A Deadly Education

After killing Jack, Orion helps El by retrieving and applying one of her mother’s magical healing patches. El explains that the student Orion just killed was Jack, and he was Luisa’s actual murderer. El is still very weak and in no condition to fight off the mals who will be drawn to the smell of her blood, so Orion insists on staying in her room all night. This is dangerous because, as El explained before, having two students in one room after curfew attracts mals.

The mals begin attacking immediately after curfew, but Orion fights them off. He absorbs so much mana from the fighting that he practically glows with it; El tells him he can use it to fill some of her crystals. Orion is startled by the crystals because they are very valuable and El, who is not in an enclave, should not have the resources to get one, let alone the two he can see. El tells Orion her mother made them, further astonishing Orion. Over the course of the night, Orion absorbs enough mana to fill two more crystals. El gives him one, however grudgingly, to show her appreciation for his help.

In the morning, Orion is exhausted.