In an instant, the towering tree appeared again—but this time, a small, pale-green sphere of light hung from one of its branches. The tree seemed to be wrapping around it, absorbing it. And deep inside, Axel could feel his very cells shifting, transforming.

  Before going any further, he checked his current status:

  Spirit: 102/115

  Force: 78/109

  Physique: 82/110

  Still too low. The injuries had taken a serious toll. "The last time I absorbed an Awakening skill and pushed my Force past 100, something changed in my body." Axel frowned slightly. "I wonder what’ll happen next time?"

  The light orb finished merging into the tree, and new information flooded his mind.

  [Healing]

  Effect: Removes negative conditions such as cold, burns, and disease. Can also heal wounds, including severe injuries like blood loss and limb damage.

  Level: Primary

  Axel’s eyes widened in surprise. After everything he’d just been through—the fight, the injuries, the near-death moments—he’d been hoping for a combat skill. Something that would make him stronger, deadlier.

  Instead? He got… Healing.

  Sure, the textbooks claimed healing-type Awakeners were highly sought after. A fully trained healer could supposedly restore entire groups, even revive severely wounded fighters. But he had never wanted to be a healer.

  "Recharge, now Healing…" He muttered under his breath, rubbing his temple. "I’m turning into a goddamn battlefield medic."

  Still grumbling, Axel glanced at his status bar—and then froze. His breath hitched. Because something was different.

  Spirit: 102/145

  Force: 78/153

  Physique: 82/155

  The numbers had jumped significantly. This was by far the biggest increase since Axel had started training.

  According to Kieran, his current prime condition was already enough to meet the entry standards of the Four Major War Schools—a feat that no more than five students from Brookhaven High had achieved in recent years.

  "This must be the red crystal's effect," Axel mused. "I was too weak before, so I never noticed how much of a boost these things really give."

  But now, he had another problem to solve—getting back to peak condition before test day.

  "Force isn't a big deal. I can replenish it with raw stones. Four days should be enough."

  "Spirit? A couple of good nights’ sleep should do the trick."

  "Physique… Maybe I have a way."

  Physical fitness was directly tied to overall health. And while Axel still wasn’t satisfied with Healing, he had to admit—this ability was perfect for his current situation.

  Snapping out of his inner vision, Axel raised a hand. A faint energy surge rippled through his fingers. Healing.

  It felt completely different from Recharge—like his body was being bathed in warm milk. A subtle tingling sensation spread across his wounds, and he could physically feel the pain in his abdomen fade away.

  Checking his stats again:

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  Spirit: 95/145

  Force: 37/143

  Physique: 103/155

  Hell yeah. A smirk tugged at Axel’s lips. Just as he suspected—using Healing significantly sped up his physical recovery. Sure, his Spirit and Force had dropped, but both were easy to replenish.

  "Four days should be enough to get me back to full strength."

  Excitement thrummed in his chest. He’d spent a full day lying in bed, and his body was starting to feel numb from the inactivity. Time to move.

  As soon as his feet hit the floor, the door swung open.

  A nurse stepped in, then froze mid-step. Her eyes went wide as she saw Axel standing there like nothing had happened.

  "Axel, you have a visitor. Wait—why the hell are you out of bed? Get back in there!"

  Her voice was half-shocked, half-scolding. She’d never seen someone who had a literal hole in their stomach up and walking around the next day.

  Axel's focus shifted to the doorway, where Drayke and Cassia stood, carrying a fruit basket. Behind them, Storm lingered as well.

  Drayke’s eyes lit up as he dropped the fruit basket on the table.

  "Axel! Holy shit, you’re totally fine! Kieran made it sound like you were on your damn deathbed. I swear, I thought we’d have to plan a funeral. You’re not actually dead, are you?"

  "Get lost, dumbass. I’m fine." Axel shot him a glare but couldn’t help the smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

  Cassia, who had been watching quietly, visibly relaxed. Seeing Axel up and moving eased the tension in her shoulders.

  Meanwhile, the nurse was still fussing. "You can’t be out of bed! Your wounds—"

  Before she could finish, Drayke threw an arm around her shoulders and grinned.

  "C’mon, gorgeous. My brother knows his own body. Besides, I just saw a patient calling for you outside—shouldn’t you check on him?"

  The nurse hesitated, eyeing Axel warily. But after a moment, she sighed and left the room.

  As soon as she was gone, Cassia leaned in close, resting her elbow on Axel’s shoulder with a teasing smirk.

  "Looks like you really are fine. Your big sister’s been worried sick. If you were still laid up, I was ready to start spoon-feeding you myself."

  The faint scent of vanilla and something floral drifted from her, stirring something in Axel’s chest. Not that he had any delusions about it.

  Cassia had always treated him like a little brother to tease—and she was the only person at school who could actually make him nervous.

  Besides, he could faintly sense the Force values of the people around him. Cassia’s energy fluctuations were slightly stronger than Storm’s, but compared to his current self, they were far weaker.

  Seeing Axel's blurred eyes, Cassia was also a little surprised. Usually, when she teased Axel, he’d turn shy and flustered. But today… he seemed different. For some reason, this made her a little unnatural.

  "You’re not… thinking of hugging me, are you?" she asked, her tone half-joking, half-curious.

  Axel blinked, then laughed, waving his hands frantically. "Hug you? Hell no. That’s not even a thing. Where would I get the balls for that?"

  "Oh?" Cassia smirked, leaning in as she plopped down beside him. She tilted her head, her big, watery eyes narrowing slightly.

  "So… does that mean if you got a little braver, you'd actually make a move on me?"

  "Ahem!" Drayke, who had been watching from the side, coughed loudly twice—then immediately looked away when Cassia shot him a murderous glare. He whistled awkwardly, turning toward the window. "Damn. Beautiful day out, huh?"

  Storm, standing nearby, deadpanned. It was already dark. What the hell was you talking about?

  "If you guys keep this up, I’m leaving," Storm muttered, crossing his arms.

  Axel chuckled. After everything that had happened—with Wolfe, with the Enforcement Bureau—he’d been wound tight for days. Now, surrounded by friends, he could finally relax.

  "Alright, alright," Drayke grinned, nudging the fruit basket closer. "We just came to check on you. Now that we see you're not six feet under, we can rest easy."

  "But for real, man—you've got balls of steel. You actually took on Wolfe? That’s insane. And the craziest part? You won."

  Cassia and Storm nodded, their expressions turning serious. When they first heard about it, they didn’t believe it.

  Axel wasn’t an Awakener, he wasn’t some big-shot, and yet… he got tangled up with the damn Enforcement Bureau. What kind of high school student does that?

  Though Axel hadn’t been the one making headlines, the incident had already blown up across Dune—the media was eating it up.

  Axel sighed. "I didn’t have a choice," he said simply. "He wanted me dead. I had to fight back. This whole thing had nothing to do with me—it was the Enforcement Bureau handling their business."