Choosing an Ascension Art was like choosing your second wife, his Master used to say.
It must be said that Athan never married. He had no first wife, nor a second, no matter how hard he tried.
Eren’s master never really made much sense most of the time. Eren always dismissed it as the ramblings of a drunken old fool bitter about his own love life.
But now, he wished he listened more intently now that he’d been given the chance to ruminate about his choices.
"Do you want the Braised Pulled Pork Ribs, or do you want the Sweet Potato Chickpea bowl?"
His indecisiveness annoyed the cafeteria lady behind the counter. "Pulled Pork," he eventually replied.
She scooped up his viand and slapped it on his plate with a side of sass. "Next!" she shouted.
Eren couldn’t blame her. It was his fourth time lining up to the cafeteria to get served another scoop. She must think him some kind of glutton.
In his defense, it was all for the sake of his recovery.
There was only so much that the [Masochist’s Dream] could do. Without supplementing himself with proper nutrition, exercise, and good sleep, he’d only be making it harder on himself.
He needed to load his body with lots of proteins and fats and carbohydrates to let his own natural recovery lift some burden off of Ræzoň.
Chattering filled his ears as he took a bite out of the savory ribs in his plate. He tried not to get bothered by their stares.
News of his recovery had once again spread far and wide within the hospital.
Doctors, nurses, and patients alike glanced at him, whispering and gossiping and wondering about what made him so special that the ’Psions’ in the air blessed him with such a fast recovery. Two weeks and already, he can walk?
Dr. Reid was even more perplexed. His condition should have worsened after that little accident with Geister. But it did the exact opposite.
She originally wanted to confine him in his room as punishment. But after seeing him walk without help, she had no choice but to rescind her order.
Eren thought that getting rid of the crutches would help bring him more freedom. It certainly made things more convenient, but not any less suffocating.
Furtively, he took a glance at the swinging double doors next to a set of long tables, just beside the refreshments section.
He stood up to pour himself a cup of water from the dispenser, getting nearer the exit.
The door swung open as a visitor entered the cafeteria from outside. He felt the faint, refreshing breeze of summer brush past his left arm.
The outside world cast a bright ray of light onto the tiled floors of the hospital, almost reaching Eren’s feet.
So close to the road, he could hear the roaring hum of automobiles and their impatient horns. Then occasionally, footfalls, followed by murmurings from pedestrians.
Just a few steps and he’d finally experience the outside world. Such a tantalizing sight for a curious man like Eren.
Unfortunately, he’d be stopped before he could get anywhere near the door.
Bodyguards wearing law enforcement uniforms stood at attention on both sides.
He’d been barred from exiting the hospital premises. No doubt a mandate given by Dr. Reid as punishment for his dangerous stunt with Geister.
To be fair, he wasn’t allowed to get out before this; hospital policy for coma patients. But now, security was doubled and they’d been informed of his identity, meaning it’d be harder to sneak out.
Even though he proved capable of walking without crutches, she remained adamant in keeping him inside the hospital. To keep him safe from himself, she said. He should be glad she didn’t put him in a psychiatric ward, she warned.
Thankfully, his miraculous recovery had allowed him free reign to do whatever he wanted inside the hospital premises. All its recovery facilities were free for him to use at any time. Massages, spas, laser therapy, everything.
The only problem was his Physical Therapist. It wasn’t Geister. Just some thin, frail-looking, nerdy man who refused to engage in his requests to train beyond the specified exercise routine approved by Dr. Reid. Her lackey, it seemed.
There was no convincing the guy. He was too afraid of disappointing his superior.
It didn’t matter anyway. He practiced the Foundational Moveset in his own room. Slowly, he was starting to find progress in his punches. Finally including his legs onto the move certainly helped.
Eager to continue his practice, he took his dirtied plates and returned them to the washing station.
Just as he was about to leave, someone called out to him.
"Pssst..."
It took him a good second to realize that the sound came from the garbage can next to the sink.
Eren’s eyebrows furrowed. Not with confusion, but with disgust. "Geister?"
A man’s head emerged from the dirtied waste of the cafeteria. His hair was entangled with spaghetti and an entire banana peel.
"What are you—"
"Shush!" Geister looked around warily. He descended back into the garbage bin as Eren heard the hurried footsteps of Dr. Reid coming from the other side of the room. "Is she gone," he asked, emptied juice boxes muffling his voice.
"Some intern just paged her. She’s gone."
Geister emerged again, looking at Eren with a smile. "Glad to see you’re up and about, you lucky brat. I’ve never seen someone so blessed by Psions."
"Yeah. So lucky that I can’t even step a single foot outside. Happen to know a hidden escape hatch in the hospital?
"You want to defy Elena’s order? Again? I didn’t knock some sense out of you, did I?"
"I should be asking you that question," Eren said, his eyebrows judging his Physical Therapist harshly as marinara sauce dripped from his hair.
"Listen kid, you don’t know what it feels like to have an old flame working with you in close quarters. And your superior, to boot!"
Eren laughed. Probably too hard.
"What?"
The genuine mirth in Eren’s eyes diminished as fast as it appeared. "It’s nothing. You just remind me of someone I knew. Some lovelorn moron."
Geister looked indignant. "You don’t think I could have bagged a girl like her? I’ll have you know. She came on to me first."
Eren shrugged. "She’s not the one hiding in a garbage can."
Someone approached and added a few tissue papers on top of Geister’s head.
"Just do me a favor." The retired Awakener popped up again. "If a girl tells you she just wants to be casual. Don’t believe her."
After looking around the cafeteria one last time, Geister started scurrying off. "I’ll see ’ya around boy!"
Eren watched as a conspicuous garbage can rolled through the cafeteria by itself, earning a few strange looks from the people around him.
Watching this scene, Eren shook his head. His master’s nonsensical advice was starting to make sense. If a relationship-gone-wrong had Geister diving in the dumps to avoid someone, then what more could a wrong Ascension Art do?