59. Kayden vs Andrei

Just then Muse entered with a healer who dragged an unconscious number 6 in a wheelchair.

I stood near the patient and Kartein stood behind me. Kayden was a couple of feet away keeping watch just in case with Jiwoo safely protected in his shield. "I'll start now."

Schnauzer sighed, "To think a frail-looking pretty boy would be so daring."

"Would you let him concentrate?", Kartein nearly scolded the top 10. He was on the edge because he knew this was just another one of his disciple's experiments and was definitely going to take a troll on him later.

I take a deep breath and examine her condition first. Her body is weak due to blood loss otherwise her condition isn't that bad. I'll do what is must and leave out the unnecessary stuff that way I can save some energy. But a whole arm? Whatever, let's just begin.

I poured a whole chunk of my energy to speed up the process. I know this would make things worse for me but I don't want to stay here for long. A golden hue covered us as I continued the same process and since I was in my best condition, I was confident that I could pull this off. 

My wavy hair which had grown quite a bit and was now nearly reaching my shoulders fluttered along the soft breeze. I had my eyes closed, not wanting to get distracted by the top 10.

"We're just wasting our here, master", Earthquake grunted.

But Schnauzer shut him off, "Quiet!"

Roist asked curiously seeing his master keenly observe the kid, "Master, is he holding up well?"

"Better than what I had expected. There has been none who could get back a limb without an artificial one."

Before I realized it, one hour had passed. I felt some thick liquid drip from my nose. My knees were trembling but it's not that bad. Just a bit more and I'll be done here.

Another hour passed by and I was nearly done. My breathing was heavy and I felt nauseous for some reason. My head felt heavy just like every muscle from my body. My legs were barely keeping me from falling. And blood continued to drop from my nose and even from my ears now.

Duke whose patience was as thin as a sheet of paper right now started, "Isn't he just fooling around at this point at by time for whatever? Shouldn't we-"

Schnauzer cut him off by simply glaring at him and Duke understood the warning.

Just a little more... I can do it. I have to do it. Mr. Kartein's reputation is at stake that too in front of three of the World's top 10.

I poured the very last energy I could without hurting myself. A bright light engulfed number 6 which blinded everyone.

"Ugh... This is such a waste of time", said Andrei.

After a couple of minutes, the bright light vanished and I felt my body sway.

It's done...

I looked at where her right arm should be and sighed in relief. Regeneration takes everything I have in me. Her arm looked fine except for the fact that currently, it was weaker than before and might have some muscle issues, it wasn't something that couldn't be cured by a normal healer.

"Unbelievable... "

"So you weren't just talk after all, huh?"

"I don't trust you. You there! Check her condition!", that was Andrei undoubtedly.

The nauseous feeling never left me cause I felt some salty water form in my mouth. I ignored the healer who came to check on the kids and kneeled on the ground, desperately wanting to get rid of this uncomfortable feeling.

"*Bleghh!*", I felt my eyes tear up as I threw up. This feels utterly pathetic but it wasn't something I could control. "*cough* *cough* ugh..."

I felt a large hand softly stroking my back. I heard Kartein say in a comforting voice, "There, there... Let it all out. You did a great job in surprising me, kiddo."

I try to laugh in between my whimpers. I had a little trouble breathing but it wasn't as bad. 

"Her state is stable now. Even though her muscles and bones are much weaker, it isn't something that can't be cured by any normal healer. It's my first time seeing something this strange that it's nearly unbelievable..."

I tried to stabilize my breathing when I heard Duke grunt angrily. He sure is furious cause his plan messed up. 

Andrei who hated to admit it spoke up, "I know Kartein has already refused to join Frame, however, I give you the honor of becoming a student here."

I look up at him, not moving from my position and answer, "I would like to kindly decline that offer. And please don't think of sending me an 'invitation' like how you did to my brother, because I won't be accepting it. Just as Mr. Kayden is known for not declining any fight, Mr. Kartein is also known as someone who follows his own principles."

The room was quiet as everyone from the Frame gawked at the words they just heard until Schnauzer burst out laughing, "BHAHAHAHA! Kartein, you've taught him well. He resembles you in every way."

"But you're forgetting something", stated Andrei as his angry red eyes glared at me, "that is if you can't belong to Frame, you can't belong anywhere."

"ANDREI DON'T-"

"Think carefully before anything, Andrei."

Saying that he tried to attack me, the same skill which he used at Jiwoo.

"No Eunwoo!", I hear Jiwoo shout out.

I flinched and shut my eyes, I clenched onto Kartein's sleeve. I know I don't need to worry with Kayden and Kartein here, but it was a natural response my body gave since I was defenceless at the moment.

After a few seconds, I opened my eyes and saw that Kartein had created a shield around us. He looked annoyed and spoke up, "Are you trying to hurt my apprentice now, Andrei?! Are you sure you want to make ME an enemy?!"

Kartein stood up facing Andrei. Jiwoo rushed beside me and while the elders were arguing he asked, "Are you alright? How long can you hold up? Do you think you can stand, Eunwoo-ah?"

"I can... Maybe...", I said, unsure of the condition I was in and Jiwoo helped me up by holding my upper arm, "...ughh..." I leaned most of my body weight onto Jiwoo.

My body felt heavy and my head was throbbing painfully. My head was killing me and my vision was getting more and more blurry. The nauseous feeling came back. At this rate, I just want someone to knock me out.

Unknown to me, Kayden had started the fight with Andrei. My ears were ringing and I couldn't make out whatever conversation they were having. I saw that Supri had formed a shield for her disciple, the healer, and number 6. Schnauzer was standing near us with Roist and Duke while Kartein stood in front of me, protecting us with his shield. I glanced toward Earthquake and saw that he was missing an arm.

What even happened here...?

I felt weak and immensely fatigued. Each part of my body threatened to fall.

"Mmmwatt...?", I slurred, as if I was drunk. It was now that I realized how numb my tongue felt. How did this happen? I was fine just some time ago.

My knees buckled under me and at the same time, all my muscles gave up on me. Jiwoo immediately gripped my waist to keep me from falling.

"Careful now, Eunwoo", Jiwoo called out so gently as if I would break from a little rough touch.

Kartein helped Jiwoo lay me on the ground. Even though my eyes were open I couldn't determine what was happening. He lightly tapped my cheek a couple of times to get my attention and said, "Child, can you hear me?", the tone of his voice was soft for a monotonous one which was laced with worry.

But to my ears, it sounded like an echo from a distance.

"...se resp... uo...an...ear...e"

(please respond if you can hear me)

"Mhmm...", I slurred, trying to form any word that I could.

He checked my pulse. "That's good enough. At least his vitals are stable... When will you learn to not overdo it...?", he sighed in defeat. Kartein picked me on his back, basically giving me a piggyback ride not wanting me to throw up again. "Jiwoo, pay close attention to your master's fight. You can learn a lot just by observing. That guy is going to teach you something even in a situation like this."

Kayden who was hiding his strength seemed to have fooled everyone. "I'll tell you clearly", Andtrei started, "Kayden, you can't even be compared to the top 10 strongest."

Just then Kayden used speed to attack Andrei with a short-distance attack, wanting to teach Jiwoo how to use his powers more effectively.

"Hey Jiwoo, did you see that?", Kayden shouted, "You can raise the probability of your attack landing by creating many afterimages, but before your attack even lands, the power of your skill will decrease with the distance between you and your opponent."

Jiwoo answered, "I get it!"

"This is an alternative way to do what you did. But of course, you'll have to be better at utilizing your electricity to have this become a usable skill for you..."

At this Andrei felt gravely humiliated and unleashed a his energy as a sign of warning. Kartein grabbed Jiwoo by his waist by one arm and one arm securing me and jumped further away from the fight. "This is where things start to get serious. We'll be caught up in their vicinity."

With the fight got even intense. Kayden withstood a fatal skill and said, "Good. You should be at least this good to call yourself top 10. THAT TECHNIQUE YOU'RE SO PROUD OF, I'LL BREAK IT FOR YOU!"

"DIVINE JUDGEMENT!!! ZERO IMPACT!!"

He did a technique the principal had taught Jiwoo but used electricity it in and displayed it on the top 10 just let Jiwoo know how to use it more profiently and that even the strongest could be taken down by it despite knowing the Andrei would counter attack. 

Number 6 slowly gained consciousness only to find herself in an unexplainable situation. Supri noticed this and wanted to take this chance to catch the culprit.

Kayden spoke up, "It's still not over, so let's continue."

"HOW ABOUT STOPPING HERE?", Supri shouted. "KAYDEN DON'T CORNER ANDREI AND FORCE US TO INTERFERE. And Andrei, if people found out that Frame invited a guest and fought them with out lives on line, wouldn't our reputation fall to the ground?"

With a few words from supri, Andrei decided that what she said was indeed the right thing and vanished from the scene.

"Kayden Break", Schnauzer called out, "Do you still not want to join Frame?"

"Did Andrei not tell you? I told him that if I got to fight all of you, I'd join."

"If there's a chance, let's see each other again. And Kartein, my offer to you still remains valid."

"My answer is still the same", Kartein said putting Jiwoo down. "Anyways, the kid is awake. Wasn't this the main reason for the fight?"

"Ah... Yes", Supri started, "Number 6, how are you feeling?"

"I'm in good health, ma'am. However... I was sure I lost my arm...?", she said, confused to find her arm back in it's place.

"We should thank Kartein's disciple. He was the one who healed you."

"But how's that... even possible...?"

"That's not important right now", Kartein started, "Who was the one that attacked you?"

"I-it was... Sir Duke... He said he'd take revenge by framing Jiwoo instead..."

"That punk is just pathetic", Schnauzer said turning to leave not sparing a glance at the unconscious Duke. 

Kayden, Kartein and Jiwoo too walked away quickly, wanting to get back to Korea as soon as possible.

"Is the kid alright?", asked Kayden.

Kartein answered, "His vitals are stable and there seems to be no problem with his core either. His muscles just shut down on him. He'll be fine though."

"I'm not sure if he'll be fine after what he has shown us today..."

"What do you mean, Mr. Kayden? Is Eunwoo in danger?!"

"You're right. You've heard them say that there has been none to get back a whole limb without an artificial one. There will be many powerful ones who would be greedy to have him. Even though Eunwoo is strong enough for his age, he's no match if someone from top 100..."

"You can always teach him how to mess up a person's body in disguise of healing. Plus, the skill he used on Earthquake, who is in the top 50, that skill would buy him enough time."

"I don't know the extent of that skill but I'm sure it didn't take up much of his energy. That old man gave him a hidden treasure."

"You got that right."