Enigma of Sin

Kayn opened his eyes to an extravagant looking room. The bed he was laying in had a canopy top with long white curtains draping over the side, only half open to reveal the only other occupant of the room.

Clara Whiteclaw sat in a chair near a desk, writing on a piece of paper almost non-stop. Kayn wondered what she was writing about, but while trying to circulate his mana through his body, he noticed the blockage underneath where he was stabbed through.

Without bothering Clara, he closed his eyes again and began examining himself. From what he could tell, she had healed all of his visible injuries such as his arms and severed spine, so he could move, but there was no movement of mana below that spot. This meant that his attacker had either somehow completely severed his mana pathway, or done so temporarily and left behind some mana to obstruct its movement.

He determined that his best option was to clear out the area with pure mana. This would help reattach any severed connections, but could also push out any foreign mana that didn't belong. He didn't want to force anything through his muscle or skin though, so the best option was to get it to the point where he could cough it out.

After a bit of work, he began to violently cough until he spit up a large amount of black and red gunk off the side of the bed and onto the floor. By this time, Clara was alerted to Kayn being awake and was pouring a glass of water for him after pulling a chair closer to the bed.

Clara gave Kayn a sad smile while handing him the water glass. "I don't even know where to start, but thank you, you gave these people, me included, some hope and much needed rest. I just don't know if the price you paid is worth it…"

"The price I paid? Recovering for a couple days isn't anything new to me, I've had worse." Kayn replied with a casual shoulder shrug.

"Professor Ashan, Kayn, I don't think you've had time to realize what you've lost because of your injuries. Your mana core…it's gone. I examined that area several times, but whatever that assassin struck you with completely destroyed any trace of your core. The incredible talent you displayed, using all of the elements and more, gone. You'll never be able to use or wield mana again."

Clara was solemn while explaining the ramifications of Kayn's injuries and what she thought was a shocked expression on his face was actually a look of stupefaction and realization. Kayn now felt a bit bad because Clara must have been worrying about him this entire time when she didn't need to.

Before Kayn could respond, Clara continued, "As for your wings, I don't know how to heal those. Even with all of the beastkin who have wings in humanoid forms, yours don't match the biology I'm used to. Once again, I've failed you, I'm sorry."

Clara's head hung low as her eyes stared at the ground. Kayn could see her fists clenched so hard that her knuckled were turning white, so he gently gripped her hands in his, prompting her to look up at his face, which instead of being shocked and afraid, was adorned with a bright and charming smile.

"Royal Healer Whiteclaw, you've done me a great service by keeping me alive, so thank you. Now it's my turn to relieve some of your worries." Kayn let go of her hands and removed the shirt that was placed on his body during his time unconscious.

Clara wasn't exactly positive what Kayn was doing, but hoped he wasn't being highly inappropriate in this kind of situation. But just as her thoughts were straying, Kayn turned around to show her the area where his wings were ripped off from.

For a few minutes nothing happened, then the area began to glow with a soft white light and got brighter by the second until all of the sudden two black wings sprouted from Kayn's shoulder blades and extended out to their full length before folding back behind him. After an odd motion from Kayn's shoulders, the wings vanished inside of his back like they were never there to begin with.

"You see Healer Whiteclaw, I'm perfectly fine. Since you kept me from the edge of the abyss, I will be back to fighting our enemies soon enough."

Even though she was shocked at what she had just witnessed, Clara still managed to mutter out her thoughts, "But your core was?"

"Ah that hasn't been where my core sits for many years now. Though there was something there that's now destroyed, but it wasn't anything consequential." Kayn decided to just let her work out things on her own as he answered questions when she asked them.

She sat in contemplation for a bit while muttering to herself about how she did think it was odd he was still reading as a 2nd stage mage, when with no core he should read differently. This also brought to question the fact that the last time she had seen him before this his core was at the 4th stage, but now it was only at the 2nd?

"Kayn, I realize that there was a lot we didn't know about you when you were at the academy, but would you mind solving a few of my doubts?" Clara asked with a bit of hesitation in her voice.

"You don't need to act so distanced from me Clara. I'm still the same person. I'm also your ally and friend. I will answer some of your questions, however, I would ask that you answer a few of mine as well as I've been gone for a long time."

Clara nodded her head and gestured for Kayn to go ahead and ask his first question. She had an inkling of what he was going to ask about, but the way he worded it caused her to blink a few times.

"Do you know what happened to my sister? What about the two elves who were staying at my place in the academy?"

"Sister…?" Clara thought for a minute before realize that who everyone assumed was his daughter was actually his sister. No one ever really asked him either, they would always just assume and since he didn't deny it, the general consensus was that she was his daughter.

Shaking the thought from her head she cleared her throat, "Assuming your sister is the person everyone thought was your daughter, Charlotte Erving took her away several years ago and disappeared from the continent. Same with the two elves. When the war was at the gates of Palatine, she opted to leave, stating that the safety of your daughter was more important than her remaining to help us."

Clara paused as she needed to calm herself down, Charlotte leaving was a bitter point in the war as she also took one of their best warriors with her as well. Yelena had been a spear point and an immovable wall in battle, up until she left with Charlotte that is.

"Charlotte Erving mentioned something about a promise and the fact that if your daughter, I guess sister died, she wasn't sure what would happen, but the fear in her eyes told the story of a monster that would be released on this world. Now that I've answered your question, it's my turn.

"How are you so powerful? Even if you were still at the 4th stage, you wouldn't be able to kill a 6th stage, let alone a 5th stage. Yet, I watched you kill 6th stage mages and slaughter 5th stages like they were insects, all at the 2nd stage of power. Somehow, you've lost power, but also gained more than is possible given the time frame you were gone.

"There is a look to your eyes that gives the appearance of years upon years of wisdom and experience. What happened to you Kayn? Are you even the person I knew? The one who meant so much to my daughter?" Clara asked as tears formed in her eyes upon mentioning her daughter.

"Maria?" Kayn asked as more of a confirmation than a question.

"She fell a few years ago, when the fighting was still outside the city. She insisted that she do her part in the war and was healing the front lines where the battles were just between 2nd stage and lower mages and warriors. One of the damned undead dragons blanketed the field in its corrupted dragon breath. Nothing and no one made it out of that field alive, at least to my knowledge.

"I'm the only healer left in all of the Mancean Empire now, if we don't include you. Everyone else either perished or ran. We lost a good amount of our healers to the initial attack on the healing convention, which was the start of our downfall. Along with myself and the previous headmaster of the Astaro Academy, you probably won't recognize anyone else.

"Now, please help me understand what's going on with you," Clara redirected the conversation back on track. It was supposed to be a give and take, but so far only she had given out anything.

Kayn thought for a moment before he decided how to explain it all, "In short, I got teleported somewhere with no mana in my body or the environment. I eventually found legacies of sorts, left behind by ancient and powerful beings and my time away was spent absorbing those and figuring out a way back home."

"Is that why you can use all of the elements now? Because of these legacies?" Clara asked.

"No, I could always use all of the elements. That's part of why I taught the way I did, because I knew the advantages to using different elements in conjunction with one another. Maria was brilliant in that regard. I only had to give her a small hint and she would figure out what I wanted her to learn and more, always going above and beyond what I was trying to teach her."

A few tears dripped down Kayn's face as he clenched his fists tight, "I'll make them pay. I'll make them all pay."

Clara could see the rage boiling within Kayn's eyes. His irises were in an odd state of flux between crimson red and black, his white sclera swirling with purple flame. Her own anger felt small in comparison to his somehow, which helped to bring her own mind back to normal.

"I know I shouldn't ask, but out of curiosity, how old are you?" Clara asked after a bit of hesitation.

Kayn raised a single eyebrow, but then grinned, "I was born the year after Maria."

"So young. If Maria knew that, she definitely would have fallen in love if she hadn't already. You have no idea how much she respected you and talked about all the things she learned from you." Clara smiled sadly as she thought of the better times.

Kayn wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so he sat in silence while Clara stared at the ceiling in contemplation.

Collecting herself, she asked what she was dreading next. "What will you do now? Will you go try to find Charlotte Erving and your sister?"

"No. With Charlotte taking them all away, I have no doubt they are safe. I have unfinished business with the Carnet Empire and those liches. I only need a bit more time and strength, but then none from their side can stop my retribution."