The enforces found Augus wiping the vomit out of his mouth, between that and his pale face they could make an educated guess about what happened. Sadly incidents like these were quite common through the city so the enforces had the questions they needed to ask ready.

  The older one, a pale slender man asked presented them. “Hello, we are the enforcers from the Security Department Winston, my partner here is Sam. We received a report of a crazed cultivator fighting someone. Can I assume it was you?”

  “The one fighting? Yeah, got a wound on my side that proves it.” Now that the adrenaline receded he felt the pain with such a clarity Augus wished he could just pass out.

  “We will have that wound checked up then. Did you know the individual you fought?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Hadn’t seen him in the neighborhood.”

  The enforces talked to each other this time. “So either an outsider or a secluded one?”

  “If he was an outsider we will have to investigate what he was doing here that left him possessed by a Heart Demon.”

  Augus interrupted them. “Did you check if he was a crazed cultivator? I was attacked.”

  “Don’t worry, we checked his dantian before talking with you, it had the unmistakable red color that only Heart Demons can cause.”

  That did take some of the burden Augus felt right now, it was the first time he had killed something living, the Siphon monsters weren’t alive, they were just puppets. This was so different that Augus hadn’t really processed it yet, he was still in shock and really needed to get his parents on the phone. He answered all the questions the enforcers asked and could finally call his mom.

  “Hi honey”

  “Hi mom. Hey, could you come back from work today? Something happened, I’m fine, but I really could use at least one of you guys here.”

  “Of course honey, I will let my boss know and I will be there as soon as I can.”

  Then she hanged up, she sounded quite worried despite her bests attempts to mask it and Augus couldn’t blame her. He was vague with what happened, but he didn’t feel this was something he should or could talk over the phone. Augus just waited by the table while his mom got back and in that waiting he thought and thought about the crazed cultivator. The fight, the cutting, the stabbing, his wounds, the final attack, everything he did and what the other cultivator did. He now knew how he should have fought, at least in theory, he didn’t know how he would react if confronted in a similar situation. But that didn’t weight on his mind, it was the face of the cultivator, how he passed from blind rage and madness to stillness, like he had to take a moment to realize he was dying, he wasn’t at peace though. The heart demon had consumed all his being to the point that there wasn’t anything to be freed, the cultivator, whose name he hadn’t learned, didn’t die after the fight, he was already dead.

  That realization let Augus release the breath he didn’t know he was holding and gave him an idea, he got into position to meditate, not cultivate, he wasn’t in the mood or the headspace to do so. He went into normal meditation, relax the body, free the mind, just feel yourself; your clothes, your body, your breathing, your energy and just check how everything was holding up. Augus clothes were torn in some places that he hadn’t realized, his side still hurt, a bit less now but still quite raw. His breathing was calm now, his energy reserves were low, but that was to be expected, he wasn’t trained to fight nor did he enjoy it, that was the main reason why he went for Maker instead of Fighter. He didn’t get a feeling of satisfaction from winning or a sense of duty from freeing the body of a fellow cultivator, he just felt tired, hurt and a bit disgusted with himself. How despite his aversion to fighting, when he really had to, he just focused on how to kill his enemy, even if he didn’t know how to that was where his mind was centered on after he got hit. Like the punch on his side activated a fight or flight response where for some reason he didn’t even consider fleeing. His breathing had gotten labored, just remembering the fight got him agitated.

  Breath in, hold, breath out, repeat. And he repeated, Augus wasn’t clear for how long because he only stopped when his mom crossed the door. Augus got up to receive her while she just hugged him, what really jarred Augus was how his body tensed up. His mind knew he wasn’t in any danger, but his body was still alert, reacting to every movement by reading his muscles. His mom obviously felt it but she didn’t say anything, just hugged her son tight until he relaxed.

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  “Feeling better?”

  “Yes, a lot better.” That got him a smile from his mother, despite all the questions she had, her son’s well-being was her topmost priority.

  “Now, could you explain what happened? Why is there a hole in your room?”

  “From the beginning… I was cultivating in my room.”

  His mom interrupted with a knowing smile, what else would her son be doing other than cultivate. “What a surprise”

  Augus allowed himself a brief deadpan on his mom, despite his complicated feelings.

  “Ha, ha. While I was cultivating, a crazed cultivator smashed trough the window.” That made her mom focus on him, not only his face, but all of him.

  “Are you injured?”

  He expressed himself with the little banter his parents had inadvertently taught him to deal with tense situations. “A bit, but you should have seen the other guy.” Even though that brought back the face of the crazed cultivator, Augus didn’t allow himself to dwell on it, not now.

  “Augus”

  “Yeah, some silly banter, it’s all. So, he entered my room and attacked me, I got myself out of the room to get some breathing room (pun intended) and fought him on the street. I did remember to give notice of a crazed cultivator so shortly after the fight ended the enforces arrived. They confirmed that he was indeed a crazed cultivator.” Augus could see that his mom had questions about the skipped fight but she understood he wasn’t willing to talk about the whole process.

  “Did the enforcers say anything?”

  “They mentioned that I had to go over the department later today to give an official statement and to request any funds. They would help pay any damages or medicine we use if we ask.”

  “Although I have to discuss it with your dad I think we will only take them up on their damages help. I want to make you a potion myself, just to be sure.” That brought a smile upon Augus’s face, his mom always liked to make his remedies herself, even if it was for a spar cut.”

  “That reminds me, I have to talk to your dad, he should be here shortly but he needs a heads up. You, on the other hand, need a warm bath and rest.”

  “Aye ma’am.”

  He really needed a bath, an attack on your life tended to make you sweat buckets so he made his way to the bathroom where he undressed and finally got a good look on his wound. It was faintly pulsing with a yellowish-red hue, as if reminding Augus of the fiery origins of the punch. While bathing he was particularly delicate with the area, when he finished cleaning himself Augus got in the tub for a relaxing rest. Though he started work on recovering his injury, even if his mom was currently preparing a potion he wanted a heads up on the injury (he knew she would start right away even if she didn’t tell him).

  He inspected the area and found residual foreign fire energy doing some damage on his body, though it was very limited, as it lacked the energy to go further inside against his body’s natural defense. Augus got working by expelling the fire energy of his body, which resulted in the heating of the water in the tub, not by too much but enough that it was noticeable. Augus could do little about the damage the fire energy had already made, that fell upon his mom’s potion as he was no healer.

  That reminded him that he should include a healer’s training in the future Worlds he made, as they didn’t train like normal Fighters even if they fell upon the category. They used the ample energy that path provided to mend injuries, theirs and others, usually through wood attuned energy, though against infections, curses or poisons they resorted to purification, either with light energy or lightning energy. The latter was so rare though, Augus didn’t know if it was worth including but considering some healers also dabbled in fighting, as there weren’t always pure Fighters to help them and they might consider the punch lighting provided better than the control wood and light focused on.

  After that little tangent Augus got out of the tub and dried himself before stepping out of the bathroom. He found his dad on the kitchen table talking with mom, Augus was glad his dad didn’t seem panicked, judging by his voice and occasional jokes. If Augus was honest, he was the main influence on Augus’s joking approach earlier, he always talked about how a good joke after the problems passed helped to process everything and with the lingering tension. That mindset is where his comment about Augus’s appearance originated from. “Look, he’s walking with only a towel around the house, he’s anything but traumatized.”

  “I risked my life defending this abode, I believe I deserve to even walk around naked through the hallways.” He even added the mannerisms of a eloquent jerk he saw in a movie.

  That got a little laugh from both that eased Augus, if he wasn’t going to be tense then neither should them. His mom had already caught up his dad so Augus went to change into something comfortable, by the time he was down again his mom had already finished the potion. He was told to drink it after dinner as drinking any potion on an empty stomach wasn’t advised.

  So after they ate his mom’s cooking Augus drank all the potion in one go under the watchful eye of it’s maker. It tasted minty but instead of bringing a fresh feeling it felt warm, like sitting besides a stove in a cold day. He would always be surprised by his mom’s ability to infuse these flavors and smells on her potions, most alchemists focused so much on the ingredients only that the taste was a weird mix of bitter, sweet and sour that left the drinker’s taste buds confused and just on the verge of puking.

  After his mother saw that the potion was starting to make effect Augus excused himself to get some sleep, after he ordered his room and stuck some cardboard he found to the hole in his window.

  Only then did he collapse on his bed, where he expected to ruminate the events of the day but found himself so tired that sleep came before any pondering.