Chapter 14

  Rillian Adore’s room was quiet. Although demons stood outside of it, they were obedient and silent, not making a move or talking.

  Drakkel dismissed them before taking a moment to stand outside the door. After thinking about it, he decided not to knock. If Rillian Adore was still asleep, he didn't want to wake him.

  When he turned the knob and walked in, then gazed upon Rillian Adore’s state, the guilt-ridden thoughts that had been floating in his mind only worsened.

  Rillian Adore’s complexion was pale and his lips were dry and clammy. He appeared languished and debilitated, laying in his bed with his eyes closed in a deep slumber.

  Drakkel approached him with caution. If it weren’t for the fact that his chest was rising and falling, he would have thought he was dead.

  When he got close to the bed, he kneeled down and gazed at his pale and unmoving body with a frown on his face.

  As he thought of everything that Rillian Adore did for him, some words began to bubble up from his throat. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

  He sighed and attempted to make his way out of the room, when Rillian Adore’s hand flew to his wrist and his eyes fluttered open.

  With a sad expression, he said, “I’m sorry… The sword summit…I couldn’t protect...”

  Drakkel turned around and shook his head. “There’s no need to say anymore. I know it wasn't you. Rest now and we can talk about it later.”

  Rillian Adore could only nod once before he closed his eyes and fell asleep again.

  With this, Drakkel kneeled back down, watching Rillian Adore’s sleeping figure.

  Rillian Adore had protected him time and again and yet for the past year what had he done? He didn't try to rescue him, he only thought about his own desires!

  He blamed Rillian Adore, but he was the one who was too impatient!

  The things he should have done and the things he didn't, of course he knew. And once he finished stewing over these thoughts, In the end, he really did think that Malikai was right.

  In a trance, he didn't notice that someone stepped inside the room until the door closed. Hearing it close, he instinctively turned around in response. The one who entered was someone he was all too familiar with.

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  “Senior Brother, why have you come?” He asked.

  “You left in a hurry, but I knew you would be here. Since you’ve seen him in this state, I'm sure you’ll demand an answer. He told me not to tell you, but...” He glanced thoughtfully at Drakkel's face. “After seeing how you reacted to Malikai, perhaps it would be best if you knew the truth…”

  Drakkel could only stay in his current position as he listened to his Senior Brother speak.

  “Rillian Adore is like this because he used the demon poison to suppress your demonic energy.”

  Drakkel was speechless. How was this possible? The demons had told them that the demonic poison was gone. How did Rillian Adore have it?

  Wanting his Senior Brother to elaborate, he could only say, “Explain.”

  Aurien Wavel frowned.

  “When you were going through your sword energy deviation and Lif and I were struggling to figure out how to help you, Rillian Adore revealed that he had received the demonic poison from our master…”

  Drakkel wondered when that happened as from what he could remember, Rillian Adore had no contact with his master after finding out that Drakkel was part demon. But then, a scene came to his mind. That day, in the Golden Peak Swords’ Clan Manor right before his master was killed, Rillian Adore stood in front of him. Could it have been then?

  Aurien Wavel continued, “The demonic poison is a tricky thing. Because it suppresses sword energy, sword energy is needed to activate it. By itself, it is harmless, but when a large amount of sword energy is quickly injected into a dose, its true properties come out.”

  Drakkel’s breathing quickened.

  “The sword energy can be of any origin, demonic or sword, but only one person may inject it per dose.”

  “How much sword energy was needed?” Drakkel asked, afraid to know the answer.

  As he gazed down at Rillian Adore, Aurien Wavel answered, “Because your demonic energy was in full force, unlike when you were a child, the amount needed to activate the demon poison was around 60 percent of Rillian Adore's sword energy.”

  Drakkel nearly fell over. At 50 percent sword energy, a Sword Fighter was already entering dangerous territory and at 30 percent it would be difficult to recover. If Rillian Adore only used a bit more, he could have...

  Drakkel shook his head. Not to mention that pushing out that much sword energy so rapidly would be extremely painful…

  Drakkel thought back to his master who probably often gave him the dose. Although likely not as bad as the amount Rillian Adore put in, it still couldn't have been easy to do all the time.

  Thinking about it, he had beaten his master in a sparring match before. His master said that he did so fairly, but he didn't believe him at the time. Now, as he thought about it further, he realized. Regularly injecting high doses of Sword Energy outside of the body would definitely interfere with one's cultivation. As Drakkel thought of all these occurrences, the cloud of guilt forming in his mind only grew more.

  He looked down at Rillian Adore and then up at His Senior Brother. “I know it will take him a while to recover. We can talk about what to do next after that. I’ll stay and take care of him.”

  Aurien Wavel nodded. “Then I'll discuss our plans with our clanmates, Sonalita Pir, and Caz Lianga.”

  Drakkel bowed his head. “Thank you, Senior Brother.”

  Once Aurien Wavel left the room, Drakkel was left alone with Rillian Adore.

  This new information had only solidified his thoughts. Anyone could have given the dose, but Rillian Adore insisted on doing it despite how dangerous it was.

  Drakkel didn’t know what he did to have met someone as kind and selfless as Rillian Adore. But he knew that from now on, he wouldn’t take him for granted.