"You didn't become beet red nor I can see any sign of arousal after you watched at those pictures. This means that you are not a virgin or at least you are devoid of emotions. Remember my words: if you make my little Flower suffer and I will return everything in kind."
'Now I'm sure of it. I'm definitely digging my own grave.' Lith thought.
***
Another week passed, Lith had completely recovered from his condition. The only traces left of his trauma were the grey streaks between his hair and the Death Vision still plaguing every moment of his life he shared with others.
He seemed to have finally hit his growth spurt. His hunger was through the roof and he could feel his muscles and joints aching.
The White Griffon academy had reopened, allowing the students to go back for the last month of the last trimester. It had been a long year, no one was really in the mood for more studying, not even Lith.
Yet he was happy to be finally out of house Ernas. Lith was tired of Phloria's parents constantly staring at him, even though with completely different mindsets. Jirni had worked hard to give them some alone time whenever it was possible, while Orion had put as much effort to foil his wife's plans.
Also, he was eager to go back to his all-nighters to work on the boxes remaining in his pocket dimension. There was something scratching at the back of his head, telling him that something was wrong. He hadn't experienced any more visions, but it meant nothing.
'It could mean that I have succeeded in avoiding that future or that it's still pending. Whatever it is, I need to find out the truth and fast!'
Since his recovery, Lith had used all the alone time he had, including the bathroom breaks, to study with Invigoration the shotel Orion had borrowed to him. His heart bled when he had been forced to separate himself from that masterpiece, but he had no choice.
The sword had been specifically designed to counter Balkor's undead and Orion had no reason to gift him something so precious. He had managed to gather enough data about the pseudo cores and the magic crystals embedded in an item to be confident about opening the sealed boxes.
The first person he met on the fourth year floor was Yurial. Lith was so shocked by his appearance that he had to blink several times to make sure Death Vision wasn't responsible for what he was seeing.
Yurial had lost several kilograms, his eyes were bloodshot and dilated.
"Yurial, what the heck happened to you?" Lith asked.
"Nice to meet you too, old friend." Yurial hugged him, leaving Lith flabbergasted.
"Are you high or something?"
"Or something. Please, come to my room. I really need someone to talk to."
Lith had recognized the symptoms of drug abuse, so he followed him without asking any more questions.
Yurial told to Lith everything that had happened to him since his return home, from his efforts to change his father's mind to his tranquilizer addiction. His story was highlighted by many attempts to take a sip from a vial which Lith foiled every time.
"This is different from the second exam. Back then, I just had to get over my trauma and I had my father by my side. You have no idea how much it meant to me that for once he took some time to take care of me instead of give me lectures.
"Not to mention I had the girls to keep me company, I was never alone." Yurial half laughed and half cried the whole time.
"I can't get over my future. I'm scared sh*tless of it, I feel trapped like a mouse. I'm so sorry for never visiting you, but I didn't know what to say. I was too afraid you would have blamed me for your friend's death."
"Sadly, I would have probably done it." Lith sighed.
"I spent my first day awake trying to find a scapegoat. I'm still having a hard time accepting what happened." Lith shared with him the details about his Death Vision and how it was driving him insane.
"You see dead people?" Yurial offered Lith his potion.
"No. I don't see ghosts. I see how people may die according to my paranoia. In the last few minutes, I watched you die by poisoning, decapitation and an odd illness that covered your corpse with moss." Lith refused the tranquilizer.
If it actually worked, they would share the same addiction.