave basic knowledge to aid the selection process. Only a handful of them usually came to the Ivy during the selection ceremonies to receive new intakes, and even at the ceremonies, the Hunters hardly spoke to anyone else, thereby strengthening the air of mystery around them.

All of Sora's knowledge about hunters came from basic training and the books he read. The books he read spoke of hunters fighting, killing and dying at the hands of Soul Eaters, a mage's arch nemesis.

Ivy masters hardly spoke of soul eaters too, they only emphasized the importance of safety and safety precautions to protect themselves. Hunters especially, were trained to hunt and kill Soul Eaters.

All soul eaters were created by Hix or The Seven. The Seven were Hix's strongest and most loyal soldiers. Although they had not been seen by many who lived to tell the tale, they were said to continually enlarge the Hix's legion by turning humans into soul eaters.

Soul eaters took souls of humans and mages. Human souls gave them satisfaction from an insatiable hunger whilst the soul of a mage gave them satisfaction and mage's energy. It was not an argument that the souls of mages were more beneficial to them, making mages their primary targets.

This side of the city was mostly safe because of the Ivy. The Halls of Ivy housed most of the strongest mages in Namrys and many others that could easily kill a soul eater. Thereby posing a threat to Soul Eaters. There had never been instances where Soul eaters were found or killed close to the Ivy and it solidified the strength and prestige of the Academy.

Sora's mind drifted all the way to his early days in the academy. He thought of all his dreams and expectations when joining the Academy. He had imagined excelling at the training and later joining the Masters. Their intelligence, knowledge and ability to aid evolution fascinated him. He had had hopes to train newbies some day to be just like him. His mind played out his dreams and he loved it.

He dreamt about everything till he fell asleep.

Sora woke up feeling a lot better the next day. His cuts were healed on the outside. Only the faint lines remained from them revealed what he had been through. He ran his hands over his neck, arms, the sides of his torso and feet, the cuts ached only a little when touched but other than that, he was fine.

Sora got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. He turned on the faucet, he put his hand under to check the temperature, the water was cold. Perfect. Cupping his hands, he took water till it was full and ran it over his face and  hair.

He walked back into the room and grabbed his cloak off the chair, putting it on and straightening himself. He was ready to leave. As he headed for the door, the door to the room opened and one of the nurses from the day before walked in, it was 'head nurse'.

She had a puzzled look on her face. "Were you about to leave?"

Sora nodded in affirmation.

"Without a proper check? Do you feel better?"

She had to be at least twice his age but her voice didn't match her age. It was exceptionally soothing.

Sora nodded his head and gave a faint smile.

"My name is Laya."

"Sora"

"Sit down, I need to check you."

Sora didn't protest, the earlier she started, the earlier she'd finish and he could leave. He said on the bed.

Laya moved closer and got to work on him. She focused her energy on her hands and they began to glow. She placed her hands on his chest close to his heart and waited a few seconds. She withdrew her hands and placed them at the sides of his head and waited again.

When she was done, she stepped back and looked straight at him

"You're fine now."

No, I am not. I am a useless mage.

Sora didn't voice his thoughts, instead he said "Thank you."

He waited for her to leave but she didn't.

"Stay here for a while. I'll send food to you. Be sure to eat before you leave. Healing doesn't substitute for proper nourishment. I'll have someone check in to make sure."

Sora nodded.

"I'll be on my way now and I'll trust you to stay."

"Thank you." He was indeed grateful to her and foot nurse for saving him.

"Sora? Try to avoid falling into thorns next time."

She finished with a smile and left him alone.