"Are you sure you sensed it, sir?" Ahara's muffled voice came from the waiting room.
"Positive. It might not be enough for him to have a rank yet, but the boy sure has aura flowing in his body now," Twiller responded with as much secrecy.
Damien stopped in his tracks once he heard their conversation.
'They're talking about me,' he noted, standing upright whilst gluing himself to the wall, ears pointed at the open door.
A muffled groan that could only have been Ahara escaped from the room. "But if he has aura flowing in his body now, doesn't that mean the council'll keep a close eye on him since he can't return to the human world?"
"No. I think I intimidated them enough to let them know what kind of decision is more favorable for everyone."
"But you're not the Numen, Professor. Having aura equal to the rank doesn't mean you hold the position unless you agree to it, you know?" Ahara sighed.
The old man let out a rather icy chuckle that sent a chill down Damien's skin, leaving goosebumps in its trail. "Still, it's enough to declare war or to convince the council to change some decisions, isn't it?"
'So aura works here like money does in the human world?' Damien wondered, glancing around the empty corridor.
"Though I must say, the boy surprised me. All I did was release the pressure in his pulse points, and that was enough to make his aura awaken?" Twiller continued.
"Maybe it's the medicine Sandbloom gave him? Or the lotion?" Ahara replied, her voice sounding unsure of what she was speculating.
"No. Those were for his sore muscles and throat. Sandbloom forgot to unclog the points that allow his aura to flow freely throughout his body, or she might have just ignored it, thinking he was the same powerless boy from the human world."
"Well, you did say you couldn't feel any aura in him after you massaged his pressure points, didn't you?"
The old man dramatically cleared his throat, cutting Ahara off before speaking.
"Anyway, I'll convince the council to let the boy off the hook this time. You, on the other hand, need to make sure he stays home until he is strong enough to roam around Gibbous by himself."
Then in a lowered voice that was barely audible to Damien's prying ears:
"The beings here are, after all, natural predators. Weakness is taboo, and he might get the worst end of it all since he just awakened his aura. Teach him how to protect himself against bullies daily until his aura becomes normal."
Blood rushed all over Damien's body, his heart thudding with enough force to be heard in his head.
Natural predators? Bullies? Weakness is considered a taboo?
'Just what kind of place is Gibbous?' He wondered just when Ahara's voice brought him back to reality, pleading.
"Can't you just enroll him at the academy? In loving memory of Uncle's services to Gibbous at least. I mean, I could teach him how to survive, but isn't learning how to manage the bare minimum of aura he has from the teachers at Gibforge much better?"
Damien couldn't hear the old man's reply, but when Ahara's heavy sigh reached his ears, he knew Principal Twiller had somehow rejected her proposal.
"I could, yes, but wouldn't that be unfair to those with pitiful conditions like him all around Gibbous?"
"But…"
"The world doesn't favor the weak Ahara. It only works in accordance with the powerful and the rich. I'm not denying that the boy's father played a great role in restoring our peace, but the majority of the people have already moved on. If you don't want your brother facing prejudice from the rest of Gibforge later, then he has to enroll fairly just like the rest of them."
"His aura is barely an E-rank tier Professor."
"Then make him reach that level."
"In a week?"
"He managed to awaken it in a matter of minutes, didn't he?"
A momentary silence.
Damien finally debated showing himself to the two, but the thought immediately left his mind when Principal Twiller sighed.
"The muscle on his body…you used to train him back home, didn't you?"
"Not to fight. He used to come to the gym I worked at, and I'd help him with training."
"Aha!" Twiller exclaimed happily.
"That explains the abrupt aura release after the unclogging. His body is already good enough to accommodate E-rank aura, D too, but the aura itself isn't yet accustomed to the body, much like food entering a body with malnutrition."
"Does that mean he just needs a trigger that'll set his aura off?" Ahara asked, her voice sounding less depressed now.
At this, Damien drew his ears closer to the door, desperately wanting to hear Twiller's take on the matter.
"Quite likely, yes. I'd advise you to make him exercise daily this entire week. Make the aura filter throughout his body. I have a feeling it'll keep on growing from here onwards."
As if being showered with a warm embrace after a stormy day, Damien's stiff body loosened at Twiller's remark.
'I can become stronger,' he thought, pumping his fists in the air when he suddenly felt a nudge to his arm.
"What the!" He jumped, standing in front of the door and glancing behind him to see a nurse dressed in a white robe standing right where he had been a few seconds ago.
"Sorry if I scared you, but are you looking for someone?"
"Damien," Ahara rushed towards the door. "What are you doing outside?"
"Are you his guardian?" The nurse asked.
"Yes. Is there something wrong with him?"
"Oh no. I was just passing by and saw him standing here, so I approached him thinking he was lost."
Ahara snapped her head to look at Damien, and he immediately avoided her gaze, tapping his fingers nervously on his thighs.
"Well then, I'll be continuing my journey since it seems he's safe."
"Thank you for your services," Ahara nodded in the nurse's direction, turning her attention back to Damien, her eyes squinted.
"Were you snooping on us?"
Damien increased the tapping on his thighs, his eyes shifting around the corridor, guilt already eating at him.
"Damien?"
"Leave him be," Twiller came to the boy's rescue, his amour clinking when he stood and walked towards the door.
"It's only natural that he becomes curious since everything around him is foreign at the moment. He'll soon pass the phase once he's used to Gibbous and its wonders."
However, even as he backed the boy, once he was near him, Twiller placed his hand gently on Damien's shoulder, drawing his attention to his face in an instant.
"How much did you hear?"
"Umm…errr…"
"It's okay. No need to be frightened," the old man reassured him. His blue eyes were gentle, a calm only the ocean could present amidst all the chaos going on in Damien's head.
And calm him it did.
Now visibly relaxed, Damien took a low breath and looked the man squarely in the eyes.
"When you started talking about unclogging my aura."
Ahara immediately let out a relieved sigh, but stopped once she noticed that Twiller was glaring at her. Then he turned back to Damien, his expression relaxed.
"Now that you know you have aura flowing in your body and can't return home, what do you want to do from here onwards?"
Damien flickered his eyes in Ahara's direction.
He wasn't sure if she'd be on board with the plan in his head. Trying to increase his aura in hopes of becoming a hero like her was indeed a dangerous bargain. He had experienced the pains of battle firsthand to know how much was at stake in every fight.
But that was exactly why he wanted to become a hero.
If he lost Ahara during one of her bloody battles…
He shook his head, rubbing the thought from his mind and giving Twiller his attention.
"That's what I came to discuss with you guys," he said firmly.
Ahara moved closer, a gentle expression on her face. "Wanna sit and talk?"
"I don't have the time to, someone is waiting for me outside."
"Oho! Already making friends?" Twiller teased.
Ahara scrunched her brows suspiciously. "Who is it?"
"The vampire queen's daughter. Eden Bloodhorn."
At this, Ahara's eyes widened.
"You met with the vampire princess?" She touched her lips, turning her head to look down the corridor. "When?"
"She was in the bed next to mine," Damien explained, and this time, Ahara gasped.
"Was she awake the entire time?"
"No, only after the council released their aura in the room."
"Oh, thank goodness!" Ahara held her chest, letting out the breath she had been holding.
"Nosy and cheeky as ever," Twiller chuckled, glancing around the corridor too.
Damien wanted to ask what he meant by that, but then, he remembered Eden's warning about leaving him if he took too long with Ahara and stopped.
"Anyway, she invited me to her house so we could train…"
"And be able to catch up with the school's enrollment this year?" Twiller cut him, and Damien slowly nodded his head, wondering how he knew that.
"Yes."
Lines showed on Ahara's forehead as she frowned at her brother."Wait, how did you know you have aura in you?"
"Eden told me," Damien explained once again, and this time, Ahara stood, her hands animatedly grabbing onto the walls.
"You're telling me that she could sense the little aura you have? Something I couldn't do?"
"No," Damien shook his head exhaustedly. "She just used common sense and a glowing stone that looks like a phone but isn't. She called it an oblong."
"What common sense?" Ahara questioned, ignoring the last bit of information.
"His being able to get affected by another Gibbit's aura," Twiller interjected, pointing at Damien. "I must say, I'm amazed. I didn't expect Eden to figure it out before your sister could."
"I was eventually going to!"
"Yes, of course, but she did it in an instant," Twiller added salt to Ahara's wounds, and she glared at him.
Sensing the pointless arguing about to occur, Damien raised his hands to stop them.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but Eden is waiting for me outside, and she said she'd leave me if I took too long talking to you. Can I go now?"
"Why, of course you can. But before you leave…"Twiller kneeled on one foot and clasped Damien's legs, focusing his eyes there like he was studying them.
Little by little, the sore pain in Damien's legs started vanishing, and by the time Twiller rose, it was gone.
"Not to brag, but I used to be an enchantments arts teacher back in the day, so healing comes second nature to me," Twiller boasted once he saw the amazed look on the lad's face.
"But isn't magic a wizardry thing?" Damien asked, his brows furrowed at the old man.
He hadn't noticed any wand or staff on him to confirm that he used any type of magic at all.
"Oh, but I am a wizard. I just prefer my vampire traits, that's all."
"You can have both?" Damien ogled at the old man.
"It's genetics, my boy. If you train hard enough with Eden and enroll at my academy, you'll soon learn everything about Gibbits and how we work."
"Woah. So can I have two tribal features in me too? I mean, Ahara told me my mom was a witch and my dad a vampire, so I might…"
"Didn't you say Eden might leave you?" Twiller laughed at him just when Ahara grabbed his arm, sighing.
"I'll escort him," she said in a voice akin to an exhausted mother's.
"Wait, I can walk by myself."
"Ah, shut up. It's not because I want to assist you in walking. I have to meet up with this Eden girl, so I know when I can take you home."
"We have a home here?"
"Oh my sweet summer child. You'll be surprised at how big that mansion is," Ahara bragged, leading the way as they made it outside the hospital to where Eden was waiting for him with four large men stationed all around her.
The moment she saw him coming, the green-haired girl gave him that familiar grin again, and Damien immediately understood why Twiller had called her cheeky.
'Foxy,' he thought to himself, returning her grin as the distance between them closed.