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Chapter 214 [Illustration]

My visits were not just from passing out. I’d had to come to this recovery room many times previously to rest after getting treated by the on-duty priest.

“... Ugh.”

And then, the pain came. A pain that felt like my blood vessels were tearing apart.

It was so intense that I couldn’t even speak properly. I didn’t know what blood vessels ripping themselves apart actually felt like, but it surely felt like my entire body was being seared in fire.

Startle!

Someone next to me jerked awake at my groan, leaping up with a start. Judging by the red marks on their cheek, they had been sleeping by my bedside.

“He’s... he’s... he’s awake! He’s awake!”

Harriet de Saint-Ouen screamed, half in surprise and half in joy, as she threw herself onto me.

“Ouch! Hey, hey! That hurts, damn it!”

“I thought you were dead, you horrible, horrible guy! You idiot! You jerk!” Harriet started sobbing and clung to me, and the more she did, the more it felt like my entire body was on fire, making me feel like I might die.

Harriet sobbed. “Aghh, you’re such a horrible guy!”

“H-Hey... it... hurts. It hurts...!”

It felt like I was about to pass out again.

Still, I somehow managed to pat her back.

*

When Ellen first forced herself to use Mana Reinforcement, she’d coughed up blood as well. It was the side effect of using a power she didn’t know how to control yet.

I had done the same thing.

I’d succeeded, and for a brief moment, had wielded explosive power, but the price I had to pay was greater than Ellen’s.

Ellen had coughed up blood but didn’t pass out, while I had coughed up blood and passed out.

I had been unconscious for four days.

They took me to the Orbis Class recovery room after I’d passed out, and later, they transferred me to the Royal Class recovery room.

Both the students and the faculty were in an uproar. Not only had I stormed into the Orbis Class dormitory to start a fight, but I had also suddenly used Mana Reinforcement, coughed up blood, and passed out.

As for the outcome of the fight itself, it might have been a victory for me, or a draw.

Oscar de Gradias had briefly passed out but regained consciousness after a while, whereas I’d ended up completely unconscious.

It seemed like a win, but also a loss. It was ambiguous.

While I didn’t care much about winning or losing, the fact of the matter was that I had landed the last blow before passing out. While that might be enough for me to claim a moral victory, it certainly wasn’t a real one.

The Grand Yoga Master who had treated Ellen had been called in to check on me as well.

His assessment was that my life wasn’t in danger. but I would need time to regain consciousness. While that put everyone at ease, they still came to check on me from time to time.

Harriet fell asleep by my bedside while watching over me, and that was when I regained consciousness.

Once everyone realized I had awakened, they came rushing in.

“...”

Ellen stood there, looking furious.

When I came to, Harriet had been so surprised that she’d hugged me, and then, realizing what she had done, she blushed and couldn’t even look at me.

“Junior... Do you have any idea how worried we were?” Adriana was happy I was awake, but also baffled by my actions, leaving her with mixed emotions.

Olivia Lanche was there as well, spouting her usual nonsense.“You nearly left me behind! I was worried sick! How could you!”

“... Unbelievable. You always end up like this whenever you try something new, don’t you?” said Riana de Granz as she shook her head. She seemed exasperated by how I had awakened my Mana Reinforcement in a fight, the same way I’d activated my supernatural power in the previous duel.

Adelia, standing behind her, cautiously asked if I was okay.

“... I’m getting tired of being shocked by your antics. Are you alright?” Charlotte said as she clicked her tongue, looking at me with her arms crossed.

Surprisingly, even Cliffman and the Hopeless Trio had come to see me and each of them had something to say.

‘What is this? I feel like I’m the best friend everyone’s worried about.’

In reality, all I did was get knocked out fighting in another class’s territory.

Aside from expressing their worry, most of their comments seemed to revolve around the same theme: “What trouble did you get into this time?”

That was especially true with Ellen, who seemed particularly angry. She might have been worried about me while I’d been unconscious, but now that I was awake, she was clearly livid.

‘Hey, calm down... remember I’m still a patient, so don’t hit me...’

“If you can talk, start explaining,” Ellen demanded, her voice harsh and her expression stern.

There really wasn’t much to say. I’d just decided to storm into the Orbis Class to complete a challenge, and then promptly passed out for four days. There wasn’t much to argue about there.

“It...” I said.

“What?”

“It hurts like hell...”

‘All I can say for sure is that it literally feels like I might die!’

I didn’t actually know what it felt like for blood vessels to tear themselves apart.

People died from high blood pressure, but they lost consciousness because of it. They didn’t feel this kind of pain!

To be precise, it felt like all my tendons had been meticulously shredded. Except I didn’t actually know what that felt like either.

It was like I was both burned and bruised at the same time, like being burned alive while simultaneously being stabbed.

However, this pain wasn’t external; I felt it throughout my entire body.

My reckless actions had plainly been insane, and the on-duty priests sent everyone out when they saw how much I was struggling just to speak.

The Grand Yoga Master was informed that I was awake as well, and he soon entered the recovery room. On any other day, he seemed like just another hypnotist, but in this situation, he appeared almost god-like.

He was the very teacher who had treated Ellen.

“Teacher... it hurts like hell...”

The pain was so intense that I forgot all etiquette.

‘Please, do something about it! I feel like I’m going to die!’

When I bluntly conveyed to him my pain, the Yoga Master gave me a gentle smile, like he usually did during class.

“It’s understandable, Mr. Reinhart.”

“The extent of this pain... it doesn’t feel normal... I feel like I’m losing my mind...”

“It’s fortunate that pain is all you’re suffering from. Ellen had an innate talent that protected her, but you don’t have the same capability. You almost destroyed your internal mana circuits.”

“... Sorry?”

“You could have lost the ability to ever use Mana Reinforcement again. If Ellen was a carriage being driven along a well-paved forest path, you were a carriage in the middle of the forest, creating your own path.”

“... I don’t really get it...”

“You ran forward where there wasn’t a path, and the forest was destroyed in the process.”

That explanation, I could somewhat understand.

Ellen’s path to Mana Reinforcement had already been pre-established, but she’d injected too much power, exceeding the limits of the prepared path.

Ellen’s mana rank was A+.

Faced with a desperate situation, she had likely put in all her power, causing the path to suffer some damage.

But I, with my mana at a lower rank, had forced my mana into an unprepared path.

That undoubtedly caused greater damage to my body.

I had recklessly driven a carriage in an unmarked forest, where the forest was a metaphor for my body.

Ellen had driven a massive carriage along a forest trail, while I had driven a carriage through the forest without a road, smashing through the trees along the way.

I had done something even more dangerous than I’d realized. I could have ended up unable to use Mana Reinforcement for life.

In martial arts terms, it was like experiencing qi deviation. In a more severe case, I could have ended up crippled.

It was a terrible relief that I only ended up suffering this pain.

“Fortunately, Reinhart, your newfound talent in Mana Manipulation saved you. That’s why the damage was limited to this extent.”

“I see...”

Mana Manipulation...

Thanks to that talent, I did not end up in an even more serious condition.

Without the talent for Mana Manipulation, the price for forcibly using Mana Reinforcement through Self-Deception would have been much greater.

The achievement points I’d spent on gaining the Mana Manipulation talent saved me. Had I not spent the points, I wouldn’t have thought of challenging Orbis Class anyway, so it all balanced out, in a way.

Mana Manipulation had saved me. Without it, I might have lost all ability to use Mana Reinforcement.

Ellen, with the higher-ranking talent in mana, Mana Domination, was left coughing up blood and feeling dizzy.

Because I only possessed the lower-ranking mana talent, I passed out entirely and was now suffering intense pain.

I had taken a risk and clumsily broken through a barrier.

“So... does that mean I’ll be learning Mana Reinforcement now?”

“That’s correct. For now, though, you’ll observe Ellen’s private lessons. I must be honest, your talent, Reinhart, is much lower than Ellen’s. There’s no need to feel discouraged by this. Ellen is exceptionally gifted. Learning Mana Reinforcement improperly could be dangerous. We’ll take a more cautious approach.”

The Grand Yoga Master gently patted my head.

I’d awakened my Mana Reinforcement just as Ellen had, but the level of power was different.

Ellen could maintain Mana Reinforcement for a substantial duration from the start, but the amount of time I’d maintained mine was transient. Not even five seconds.

Even calling it an achievement was questionable, since I didn’t fully understand what I’d done myself.

Rather than learning how to perform Mana Reinforcement, I’d be more of an observer. Compared to Ellen, my talent lagged far behind.

“You should rest for now. Moving around will be challenging.”

The Yoga Master led me through a series of healing techniques. It seemed like a form of qi therapy. It genuinely felt like the pain was subsiding a bit.

The aftereffects of Mana Reinforcement could not be healed with Divine Power. This Grand Yoga Master was both the best teacher and the best healer when it came to this field.

Without him, I might have stayed unconscious longer, or been permanently disabled.

“How long will it take to recover?”

“It will take quite some time to fully recover.”

It seemed the cost of forcing myself to use Mana Reinforcement was that I would be bedridden for quite a while.

*

After the Yoga Master teacher left, I lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The priest on duty said there wasn’t much he could do since Divine Power was not helpful in my case, but told me to call him if I needed anything.

There was always someone on duty in the priest’s room near the recovery room, so I wouldn’t be alone.

The pain had lessened somewhat, but it was still excruciating. Every time I moved, my muscles and tendons screamed, warning of impending death.

Even eating was a challenge; the on-duty priest had to prop me up and feed me porridge.

‘Forget the pain.’

Even Self-Deception didn’t work in easing the pain.

‘Damn it. Why isn’t it working! It worked when I was fighting Oscar!’

It seems that my Self-Deception was amplified in real situations, and worked more effectively. Though my fight with Oscar hadn’t been a real life-or-death battle, it was close enough.

It seems like my powers were more impactful when I was in more emotionally charged situations. I had succeeded in achieving Mana Reinforcement during the fight with Oscar, whereas I couldn’t during training with Ellen due to my underlying doubts.

This was absolutely the kind of supernatural power I wanted.

A dramatic, emotionally charged ability that was activated in extreme situations.

Getting stronger when I got angry... that kind of thing.

While writing it, it was cool, but as someone using it, it was a pain.

Couldn’t it just give maximum output at any time?

I might have been the second person in history to achieve Mana Reinforcement on my own, but it doesn’t seem like it would become a huge issue.

I’d achieved it, but almost died in the process. Ellen’s overwhelming example overshadowed mine.

It was like a sparrow trying to walk like a stork, only to tear its legs apart.

Others who learned of this would probably dismiss me, saying, “He hangs around with Ellen and thinks he’s on her level.”

Anyway, I’d stirred up such a big mess just to earn 500 achievement points.

[Achievement Points: 3430]

More accurately, I earned 500 more points than I’d expected.

I got 500 points from completing the challenge, plus 500 points from achieving Mana Reinforcement.

Of course, whether this was ultimately a good or bad thing remained to be seen. After all, I would be bedridden for a while and unable to attend classes.

And that’s not the end of it.

Since this had begun as a fight among students and then escalated, this incident would probably cause more of a stir than I wanted it to.

When I thought about it, it definitely seemed like something I might get disciplined for.

‘Maybe there’s something I can buy from the shop to help. But that’s a problem for later. Right now, the pain is driving me crazy!’

In the end, I called for the priest on duty.

“Teacher...”

“Ah, Reinhart. Is there something you need?”

“I’m sorry, but... could you call Harriet de Saint-Ouen from our class...?”

“Hmm? Do you have something to discuss with her?”

“Yes, I have... an important request...”

In the end, I resorted to using a cheat.

*

Since I couldn’t move on my own, I asked the priest on duty for help. It was already evening, so Harriet swiftly came to the recovery room.

She looked slightly puzzled that I had called for her.

“Hey... Thick-Skull.”

“Don’t call me Thick-Skull... Seriously. Just this once, I’ll let it slide.”

She seemed like she wanted to get angry but when she saw my face, looking like I was about to die, she swallowed her anger. Was she willing to overlook this because of the state I was in?

And why did she look cuter than usual?

‘Do I have to be sick all the time just to see this?’

No, I definitely did not want to be in this much pain all the time. But if that meant that Harriet would look at me like this every day, would I be willing to suffer this level of pain...?

‘Hmm... No, the pain is so severe, I’d prefer death over this.’

Honestly, I might have considered it under different circumstances, but the pain was so intense that I couldn’t focus on anything.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

My miserable state made her reconsider her anger, and she turned teary-eyed.

If I hadn’t been in so much pain, I might have had other thoughts, but at that moment, I felt like I was going to die from the pain.

“It feels like I’m going to die...”

“What should we do... Seriously, why’d you do something so unnecessary and strange? What kind of revenge did you have in mind?”

“There’s... a reason for everything...”

Harriet moderated her scolding because of the state I was in. She sat down in a chair next to the bed and just stared at me.

“But you said you had a favor to ask. Do you need me to bring you something? Is there anything you need?”

‘Ah. I hate the pain, but this is unexpectedly nice. Someone who’s usually so prickly around me, looking at me with such worried eyes. It feels like she’d do anything I ask now.

‘It makes it seem like everything’s okay, yet the pain makes me know it isn’t.’

My mental confusion was the best proof that I was in serious pain.

I had a different reason for summoning Harriet. It wasn’t just to inquire about something.

“Put me to sleep...” I said.

Harriet looked bewildered by my sudden request.

“... What?”

“I want to sleep, but it hurts too much... I need to be made to sleep...”

Being kept awake by the pain was pure torture. I just wanted to sleep no matter what, whether it was by sleep magic, a sedative, or a narcotic painkiller. If I slept, I wouldn’t feel the pain.

“I-Is it really that bad?”

“I’m telling you... it is.”

I wished I could sleep until I recovered completely and woke up fully healed.

In a fantasy world, sleep magic might have been intended to be used on enemies, but there was no reason that it couldn’t be used on me.

Sleep is good.

Sleep was the best thing when in pain, but pain made it hard to sleep.

“Oh, um... I haven’t done it before, but... okay, I’ll try...”

Harriet’s face turned bright red as if she was embarrassed, and she hesitated a bit before suddenly placing her hand on my chest.

“Sleep... well...”

Harriet began to sing a lullaby.

“...?”

Pat, Pat.

I was stunned, staring at Harriet as she gently patted my chest. Her face was bright red with embarrassment, and she couldn’t even look at me.

I didn’t know what to say. She was so embarrassed she couldn’t even make eye contact with me.

‘What in the world...? That’s not what I meant, you thick-skull!’

I was completely taken aback by her sudden foolishness.

Under normal circumstances, I would have teased her, saying, “Oh, you clueless dummy! That’s not what I mean!” but I was so flabbergasted that I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

I never imagined she’d do something like this.

I mean, misunderstandings were one thing, but seriously, singing a lullaby and patting me to sleep?

“Uh, um... I meant sleep magic...” I said.

At my words, Harriet flinched in surprise and froze, as immobile as a mannequin.