Chapter 78 Exhaustion

Aiden began walking forward, as Kat followed behind to escort him since she also had to rest from being awake all night.

They continued walking, and now even more students bowed as they walked passed. Some of them wanted to greet Aiden but were too nervous to approach him, so most of them just whispered among themselves.

The academy had heard about the attack on the kingdom and the church, everyone knew that the previous Head Priest had died and a new one had taken control, and until the Head Church was rebuilt, he was going to remain this mysterious priest.

Aiden didn't stop for any reason. He simply continued towards the main entrance, and once he arrived at the gates, his eyes landed on the carriage which already had a rider on it waiting.

"I'll see you tomorrow" Aiden spoke as Kat stopped at the gates.

"Your Holiness" Kat bowed her head as Aiden walked towards the carriage.

"Good morning, Your Holiness" the rider spoke climbing down from the front of the carriage, he was a male in his late twenties or so with really cool black hair.

"Morning and don't worry, take me to the Eastern Church" Aiden replied as he pulled the door to the carriage himself and climbed in.

As the carriage began moving, Aiden leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment. He was tired, extremely tired, and also hungry at the same time.

They had spent the entire night underground looking for a solution, and even though they had found one, he couldn't help but be concerned about the book Dina had gave him containing the spell, because right now Aiden wasn't sure he was going to be able to learn the spell.

Aiden reached into his clothes, touching the book in his pocket. He had never learn a spell the normal way since most of his abilities came from his system, but now he was going to learn a forbidden spell.

'Zero, you there?'

[Finally, I thought you had forgotten I existed...]

'I was surprised you didn't talk through all that'

[I was respecting your privacy, and besides you were busy with important matters]

'But you heard the conversation and got the gist of it right?'

[Yeah, and I'll say something now, that is a very difficult spell you're trying to learn, before you try that, you should try something normal, like a basic healing spell just to see how well you'll do]

'I'm planning to, I can't just jump into this right now, but first, what do you think about the conversation we had, about the Draken Empire?' Aiden asked.

[I truly have no idea if they had figured out teleportation or not, but the theory does make sense in a way, if they are reckless enough to send 30 ships to their doom, then they could've also send mages with those ships in hope that one would reach across the sea]

'It's still speculation, and I'm not familiar with the Draken Empire apart from the fact that they want to conquer the world, and the name of their leader is Alaric von Draken. I didn't think to read through their nation since I had no intention of choosing them, and even if I did I still wouldn't know' Aiden sighed.

[If there's a possibility that were true, then you need to up your game, an attack on this nation would mean you in support as the main healer, even though it's not the frontlines. Also if they have progressed far enough to send a huge army, then it's over for this kingdom and for you]

Aiden placed a hand over his eyes as he sighed loudly this time, this definitely wasn't the kind of adventure he was hoping for when he bought the game, this was way too difficult.

'Let's keep the Draken Empire aside for now, whether or not they're currently building a teleportation marker isn't my main concern now, the Queen can be saved, so I should focus on that'

[Alright then, since you already brought books on basic magic in, you just need to start practicing the moment you get back]

'Yeah, that is after I take a nap, because I can't do anything in this state'

The carriage continued forward towards the church, the magic academy had slowly disappeared behind them as the carriage passed through the streets of the capital. Aiden was so tired he couldn't even look out the window like he usually does.

His eyes stayed closed as his head leaned against the carriage wall. The gentle movement of the carriage was almost soothing, every seconds his body felt heavier as if it were sinking into the seat, but he couldn't fall asleep as the carriage wasn't comfortable, at least that was what he thought.

By the time the carriage reached the Eastern Church Aiden was nearly asleep.

The carriage slowed to a stop and Aiden forced his eyes open struggling to sit up. For a seconds he just sat there staring at the carriage door like he had forgotten where he was.

"We're here Your Holiness " the rider said from outside.

Aiden rubbed his face letting out a long sigh.

"Thank you"

The door was already opened so he stepped out. The moment his feet touched the ground he looked forward, and two priestesses were standing at the entrance of the church. They moved quickly bowing their heads.

"Good morning, Your Holiness."

"Morning" Aiden said, offering a tired smile.

The priestesses looked at him for a moment. They could see how worn out he was. All of them were together when he received a royal summons, so they assumed he had spent the night doing something important in the palace, he was the Head Priest so it wasn't rare.

Aiden walked past them heading into the church.

The familiar silence of the building welcomed him. Several priestesses were already moving through the church, as they prepared for the day.

The priestesses noticed him, bowing their heads as he passed but he didn't stop. He just kept walking toward his room. All he wanted at that moment was his bed, so much so he passed through the priestesses quarter without realizing.

He reached the hallway, and could now see his room in front of him, but he stopped as a warm delicious smell filled the air causing Aiden to turn his head slowly.

"Food..."

His stomach growled in response, and soon he realized just how hungry he was. The aroma was rich and comforting, far better than the meal he had eaten at the academy.

Since he wasn't in front of his room yet, he walked towards the kitchen and saw Miraleth inside the kitchen. She was in front of the pot humming quietly to herself as she hadn't noticed him yet.

Aiden stood there for a second. Normally he should have walked in, after hours of stress he needed a good meal, but his body had other plans as he was too tired.

Aiden couldn't even understand how he was this tired, this wasn't his first time staying through the night, he had do this so many times playing games, it was totally normal, but this body was different.

Aiden turned away from the kitchen and kept walking toward his room, and when he pushed the door opened, Miraleth finally noticed him.

"Your Holiness?" She spoke as she walked out of the kitchen to see Aiden standing in front of the door.

She looked at him. Her eyes widened slightly at the exhaustion on his face, but she didn't ask.

"You've returned?"

"Yeah"

"Are you hungry? I'm almost done cooking, it'll be ready in a few minutes, should I serve you then?"

Aiden glanced back toward the kitchen, for a moment he almost said yes, then he yawned, covering his mouth with his hand as he did.

"I'll eat later."

Miraleth blinked. "Later?"

"Yes, I need to sleep."

She watched him as he turned and walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

She could see he was tired, so she went back to the kitchen.

Aiden stepped inside, and the moment the door closed behind him every bit of energy he had been holding on to drained, he walked toward the bed, without even bothering to take off his clothes.

Aiden collapsed forward onto the bed falling face first into the pillow.

"Finally..." His voice was a whisper.

He reached into his clothes and pulled out Dina's book placing it on the small table beside the bed. He stared at it for some seconds.

He needed to learn the spell, and not simply learn the spell, he needed to use the spell on probably the most important elf in history, and with the precision of a surgeon.

He first needed to figure out how to use mana without relying on his system and at the back of his mind the idea of Draken's possible teleportation marker kept nagging at him.

There was much to do. Too much for him to do all at once, even the awakening ceremony was coming, but he was a little happy about that since a male priest might be chosen by the goddess.

Aiden slowly closed his eyes.

"I'll deal with all of it after I wake up."

Within seconds his breathing slowed down a little, as the exhaustion from the night finally caught up with him and Aiden fell into a deep sleep.