Arden sat with his eyes closed. If any mundanes saw him, they would assume he was simply meditating. Any Starborn who saw him would immediately know that he was instead circulating his Stellar Essence. This was a technique taught to every Starborn, as it was a method to heal and regenerate essence at a faster pace than normal.

  Of course, Arden didn't have any essence to circulate. He had biomass instead. However, he still circulated it through his body like Vera taught him, and it worked just like he was told it would. Functionally, there was no difference.

  As he slowly healed, he wondered just how much biomass he should expend on his recovery. His ability’s description told him that he could devour Biomass for his own benefit, but he didn't know what else it could be used for besides healing. He didn't want to waste it all if there was something special that could be done with it.

  “Screw it. It's not like I wont get anymore biomass.”

  Arden commanded his star core to use the biomass he had just collected. He immediately began to feel the results, just like he had done yesterday when he used Yaan’s hand biomass to help with the worst of his wounds.

  Heat spread from his chest, so Arden opened his eyes. A red light started glowing from beneath the shirt that Vera gave him. His curiosity overcame him, so Arden looked down his shirt to see what his body was doing.

  The red light wasn't that bright. It was only at the same level as a dark flame, so Arden was able to look at his chest without difficulty.

  “Huh.”

  Arden watched with a dark fascination as dark red energy pulsed through his wounded body. Just like when he used devour, small tendrils extended from each side of his injuries and reached out towards each other. When the tendrils met, they connected at the ends, forming a solid strand of biomass. Bones mended themselves, and meat stitched itself back together like some sick tapestry woven by a serial killer.

  Over the course of the next few minutes, Arden watched in silence as the gaping maw of his chest was replaced with skin. It was still horribly burnt, but at least he couldn't see his beating heart anymore.

  “That’s interesting,” he said, still looking down his shirt.

  The door to his room opened and Vera walked in with an expression of immense relief on her face, that quickly changed to confusion when she saw him staring down his shirt. Arden looked up at her after hearing her enter.

  “Are you doing what I think you are doing?” She asked as she approached his hospital bed.

  “What do you think I’m doing?”

  “Checking your cup size. You're doing it wrong, by the way.”

  “I’m not checking my cup size.”

  “Because you're doing it wrong. If people could do it simply by looking, all of the lingerie shops would be manned by men being paid to stare at women’s tits.”

  “I don’t have breasts, Vera. I’m a guy. A malnutritioned one, at that.”

  “You are?”

  Arden sighed and leaned back in his bed. He looked up at Vera standing by his side with a teasing smile. He smiled back.

  “Feel free to say whatever you want. Call me a sub. Call me effeminate. Say that I have tits. At the end of the day, I am still one of the most masculine people you know, by your own admission.”

  Vera pulled up a chair next to Arden and sat down in it. She put her hands onto her lap and balled them into fists, but didnt say anything.

  Arden placed his hand over hers and looked into her glassy eyes. The dam looked ready to burst at any moment.

  “Vera,” he said gently. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “I almost killed you last night!”

  “You were trying to heal me. All of the doctors were. They didn’t know that I don’t utilize stellar essence.”

  “But I did!” Tears began streaming down her face. “You showed me your Status. But when you collapsed last night, I didn't think about that even once. I poured more stellar essence than anyone else into the doctor who tried to heal you. All that that accomplished was creating an even larger fire! If I just stopped for a moment to think, you wouldn’t have been burnt to this extent!”

  The hellfire stigmata that Yaan placed on him was an affliction that burned away stellar essence. Those who knew of it knew how difficult it was to remove. Without the caster being killed or them disabling the ability, it would only be destroyed when either the victim or caster ran out of essence. That was why the best way to destroy the stigmata was for people to inject the victim with enough essence to last longer than the caster.

  Last night, Santos, Vera, and the other doctors all did the same thing. They gave Santos all of their essence to keep Arden alive.

  But Arden didn’t use stellar essence. The stigmata barely affected him, only burning the foreign stellar essence embedded in him during the fight at Savish’s place. When he collapsed, it was more from the adrenaline wearing off then anything else. When he was brought into the infirmary, Santos had noticed the hellfire stigmata, and believed it to be the primary cause of his current condition.

  Thanks to that, everyone was supplying stellar essence to Santos, and by extension Arden. The stigmata saw the introduction of new fuel to burn, and continued to burn the essence without dying out. And Arden paid the price. If they didn’t do anything, the stigmata would have been purged within an hour of him collapsing. Instead, hellfire raged within Arden’s body, nearly killing him.

  It was only when everyone had exhausted their essence reserves did it come to an end. No one had any essence left, and the few that were conscious could only watch as the stigmata incinerated the last of the essence.

  The tears kept falling from Vera’s face. She started wiping them away but they kept coming.

  Arden grabbed her wrists, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

  “Vera, look at me. Look at me. Do I seem upset in the slightest?”

  She did as he asked. Through the veil of tears, she looked at him. His dark eyes changed since he was mundane. They were still dark, but there was a hint of crimson deep inside, something that only those with exceptional perception would notice. A solid 40 percent of his hair had been burnt away, but it didn’t seem to bother him. A relaxed, easy smile pulled at the ends of his dry, cracked lips.

  There was no anger in his expression. No disappointment. It looked like he was happy to see her, even after what happened. She didn’t understand.

  “I don’t hold what happened against you, and I never will. Why would I be upset at someone who tried their best to help me, even if it didn’t work out? In this case, intent matters more than the result.”

  Arden flashed her a smile, and pulled her close. Vera didn't resist his embrace. His warmth was like the sun, piercing through Vera’s rainstorm. She quietly cried for a few more minutes before her tears ceased, evaporated by Arden's sun.

  After a few minutes, Vera's quiet sobbing turned to calm, steady, deep breaths. With her body pressed against his, she never felt so safe. Arden wasn't strong right now. He had infinite potential, but right now, he was only strong by protostar standards. But even so, to Vera, he was the most dependable person in the world.

  If her family tried to take her back by force because she had awakened, and Arden told her that they would be just fine even if they went against her family, she would believe him. Because Arden was the one to say it.

  “Since I came to the slums, I spent most of my time looking after Sya,” Arden said. “I haven't had anyone to look after me. You were the first. You did what you did out of compassion. There's nothing wrong with that.”

  Arden ignored the searing pain of the burn and held Vera tight. She was more important than a wound that would heal. He gently rocked back and forth with her to calm her.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “What are you doing?” She asked, after pulling her head back slightly.

  “Trying to comfort you. Is it working?”

  “I'm not sad anymore. I wouldn't say I feel comforted, though.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “I feel like the main character of a nursery rhyme.”

  Arden chuckled and brought his lips to hers to share in a passionate kiss. With the way his lips were now, it wasn't a particularly great kiss, but numerous emotions were shared between the two in the exchange. Warmth and safety were present in the kiss. The promise to protect each other.

  When they broke Away from each other, they stared at each other, both with red faces. There was another emotion present in each of their eyes.

  Desire.

  “How do you feel now?” Arden asked.

  “I'm getting there,” she said. “Keep going.”

  Before they could continue, the door opened to allow in the lead healer, Santos. He carried several files under his arm and yawned as he entered.

  With a yawn, he looked at his patient and then to the girl who brought him in. They both had disgruntled expressions. The man in particular looked like someone had just taken a shit on his soul.

  ‘That's normal for someone after going through such an ordeal,’ Santos mused.

  He placed the files on the desk next to the couple and opened one of them, taking out a few pieces of paper.

  “How are you feeling today, Arden?” Santos said, pulling a pen Satellite from the ether to document whatever answer Arden gave.

  Arden was determined to give the doctor a hard time thanks to his inopportune timing of his entrance. It was immature, and not likely to help him, but so was a good amount of the stuff Arden did.

  “It's only been a few hours since you last asked me, doc. The day hasn't changed.”

  Santos nodded his head and jotted something down on his paper.

  “The date hasn't changed, you're right, but this is still a new day for you. Three hours ago, you were a walking corpse. Now, you're a burn victim. And you punished the evil doer who nearly killed you. That's quite a remarkable change of fate.”

  Santos took note of that pair's identical reactions. Neither of them seemed that interested in the recent changes. They just appeared annoyed Instead.

  “I guess,” Arden responded.

  “You don't seem to believe that. Would you care to elaborate?”

  Arden sighed, wanting the obvious psychoanalysis to be over so he can return his attention to Vera. With a quick look, he could tell that she was feeling the same way.

  “Going from an unknown Starborn to a recognized Starborn isn't the biggest change in the world. Neither was healing myself. Now, going from a mundane slum rat to a Starborn,” he let the words hang in the air.

  Santos nodded and scribbled down a few more notes.

  “I suppose you're right,” the doctor said. “Perspective can make or break a scenario. And your perspective is no doubt a special one. An actual Starborn from the slums. It seems impossible.”

  Arden wanted to say that the impossible wasn't what couldn't happen but rather what shouldn't happen, but decided to hold it in. Talking about the nature of the impossible would only make the psychoanalysis take longer. He wanted to redirect his attention back to Vera before the mood was fully ruined.

  “Alright,” Santos said. “I'm going to examine your body now, then I'll be on my way. We need to see how much you've healed with your ability.”

  Santos gave Vera a quick glance before continuing.

  “If you're uncomfortable with your body being seen by a member of the opposite sex, you can ask her to leave.”

  “That won't be necessary,” Arden said.

  Santos saw the light blush in the pair’s face and nodded with a slight smile on his face.

  ‘Ah. Youth.’

  “Very well. Please remove your shirt.”

  Arden did as he was told. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to remove his pants. That would be embarrassing. The doctor had put him in a dangerous scenario, performing a physical checkup while Arden was turned on. He was torn between not wanting to humiliate himself, and not wanting to leave Vera wanting.

  Thankfully, it never came to that, as Santos focused squarely on Arden’s upper body. Vera did the same, but for slightly different reasons.

  Santos rubbed his hands together excitedly in a way that worried Arden. His hands moved faster than Arden thought was possible of the aged Starborn. He honestly thought that the doctor was about to start a fire.

  “Don't worry about a thing,” Santos said. “This won't hurt at all.”

  Sweat rolled down Arden’s forehead and he shuddered.

  “I wasn't worried before. I am now.”

  “I just told you not to worry.”

  Santos separated his hands and showed his palms to Arden. They were covered in gray powder.

  “Ash,” Santos said. “My powers allow me to use ash as a healing medium. I won't be able to heal you with what little essence I have left, but I should be able to tell you the state of your body.”

  “Oh,” Arden said, relieved. “Go ahead then.”

  The ash flew off of Santos hands and coated Arden’s chest. Oddly, the ashes felt cold on his bare skin, though that could have been from how many layers of skin he was missing more-so than Santos’ powers.

  Arden flinched as the ash traveled around his body, feeling out his every contour. It was a weird type of invasive, like being felt up by a squid while simultaneously being buried alive.

  “Does it hurt?” Vera asked.

  “I honestly have no idea. Its…tingly.”

  “And your wounds?” Santos asked.

  “The ash isn't making them feel any better.”

  The ash came together at the center of his chest, and returned to Santos. It pooled together into a compressed ball of ash in between his hands. He clapped his hands, and the ash was gone.

  “I see…” Santos said. “Your healing is truly mind boggling. Your skin tissue is still severely burnt.”

  Arden looked down at the horrendous blisters forming on his chest, then gave the doctor a flat stare.

  “You don't say.”

  “Your bones, which earlier were half melted, have realigned themselves and started to mend themselves back together. That eventually becomes the standard for Starborn, but it either takes several days of intense circulation, or higher tier essence. Your muscles are even more anomalous.”

  “How so?” Arden said, pulling his shirt back on.

  “Your bones are on the road to healing. They will probably need another day or so of natural healing to be back to normal. Your muscles are already there. Actually, it seems they are stronger than they were. When you are fully healed, you will likely be stronger. You will have a more pronounced musculature, though not by much.”

  “I look forward to it. How long until I'm healed?”

  “With your constitution, I’d say between five days to a week.”

  “That long? Can’t I just down a potion every six hours and be up and about in like two days?”

  Both Vera and Santos turned to look at him with strange expressions. Vera’s face was washed with worry, while Santos looked at him with curiosity. Those were not the expressions he expected.

  ‘Strange,’ Arden thought.

  “What?”

  “Arden,” Santos began. “Have you ever heard of potion fatigue?”

  “Yes. I’ve lived through it too. It's what happens when you use too many potions in too short a time.”

  “When did you experience it?”

  “His trial,” Vera answered. “You had two within six hours of each other?”

  “It was three, actually. And yes. I was told that I could have at most one every six hours. Is that wrong?”

  The silence was deafening between the three of them. The only noise in the room for several seconds was the sound of the filtered air flowing into the room from the vents above. The heavy atmosphere settled on Arden’s shoulders like a weighted blanket. Finally, Santos continued.

  “Most healing potions have a fatigue metric of 24, meaning they should only be consumed once every 24 hours at most. Even the most expensive ones have only gotten down to a fatigue metric of 20. That’s a 20 hour cooldown. That means that either the potions in your trial were special, or the person who gave them to you was trying to kill you.”

  “That’s… not surprising,” Arden said, thinking back to Bellum and Prince Valtorin.

  “I was told that you have an aversion to potions,” Santos said, walking to his desk. “That makes sense if you experienced potion fatigue during your trial. We can use potions if you’d like and cut the recovery time in half. If you don’t, that’s fine too. It’s up to you.”

  Arden made his decision immediately. The longer he stayed in recovery, the longer he’d have to wait to find his sister again. The same went for the other victims of Yaan.

  “I’ll take the potions. I may not like them, but I dislike the idea of Yaan’s victims dying even more.”

  Santos organized his files and held them back under his arm.

  “Then I’ll see you in a few hours when you're able to drink a potion again. Until you’re healed, I don't want to see any physical activity from you. Just rest and let the professionals do the work.”

  Arden plastered a fake smile on his face and responded after glancing at his girlfriend.

  “No physical activity?”

  “None.” Santos reiterated. “Your last few days have been hectic. Just rest. The bed is a Satellite. It’ll help you rest in comfort. You won’t get stiff while you’re in it.”

  Arden and Vera glanced at each other. A teasing smile appeared on Vera’s face, while Arden blushed and looked away.

  ‘I beg to differ.’