William woke up the morning after Claire's visit feeling worse than he had the previous day. His essence pathways were throbbing with a dull ache that spread through his entire body, and when he tried to sit up, pain shot through his ribs.
He managed to get out of bed and stumble to the common room where Kai was already awake.
"You look terrible," his roommate said staring at him with a gaze of pity. "W
Way worse than yesterday."
"I feel terrible too," William admitted while collapsing onto the couch. "I think I overdid the cultivation practice."
Kai set down his book with an expression that was almost concerned. "You should probably go back to the medical wing."
"They'll just tell me to rest and avoid training, which I already know." William closed his eyes. "I'll be fine after some rest."
A knock on the door interrupted them and Kai got up to answer it. William heard familiar voices and then Seraphina walked into the common room carrying what looked like supplies.
"Kai sent me a message saying you didn't look good shape yesterday," she said while setting down a bag. "So I brought medical supplies and food."
William opened his eyes to find Seraphina standing over him with an expression that was hard to read. "You didn't have to do that."
"You pushed yourself fighting Liam because I told you not to hold back," Seraphina said while pulling items from the bag. "That makes you partially my responsibility."
Kai retreated to his room with he smirk on his face, apparently deciding this wasn't his problem to deal with even though he was the one who created this scenario.
'That Bastard' William thought with a helpless expression.
Seraphina pulled out bandages and what looked like healing ointments. "Take off your shirt. I need to check your ribs."
William hesitated for a moment but eventually complied, carefully removing his shirt to reveal the extensive bruising that covered his torso. Seraphina's expression tightened when she saw how injured he actually was.
"This is worse than I thought," she said while gently probing the bruised areas. "You cracked at least three ribs and the bruising goes deep. What did the healers say about this?"
"That I need to rest and avoid strenuous activity," William said while wincing at her touch. "Which I've been doing."
"Light cultivation practice still counts as strenuous when your pathways are this damaged." Seraphina opened one of the ointment containers. "This is going to sting but it'll help with the inflammation."
She was right about the stinging but the he didn't expect that level of pain. William gritted his teeth as she applied the ointment to his ribs with careful precision. Her hands were surprisingly gentle despite her usual intensity.
"You know you don't have to continue helping me, you've done quite enough already" William asked while she worked. "You won the tournament. You don't owe me anything."
Seraphina was quiet for a moment while finishing the application. "I know... Blut you fought the way I told you to and nearly destroyed yourself in the process. And because watching someone push themselves that hard reminds me why I started training in the first place."
William listened and didn't say anything, "How come you're so good at this?"
She wrapped his ribs with fresh bandages, her movements efficient and practiced. "My family had private healers when I was growing up. I learned basic medical treatment by watching them."
Hearing that he nodded his head and let her continue what she was doing.
After finishing with the bandages, Seraphina pulled out food from the bag. "You need to eat. Recovery requires proper nutrition and I doubt you've been eating enough."
William accepted the food and found it was significantly better than anything he'd been eating from his own supplies. They ate in comfortable silence for a while before Seraphina spoke again.
"Your essence signature is still shifting. The gates are opening faster than normal awakening is supposed to."
"Is that bad?" William asked.
"Not necessarily. But it means your body is under more stress than usual during the process." She pulled out a small book. "This has cultivation techniques specifically designed for people going through affinity awakening. It might help stabilize the process."
They spent the next hour with Seraphina explaining the techniques while William listened and asked questions. Her knowledge of essence cultivation was extensive and she explained concepts in ways that were clearer than most of his classes.
"Try this breathing pattern," Seraphina said while demonstrating. "It helps regulate essence flow when your pathways are unstable."
William followed her instructions and immediately felt the difference. The constant low-level discomfort in his pathways eased slightly.
"Better," Seraphina observed. "Keep practicing that pattern and the gate opening should be less painful."
Around noon, Seraphina made them both tea using supplies from the dormitory kitchen. They sat in the common room with William still shirtless due to the bandages while Seraphina continued explaining cultivation theory.
"Most people think affinity awakening is about suddenly gaining new powers," she said while sipping her tea. "But it's really about your essence core finally connecting properly with the elemental forces that exist naturally in the world."
"So the affinities were always there, just inaccessible?"
"Exactly. Your core needed to develop enough stability and capacity before it could safely channel elemental energy." She set down her cup. "The fact that you're awakening multiple affinities simultaneously means your core foundation is exceptionally strong, even if your control is still developing."
They talked for another hour about essence theory and cultivation practices before Seraphina stood up to leave.
"I should go. I have afternoon training scheduled." She gathered her supplies. "But I'll come back this evening to check on you and change those bandages."
"You really don't have to," William said.
Seraphina looked at him with that unreadable expression. "I know. But I'm going to anyway."
After she left, William lay back on the couch and pulled up the system interface.
[Fire Affinity Gate: 37% Open]
[Wind Affinity Gate: 31% Open]
[Water Affinity Gate: 26% Open]
[Note: Gate opening has stabilized due to improved cultivation technique]
[Seraphina Ashenheart: 9%]
William dismissed the notification and tried not to think about the it.
That evening Seraphina returned as promised with fresh supplies and more food. She checked his bandages and applied more ointment before they settled into another round of cultivation discussion.
"Your pathways are healing faster than I expected," Seraphina observed while examining his ribs. "The breathing technique is helping."
"Thanks to your instruction," William said.
They spent the evening with Seraphina explaining more advanced cultivation concepts while William absorbed the information. Her teaching style was direct and efficient, and she had a way of breaking down complex theory into understandable principles.
Around eight o'clock, Seraphina started gathering her supplies to leave.
"Same time tomorrow," she said. "And actually rest tonight instead of practicing cultivation. Your body needs recovery time."
"Yes ma'am," William said with slight amusement.
Seraphina paused at the door. "You're getting stronger, not just physically, but your understanding of essence cultivation is improving rapidly. Keep that progress going."
After she left, Kai emerged from his room with his usual novel.
"Seraphina Ashenheart spent the entire day taking care of you," his roommate observed before saying with a chuckle. "Some die of thirst while some drown."
William paused for a moment before glaring daggers at Kai, "You Sly! You're the reason this is even happening."
Kai chuckled as he stood up and headed up to his room while William gazed at him with suspicion.
He couldn't help but feel that there was something serious wrong with Kai.
He fell asleep that night with his ribs still aching but feeling better than he had in days, and his mind full of cultivation techniques that might actually help him access his awakening affinities without causing further damage.
The gates were still opening and the curse was still affecting people around him, but at least he had help navigating the recovery process from someone who actually knew what they were doing.
That was more than he'd expected when he woke up feeling terrible that morning.