Once the process stopped, Orion was still alive and he was now a violet-cored Awakened.
“What’s wrong with me?” His body was stronger than ever but as he weaved his first tier four spell with true magic, he noticed there was something wrong with his mana core.
“I’m sorry. There was no way to completely stop your mana from leaking out of your body. As I told you, your core was overloaded. The worst case scenario was you going back to bright blue and the best was retaining the bright violet.
“The arrays and Nandi slowed down the bleed as much as they could, but we are no gods. You’ve been losing mana from the moment the procedure started until you began forming the auxiliary cores.” Vastor and the others dried themselves before putting their clothes back on.
“I don’t care. I’m alive. It’s all that matters.” Orion sat on the bed, still completely naked.
In that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was that the pain had stopped. He was enjoying the feeling of breathing without his lungs filling with blood. Of moving his arms without his flesh ripping apart and his bones breaking.
His jaw still hurt but it was finally starting to relax. He could still hear his own screams gurgling in his ears but they were fading away. The silence was music and the absence of pain brought him more joy than he believed possible.
“That’s the spirit.” Vastor shook Orion after letting him space out for a few minutes. “You can regain the bright violet. Just practice Accumulation. Also, you need to grow a beard so stop shaving.”
The Master gave Orion a mirror and the face returning his gaze snapped him out of the shock of the procedure.
“What the fuck?” Just a few hours ago he had a few grey hairs but they were now black like the rest. The lines around his eyes and on his forehead were gone, leaving his skin smooth and youthful. “I look at least ten years younger.”
Orion checked his hands and muscles, finding the nigh-forgotten vigor of his youth.
“How could this happen? I mean, I know that Awakened live for centuries but the life force I’ve consumed so far is supposed to be lost. You are Awakened as well and-” Orion bit his tongue the moment he realized how rude and ungrateful he sounded.
“I mean, Jirni… is going to kill me if I say something like this to her.”
“Yes, yes, and you bet.” Vastor nodded. “My hair is getting its color back but not because I’m getting younger and neither is your wife. Yours is a special case and your current state is a side effect of Awakening I hadn’t even considered.
“I can only speculate about what happened.”
“Tell me.” Orion was curious and almost scared at the idea of being just a bit older than his eldest son.
“Your body was overloaded with mana that wanted to escape, yet the world energy conjured by Nandi and the arrays that Hushar and Cyare set into place held it back for hours. My hypothesis is that part of your lost mana is now trapped in your skin and enhancing your life force.
“If I’m right, the rejuvenating effect is temporary and should wear off as your body stabilizes and gets rid of the excess mana.”
“What if this is not the case?” Orion asked.
“Then I’ve performed a gods-damned miracle and I’ll kick your ass first and then mine because I have no idea how to do it again!” Vastor snarled. “If I wasted my luck on you, not even your life would be enough to repay your debt.”
Orion looked at himself in the mirror again and then at Vastor’s furious expression. His laughter started like a stifled sneeze and then slowly grew in intensity until Orion was hugging his belly, gasping for air.
“Thank you, my friend.” Orion said amid tears of hilarity. “Thank you for reminding me that there’s more to life than the absence of pain. I feel like myself again.”
“You are welcome.” Vastor handed Orion his clothes. “Now put your pants on and go to sleep. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
“What do you mean?” Orion obliged, feeling stupid for being the only one naked in the room.
“Look at the bed.” Vastor pointed at the handprints left by Orion’s joyous fit on the wooden frame. “Your strength has gone from that of a trained soldier to that of a violet core with perfect body refinement. If you go back home now, you are going to kill someone.”
The self-repair spells were already fixing the damage but the marks in the solid wood were deep.
“We can start now. I don’t feel tired.” Orion replied.
“Say that again with your head on the pillow.”
“I don’t feel tired. We can…” Orion’s eyelids drooped and his voice faded along with his consciousness.
His body was filled with adrenaline, giving him the impression of strength but he was actually on the breaking point. The pain, the changes, and the wounds had taken their toll on his mind as well
“Excellent job, guys.” Vastor said after Hushing his patient. “Take a day off and rest. We are all tired and need our strength before going back to work. Kigan, you keep an eye on him and teach him the basics of Spirit Magic.
“Just enough to send him home safely.”
***
Orion slept for eight full hours and then started his lessons.
His body was full of energy and he needed to learn how to control it. Spirit Magic crushed things when he was angry or frustrated, brought him things he desired, and made him aimlessly float when he was happy.
His body was much worse. Eggs, plates, cups, and cutlery ended up the same, crushed by his hands. Whenever Orion tried to take a full step, he would slam against the ceiling and bounce onto the ground.
After a whole day of continued failures, Kigan kicked him out of the Vastor Mansion with a goodbye gift.
“I’m done wasting my time on you. Practice on your own!” The Shadow Phoenix handed Orion a special suit of armor and threw him into Vastor’s private Warp Gate.
Unlike regular armor, the artifact was meant to protect others from its wearer. It would restrict Orion’s movements and conjure air cushions when he exerted a pressure dangerous to an adult human.
“Thank the gods you are alright.” Jirni was waiting for him on the other side.
She hugged him tight and helped him to get back to his feet. For some reason, Orion moved as if he had a stick up his ass and one more up each of his limbs.
“I told you not to do it! If anything happened to you I would- What the fuck happened to you?” She took his face between her hands and noticed his youthful appearance.
“It’s a long story.” He sighed. “I need a sturdy chair, lots of food that I can eat with my bare hands, and a place where to eat without witnesses.”
Jirni arranged for everything in a few minutes and Orion was eating and telling her what had happened before he could sit down.
