Consequences

Max was able to absorb 300 particles before his body got overwhelmed, feeling so weak and wobbly that he fell from the chair he stood on.

He crashed on the cold floor but his mind stayed conscious through all the pain the fast improvement of his physique brought.

***

Max stood on the floor an entire night, clenching his teeth as he felt tortured by his own actions.

"Hey, Max are you ready yet?" The muffled voice of Mark was heard coming from the bathroom.

It was already day and Max was feeling a lot better, the temperature of his body decreased as time went by but he still could barely stand on his knees; walking was out of the question.

"Max?" Mark asked again, not hearing any answer from Max at all. He would've just left but last night when the latter slammed the door he accidentally woke up Mark so he was sure of him being home.

Mark grabbed the doorknob before turning it and opening the door while saying "Sorry for the intrusion!"

Mark gasped as he covered his nose, shielding it from the putrid stench present in Max's room. He looked around in the room trying to find the source before quickly finding out.

"MAX!" Mark recognized the man standing on his knees, whose blood mixed with puke and drool flowed out from his mouth while blood and tears escaped his eyes. His eyes were red, the veins popped shading it making him look like a demon in the process to descend on the world.

There was the same mixture of fluids in front of him and on his light armor, tainting it with both a disgusting look and a disgusting smell.

Mark dropped his scimitar from the sudden shock, pacing toward Max instantly sweeping him up, tears falling out; dropping on Max's face.

"WHO DID THIS TO YOU! WERE THEY THOSE THREE YOU HAVE BEEN STAYING WITH!?" Mark was mad; he cared a lot about Max, his one and only friend from the academy after all. He wasn't proud of the ways he obtained the information but he already knew that Max had been staying with three other individuals after joining the White Fang group; so they became the first targets to pin the blame on of course.

Max couldn't deny or agree as he couldn't speak yet, all of his muscles feeling sore from all the pain he endured last night; he was barely able to grunt in an attempt to give information.

Mark rushed into to bathroom while holding Max in his arms like a toddler; showcasing a great amount of strength while doing so. He placed Max in the bathtub before he used the water crystal to wash up Max's face, freeing him partially by the stench that accompanied him.

"I-It's going to be alright; I'll tell the teacher we have to take a day off so that you don't get any punishment alright?" Mark said, panicking and fidgeting all over the place.

He took off running, his destination foreseeable.

He opened the door to his class in a hurry, already being late for the lecture.

"Hmm, Mark Howard you are late alongside- where is Max Edward?" The teacher, Richard, asked as he looked at Mark whose face was pale and his eyes wide.

"I ask a request to leave for the both of us, please excuse my rudeness!" Mark then slammed the door to the classroom, leaving his classmates but more importantly his teacher awestruck.

'What happened?' He asked before going to his desk, going through a list of names before marking two of them with green ticks, just like the rest.

'Who knows…' It was his way to show special treatment to two individuals that were amongst the top of this year's students; though he couldn't help but wonder.

Mark left the academy building, rushing back to Max, knowing that he was unable to do anything on his own for some reason.

'Was he poisoned?!' Mark thought of all possibilities and this was the most probable one as Max didn't seem to have physical injuries and the way he spewed his insides out while feeling extremely weak looked like some kind of nonlethal but powerful poison effect.

He crashed into someone while he was looking downwards at the ground, trying to mask the tears of worry he was shedding.

"I am so- "Mark looked upward at the person, stopping midway as his eyes bulged and his teeth clenched in anger.

"YOU FUCKER!" Mark threw a fist at Dylan who was caught off-guard by the sudden attack. It seemed like a normal attack though before he reached Dylan's body his fist was surrounded by earth lumps.

Mark managed to hit Dylan and the latter was launched backward, falling on his back.

'What the hell?!' Dylan thought as he used the momentum to perform a roll backward, getting back on his feet swiftly before realizing an earth spike launching itself at him. He swung his hand as water gathered in the form of claws a few centimeters above his fist, using the claws of water to cut the spike in three.

"What do you want Mark?" Dylan was mad but not because of him; well, kind of. Seeing Mark made him remember of Max which he wasn't allowed to visit now.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MAX YOU BASTARDS!?" Mark yelled at Dylan who sneered.

"We didn't do anything and if anything happened to him, I would go and assist him instead of fighting a losing battle," Dylan said in an indifferent voice but inside he was turmoiled; this advice was said so that he at least had some peace of mind on the matter, after all, he knew that something was happening to Max but neither he nor the other two were allowed to get close to Max; it was a rule set by the leader and they couldn't defy him.

Mark's gaze changed after remembering Max left in the bathtub and ran towards Dylan who didn't even move an inch. The former ran past him not doing anything else while the latter gazed behind at Mark who ran at his top speed and then at the distant dorm to which the individual was going towards.

'I hope you'll be fine' Dylan felt his eyes moist as a single tear fell on the ground.