Rain walked in the passageway of the hospital, passing different patients, rooms, and workers.
He had been walking for minutes and still saw no sign of his mother. He asked the workers, but none of them knew her.
"Typical."
Rain's bare feet were cold against the sterilized tiles, but he barely felt it. Every time his heel hit the floor, a faint pulse of violet energy rippled through his nervous system, numbing the pain of his physical injuries.
He kept twisting and turning through different passageways of the hospital. Then he slowed his pace, nearing a door flanking him on the side. Guarding the door were two men. Unlike the medical staff in their soft jumpsuits, these two wore tactical vests over white robes. They carried Qi-Disruptor batons which was the standard weapon for guarding high-priority areas associated with Cultivators and Jiangs in the Year 4050.
They were Cultivators. Probably Rank 1 or 2, but enough to stop a battered teenager.
'What are they doing here? This isn't even a hospital for awakened.'
Rain walked closer and immediately froze when he saw who was inside through the transparent part of the door.
"Da...da..da..Dance Of Fire."
On the hospital bed was Rain's greatest cultivator ever—a Rank Five belonging to the Flame Sect.
Dance Of Fire.
He had seen him quite a lot of times, but that was just his avatar version in video games. Seeing him in reality was like a huge win to Rain.
At Rank Five, Dance Of Fire had built a name for himself after going against a blue portal alone and surviving, helping his father destroy the Black Axe Sect, and becoming the first Cultivator to enter Rank Five at the age of twenty after awakening at the age of sixteen.
What a guy.
'Why is he here then?'
His thoughts were interrupted when one of the cultivators sneered at him.
"Hey! Keep moving! What are you looking at?"
His colleague's mouth was left wide open, staring at Rain in awe.
'Huh? Never seen a man get hospitalized before?'
Rain frowned and walked away. Behind him, he heard the guards exchange words.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
"Huh? Why did you yell at him? Do you want to die? Can't you feel the Qi radiating from his body? Probably a Rank Five like young Master."
The rude Cultivator gasped and stared at where Rain was before. Rain had long disappeared into the passageway on the left, though.
Still pondering why a Rank Five was in the hospital, Rain quickened his pace and cautiously checked every room for his mom.
After a while, he arrived in front of an ICU.
He slightly pushed the door open and peeped in with curiosity since the red light wasn't on. Inside, the room was quiet. Machines beeped steadily, their rhythm slow and heavy. Tubes ran from metal stands into a figure lying motionless on the hospital bed.
Rain's breath hitched.
"Mom…"
Lila lay there, her body pale and still. Bandages wrapped around her head and shoulder, and her chest rose faintly with each assisted breath. Her condition was far worse than his.
For a moment, he couldn't move. Then slowly, he stepped inside.
Each step felt heavier than the last as he approached the bed. The closer he got, the more real everything became. This wasn't something he could deny or escape from.
He pulled a chair closer and sat down beside her, his hands trembling.
"…You're still here," he whispered, his voice breaking slightly.
His eyes burned, but no tears fell at first. He just stared at her face, trying to find any sign that she would wake up on her own.
"You said you'd always be fine… didn't you?" he muttered weakly.
Nothing but silence and the steady beeping of the monitor answered him. That was when the tears finally came. They fell quietly, one after another, as he lowered his head.
"I was right there… and I still couldn't do anything…"
He clenched his jaw, gripping the edge of the bed tightly before slowly reaching out and taking her hand. It was cold.
"…I'm here now."
Rain took a shaky breath and forced himself to calm down.
'Think.'
He had Qi now. He wasn't useless anymore.
From what he remembered in school, Qi could be controlled and circulated, even shared under certain conditions. It wasn't easy, especially at a low rank, but it wasn't impossible either. Now he had a skill that made that procedure even better, although he still vaguely knew how it worked.
He closed his eyes briefly and focused. The faint violet energy beneath his skin began to stir. It was clumsy and unrefined, but it responded.
Slowly, carefully, he guided it toward his hand… toward her.
[First Method Of Give and Take initiated: Physical Contact]
The moment the Qi tried to pass into her body, it snapped back violently.
Rain's eyes shot open as a sharp pressure slammed into his chest and head at the same time. He gasped, nearly losing his balance as the energy recoiled into him.
[Failed! Receiver is too weak]
"…What?" he breathed.
He looked at his hand, then back at his mother. His mind raced.
Every human was born with a Martial Soul. But if it wasn't maintained, it weakened over time. In a critical condition like this, her body couldn't handle Qi, let alone something like his.
His Qi wasn't normal, considering it came from someone who was supposedly a very powerful cultivator, and her soul definitely couldn't handle it.
Trying to force it into her like this would only make things worse...like killing her.
Rain's grip tightened slightly around her hand before slowly loosening.
"…So I can't even do this…"
His shoulders dropped.
For the first time since waking up, he truly felt helpless.
After a while, he wiped his face with his sleeve and leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss against her forehead.
"I promise…" he said quietly.
"I'll do everything in my power to bring you back."
He stayed there for a few seconds longer, holding her hand, before slowly sitting back in silence.