In a few hours, Markus woke up with aches all over and a feeling he could hardly express. As if his soul was sluggish.
In truth this was caused by his healing. Essence was consumed dangerously and his body was torn between accepting the essence and rejecting the way in which it was used. Wind essence was not meant to heal. And yet the body was mutated to accept it.
Charlotte, true to her word told Helen who rushed to the infirmary after classes.
"Hey- about the duel… I lost right?" Markus asked, slowly
"You— lost… yeah… I threw you kinda hard and knocked you out cold- sorry." Helen said, shyly
"He needs to be taught a lesson Helen- Markus you nearly died. You focused on winning instead of surviving and took an attack head on which almost crippled you- possibly could've killed you." Charlotte said with a stern tone
"Seriously…?" Markus asked
"Yes… I'm so sorry Mark— I really didn't mean to hurt you like that—" Helen said, beginning to cry
"Hey- why- why are you crying? I'm fine! See!" He said as he got up.
Markus wobbled a little but was able to stand on his own two feet.
"Look! I'm fine!" He said to soothe her but to avail. She was now breaking down
"I'll give you two a moment." Charlotte said as she left
Markus sat next to Helen who latched on him.
'Shouldn't I be the one breaking down after almost dying?' He said, hugging her to calm her down.
"Mark- you have (sob) to promise me! You'll never (sob) die!" She said between sobs
"Sure… I'll do my best… I won't die…" he said softly.
'Liar. I'm a damn liar— death is around every corner because of this damned imperial vessel stuff… I don't have the right to say I'll live- not when the world at large would kill me to sleep safer at night.' He thought, his seed of hatred growing a bit more.
'How cute- an imperial vessel who thinks he has a chance at life. I wonder what sort of host you'll become- the power of death coursing through your veins yet the only thing you yearn for is life.' Anax thought, comparing youthful hopes to reality
The next day, Markus went about his day as usual however it seemed as if he had no longer become invisible. It was now the norm that wherever he went, something would happen.
Unfortunately for their expectations, life settled. Without traitors in the system and a steady progress, life became mundane.
Months passed until it was now summer. Graduation day was taking place for the upperclassmen. This meant that a new batch of students would arrive at the academy and that Markus' cohort would advance a year. They were now in their 3rd stage. This is where most people had to become learners and even learned, so the year ahead would be met by a lot of advancements.
This also meant that Markus was a year closer to graduation. A year closer to the plans of the Queen.
But it was also on graduation day wherein elections opened for the next student council.
"I won't let you do it!" Helen shouted at Markus who was laying down under the shade tree in a garden area of the academy.
"I already put my name down." He said casually
"You can still withdraw! Markus! There is an expert in the nominations! How do you plan to fight back?" Helen asked, more rhetorically than anything
"Very carefully— I suppose I'll have to advance to learned before I do. Then it should be fine—" Markus said, taking not even a moment to think
"Fine!? Do you forget there's a qualitative change between learned and expert? That you need to comprehend your element to a deeper level!" Helen shouted with anger at his carelessness
"I will spend the summer trying to advance and will plan to be very close to advancing again by the battle. It will be fine—" he said, waving her off
"Like it was when I nearly killed you? Was it fine then?" Helen asked somberly
"That was a fluke. And I've learned my lesson since—" Markus said
"I don't think you have. How about this- let's duel for it." Helen proposed
"What?!" Markus asked
"Let's duel for it. If I win, you withdraw your name and safely approach advancement. If you win… you can retain your nomination and I'll join in. If you're running for president then I'll be your vice-president." She said with confidence
"Why would you run for election? You don't care about the student council?" Markus remarked
"And you do? You don't care if the students but rather for the privilege tied to the position. It gives you access to resources and lets you exchange credits from student activities for private tutelage from elites." Helen said, giving him a side eye.
"Caught me there- but I have good reasons for it." He said, looking away
"Be that as it may, let's fight." She said, nudging her head toward the combat hall.
"No." Markus said, sternly
"Fine. Let's do it here—" she said, winding her hand back and letting her essence flow to make a sword
Markus got off the ground where he laid in the shade and through a roll and jump to the side he was up with a sword handle in his right hand.
He had yet to manifest a blade and yet his opponent was already on him.
Markus used the handle to catch he swinging sword and released a wind thrust sending her sword back.
Then with an in place spin he followed up with a wind whip attack released from his leg.
Helen backflipped over the whip and then created ice shards, instantly firing them.
Markus used the moment of her backflip to put his left palm to the tip of his sword and quickly created a blade which seemed to have swirls around it.
He used his sword to cut through the ice shards, shattering them. However as he stood still, he felt water tentacles wrap around him.
Creating a shell around his wrapped area, he consolidated himself for only a moment before he released a second layer of shell and detonated the second layer.
The tentacles were turned to mist.
"What the hell are you doing!?" He shouted
"We could've done this under the protection of the hall- but you forced my hand. In the combat against other candidates it won't be in a controlled environment. So this is your wake up call to stop being stupid!" Helen shouted back
"I'll visit you in the infirmary then." He said, his blue eyes turning colder than ice and a wind aura released around him.
Helen rushed forward in tow with tentacles and a wave under her feet.
Markus dropped his blade and created another.
He dropped that one too and dropped that one too.
Then he created one more. This one he kept.
The other three however, did not vanish.
'I have faith they'll stay by my side.' He said to himself with a conviction that shouldn't have been possible.
True to his intention however, the blades hovered around their owner. Their maker.
Helen's tentacles shot forward and were struck true by the blades which moved like a storm.
The guards heard the explosion from earlier and recognised the commotion. They rushed to the place.
Helen used the momentum from her wave and leaped above.
However, since Markus' blades were dealing with her tentacles, he was free to fight her.
As their swords clashed, an explosion sent her flying back and tumbling to the ground. Markus' blade was reduced to a mere handle but he just repeated his process, recreating another blade to the handle.
"Where did you learn to do this!" Helen asked, getting back up.
"I haven't slept well in months to learn and use these attacks- it feels good to see someone of a higher rank get tossed around." He said with a smirk
"You trained at night!? So that's why you were so sleepy during morning classes!" She said, realising Markus' late work was mistakenly interpreted as oversleeping.
Helen got back up at last only to see they were both surrounded by guards.
"Surrender." The head guard demanded.
Markus and Helen shared a look. Sharing a thought.
"Hell no." They both said before rushing toward each other with one final attack.
Helen's essence poured outside and created a hydro-plain on the ground. Markus knew it was a trap so he leaped in the air, his three swords at his back ready to strike forth.
"You're too close to my hydro-plain. There's a saying you know- never challenge an Aquabourne in the water." Helen said, tens of tentacles arising from the water below to entrap Markus.
"Good thing I have four wind bombs around me then—" Markus replied.
As he was entrapped, the three swords at his back and his sword in his hand detonated on the spot, creating a massive shockwave turning all water constructs to mist, sending Helen flying so far back she hit the academy walls and pushing back the guards surrounding them.
As for Markus—
'I sure as hell hope my own wind doesn't kill me—' he thought as it all went off
He was sent flying in the sky and then fell to the ground. His essence forced its way out and created a shell around him, protecting him from the fall.
His bond with the wind was now affirmed.
The guards rushed forth, calling medics to the scene.
Helen was almost unconscious rom the powerful blast but she could no longer fight.
Markus on the other hand, was getting up. Tired and exhausted he stumbled to Helen.
"Hope you get better soon- vice president." He said to her with a bloody smirk as she passed out.
He too passed out shortly. Then an euphoric feeling flooded his body.
Ascension.
Swirls of wind from the atmosphere around them rejoiced and approached Markus. They floated around him and were absorbed within, greedily so.
The fight left him almost completely drained of essence after all- so any and all wind essence around him would be consumed greedily and refined. Refined to a new stage. Stage 3: Learned.