The Divine Demon - Book 1: A New Beginning

25. A Golden Ticket (Part 3)

"Riarshi, seriously? This is the fourth time in the last two weeks you've been in here with awful burns," Nurse Jayne grumbled as Riarshi took a seat in one of the office's blue plastic chairs. He held a cold compress to his chin. "What the hell kind of practicing have you been doing?"

Riarshi didn't lose consciousness on his way to the infirmary, but his jaw still throbbed painfully with each beat of his heart.

To keep the pain at a minimum, Riarshi limited the extent of his reply. "It was an assignment today. I'm sorry... But it's kinda bad." Even mumbling these few words was excruciating and made his eyes water. Right now, he would rather have his jaw cut off if it meant an end to the pain.

"I think I'll have a stern word with Khohn later about these awful injuries coming from his class. Mainly his class, in fact. The man just up and bolted after he tossed you in here. Unbelievable."

Nurse Jayne, done with her angry rant, sighed and placed a stack of papers down on her already cluttered desk. She sauntered over to Riarshi, heels clicking on the tile floor, bent at the waist, and analyzed his burns with a keen medical eye.

Like every other time Nurse Jayne healed his injuries, Riarshi used all the power he had to keep his eyes toward the ceiling as she leaned over and ran her soft hand along his jaw.

"Jeez, you weren't wrong. You got it bad, didn't you?" she whispered in a quiet and raspy voice.

No matter what way she meant that statement, she was 110 percent correct.

Because of his many trips to the infirmary, Riarshi had learned that Nurse Jayne utilized her healing magic by firmly gripping the site of injury. Today, she elected to place her hand around his jaw, as though wanting to squeeze his cheeks together. Her eyes glowed and stared into his own.

Her eyes, a bright pink, were spotted with tiny specks of silver that glittered in the office light. Her perfume, amber and woody, filled his nostrils. His heart began to race. He couldn't help it.

Suddenly, he changed his mind - he didn't want his jaw cut off anymore.

She smirked knowingly.

Despite the bliss from another visit to Nurse Jayne, swirling thoughts bogged down in Riarshi's mind, preventing him from fully enjoying this moment.

He had lost his fight with Tabito. Although he was truly thrilled for his friend - since victory guaranteed Tabito a spot in the Internship Tryout - he couldn't help but notice the slight stab of despair piercing his heart.

His attempt at showing everybody that he had the strength to become a Hero backfired, and it landed him here in the infirmary, embarrassed, with a woman's hand around his face.

Should he have strategized another approach to counter Tabito's flame coat? Should he have attacked him straight on and accepted any burns that came his way? These regrets and breakdowns of the fight flashed through Riarshi's mind as he noticed the throbbing of his jaw lessen with each minute that passed.

To end the awkward silence in the office, Riarshi's curiosity took control of his mouth - a habit he knew he had to break sometime soon.

"So uh... how long have you been a Hero?"

"Hmm? Trying to guess my age, little boy?" she said accusingly, lips curling into an evil smirk.

She caught him.

"Well, if you must know," she continued, pursing her lips and rubbing her chin with her other hand. "Hmm - let's see... I became a Hero intern about twelve years ago... I'd have to guess... maybe eleven?"

Riarshi's jaw dropped in her hand and she glanced at him with delight in her eyes.

His brain went into overdrive, calculating everything out.

Twelve?! He was eighteen, so she must be-

A gentle knock tapped on the door, and Nurse Jayne swiftly removed her hand from Riarshi's face.

Hara stepped through the office door, froze, and glared at them.

Another smirk grew on Nurse Jayne's face. She threw her long pink hair over her shoulder.

"Oh hello, Hara," said Nurse Jayne with artificial surprise. "Don't worry, we just finished. He didn't take too long." She planted a little play slap on Riarshi's right cheek before she stood up and walked back over to her desk.

Riarshi stared at Hara from the blue chair.

"What's up? Came to check up on me?" he asked after a moment's silence. A hint of sarcasm floated in his voice. His jaw felt much better now.

Hara scowled and crossed her arms. "He got you good. I've never seen Tabito throw such a powerful punch before. I'm not here to visit you, if that's what you're thinking. I simply wanted to see how a lowly commoner fended with the aftermath of a high magic attack."

Riarshi leaned his back into the small plastic chair and crossed his hands behind his head. "Welp, not too bad. I'm alive, aren't I?"

She stared in disbelief and angrily snapped her hands to her hips. "Not too bad? You nearly passed out on the field. Don't think that nobody saw it. You went ghost white and were fumbling on your own feet. Khohn had to hold your half-conscious ass up, so don't give me that." She paused for a second and her expression hardened with pure intensity. "How did you figure my strategy against Helga?"

He raised a brow. "Well, you've told me before your magic lets you control anything with matter. I only guessed that once she ran into the dust cloud, you'd stop her by freezing it. I mean, it's what I would have done if I had your kind of magic." Riarshi dropped his eyes to the ground. "But stupid me got all sentimental and attempt to beat him without magic."

A line formed between her brows, and her forehead creased. "What you would have done?" she snarled with venom dripping from her voice. "So you copied my strategy, refused to use your magic, and made a cringy-ass speech - just to prove a point to everyone in class?" She looked furious. Her face was beet red and morphed by a seething rage.

"Well, yes, but no," he said hesitantly, unsure of why she was yelling at him. He did feel foolish, though. If he skipped the speech he could have beaten Tabito right then and there. But he let his emotions take control.

Hara spun on her heel and stomped toward the office door. Before heading out, she spoke over her shoulder. "Well, look at how that plan panned out, you're right back where you started. Stop trying to make yourself equal to us. Because that was the most embarrassing thing I've ever seen."

The ice cold queen had returned to put him down. A building rage tensed each muscle in Riarshi's body so strong he felt they would burst.

Five seconds of heavy silence passed, the only sound coming from Hara's small footsteps echoing in the hallway.

Nurse Jayne placed a hand over her lips. "My, my, she's ruthless."

Riarshi's eyes dropped to the cold tile floor and stared aimlessly. He dug his fingernails into his knees so fiercely a few threads in his pants snapped.

Hara wasn't wrong. She and Tabito were already at the next step of the Program, while they left him behind, despite all the work he had put in throughout the past few months. Was he really back at the bottom of the hill, alone, staring up at the ones who deserved to be there?

With shaky knees, he stood up from the plastic chair. He waved goodbye to Nurse Jayne and walked out of the infirmary. Riarshi slipped his hands into his pockets. He slowly paced down the bright, white-tiled hallway, and left the academic building through the double doors.

Only one week separated Riarshi from the Internship Tryouts. And he had to figure something out fast, because the Tryout was no longer a goal. Every day remaining before then would be a battle for survival.