Inside the dimly lit room, lanterns of soft blue flame flickered against the wooden walls. The silence was thick—tense with pressure, heavy with uncertainty.
Rin stood over Zay's mangled body. The young man's breathing was shallow, his chest barely rising. Blood still leaked in slow streams from multiple open wounds, and the unnatural twist in his limbs made the extent of the damage all too clear.
Rin closed his eyes and pressed two fingers to the side of Zay's neck.
"Seal: Blooming Aster – Restoration, Level 3."
A golden symbol flared across Rin's back, pulsing with a steady hum. Threads of pale violet light spread down his arms, weaving into his gloves, crawling along his fingertips like glowing vines.
As he placed his hands gently over Zay's chest, tendrils of aura slithered into the boy's body.
Rin's brow furrowed immediately.
"Spine fractured in three places… ribs collapsed inward, multiple fractures... hemorrhaging in both lungs…."
The glow intensified.
Each strand of aura found a different wound and anchored itself there—repairing torn veins, mending splintered bones, beginning to reverse internal bleeding. The Seal's passive resonance began identifying foreign elements, mapping trauma, scanning down to the marrow.
One of the other healers looked over. "His legs… the bones are nearly powdered."
Rin didn't stop.
He leaned closer, channeling more power through his hands. "Then we make them whole again."
A sudden pulse surged through the room—his Seal entering a higher state of focus. It began generating constructive illusions around the damage, projecting phantom bone structures to guide the regeneration.
Flesh knit together. Internal hemorrhaging slowed. Zay's heartbeat—irregular just moments before—now stabilized into a steady thrum.
"Rin," one of the men whispered, watching in awe. "This… this is your high-tier restoration. Are you sure about all of this? For just an outsider"
Rin didn't answer. Sweat rolled down his temple.
The glow around Rin's hands faded all at once, like a candle snuffed by a storm. The room dimmed. The threads of light that had danced across Zay's body vanished into his skin as if swallowed by the wounds they had mended.
Zay's legs were no longer mangled—the bones had been fully reconstructed in a flash of masterful, near-divine precision. His breathing remained steady. For now.
But Rin staggered back, gasping.
His aura drained completely. Sweat clung to every inch of him, soaking through his robes. He stumbled once, then collapsed flat on his back against the wooden floor, chest heaving.
His hand clenched into a fist.
With a grunt, he forced himself upright, legs trembling beneath him. He turned to the others, his voice ragged but sharp.
"We continue this surgery in the morning."
No one questioned him.
Rin exited without another word, dragging his feet across the hallway until he entered a small bathroom at the end. The sink inside glowed a soft blue, infused with enchanted water. He braced himself against it, staring down.
Then, he coughed—and spat a mouthful of blood into the sink.
He looked up at the mirror.
His reflection was gaunt, almost hollow. His arms—once toned and strong—had visibly shrunk, as if the energy required for the Seal had fed on the very muscle in his body. A side effect he knew all too well. He stared at them in silence, watching his fingertips tremble.
Another cough. More blood.
He gritted his teeth and turned the sink's handle. The glowing water spiraled down, carrying the blood with it.
Rin wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stepped out, walking quietly back into his personal quarters—just a small wooden room with a single window, a desk, and a chair.
He collapsed into the chair and leaned back, the old wood creaking under him.
"Damn..." he muttered, covering his face with a shaky hand. "I hate how my Seal works… but it is good."
He chuckled weakly, the sound dry and hollow.
"It drains the hell out of me though…"
He stared up at the ceiling, eyes wide but unfocused.
"I will save lives. Even if it kills me. That's what I said when I followed my teacher's footsteps… and I refuse to fail."
Sweat still rolled down his face. His breathing had eased, but the pain hadn't left.
He whispered again, voice steadier, gaze locked on the dark wooden planks above:
"I don't care if it burns me out. I will save this boy's life. That's what it means to become a doctor of the Raiden Clan. To save lives, no matter the cost."
Four nights went by in a blur as Rin and his team of medics healed Zay, collapsed in pain, going over notes, and resting until the next morning.
Morning light of the fifth day crept through the wooden shutters, streaking golden rays across the floor of the quiet medical room. The faint scent of misty herbs and fresh rain drifted in through the cracks in the walls. A sense of stillness lingered in the air—like the world was holding its breath.
The door slid open.
Rin stepped inside, slow and calm, though the bags beneath his eyes betrayed the toll of the previous night. Behind him, the five other healers entered, their movements silent, reverent. Each wore the same dark gloves layered in silk and leather. The room was warmer now, but heavy with purpose.
Zay lay still, his chest rising and falling steadily. The worst had been halted—but they all knew this next part would determine whether he lived or merely survived.
Rin approached the bedside, rolling his shoulders with a low breath before clenching his hands into fists. Then he looked to the others.
"Just like you all learned," he said, his voice sharp with command, but carrying a trace of pride.
One by one, their Seals activated.
Light rippled across the wooden floor in a kaleidoscope of colors—green, gold, silver, deep blue, crimson, and pale violet. Each healer knelt around the bed and placed their hands gently on Zay's body. Their Seals pulsed with unique energy, each radiating a different feeling—not just light.
The green aura shimmered with the sensation of growth and renewal, like spring sprouting in wounded flesh after harsh winters.
The crimson aura throbbed like a steady heartbeat, restoring internal rhythm and fortifying Zay's blood.
The blue light whispered cool and clean, cleansing lingering toxins and fever from his body.
The gold aura crackled faintly with the electricity of nerves and memory, aiding muscle and nerve reconstruction.
The silver shimmer hummed with serenity, a Seal that soothed trauma on a soul-deep level.
And Rin's own pale violet aura returned, focused and precise—his Seal not just healing, but rewriting the damage done with divine intricacy.
As their hands pressed down gently across Zay's chest, legs, arms, and head, the room vibrated with a low harmony, like a silent choir of energy.
Zay's body began to glow faintly, the Seals interacting with him—some resisting at first, but gradually synchronizing. Bone realigned. Flesh reknit. Aura pathways, once frayed and burned, began threading back together.
No one spoke.
The only sound was the soft hum of Seals at work.
Rin's eyes never left Zay. Not even once.
Zay opened his eyes and found himself drifting in a vast, star-drenched expanse—space itself wrapped around him in gentle silence. No ground beneath his feet, no horizon in sight. Just the infinite.
Before him, she appeared—Nira, Goddess of Dreams and Eternal Slumbering.
Her presence felt like a lullaby whispered across eternity. Her hair flowed in waves of dark and light blue that bled seamlessly into black, trailing through the stars like ink in water. Her eyes were a bright, glowing blue, each iris shaped like a soft crescent moon, filled with wisdom, tiredness, and endless tenderness.
In her hands, a katana rested—its sheath gleaming silver under the starlight.
She stepped closer, voice as smooth as the calm before dreams.
"My lone believer and warrior of dreams and slumbers... accept this blade as a gift from me."
Her lips curled into a gentle smile, eyes closing with warmth so overwhelming that Zay could feel the comfort wash over him. It was the warmest thing he'd ever known.
He didn't question where he was. He didn't need to. He could breathe.
Zay reached out without hesitation, gripping the blade with both hands. He dropped to one knee before her, head bowed with deep respect.
"I'll gracefully accept anything you give me," he whispered, voice low and reverent.
And then—he awoke.
His eyes shot open, breath catching in his lungs as the scent of wood and earth rushed into his senses.
The silver-sheathed blade that had once rested on the floor stirred, vibrating faintly before it rose into the air on its own. With a soft whoosh, it darted forward, landing perfectly into Zay's hand.
The moment he touched it, the sheath's silver hue rippled—then darkened into a deep midnight-blue, as if painted by twilight itself. A soft aura bloomed around it, a thin veil of midnight-blue swirling with streaks of liquid silver, like moonlight poured into ink.
Across the room, Rin collapsed onto his back, completely drained. His breathing was heavy, but when he saw Zay awake—really awake—a tired, relieved smile crept across his face.
He had done it.
He had saved a life marked for death. He had spat in the face of fate and won.
"He lives..." one of the men said, with a surprised expression.
Rin breathed out with a dry chuckle, closing his eyes. "Damn right he lives..."