The remainder of the day went by in a flash. Noboru rested and did nothing of significance after the battle.
The following morning, he woke up the same way he did every morning. The light shone onto his face and he rose from his bed immediately, getting clothed, stretching a bit, eating a small amount and then he headed out of his apartment.
It was the norm for Yori to call Noboru out of his apartment each morning and tell him to come down to train or call him for other important matters.
This morning was the complete opposite.
Noboru wanted to achieve the title of a rank 1 Enlightened as quickly as he possibly could. He didn't want to wait for even just a moment longer!
Using the stairs, he climbed to the higher floors, eventually arriving at one of the highest floors of the central building. All in the search for Yori's apartment.
Apartments is a more accurate description. His apartment was the size of five combined.
The higher he climbed, the more opulent the apartments and hallways became. It was a sight to behold. Compared to the lower floors of the central building, the higher ones were on an entirely different level.
It was to be expected, after all, the strongest will always take the best for themselves in a world where strength rules.
Noboru didn't dare make much noise at all as he continued moving. Yori told him before, the strongest Enlightened in the first stronghold is a devil. She is strong but she is by no means gentle. Noboru has no value at all yet and is merely a mortal.
She would kill him if he got on her nerves.
He figured that the 7th floor from the top should be the one that Yori resides in. Yori is the 7th strongest after all.
Knocking on the door, Noboru felt a slight unease for a few seconds, silently hoping his knocking was silent enough not to disturb anyone else in the top floors.
Behind the door, rumbling and the sound of many voices erupted. Some minutes later, Yori came forth from behind the door.
"You're up early today, Noboru. Good morning."
"Good morning, master."
His smile was bright as it always was, his voice excited. Yori's hair was still slightly messy. He overslept and he could not hide it from Noboru.
"Master, you promised me an ascender stone yesterday. I apologise for waking you up but I believe that it is about time, otherwise my ascension could take too long into the night or even the next day, no?"
Yori's smile fades and he heaves a loud sigh.
"I have indeed. I must disappoint you. I don't have it."
Noboru's expression remained unchanged and cold yet, on the inside, he was fuming. His momentary goal of ascending has been delayed once again.
"How exactly will we get one then? Are they not extremely rare?"
"They are, Noboru. That does not mean I cannot find them though. I will set out today and travel to a nearby city. I know that they currently have them. I shall buy one and return to hand it to you. I assure you, it will go faster than you think."
The smile suddenly returns to Yori's face. It was a calming one. One that made it hard not to feel soothed. He must have felt Noboru's frustration like he usually does.
It made him feel exposed and he despised the feeling with his entire being.
"While I'm gone, don't train. Simply recover more. It is important that you're in perfect condition for the ascension. It is taxing on your entire body and your mind."
Yori's smile suddenly stopped and he gazed at Noboru with a dead serious expression.
"I also need you to go to the hospital. Someone is waiting for you. Please do so now."
Yori's smile returned all of a sudden, perplexing Noboru to a great degree and also making him curious about who was waiting for him. It took him just a few seconds to figure out who it was.
"Have a relaxed time while I'm travelling, my disciple."
"Yes, I will master. Please be careful."
With the last words said, Noboru went out of Yori's field of sight.
He walked fast, skipping stairs along the way.
The hospital was many floors below him and thus he had to walk for a while but it didn't hinder him from arriving there in record time.
The central building was constructed so that the apartments were at the top half of the building, the more influential and powerful people living at the top and less influential figures such as Noboru living at the bottom of this top half.
At the bottom half of the central building, stores, a hospital, training rooms and many more structures existed to make the life of those inside the central building as comfortable as possible.
It also served the purpose of making the central building the true centre of the first stronghold. Every mortal as well as every Enlightened would be forced to seek aid here if injured.
The entire city was constructed around this unique and powerful building.
He went up to the receptionist and spoke calmly
"I'm Noboru Ogawa. Someone is waiting for me. Please tell me where the person is."
The receptionist responded with an enthusiastic and happy smile. This was, of course, merely a professional enthusiasm and nothing more.
"Yes, as you wish, young man! Just go all the way to back left, he's in the final room!"
"Don't worry about him please. He's extremely stable. He will surely make a full recovery."
The pronoun 'he' revealed that Noboru was right from the start. He knew very well who was in the room. It wasn't that he worried, however, he was curious why that person was here to begin with.
"Thank you."
Noboru did not turn around and walked quickly. He passed many rooms, all filled with patients. These were all injured during the monster attack recently.
Laughter erupted from some rooms, the families of the injured happily chatting with their loved ones. Other rooms emitted cries of despair over losing their family member and yet others were quiet, the patient either sleeping or being in a coma.
He naturally had no interest for any of this because it was merely the meaningless life lived by mortals.
As he arrived at the last room after all of this time, he couldn't help but simply barge in without knocking or opening the door gently to not startle the person.
In the room, there was a boy, lying flat on his back. He was very pale and looked tired. Bandages were wrapped around almost the entirety of his body.
As he noticed Noboru, he lit up with joy.
It was Kei.
"Noboru!"
His voice was excited yet also still very weak as he spoke up, a wide smile appearing on his lips.