Bailey was training outside of the cabin and into the forest. Despite being in the middle of nowhere, the elite flame user trained by fighting the wilderness around her. Mainly a bear within the forest.
It was a brown bear towering at almost three metres on its hind legs. The fight however ended quite quickly as whilst the bear took a swipe at Bailey, she created a blazing sword and cut off its arm and in the same swing she turned around and thrust her sword right through the bear's chest, killing it instantly.
She brought the bear back on her back- looking quite ridiculous in doing so as she was literally half its size however, enhancing her body with essence constantly allowed her to bring back the bear all on her own and without much effort either.
She dumped the carcass behind the cabin and dropped it in a magical chamber that preserved the meat. It would be their meat source for the foreseeable future.
Before the afternoon, she went to a nearby river and stocked up on water. She then went into the cabin to check up on her pupil.
'It's been three days… did his brain die from overheating? Surely not. But why… since he's asleep I can't sense his essence fluctuation. But I can sense it's grown… could it be that he's still filling up his reserves?' She pondered
As night approached, she made dinner.
'Something smells good.' Markus thought
He realised he was coming to and jumped upright- like a corpse coming back to life.
"Holy shit kid- I was starting to think you died!" Bailey shouted as she too was startled
"Ugh- what happened— oh right!" Markus remembered. He was slowly trying to get up as he could no longer stand being in bed. He wobbled a little but eventually found his balance
"No fliping way…" Bailey said under her breath- trying to make sense of what she was seeing
"What?" Markus asked confused
"Outside. Now."
Bailey headed outside first and Markus slowly followed.
Bailey gestured that he come next to her.
"Remember that thing you tried to do- a wind blast from your fist right? I want you to do it again now."
Markus was adamant but he took a step back with his left foot, raised his right fist and commanded his essence to flow out with furious force.
He did not- nor could not- control his strength. So a lot of essence was spent. Whilst he tried to centre himself before, the force of his own attack sent him flying backwards and tumbling through the dirt. Even Bailey, an elite, was pushed back by the force of the wind which made her instinctively raise her arms to block the wind.
On the other end however, it were as if an elongated crater formed, from where Markus' fist released the wind. It was about a metre deep but it was also three metres wide and five metres long.
"N-not bad Windwave!" Bailey said, unsure if she should be happy or concerned. "Why dont we try some precision. You know how wind bullets work right? Will even be easier if you aim with your index finger. I want you to shoot my conjured flame wisp."
Suddenly a little flame about 20 odd metres away was levitating above the ground.
"Shoot it."
Markus got up and raised his index finger- pointing at his target and focusing on the essence. He wanted to condense it and release. Essence followed his will and created a spinning bullet which on his command shot forth, sending his arm flailing backward but equally, the bullet shot right through the conjured flame and kept going and going- eventually leaving the barrier and shooting right through a tree. On impact the bullet tore through the tree's core and caused it to fall.
"That's… an unexpected result to say the least. Good job kid- you're qualified to receive my training." She said as she looked back at Markus
"Great for me…" he said tiredly as he fell backward, suddenly tired.
"Seems you used more power than intended. It's okay- you weren't efficient with your consumption either but it can be improved substantially. For now… just take a break. Your training begins tomorrow." Bailey said with a reassuring tone.
Back at the cabin, Markus laid back in the accursed bed that seemed to have a deep obsession with him.
As he laid there, for once happily exhausted and hopeful, deep within his mind a unnatural force arose.
"Congratulations for finally getting something right." The voice in his head said.
"Who the hell are you!?" Markus said aloud and startled
"Who's who?" Bailey asked, confused at his outburst
"Easy brat, tell your instructor you had a weird vision. Unless you want her to dig deeper into your identity." The voice said, with a humorous tone.
"Just a vision… weird dream or something- sorry." Markus said trying to cover up.
"Good boy. You can communicate to me by thinking." The voice lured him.
'Who the hell are you! Why are you in my head!' Markus said with an angered and scared tone.
"I am… your guide. I am here to guide imperial vessels toward ascension." The voice said, coaxingly.
'Yeah- sure. You want me to believe a random voice as creepy as you- is actually here to help me?' Markus said, angered.
"I helped you hide your identity from that instructor of yours. You can guess that she's a noble- care to guess what she will do if she discovers you?" The voice proudly announced
'… what do you want?' Markus said, hesitant to listen.
"I want you to get strong. To become emperor. I will help you. In exchange, I simply want your help with something once you are strong enough? Is that agreeable?" The voice said, exasperated at the boy.
'I'll believe it when I see it. Why are you talking now?' Markus asked
"Because only now you were healthy enough to be able to handle our communication. Your infection stopped me from being able to help- otherwise I would've told you to burn it away. Alas- I could not help. But I can help now. My success is dependant on yours. So let's work together." The voice said, frankly now.
'Sure… we'll see how this goes.' Markus said, accepting an agreement with the helpful voice.
Thus began a partnership between the two beings- and only time would tell how successful this was. Either way, Markus' purification had more than one unexpected result.