Tale of Discovery

Opening my eyes, I perceive an unfamiliar ceiling. Ah, this remin-

AYUMI!

I abruptly jumped up from whatever I was lying on.

Looking around, I see that I'm in a hospital ward. I move towards the door and swing it open. Four pairs of eyes immediately lock onto me.

"Where is Ayumi?!" I directly inquire.

Please, Ayumi.... be safe, if not...

"She's in her own ward, recuperating from the injuries she's suffered.", Nao says with difficulty.

"Where?" I ask her.

She doesn't say anything and just leads the way there.

Once we're there, Nao says to me worriedly,

"Listen, stay cool. Don't let the rage take control of you, do you follow?"

I stare into her eyes for a moment before nodding my head.

She gestures for me to go inside, indicating that she isn't intending on going with me.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door and walk inside. What meets my eyes, is Ayumi on a hospital bed with an IV connected to her wrist. Her head is wrapped in a bandage which also covers her right eye. Also, her left leg, which is also wrapped in bandages, is being held up.

All in all, she's alive but doesn't seem to be in good condition.

Approaching her bed, I place my palm on her cheek, as the corners of my eyes start to get moist.

Circulating the Holy Essence within me, I use my healing factor on her. After a while, her expression which was that of suffering and pain changes to a more comfortable one.

{Your healing factor is 1st Tier. The most it can do is heal external injuries, get rid of scars, and lessen pain.}

Irene says mechanically inside my head.

"How do I increase tiers?"

{Through comprehension. You must gain an understanding of the core of your powers to be able to increase their tiers.}

------

After a while, I sense Ayumi slightly twitching. I keep on using my Healing Factor on her. If it can make her feel even slightly better, I'm more than willing to continue to use it.

It doesn't take long for her to open her eyes.

In the beginning, she seems confused as she looks around.

However, once she sees me, her eyes begin to moisten, then tears start to flow down her cheeks as she silently sobs.

Seeing her like this, I carefully hug her as to not hurt her.

"I'm sorry...", she says almost inaudible.

"What are you apologizing for?", I ask her as kiss her cheek.

"Ayu didn't listen to Brother Yu. If Ayu did, then... then...", I don't let her continue as I tighten my grip on her and say,

"It's fine. Don't blame yourself. I should've looked after you better."

My words seem to have the opposite effect of what I intended as she begins to sob louder in my embrace.

"Ayu understands now. Disobeying Brother Yu was bad and Ayu was punished for it.", she says in a despondent tone.

Looks like no matter what I tell her, she'll keep on blaming herself. After deliberating over what to do, I say to her,

"You know, there is a bright side to everything."

My words seem to attract her attention as she looks into my eyes, waiting for me to continue.

"In this case, I can serve my little Ayu at home, now that I have the chance to. I will be spoiling you rotten."

She softly giggles in response to my words.

I wipe the tears off her face and say to her,

"Ayumi, I want to show you something."

Her curiosity is piqued by my words as she leaves my embrace and watches me.

"Remember the magic trick that your Big Sister Tomori did?", I ask her.

She nods. Having received her confirmation, I continue,

"You know, I am something of a magician myself."

There seems to be a glow in her eyes as she looks at me with expectation plastered all over her face.

"Watch."

I don't know where I got my confidence from, but I just have a feeling that I can do it if I try to. So I do it.

Raising my arm while circulating Holy Essence within me, I manipulate the light on top of my palm to appear as the figure of Ayumi.

"Owohhh!", Ayumi exclaims. This is so much better than what she was like a moment ago.

I imagine her a little more grown-up and the exact same image in my head appears on top of my palm.

{Discovered: Illusion}

I ignore the voice and focus on my imagination. I think of a hill and Ayumi and myself being on top of it, star-gazing together.

"Brother Yu, that's amazing!", she reaches out her arm to touch it, but as expected, it just went right through.

"Ayumi, get well soon, I'm looking forward to going out with you."

------

I need to upgrade my healing factor's tier. I can't let Ayumi be blind in one eye. Besides, I don't want to see her suffer anymore. That image is still stuck in my head, and it makes my blood boil whenever I think of it.

Perhaps things would've turned out differently had I been more careful. Oh right, I vaguely remember Irene appearing in front of me back then,

"Irene?", I call out to her.