Gifted

With the help of his two brothers, June was able to make his way towards Halberd's direction, without much of a hitch. Although he stumbled a couple of times, Andrew and Jordan were there to help steady him.

As the distance between June and Halberd slowly closes, the pain on his upper back also slowly subsided, bit by bit.

"June, please save Haseo! I begging you, please!" Halberd said in deep desperation, as his arms around Haseo tightened, afraid that that the young man would soon die.

Halberd didn't have to ask him twice, as June finally realized that Ignis is telling him to save the white haired young man.

"Lay him on the ground" June instructed, to which Halberd obliged immediately.

As soon as June touched Haseo's c.h.e.s.t, his expression darkened, making Halberd more worried than he already is. It was safe to say that Haseo's situation is much worse that what he had expected it to be.

"What's the matter?" Halberd still asked, although he knew that he wasn't going to get a favorable answer.

"His situation is a hundred times direr than yours" June said, hating the fact that he had to be the bearer of bad news. The young man is basically dead, plain and simple. The fact that he is still conscious is a miracle enough. Haseo is literally hanging on by a thread with a finger nail.

"So, he's going to-" Halberd couldn't finish speaking, as his voice broke when he glanced at the deathly pale face of the innocent looking young man.

*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*

Haseo then released another series of coughs that made everyone wince, as if they were the ones experiencing just how painful the coughs were.

"Hal…. berd" Haseo said in a raspy and breathy voice before his eyes slowly closed.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Halberd kept saying as he let out a pained cry, feeling as though his heart is breaking to pieces. Halberd held Haseo's body tightly and close to him, as he let out a pained sob after pained sob. It felt like thousands of knives were stabbing at his heart, as he began wailing for the young man that once gave color to his life, when they first met at Master Scott's guild.

Now, being connected to each other, the three brothers also felt the pain of their eldest brother. Tears started streaming down their eyes, as their hearts painfully break, along with their eldest brother.

It was then, that memories of the battle at school came rushing down on June like a monstrous tidal wave. The feelings of being helpless and weak, when his loved ones were getting hurt in front of him, made it hard for June to breathe.

June pushed himself to train and become stronger, because he really hated himself for being helpless and weak before. But never again would that happened. Never again would June want to feel helpless ever again. Never again would he watch someone else lose their life in front of him.

"No one's going to die in watch!" June said as he forcefully wiped away his tears.

"But his soul is about to completely leave his body" Jordan said, voicing out his concern

"Then, make it stay on his body! I don't care how you do it, just do it!" June shouted, which caused his brothers to be taken aback by June's sudden outburst.

June swiftly grabbed a dagger from the weapon's storage, then proceeded to slice his palm open. As golden blood started gushing out of his massive cut, June forcefully made Haseo drink it. June ignored the pain flaring on his hand, as he kept squeezing blood out of his wound.

June's eyes blazed with determination, as his will to save Haseo filled his entire being. The feeling of not wanting to lose someone, fueled the fire inside of him to keep going and to not stop, even if it's the last thing he does.

"C'mon! c'mon! Please work! Please work!" June said through gritted teeth.

June pushed himself, as he squeezed out an unhealthy amount of blood from his wound to make Haseo drink.

The burning drive that fueled June, led his brothers to take action as well. Jordan unsheathed his katana, before plunging it to the center of Haseo's c.h.e.s.t.

"Unsheathed Style: Soul Shackle!"

Spectral chains came out of Jordan's katana and wrapped around Haseo's soul, successfully preventing it from leaving his body.

After reaching an almost dangerous level of blood loss, June's blood finally did its work, when Haseo's eyes shot wide open. Just like what happened with Andrew and Halberd, June's blood started purifying the shadow venom that's infecting Haseo's body.

Thankfully, Jordan's sword pinned Haseo's body on the ground, but it didn't stop the latter from thrashing around. Everything was going well, until Haseo's body slowly started Turing limp, which made June clench his jaws.

"He doesn't have enough energy to complete the purifying process" June said as he felt all hope leave him, making him more and more frustrated at his inability to save one person.

When June noticed that Haseo's breathing started becoming more and more labored, as the latter's complexion started turning red. June gently placed a hand on Haseo's forehead, only for him to swiftly retract it. Haseo is now sporting a very dangerously high temperature that would normally, almost immediately kill a normal human being.

"My blood is also staring to burn his body from the inside out" June said, as an overwhelming feeling of dread enveloped his whole being. June was beyond frustrated with how things were tuning out.

"Why can't it all go, just like how it happened before?!" June shouted internally, wanting to pull his hairs out.

"Don't worry, we got this!" Andrew suddenly said in encouragement, as he enveloped Jordan's hand that's holding the hilt of the katana, with both of his hands.

Andrew released a chilling energy that traveled down Jordan's katana before spreading across Haseo's body, successfully cooling it down and preventing it from completely combusting.

Halberd on the other hand, summoned a chained cuffs attached to his left wrist and Haseo's right wrist.

"C'mon buddy, you can do this!" Halberd said with an encouraging tone in his voice, as he began sharing his energy to Haseo.

The silver chains glowed as Halberd transferred his energy to Haseo. Halberd felt like, life being squeezed out of him but he didn't stop, for the sake of Haseo.

Once Haseo's body received Halberd's energy, his body slowly started coming back to life, as it began thrashing once again.

The four brothers didn't know how long the purifying process took, but once Haseo's body finally calmed down, June let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know how he always knew, but he just knew that they've succeeded in healing Haseo.

When Haseo lost all consciousness, Halberd started getting worried again.

"What happened? Is he okay? Did it not work?"

"It worked, don't worry. He's going to be okay now" June said in assurance, as his breathing became labored, once all the adrenaline in his system started disappearing.

Jordan gently pulled out his katana from Haseo's c.h.e.s.t before sheathing it, as he, Andrew and Halberd all released a relived sigh.

"He -" June was about to say something again, when he suddenly fell to the ground, unconscious.

"June!" Jordan was the closest to June, so he was the first one to notice what happened. As Jordan was about to help June, his body suddenly froze before he dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Andrew and Halberd didn't even had the chance to move an inch, before their bodies fell to the ground in an unconscious state.

Jae was the first one to rush to their aid, when he saw what happened.

Yes, they were all busy with healing as much Gifteds as they could, but it didn't mean that they missed the whole event that went down with the four brothers.

After making sure that all five were really okay, Jae gave a slight nod at Maria, telling her that there's nothing to be worried about. When Maria saw the reassuring expression that Jae's has given her, she also breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Your kids really are somethin' aren't they" Scott said, his voice laced with awe and admiration.

Scott felt ashamed and guilty for actually having the never to look down on Maria's kids, when they were the ones that help him, not only to regain his full power back but also help his guild members as well. He'd never seen such determination to save someone, in his entire life. He himself has never expressed such determination to save a complete stranger, yet this young Gifted has completely surpassed him. It was truly awe-inspiring, that Scott felt a tinge of joyously bloom from inside of him.

"They really are" Maria said in a proud manner.

Jae just let the five rest, as he returned to tending to those who were still infected. Honestly, Jae wanted nothing more than to ask June how he completely healed Haseo, if not for the fact that June is currently unconscious. Jae already knew from June's story, but seeing him use his blood to heal, still awed Jae.

The atmosphere in the training facility turned for the worst, when the death count started stacking up. No one was more devastated than Scott, as he carefully carreid the lifeless bodies of his guild members away from those who were saved, and carefully laid them in clean rows.

Trace and Gabe were just as devastated as their Guild master, as they help clean up the lifeless bodies of their brothers.

Out of all the Gifteds that survived the first attack at Scott's guild mansion, now, only seventeen survived.

"I swear, I'm going to make him pay for what he did!" Trace said with so much killing intent oozing out of him, as endless tears streamed down in face. His heart is burning with unspeakable wrath but he knew that it's not yet time to let it out. He is reserving it, so that when the time comes and he lets it all out, that certain bird guy would feel every last ounce of what he's feeling.

As the somber atmosphere enveloped everyone's hearts, feeling like the situation couldn't get any worse; it actually did, when the door of the glass box suddenly flew open.

"Maria, I know that this isn't the best time to say this, but a horde of Shadows are currently heading this way!" Isabelle informed with an urgent voice. "Everyone is still pretty much occupied with the bird man. Although, it's just a single enemy, everyone is still finding it pretty hard to deal with. At this rate, the mansion is completely defenseless."

"I understand" Maria said calmly "Inform everyone of the incoming attack. Scott and I will deal with the bird"

"Understood!" Isabelle said before immediately running back inside the glass box.

"Trace and Gabe, I know you did your best for your brothers and that's all I could ever ask for. Now, it's time for us to let them go. We will be needing your help with guarding the mansion from the horde of Shadows" Scott said with a stern voice fill with empathy.

"Understood, Master" Trace and Gabe said in unison, before they wiped their faces off of their tears, steeled their heart, and took a deep breath.

Seeing the two young men's m.a.t.u.r.e and responsible action, made Scott very proud. He knows that's they are currently dealing a heavy emotional blow. Seeing them hide their sadness and take a stand, made Scott's heart swell but also hurt at the same time.

"Jae, we will be leaving the survivors to you" Maria instructed

"Understood, Lady Maria!" Jae said with a nod

"Isabelle, keep us updated"

"Will do!" Isabelle responded from inside the glass box with a big thumbs up, before going back to work.

With that, Maria, Scott, Trace and Gabe walked out of the training facility and are about to enter the fray.