Recuperation

"What happened, Deno? How did you end up here?"

Ally asked, her tone laced with concern as she reached in and grabbed him firmly by the shoulders. Her expression was that of a concerned mother, worried for her child.

Deno was the first person Ally had met outside the village other than Nicholas. She was ever grateful for his friendship and treated him like a true brother. They had built a strong bond over time, she would feed him, help him study, and stuck with him every night until he went to bed, even if he didn't seem to enjoy her company.

"I'm honestly not sure,"

Deno replied,

"I was beaten by someone in a fight, but my vision was too blurry 'cause of a previous altercation to get a proper look at their face."

Ally looked up at him in disbelief, her arms crossed as she processed his words.

"How could you take yourself to such extremes, Deno?"

'That's exactly what I said.'

Adriana remarked, her voice smug acting as a whisper in the background of Deno's consciousness.

Sitting down on the edge of Deno's bed, Ally spoke in a concerned tone,

"It's only your first day. What will Martin and I tell Nicholas if you get seriously injured?"

As Ally and Deno conversed, Jeremy remained speechless. Relief washed over him as he realized that his relationship with Ally and his position in the sect was still secure. But as he stood at the back of the room, a familiar face caught his attention. Ryan, the boy who had been present during the altercation at the cafeteria, was left just as speechless as Jeremy.

Jeremy studied Ryan's face for an instant and realised that he could blurt out who the true culprit was at any moment.

Thankfully for Jeremy, Ryan held no influence or power in the sect and had no backing other than the fact that he had saved Deno's life. Ryan had been an eyewitness to the entire incident and had been close enough to Deno to reveal the whole story.

Jeremy knew that he needed to make sure Ryan wouldn't become a problem in the future.

As the room's attention was focused on Deno, Jeremy silently crept towards Ryan, sending him into a state of panic. Ryan knew why Jeremy had targeted him, he knew what he had done, and Deno didn't. No one in the room did, except for Ryan, and this was the reason why Ryan felt like he was about to be eaten alive.

The next thing Ryan knew was that he was trapped, like prey cornered by a predator, as Jeremy stood beside him, his expression that of a warm serene smile.

Ryan shut his eyes tight and began to shiver in terror. He remembered how bad Link was, how deadly Tun was and how both ended up kneeling to Jeremy. But through all that, Deno, the weakest one out of the three, didn't.

Taking a deep breath, Ryan's tensed his body, but this time it wasn't in fear but in wrath. Ryan clenched his jaw in fury, the veins in his temples bulging with anger. His fists were balled up so tightly that his knuckles turned white as he channelled his rage into them. His eyes blazed with a fierce intensity.

Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to unleash his fury on anyone or anything that dared to stand in his way. He clenched his fists and turned his gaze to meet Jeremy's, but when they met, all of Ryan's anger was flushed out of him as he met Jeremy's lion-like eyes.

He knew that one false move could mean the end for him, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being hunted. He was wrong, how could he be like Deno? He was like a rabbit trying to face a wolf. It was simply foolish of him to try.

Every muscle in his body was screaming at him to run, flee, escape, anything to get away from this situation.

"Yeah, that boy over there is the one that saved my life!"

Deno shouted out in exhilaration.

"Oh yeah?"

Ally said as in sync all their heads turned towards the two boys in the corner.

Ryan felt as though he was fed water after days of dehydration. His face was pale with sweat trickling down his face, but the pressure he felt earlier had been instantly released as Jeremy's horrifying presence was now replaced with his casual smile.

'Oh man... Saying anything right now would be me playing with my life.'

Ryan thought biting his lip.

Ally got up and walked over to Ryan, her dazzling looks left Ryan in a trance. Reaching her hand out for Ryan to shake, he gladly took it. Her slim hand was jade-like in appearance and as soft as a feather.

"Thanks for helping out my Junior brother!"

Ryan's heart pounded fiercely in his chest as Ally greeted him with a sweet and friendly aura. A warm smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes and causing Ryan to feel a flutter of excitement in his stomach.

Chase, a broad-shouldered and boisterous young man with fairly average looks, joined in and firmly shook Ryan's hand whilst slamming Ryan in the back.

"A friend of our friend's friend is our friend as well!"

He declared, his voice ringing out with a sense of camaraderie and belonging.

Mearna, however, face-palmed and pulled Chase aside.

"A bit too rough don'tcha think?"

"I'm not rough? Am I rough Ryan?"

Ryan smiled dumbfounded, still taken aback by the warm reception he had received. Chuckling nervously, he looked down and rubbed his nose, unsure of how to react.

"Thank you, senior brothers and sisters."

Ryan managed to say, his voice filled with gratitude and respect.

"Yeah, maybe you should go get some rest now and let your friend here rest as well?"

Jeremy suggested grabbing him by his shoulder applying a harsh and powerful pressure on it.

Feeling the pressure from Jeremy's stare, Ryan held himself back and turned to Deno. Biting his lip, Ryan forced out a sentence,

"Hey Deno, whenever you're free, come to the 2931 residence and I'll give you something as a token of my appreciation."

Ryan said apprehensively.

Deno nonchalantly nodded, watching as Ryan ran off.

Deno had noticed the older disciple's pressuring, but he wasn't sure why Ryan had accepted Jeremy's suggestions and made the decision to leave before his bruises and injuries had been fully healed. However, what could he do? The boy was in charge of his own decisions and if he wasn't going to stand up for himself, why should Deno?

With a sly smile creeping across her lips, Mearna inched closer to Ally and playfully nudged her on the shoulder.

Ally, unsure of Mearna's intentions, her expression changed to one of perplexed confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Ally asked, still raising an eyebrow at her.

"Seriously... Remember the thing you were going to give Deno?"

Mearna said.

"I'm so sorry I missed your birthday,"

Ally exclaimed, her whole face lighting up with surprise and excitement as a wide smile spread across her face.

"But I still got you a gift!"

Deno's ears perked up at the mention of a gift, and he kept his eye on Ally with anticipation. Noticing Deno's reaction, Ally giggled and reached into her pocket, pulling out a bracelet made of varying coloured stones.

Deno's eyes sparkled with excitement as he attempted to get out of his bed to grab it, but his body began to ache.

"Argh!"

Deno exclaimed as he swore he felt something snap.

Shocked at his sudden movement, Ally quickly supported him by grabbing his shoulder, but even still, she saw that his eyes remained on the bracelet.

Smirking, Ally said,

"I knew you'd love it! Martin said that you wouldn't."

She shook her head smugly as if she were getting one over on Martin.

'Aye, Adriana the wiki, what type of power-up is that bracelet going to give me?'

Deno thought to himself.

'Not sure, I've never seen it before...'

Adriana responded slightly embarrassed that she didn't know.

'Then that must mean that my senior sister got me some godlike treasure never seen before!'

Deno thought, pumping himself up.

"What does it do?"

Deno eventually asked not being able to handle the suspense.

Ally's expression shifted to one of confusion,

"What do you mean? It's a friendship bracelet."

Ally responded slightly tilting her head to one side not understanding his meaning.

In mere moments Deno's face underwent a dramatic transformation, his initial excitement was replaced by confusion, which then gave way to a deep and heavy sadness. His eyes lost their sparkle and his mouth turned down at the corners. He gave the impression of a person who had just received news of everyone he had loved had just perished, burnt in a house fire or run over by a car.

Chase erupted in a burst of laughter upon seeing Deno's face, his body shook with mirth, and his eyes crinkled with amusement. His laughter was contagious, filling the room with its sound

"Hahahaha! Look's like Martin was right Ally, seeing Deno's face he must've thought it was some kind of artifact!"

Chase said with a hand clasped on his face.

With a sharp intake of breath, Ally pursed her lips and turned towards Chase as she snapped,

"No, he does like it. Don't you junior brother?"

Ally said as her eyes lit up with a sense of anticipation whilst staring straight at Deno. Seeing her desperate eyes Deno simply sighed.

"Yeah, no, I love it, thanks!"

Deno said, forcing a smile and holding back his disappointment.

Ally's eyes lit up with delight as she hugged her junior brother and slipped the bracelet onto his left wrist.

"Keep it safe, okay?"

She said, her voice steady as she held both of Deno's arms.

"Sure,"

Deno replied, his voice flat, his disappointment palpable.

The situation was made even worse by Adriana's laughter ringing in the background.

'Shut the hell up,'

Deno commanded Adriana, his voice sharp and stern.

'HAHAHAHAHAHA! Some kind of god-like treasure that was!'

Adriana chortled within Deno's consciousness, practically wiping tears from her face.

'Maybe it'll fix your god-awful potential too,'

She added, still laughing.

Feeling at a loss for words, Deno simply endured the laughter.

"And that's not all,"

Ally said excitedly.

"I've decided to take you on a 4th stage mission with me,"

She continued, her eyes alight with enthusiasm.

"Not many starting disciples get that opportunity, you know,"

Jeremy added from the side, still cautious around Deno. He knew Deno didn't get a good look at his face but there were other hints that could give him away, such as his voice.

Slowly gaining more composure and confidence, Jeremy puffed his chest up a little more and composed a plan to fix this.

'If I can get on Deno's good side during this mission, it would in turn get me closer to Ally's good side as well. All I need is to play my cards right.'

A smile began to creep onto Jeremy's face as he realised that this mission would have more benefits than he realised.

Old Sang strode into the room, his arms cradling a small crate of medical supplies as he made his way to Deno's bedside. The sheets were drenched in sweat and the pungent smell of blood permeated the air. With a heavy thud, Old Sang placed the crate on the ground and scanned the outer disciples in the room with his gaze.

"You juniors might want to make your way out now. He will need to be in intensive care for the next few days,"

Old Sang said, his voice low and serious.

"Great, then we'll depart when you're healed,"

Jeremy said, as they all turned towards the door.

As soon as Deno heard 'Outer disciples', he quickly prompted Adriana to check their cultivations. Without even needing to say a word, Adriana understood his request, quickly assessing their cultivations.

'They are all in the 4th stage of cultivation, but Ally seems to be on the edge of the 3rd stage,'

Adriana reported back to Deno.

Still seeming to be waiting for something, Adriana realised who else's cultivation he was waiting for.

'The doctor? It seems he has a cultivation of... I'm not sure, it's far higher than my own so i don't have the ability to sense his full strength, but as far as I can see it reaches master or higher.'

Adriana responded.

'So he's at the same strength as Martin, huh? Not bad.'

Deno said, impressed.

"Alright, see you tomorrow, man!"

Chase said as he walked out of the room, followed by Mearna, Alena and Ally.

Jeremy turned back for one last glance at Deno, and then made his way out.

'I feel like I recognize that boy's voice from somewhere,'

Adriana thought to herself.

'Hm, where?' Deno responded.

'If I had known I would've told you wouldn't I?'

Adriana's sassy tone didn't sit right with Deno as he had to have the last say

'Dont blame your old ass memory on me.'