Ok I hope yall enjoy this chapter.
Also I want your suggestions on where Varion should dimensional travel to. This isn't happening soon so we have time to decide where. but I will give a bit of a spoiler: this is going to be for him to hatch his hero egg so think of anime that need a hero, or maybe a popular game.
Also this chapter was posted yesterday. I have no clue what you're talking about.
(Insert meme)
Chapter 64: After effects and Getting Stronger
Varion had been asleep for three days.
Prinz had not left his side for more than a few minutes at a time. Maids quietly rotated through the room, changing sheets and keeping everything clean and comfortable. A doctor came in once a day to check on Varion's condition. They did not fully understand his physiology, but they could monitor the steady improvement in his condition and had assured her he was getting better, not worse.
During those three days, Prinz's mother had kept her company for long stretches. They talked for hours, Prinz told her about her adventures before Tempest, how she had met Varion in Dwargon, and everything that had happened since. She spoke about the joy she felt being there with him, and about Rimuri, the strange, kind, excentric, and endlessly curious woman who had become something like a sister to her. Her mother listened fondly, simply letting her speak about her adventures.
Now, in the quiet of the afternoon of the 3rd day since Varion fell asleep, Prinz sat beside his bed with a book open in her lap calmly reading. The doctor had said he should wake up soon, and that knowledge had eased the worst of her worrying. She turned a page, the soft rustle of paper the only sound in the room.
Then Varion shot upright, his hand shooting out in front of him.
"Daddd!!!!"
The word tore out of him raw and desperate. He was panting hard, eyes wide and unfocused as he looked around the room like he was searching for someone who had just been there. His hands were shaking, and his chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven breaths.
Prinz was at his side in an instant. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him against her chest and cradling the back of his head with one hand.
"It's okay," she said firmly, her voice low and steady. "It was just a bad dream. You're here. You're safe."
Varion's breathing was ragged. He didn't seem to hear her at first. "He was right there," he said, voice tight and hoarse. "I almost touched him. He was so close. I could feel him."
Prinz held him closer, one hand slowly stroking through his hair. She could feel how hard his heart was pounding against her.
Before she could say anything else, Varion felt a sudden, warm pressure that wrapped around his soul itself. It was gentle but firm, like someone was holding him from the inside. At the same moment, Prinz's arms tightened around him in the real world, the two sensations overlapping until he could barely tell where one ended and the other began.
Rimuri's presence pressed in through the Soul Corridor. She didn't speak with words at first. She simply let him feel how worried she was, how much she wanted to comfort him. Then her voice came through, soft but steady.
["It's okay. I know you miss him. Just calm down."]
The combined presence of Prinz holding his body and Rimuri huging his soul slowly pulled him back from the edge. His breathing steadied bit by bit. The desperate, clawing ache in his chest eased, though it didn't disappear completely. He closed his eyes and let himself lean into both of them, grounding himself in the present.
When he was calm enough to think clearly, Varion turned his attention inward.
Before he could think of anything else Great Sage interrupted the moment to give a report.
["Report: During the integration of the Hero's Egg, several significant changes have occurred in Master Varion's soul. Your magicule capacity has expanded substantially. The intrinsic skill [Stellar Heart] has been upgraded and is now producing a higher quantity and quality of magicules, including a noticeable increase in Stardust output. Unique skill [Stellar Domination] can now be utilized at a significantly higher output with improved control and reduced strain unlike before. The unique skill [Astral Gate] has become more stable and requires considerably less magicules to maintain and activate and can be deployed even faster than before. Physical strength has also approximately tripled. The Hero's Egg remains in the integration phase and is actively rewriting portions of your spiritual structure. This process is currently causing minor instability and fatigue. But the worst has passed and master Varion should not experience any more negative effects."
Varion absorbed the information in silence, still held in Prinz's arms. Then Great Sage continued without pause.
"Additional analysis: The dream you experienced contained foreign memory fragments that do not originate from your own experiences. These fragments appear to be the source of the emotional response upon waking. Their origin is currently unidentified, though they may be connected to your creator. Further data is required for confirmation, the current status of the hypothesis is left at 40% possibility."
Varion sat with that for a moment.
'His father.'
The thought settled in his chest with a strange warmth. If some part of his father still lived on inside him, even if just scattered fragments… that wasn't something to grieve, It was something to be grateful for. A small piece of the man who had given him everything was still with him. The realization made something tight in his chest loosen.
In the corridor, Rimuri's presence shifted slightly.
'I have to go back now. I'm splitting my focus between here and teaching at the moment. You should visit when you have time. I think you would love the kids, they're great.'
She sent him the feeling of a soft kiss against his cheek, then gently withdrew until her presence was gone.
In the real world, Varion let out a long breath and relaxed fully into Prinz's arms. She didn't let go, just held him quietly, her fingers still moving slowly through his hair.
He stayed like that for a while, letting the last of the tension bleed out of him. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than usual.
"Rimuri checked in," he said. "Through the corridor. She felt how upset I was."
Prinz nodded against the top of his head but didn't interrupt.
"She had to go back. She's teaching right now." He paused. " Also Great Sage gave me a full report of what changed while I was out because of the Hero's Egg."
He told her about the expanded magicule capacity, the upgraded Stellar Heart, the improvements to Stellar Domination and Astral Gate, and the tripling of his physical strength. He kept his voice steady, factual. He didn't mention the foreign memory fragments. That part still felt too raw, too private, only for now tho.
Prinz listened without interrupting, her arms still wrapped around him. When he finished, she pulled back just enough to look at him. Her golden eyes studied his face for a moment, then a small, familiar smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.
"Come on," she said, standing and taking his hand. "You need a shower. And you're going to make it up to me for making me worry, dear."
She tugged him toward the bathroom, her grip firm but gentle. Varion let himself be pulled along, the ghost of a tired smile touching his lips for the first time since he woke.
Far away in the Kingdom of Englasia, Rimuri's focus snapped back into place like a rubber band.
When Great Sage had informed her that Varion's soul had undergone a massive shift and he was forced into sleep also gaining a fever she was worried. But after checking in on him and with Great Sage watching over him, decided that he was fine.
When Great sage had informed her that Varion woke up and what she felt through their bond, she went to check without hesitation. She had only meant to check on him for a second. But when she pulled herself fully back into the classroom she guessed she had been gone longer than she initially planed.
Five pairs of eyes were staring directly at her.
The children had gathered in a tight little semicircle around her desk. Chloe stood at the front, her small hands clasped in front of her skirt. Kenya looked ready to start throwing questions out. Ryota and Gail were exchanging worried glances, while Alice hovered half-hidden behind Chloe's shoulder. They had only known her for a few days, but she had been kind to them from the very first lesson. Seeing their teacher suddenly go completely still and distant for nearly a minute or two had clearly spooked them.
Rimuri blinked, realizing too late that she had been standing there in silence with a distant look on her face.
"Ah—!" She straightened up quickly. "Sorry, everyone. I just had to help my husband for a second. He was in a bit of trouble."
The words left her mouth before her brain could stop them.
The classroom went dead silent.
Five pairs of eyes widened in perfect unison.
Rimuri's brain caught up half a second later.
Her face exploded with color, bright red blooming from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears. She slapped both hands over her face, eyes wide with horror.
"You didn't hear that," she said quickly, voice muffled behind her palms.
Kenya was the first to recover.
"YOU HAVE A HUSBAND?!?!"
The dam broke.
"Is he handsome?!"
"Is he a knight?!"
"Is he strong?!"
"Does he have a cool sword?!"
"Is he a hero like in the stories?!"
The questions came rapid-fire, overlapping each other in a chaotic chorus. Even Alice had peeked out from behind Chloe, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Chloe, however, asked only one question. Her voice was quieter than the others, but it cut through the noise clearly.
"…Is he nice?"
Rimuri's hands slowly lowered from her face. The blush was still there, but something softer slipped into her expression. The corner of her mouth curved upward without her permission.
"He's the best," she said, and the fondness in her voice was so obvious it made the little girls in the room squeal in delight.
The moment the sound registered, Rimuri's eyes snapped wide again. She slapped her hands back over her face.
"No—! We are not here to learn about my love life!" she declared, voice slightly higher than usual. She pointed dramatically at the chalkboard behind her. "We are here to learn! Mathematics! History! Not— not that!"
Kenya was grinning so wide it looked painful. "But Teacher Rimuri—"
"Mathematics!" Rimuri repeated, spinning on her heel and marching toward the board like a soldier going to war. "Everyone back to your seats! Now! Or I will make today's lesson twice as long!"
The children scrambled back to their desks, still whispering and giggling among themselves. Chloe sat down last, a small, knowing little smile on her face as she watched her teacher frantically start writing equations on the board with slightly shaky handwriting.
Rimuri kept her back to them for a few extra seconds, trying to will the heat out of her cheeks.
'Idiot,' she thought to herself, though there was no real heat behind it. 'You're supposed to be the responsible adult here yet you're getting embarrassed so easily.'
Still… she couldn't quite wipe the tiny smile off her face as she started the lesson.