The next day, feeling well again, Auren, after asking around, finds himself in front of the hospital, a large structure that almost rivals the administrative building in size and detail. It's situated a good distance away from the center, etched into the walls on the edge of the city, where the surroundings are a little quieter.
Auren steps into the hospital and, to his surprise, encounters Rosa and Mola, Rakshala's trusted aides, at the entrance.
"Don't tell me you are the ones who will be assisting me," Auren inquires, with a grin.
"Not like I wanted to!" Rosa bellows at him, crossing her arms and looking away.
"Are you a child?" Auren mutters...
"We've been instructed which patient you should be prioritizing," Mola states calmly, her voice barely audible. "Let us help you so everything goes smoothly. A lot of people are in pain."
"Let's get to work then," Auren says, agreeing with her. "Show me the way."
Much like Auren expects, Mola first escorts him to a few patients who are in terrible shape.
His first patient is a male in his early twenties, his entire body covered in severe burn wounds, with multiple machines surrounding him, as he is unable to breathe on his own.
"This poor guy almost burned to death," Rosa explains. "He saved his team, but at the cost of his own health. It is a wonder he even survived, and we were able to transport him here. There has been no real improvement in many months."
A few doctors in charge of him stand ready to assist Auren in case of an emergency.
"How long can he last without the machines?" Auren asks them.
"Probably... 15 minutes, maybe an hour," one of the doctors clarifies.
"Good enough for me," Auren responds. "Prepare to detach him from everything and remove all of his bandages. I do not want anything foreign in him when I use my ability. We need to be quick. It is fine if he screams a little—this will all be over soon enough, as the only thing that matters is time."
"Are you quite sure, Vice-Leader?" one of the doctors queries, his face full of worry.
"Yes," Auren asserts with no hesitation.
"Do as he says," Mola adds. "He has the full backing of our leader and the entire Elder Council."
The doctors, with assistance from Rosa and Mola, quickly comply with Auren's instructions and remove the machines, his bandages, and any remaining equipment on his body.
Meanwhile, Auren activates Azure Restoration once again and immediately begins to heal him.
To his surprise, the burns recede quickly, requiring just a few seconds. However, the internal damage, mostly the lungs, takes him a while longer.
Still, while initially a little awkward, Auren soon establishes a rhythm, and he more skillfully directs his Aura into the parts that require it, slowly but surely, learning how to control his ability.
Treating the Elders paid off! This is helping me a lot. I'll keep growing and growing... this is what I needed!
Instead of merely stabilizing him, Auren resolves to heal him in one go, a process that takes a good twenty minutes and already depletes a considerable part of his Aura supply.
When he concludes the process, the doctors are left utterly astonished as they immediately approach and examine the patient.
"This is... unscientific!" One of them yells.
"Need a break?" Mola asks Auren after seeing a hint of exhaustion on his face.
"Let's keep going!" Auren yells confidently.
Auren wastes no time. He throws himself entirely into the work, moving from one critical case to the next. He deals with every severe case he could have imagined: missing limbs, more horrific burn cases, and organs that are either damaged or gone entirely, mostly due to bullet wounds.
These people... they all look like injured soldiers. Are they fighting a secret war, or what is happening?
The number of patients never seems to end.
Occasionally, to remain clear and focused, he takes a half-day off. He uses the time to experiment with the new flying gear Neffi provided, hiking up to a small outpost on one of the highest points in the circular mountain city.
He activates Shu, and the special nanofibre wings come to life, no longer hanging down his back but extending to the side, looking incredibly stable and sharp. With his Nen-infused wings, he is able to glide with surprising control, barely losing any altitude as he soars with great speed.
With practice, he learns to navigate the air properly, diving through the city levels and weaving around obstacles. As he grows more comfortable, he integrates Emission into his flight style, using the aura bursts to accelerate or gain just enough height to extend the glide or reach targets located above him. Still, the Aura cost is massive, yet after a few flights, Auren already grows slightly more skillful, gaining a small window into what true flight might be like.
After every session, he takes notes and hands them to Neffi, who is already working with her employees and Auren's feedback to produce the next set of 'wings' to outperform the current ones, which are based solely on Auren's initial wishes and no actual data or feedback.
Despite his little side project, Auren never neglects his primary duty. As days pass, the severity of the injuries of his patients begins to drop. The wounds become lighter, mostly superficial. Since these demand far less from his Aura capacity, he begins working through the patient list at a much faster rate.
Between his growing mastery of Azure Restoration and the constant expansion of his Aura Capacity, Auren improves at an unprecedented pace.
Finally, he clears the hospital ward completely. He moves on to the hospice, and eventually, to the common people living inside the town. Within two weeks, Auren has treated hundreds of grateful patients, each swearing to repay the favor someday. People even start arriving from outside the city just to see him, just like it was discussed in the Elder Meeting.
Despite the grueling schedule, Auren also makes time to hang out with the others. But to his surprise, the atmosphere in the city changes to something unexpected. Whenever he makes his rounds or simply walks through the city, everyone stares at him with admiration. A few of the elderly even bow as he passes, showing him a reverence usually reserved exclusively for Rakshala.
It looks like word is spreading... saving hundreds of people leaves a mark that should have been obvious. The people here are closely connected. Treating a single person pleases not only the patient but their friends and family, too. I hate standing out like that, but it's too late to regret my actions now.
Finally, after weeks of grinding, Auren's schedule is completely clean. There is no one left to treat.
Right on cue, the moment he runs out of patients, a message arrives from Pariston. It is brief, containing nothing but a location and a date.
5 days... I need to leave in a few days to make it there on time. Typical Pariston. He left me hanging until it was almost too late.
Later, while they are all gathered for dinner, Auren brings up the upcoming Collector meeting.
"I'll need backup," Auren starts, setting down his fork. "Though I doubt anything exciting will happen, and despite my confidence in myself, I still wouldn't want to go there alone. A single person is easy to target if Nen is involved. Would anyone be interested in tagging along? Goreinu, Neffi, Konrad, is one of you interested?"
Vanessa immediately pouts, crossing her arms defensively, and angrily asks. "Why are you only asking those three?!"
Eren nods, seemingly agreeing with her, while saying, "I am willing to help as well."
"No. You two need to focus on your Hatsus," Auren orders, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Stopping now would be a huge setback, especially for you, Eren, since you are busy enough as it is. Enjoy the time with your siblings, and use the remaining hours of the day to work hard. I need you all to become stronger so you can actually take care of yourselves! If that pisses you off, good. Train harder and get some results. Afterwards, you can do whatever you want."
He turns his gaze to Goreinu. "How about you, Goreinu? Enjoying your comfortable life will feel a lot better if you actually work for once."
"No problem," Goreinu says with a relaxed smile, leaning back in his chair. "You paid me, after all."
"Fine!" Vanessa barks at the others, standing up. "I'll train! But once you're back, I'll show you my awesome Hatsu and make you all cry with envy."
"Why do you act like a child?" Konrad asks, letting out a loud, exhausted sigh.
I have to agree with Konrad here... she really is childish, despite being older than her brother.
Vanessa shoots a sharp glare at her brother, prompting him to shrink back in his seat.
"I'll join you as well, Auren. My Hatsu might come in handy," Konrad adds quickly, rubbing the back of his head to deflect the tension.
"Great," Auren says, satisfied.
"Jolt, you'll be joining too," Auren adds, glancing at the quiet man.
"Of course," Jolt answers without hesitation. "How would you get there without your pilot? Don't worry about me, Marsha, and I welcome the opportunity to travel a little."
"Understood. That should be enough... the others should stay." Auren looks around the table to make sure everyone understands. "I'll speak to Rakshala about the twins as well as the children's training. She seems a little busy, but you should also focus on your own progress. Once you reach a certain level, you can train anywhere, but for now, it's best if you stay and focus, just for a while longer."
"Wait... No! I want to go as well!" Neffi interjects. "You're constantly telling me about your flights and you need some improvements to your suit, don't you? Since the meeting is in Yorknew, I'll join you as well."
"Agreed," Auren says, giving her a nod.
The next morning, Auren makes his way to find Rakshala. Between the constant flow of patients and his own training, he hasn't actually seen her in weeks.
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