The Hunter Mage

CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN

Dev was right, everybody liked to pretend they were all here of their own free will and didn't talk much about their misfortune which of course had the king sitting right in the middle of it.

"How do you feel though? Better, hopefully?" Dev asked before anybody could add to what he said. He wanted to drop the topic as soon as he possibly could.

"Better, I think or I don't really feel better and all I feel is the hope that I am better." Vernon sighed at the end of his words.

"Stop being so paranoid, I'm sure you'll be fine in less time than you know."

The boys hung out with him until it was time for the last supper and Madame Prisca chased them off. They literally screamed their goodbyes as they head out the door. Vernon waved back at them, smiling a little too hard.

He wasn't exhausted but he was trying to rest as often as he could, he did not know if it was helping his cause in any way but he wanted to be sure he ticked off every box, leaving nothing undone especially if it had a hand in getting him out of the infirmary.

He didn't have to worry about food, if Bess had her way she would stuff him up until he pop, so he was certain that she would bring his meal probably after dinner was over. He would not mind if she skipped as he was not especially hungry and still had fruits from lunch.

He hoped whatever she brought would not be too much so he so would not waste it and as if his thoughts had triggered her appearance, the door pushed open and she poked her head in, holding the tray.

"Hi," she smiled and walked further in, behind her was Madame Rachel. He smiled weakly at her in response.

"How are you?" Madame Rachel asked and Vernon nodded.

"Better, I think."

She placed her hand on his forehead and quickly took it away like it had burnt her, Vernon would not be surprised if he did that was how hot his temperature was. The consistent heat was affecting him, he had noticed a couple of rashes behind his elbows and his neck. The only reason he had noticed the ones on his neck was that they were very itchy.

She shook her head and quickly handed him the mug. "Thank you," he murmured and made to take a sip. Thankfully, this one was not as hot as the earlier one. He wondered if Bess had done don't about it on her way to him.

They didn't say for too long and as soon as he was done eating, they both left and Vernon laid in bed as he tried to get some sleep.

He woke up startled, he was dripping in sweat. The sheets were a bit soaked and his head spun. To make matters worse his bladder was filled to the brim, if he made a wrong move his sweat would not be the only liquid he would be worried about.

He threw the sheets aside and slowly got down. The infirmary was dark, it didn't make any sense, did they really think he was going to sleep throughout the night without needing to get up?

Thankfully, his eyes, as usual, were working just fine and he did not need but still didn't mean he could not complain about the lights not being there. Madame Prisca was of course nowhere in sight, he had heard her leave and he assumed she had gone to sleep. This was probably the first time she had had to stay in the infirmary this long and this late.

His feet touched the ground with a soft bump, he had been careful not to throw himself out of bed as he had been afraid he would not be able to get back on his feet if he fell. None of that happened and he slowly let go of the bed one hand at a time testing to make sure his legs could hold his weight.

He then carefully made his way to the bathroom, watching out for obstacles and leaning on the walls, where there wasn't a wall, he trod carefully. He got to the bathroom, did his business, and began the treacherous walk back to bed.

As he lay in bed, it took him less than five minutes to know he was not going back to sleep at least not any time soon. "How did you do that?" He suddenly heard. Vernon would have sworn, he tasted his heart as he received the scare of his life.

It took him a full ten seconds to recover and get his heart to start beating normally. "Jeez, you scared the s**t out of me." He said and coughed a little, for some reason his throat suddenly felt itchy.

Boy did not say anything and all Vernon got was an eerie silence that made wonder if he had made the voice up but he knew Boy was here, now that Boy had given up his location Vernon could almost swear that he could sense him but he was probably just imagining things.

"How did you do that?" He asked again, completely ignoring the fact that Vernon almost had a heart attack.

Vernon rolled his eyes thinking it definitely would not have killed Boy if he apologized, however, he responded. "Do what?" He had no clue what Boy was talking about and as he asked the question, he wondered how long he had been in the room with him.

"Make it to the toilet without a lamp." Just a sentence.

"Oooh," Vernon said and paused, he was not sure if he should respond. Nobody else knew about this, not even his parents— well, he didn't tell them but they were not blind, so he was certain they knew or at least guessed he could —and for the first couple days he had arrived at the academy, he had wondered if seeing in the dark was his magic.

He felt Boy's gaze and shivered. The next thing he knew he was talking. "I can sort of see in the dark a little. Just enough for me to not stumble over the furniture and the other obstacles." It was a little lie, he could see pretty well, not as good as in the daytime but it was good enough that he could see bright colors.

"How long have you been able to see in the dark?" Boy asked and Vernon frowned, wondering what the reason for the questions was.

"As long as I can remember. Why, can you see in the dark too?" Vernon asked moving the questions off him and at Boy.

He was not especially curious and this was the first time he would be having a conversation with Boy. He had not run into him before now and nor had Boy scared him at one point or the other.

Besides, it was safe to assume Boy could see in the dark because how else would he be able to roam around in the dark especially now, Vernon could feel Boy's gaze like Boy could see him.