Asclepius

VII.

Woa, thanks for the comments guys! That means a lot.

About John's promotion, I delivered it implicitly, although I kinda think I should have written it out to make things clearer. 

The reason Arlo brought John to the Jack duel was to observe his 'Healing' by his own eyes. Short to say, John did better than Elaine which lead to his promotion. 

But why didn't John half-assed his performance? He could, but he had gone all out in his treatment to Isen. It wouldn't take long for Arlo to notice something was up (if not instantly), especially when he could just ask Seraphina/Remi/Isen for their story.

Because of his disastrous experience with Hierarchy, John would be more patient and careful in Wellston, contrasting his fake cripple self in canon. As of now, he went with the flow to integrate himself (e.g. swallowing his pride and accepting the title of Royal Healer). What could possibly go wrong?

That's all folks, on to the chapter.

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"Bruh.... what the hell?"

Isen stared at the tall and wide grey papers with disbelief, his eyes conflicted, holding themselves back from being (too) judgmental. "Seriously?"

John's eyes twitched under the weight of Isen's disappointment. "What? It isn't a big deal."

"A printed newspaper, in this time of age!" pointed Isen complete with index finger. "What are you, sixty?"

The boy rolled his eyes as he snorted, "Ah well, guess I'm a boomer now."

"You brought your laptop; you can like, you know, read them online?"

"Printed is better"

"... Holy moly."

Reading newspaper was a habit he had developed in his long school gap. While newspapers were boring most of the time, keeping himself in touch with whatever going on outside his house was a nice change to have. Anything that oppose the authorities was obviously off the newspaper, but there were many things which were considered fair game for media.

In a way, newspaper served John as an anchor with reality, not only school, but the society as a whole, the good and bad. Printed newspapers were simply easier in the eyes than online newspapers thus he favored them more. However, Isen didn't perceive it that way.

"It also smells good."

Isen weakly exhaled as he sat down on his chair, his mind filled with hurtful realisation.  The boy who brought a printed newspaper in his backpack, his bro, was beyond saving.

John chose to ignore the drama queen. With school closed in the weekend, dormitory's study room served as a good alternative spot for group works. The room was rather crowded even in the morning, with girls eyeing their tables with suspicious looks.

They weren't breaking the rules, but two boys hanging around in girl's dormitory were not the norm, especially without any of its resident's company. John had questioned Isen about their choice of location, but the clarity he had obtained was as close as none.

"It's faster this way."

A quarter hour later, the Aura Manipulator looked at the hanging clock on the wall. He admitted, he thought Isen's choice of location was to check out the girls but after a lengthy period of waiting, he realized there was more than that.

Then, the door slided open, revealing a flustered pinkette. She looked around the room before her sight landed on their table, a destination she tip-toed herself to.