"Back in the abyss again, huh? Not gonna lie, the more I get dragged back here, the less eerie it feels like."
Yaw-Yan is lying on the ground inside the abyss after he black out. Unlike the last time he was here, it felt like he's been in the abyss much longer this time.
He didn't really know what this place is. All he knew is that every time he's on the verge of death—both in this lifetime and his previous one the abyss is always there for him, waiting.
So he just brushed it off as something that everyone would eventually experiences when their time comes.
But now, he wasn't exactly sure what to think of this place. The abyss was strange—creepy and nonsensical—and all Yaw-Yan really knew about it was that it was dark, vast, and cold. And for some unknown reason... it kept calling to him.
"At least the dirt feels comfortable if you're buried in it."
Out of sheer boredom inside the abyss, Yaw-Yan decided to dig a hole in the ground and lie in it. He pulled the dirt he had dug to the side and buried himself from the chest down, making a makeshift blanket out of soil. Aside from his face being hit by the cold chill, his entire body felt warm and comfy.
Warm and comfy it might be, Yaw-Yan was still trapped in this place—and it had been quite some time since he arrived, staring at nothing but endless darkness.
And he was getting tired of overthinking whether he was dead or not every time he got dragged back here… so this time, he just lay down and waited for something to happen.
And he waited.
Until he felt a pang of pain on his right cheek—and somehow, he felt nostalgic about it.
opening his eyes, he was greeted by Amika who's sitting on top of him and looking down at him with teary eyes.
Her wet eyes widened the moment she saw Yaw-Yan open his own—and they stared back at each other.
The two locked eyes, and Yaw-Yan noted that this exact scenario had already played out once before.
"YAW-YAN, YOU STUPID DUMBASS IDIOT!"
He couldn't muster any words before Amika lunged at him—again—and trapped him in a death grip… again. And once more, Yaw-Yan found himself fighting for his life for the umpteenth time this week.
"C-c-can't… b-b-breathe!"
Seeing the exact same scenario playing out in front of her, Yuleng couldn't stop herself from chuckling. But when she noticed the boy she had painstakingly nursed back to health starting to turn blue and on the verge of passing out, she turned to the girl beside her and ask her why she's not trying to stop her smaller friend just likr before.
"If she keeps squishing the life out of him like that, he's actually going to die," Yuleng said, pointing at the two people on the bed.
"No, let him suffer. He won't die. Yaw-Yan himself and his enemies tried—and failed to do so."
Yuleng snorted at Suina's words. Unlike last night—when Suina had immediately rushed in to help Yaw-Yan while he was being hugged to death by their smaller friend—the tall girl had now decided that Amika's death grip is well-deserved punishment for what happens last night. After all, Yaw-Yan had completely ignored her parting words about keeping himself safe and stop being reckless.
And it seemed Ayato felt the same way. He simply stood to the side, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching Yaw-Yan wrestle Amika for his life.
"I get that," Yuleng exclaimed while giving Suina a troubled look "but we really can't let him pass out again—the vice principal ordered us medics to get him back in shape. We'll be in serious trouble if he comes back and finds the boy still unconscious."
Feeling bad for Yuleng and everyone else who nurses Yaw-yan, Suina sighed and walked over to the bed where the two were tussling. She pried Amika off the boy with practiced effort.
A moment later after separating the two, Yaw-Yan was on all fours, paled face and gasping for breath.
standing beside Yaw-yan's bed, Yuleng began to meticulously examine Yaw-Yan's body for any problems and lingering issue, Finding none of it, she smiled and nod giving Yaw-yan a clear.
"You're all healed, tribal boy. Just don't make it a habit to keep throwing yourself into danger and you'll live."
With that, Yuleng stood up and headed to the door.
"I'll go inform the vice principal that the boy's all healed. You guys stay here and keep an eye on him."
The trio nodded and thanked Yuleng for her hard work, while the pink-haired girl just waved casually at them before exiting through the door.
"Vice principal?" Yaw-Yan asked the trio, confused, as he sat up and finally took notice on his surroundings. "W-What is this place!?" He hadn't noticed it at first—the place felt familiar… almost like home.
Yaw-Yan was surrounded by medical apparatuses of some kind. Judging by their appearance and how they were arranged around the room, the setup was unmistakably a medical facility. It was so familiar, in fact, that he hadn't immediately realized where he was.
But now that he had, panic set in, and he frantically looked around the room in confusion.
Suddenly, he felt an arm snake around his back, followed by a warm embrace from behind.
"Calm down, Yaw-Yan. You need to calm down. You're safe. The three of us are here with you, so just breathe."
Suina's voice and embrace grounded him. Slowly, Yaw-Yan managed to calm his breathing. He looked over his shoulder and nodded at Suina.
"I'm sorry I panicked."
Suina shook her head with a gentle smile, releasing him now that he'd stopped panting.
"You don't have to apologize, Yaw-Yan. We understand why you reacted that way. This is the first time you've been in a place like this, so it's only natural to freak out. But there's nothing to worry about. The vice principal just brought you here to heal up—after you and Miss Minona had that encounter with the beasts."
The moment he heard Minona's name, Yaw-Yan shot up and grabbed Suina's shoulders.
"Minona!? Where is she? Is she safe? I need to see her—I need to know if she's oka—"
Before he could finish his frantic questioning, the door slammed open and a blur of movement rushed in. A middle-aged man appeared behind Yaw-Yan, wrapped an arm around his torso, and with surprising strength, threw him back onto the bed.
"BRAT, CALM DOWN!"
"Ugh! W-What the—!? Did you just German suplex me!?" Yaw-Yan gasped, staring in disbelief at the robust old man now standing in front of him.
He recognized him immediately—the man who had appeared last night floating in the air and charred the blood collector in the blink of an eye.
Y-You..."
The old man dusted off his hands, looked at Yaw-Yan, and spoke.
"Yes. If you recognize me from last night, then you already know I just saved your ass. I also brought you and Miss Highergard back here to Lincad Ark to get you both patched up."
He walked over to Yaw-Yan's bed, grabbed a chair, and sat down with a heavy sigh.
"Now, I've got a few questions. Answer them, and we'll send you back home after."
As the old man's sharp gaze locked onto him, Yaw-Yan suddenly felt like an invisible weight was pressing down on him, trying to pin him to the bed.
Gritting his teeth, Yaw-Yan pushed through the suffocating pressure. Shakily, he lifted his head and stared straight back at the man.
"I-I'll answer your questions… but not before you tell me w-where Minona is."
The old man narrowed his eyes, and the pressure intensified—almost enough to make Yaw-Yan collapse. But just before his body could give out—
The pressure vanished completely, and the room shook as the old man burst into a deep, thunderous laugh.
"HO HO HO HO! I already knew you had guts the size of Silao Grande! The fact that you could still talk under that kind of mana suppression is incredible. Heck, even our students can't withstand it!"
He pointed his thumb over his shoulder—and that's when Yaw-Yan noticed the state of his friends.
Both Amika and Suina were slumped on the floor, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. Ayato, pale and shaking, was barely supporting himself with hands on his knee.
Yaw-Yan's eyes narrowed at the sight, and he growled at the old man, anger rising in his chest.
Noticing the shift in Yaw-Yan's expression, the old man quickly raised a hand in a calming gesture.
"No need to get hostile, brat. That was just a simple test. You're a pretty abnormal one, you know. Based on what I saw last night—and what your friends have told me—you're not supposed to be able to operate the way you did."
Yaw-Yan looked at the man in confusion.
"Its quite simple, you don't have a soul core—you know, the thing everyone needs to exist without it you'll be dead, and also since you don't have a means to store mana surge in your body the healing potion shouldn't worked on you, healing potions and other mana base treatment would only work if you have mana surge coursing through your body, and yet despite not having a soul core the mana treatment work on you just fine, it's weird and nonsensical, Brat allow me to take a peek at your soul."
Yaw-Yan hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of letting a stranger do something so personal such as peeking his soul. But then he remembered that the old man in front of him was the one who saved both his and Minona's lives. Reluctantly, he nodded.
The old man gently placed his forehead against Yaw-Yan's, and immediately, Yaw-Yan felt like he was floating in the middle of an ocean. The waves were vast and calm, while the sky above was dark, occasionally lit by flashes of lightning. It was strange—he felt both completely safe and dangerously exposed at the same time.
This sensation was completely different from what he experienced with the Old Chief and Suina.
"Fascinating..."
The old man pulled away from the connection, staring at Yaw-Yan with a strange expression.
"Well, they do say the world is full of mysteries." He chuckled softly to himself. "Despite my age and experience, I always thought I'd seen enough weirdness in this world to be desensitized by now. But here you are—a living, breathing proof that we humans haven't even scratched the surface of the secrets of the Endless Flow."
He stood up and walked over to the window, staring out with a contemplative look.
"Too bad this body of mine has already passed its prime. And yet, I'm still too weak to enter the depths of the Endless Forest to seek the answers to all the world's mysteries on my own."
The old man laughed, turning to scan the room and the people inside.
"So you youngsters better work hard. Become strong as fast as you can. That's the only way to live your life in the Endless Flow without any regrets in the end."
Realizing they were being addressed directly by their vice principal, Amika, Suina, and Ayato immediately straightened up and gave him a proper salute, each one promising to work harder.
Seeing the determination in their eyes, the vice principal nodded in satisfaction, genuinely pleased that his students were showing real promise.
After addressing his students, the vice principal turned his gaze back to Yaw-Yan.
"You're a mysterious one, brat. You just single-handedly destroyed my confidence as a soul core expert."
He sighed, shaking his head with a small grin.
"I would've loved to bring you along and take you as my personal student. But with your current condition, I'm afraid your body would implode the moment it touches unfiltered mana surge of Endless flow."
Asuka, Suina, and Ayato all dropped their jaws. Their vice principal—renowned as the second strongest person in the entire academy—actually wanted to make Yaw-Yan his personal student. It was an honor beyond anything they could imagine.
But when they remembered Yaw-Yan's situation, a wave of sympathy hit them. If only Yaw-Yan had a soul core and a core weapon, they thought. He could've gone with them...
The vice principal continued.
"Still, you've piqued my interest, brat. I might start looking around, asking if there's a method to grant someone like you a soul core and core weapon. No promises, though. I'll just be studying your situation. If I come across a breakthrough... I'll let you know."
Before Yaw-Yan could respond, the door swung open.
"Yaw-Yan!"
It was Minona.
Seeing her walking again made Yaw-Yan smile. He was just about to greet her when she walked straight up to him—and pulled him into a tight hug.
"Minona?" he said, confused. He was about to ask what was wrong when she pulled her head back and looked at him.
The concern on his face quickly morphed into horror as he saw the angry glare in her eyes.
"You dum-dum! You promised me—you promised me—you wouldn't disappear on me! Do you have any idea how scared I was when I saw you fall off that cliff?!"
She sniffed, voice trembling.
"Luckily, the vice principal saved you before anything worse happened..."
Yaw-Yan softened.
"Minona... I'm just glad you're safe."
Minona stopped her scolding and pulled him into another hug.
"I'm glad we're both safe. Thank you for protecting me, Yaw-Yan."
The two of them embraced tightly, completely forgetting everyone else in the room.
"AHEM!"
They quickly separated when the vice principal cleared his throat.
"As much as I enjoy seeing you both reunited and well, I still have more questions—particularly about the people you encountered that night."
He stepped forward, eyes sharp.
"Tell me about your encounter with the Heretics."
Yaw-Yan and Minona exchanged a glance—and nodded.
End of Chapter 16