"H-haa... Haa..."
With each step he took, Brandon could feel his breath grow heavier and heavier as he clutched his chest tightly.
Looking up, students looked back at him with worried gazes. Yet none of them dared to approach him.
"Is that Brandon Locke?"
"What's happening to him?"
"Wasn't he fine earlier?"
He could hear their murmurs-though-for him, it was muffled.
"Haa..."
Evelyn's office was only a few distance away, all he had to do was continue to take each step. Thud-!
But he couldn't take it anymore, as his heartbeat continued to quicken, slumping down, supporting himself on one knee.
"H-haa... Fuck..."
As he tried to get up, a student abruptly approached him, giving him assistance.
"Hey..?"
Looking up, Brandon felt like he'd seen the student from before. He just couldn't put a finger on it.
But now wasn't the time to ponder on such things.
"Haa... Thanks."
But when he locked eyes with the student, it was then he remembered.
"You."
He had realized that it was the earth mage. The one he had fought during the Battle Royale.
"Brandon Locke, right?"
"Haa..."
That was all Brandon could say. He felt like he was losing his breath each second.
But regardless, he had to reach his destination.
Taking deep heavy breaths once again, he opened his mouth.
"Evelyn's... Haa... Office..."
"Okay."
The student nodded, completely supporting Brandon up, arms placed on the student's shoulder.
Brandon was quite taken aback.
After all the students he had passed by while trying to head towards Evelyn's office, the only one to have helped him was the student he had threatened back then.
As they finally reached the door to Evelyn's office, Brandon turned to look at the man.
With deep heavy breaths, he pursed his lips.
"Thank... Haa... You.... Haa... Name?"
"A-Ah, it's Liam."
"Haa... Liam... Got it."
Liam nodded and knocked on the door for Brandon.
From behind the door, Evelyn's muffled voice rang.
-Sorry, I'm currently on break. I won't be entertaining students until 1:00 PM.
Brandon knitted his brows and opened his mouth.
"Haa... Brandon... Locke..."
-Brandon?
"...Open."
At his call, the door peered open.
Liam seemed confused, but quickly changed his expression, as he spoke with an anxious tone.
"Miss Evelyn, there's something wrong with him."
Once again, Brandon was flabbergasted at Liam's sudden goodwill towards him.
Looking up, Evelyn wore a look of worry as she pursed her lips.
"...Bring him inside."
At her instructions, Liam took Brandon inside the room, assisting him down on the couch.
After that, Liam headed for the door trying to leave.
"I'll be on my way now."
"Wait, don't leave."
Liam flinched and instantly removed his hand from the door knob. He turned around to meet Evelyn's gaze.
Seated on the couch, Brandon lifted his head up while looking at the ceiling.
"Haa..."
With deep heavy breaths, he closed his eyes as he opened his mouth.
"Help... Mana Poisoning."
"...What?"
Evelyn tilted her head but immediately approached Brandon.
She pressed her hand on his forehead.
"You're burning up."
"Mana... Haa... Poisoning..."
"I can see that. I'll ask you later how this happened."
"...Help."
"Mhm, sit tight. This is going to take a while."
Evelyn turned around to look at Liam as she opened her mouth.
"Name?"
"Ah, it's Liam, I'm actually in your class."
"Oh, I see, sorry for not recognizing you."
Liam flashed her a smile as he rubbed his head.
"Haha, you have a lot of students, Miss. It's understandable."
Evelyn nodded and returned his smile.
Then, her expressions became serious.
"Could you do me a favor?"
"Ah, yes."
"Could you bring anyone you know? Preferably, a mage with the ice, wind, and lightning
affinity."
The exact three elements that Brandon had revealed to the entire Academy.
Liam seemed confused but eventually nodded as he left the room.
Clank-!
Brandon continued to breathe heavily, as he covered his eyes with his arm.
Evelyn's worried voice then reached his ears.
"This is the problem with Deviants..."
"....?"
Brandon was confused. But he couldn't show it in his expression.
While Evelyn had the [Celestial] affinity, she wasn't exactly a Deviant.
Her affinity was an innate skill, something she was born with.
Hence, the [Celestial] affinity was the only affinity she had.
Evelyn seemed to notice that Brandon didn't know what she was talking about.
Her voice reached Brandon's ears as she continued.
"When Deviants use too much of their elements, to the point where their mana is drained,
they suffer severe drawbacks."
She approached Brandon and removed his arm that was covering his eyes.
She leaned close and thoroughly scanned Brandon's face.
Brandon could practically hear her breathing at how close her face was.
Evelyn then pursed her lips.
"From your symptoms, it seems like this has been going on for a while."
She leaned back and placed her hands on her waist, letting out a heavy sigh.
"Haa... If you knew you were having Mana Poisoning, why did you let it get this bad?"
Brandon shook his head, unable to answer.
"?"
Evelyn seemed to not understand his gesture.
Brandon shook his head again but spoke up this time.
"Haa... Didn't know."
Seemingly unconvinced, Evelyn spoke up.
"Let's leave it at that then. Just wait for a while until Liam comes back."
Brandon nodded at her instructions and closed his eyes.
Creak-
Suddenly, the door opened and seven figures emerged.
"Brandon?!"
"Brandon!"
The muffled voices rang in his ears.
Brandon opened one of his eyes, scanning the figures.
What met his sight was Belle, Amy, Raven, Reinhard, Rachel, Claire and Liam.
Liam had brought way too many people.
Evelyn tilted her head as she knitted her brow, looking at Liam.
"Didn't I tell you to bring only three people?"
Liam stifled a laugh as he rubbed his head.
"Yes, I initially approached Reinhard to help me find the students you've asked for."
Liam looked around at the people he had brought and continued.
"But once I mentioned that Brandon was in trouble, these guys jumped me and asked to bring
them with me."
Evelyn let out a sigh as she looked down.
She then lifted her head up and looked at the people around her.
"That's fine. You at least filled the criteria."
Liam awkwardly nodded, rubbing his head once again.
The first one to have spoken up was Belle as she hurriedly approached Brandon.
"Miss Evelyn, what's wrong with him?"
"Mana Poisoning."
Evelyn flatly stated.
It seemed like Brandon was the only one in the room who didn't know about mana poisoning,
despite reading the novel.
After all, the story closely followed Raven-who was never a Deviant in the first place.
And it wasn't like he would remember a minor scene of an extra, experiencing mana
poisoning.
'I mean... there were over 4,000 chapters.'
Is what he thinks.
Despite having read a lot of books, most of the books he had read were about swordsmanship.
He couldn't have known anything about mana poisoning.
As he was lost in his thoughts, Evelyn's authoritative voice rang.
"Rachel, Claire, Belle, come here."
Rachel and Belle immediately followed suit.
Claire seemed hesitant for some reason, but eventually nodded.
Evelyn's muffled voice then reached his ears.
"The three of you at least have an idea about Mana Poisoning, right?"
"Yes." "Yeah."
Rachel seemed to pause in reluctance, but eventually spoke up.
"I've read about it."
Evelyn didn't mind it.
"That's good enough."
Nodding, she then instructed them.
"I want you three to channel each of your mana into Brandon. Make sure to use the ice, wind,
and lightning affinity."
The three followed suit and approached Brandon.
Brandon's eyes were still closed, taking deep heavy breaths.
They lifted their hand and Brandon began to feel mana pouring into him.
Brandon could somewhat feel like his body became lighter.
The treatment was supposed to be a success.
However...
Evelyn headed towards Brandon, leaning close and scanning his face.
At her sudden gesture, each and every one of the crowd's mouths were left agape.
She was too close to his face.
Continuing to pour mana into him, Belle's voice rang.
"Miss Evelyn? What are you d="
"...It's not working."