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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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In any case, it finally ended with a farce of them both insisting the other take over.
Like the saying about watching the stains on the ceiling until it’s over, this time, there weren’t even any ceiling stains to count.
I’d simply had my resistance to magic lowered, so at some point, the sleep spell took effect, and I collapsed and fell asleep.
And while I slept, everything was finished.
“My neck feels strangely stiff.”
I stretched and yawned as soon as I woke up, muttering to myself.
Had I slept in a bad position before the spell was cast?
Even in my past life, I’d never experienced anesthesia, so being artificially put to sleep like this was a novel experience.
And as for Sylphia and Arwen…
“…I can’t even lift a finger. I exhausted myself, so focused on not making a single mistake.”
“Me too. I just want to collapse and fall asleep right here.”
They both collapsed onto my legs, panting and gasping for air, as if they had just run a marathon.
What had they been doing while I was asleep?
“Why are they doing this…?”
Unaware of what had transpired during my slumber, I could only look at them with a puzzled expression.
Arwen, catching my gaze, protested as if feeling wronged.
“Do you have any idea how much effort I put in while you were sleeping so peacefully?”
“Well, I haven’t said anything yet… So, what exactly happened?”
“As soon as you fell asleep, this lizard changed her mind and said she would do it. I couldn’t just leave it to her, so I participated in the process as well.”
As soon as Arwen finished, Sylphia grumbled.
“Mana circuits are incredibly delicate things. Does it make sense to interfere and work together while someone is performing such a delicate operation? It’s a miracle nothing went wrong.”
“Nonsense. You’re forgetting that I’m the one who barely managed to correct your near mistake.”
“You did it together…?”
I paused, momentarily taken aback by their words, which were beyond my comprehension.
Reconnecting the severed mana circuits was a task that demanded intense concentration and meticulousness.
To understand it easily by applying knowledge from my past life, it was like cancer surgery, surgically removing a tumor. And it was similar to the process of filling the removed area with normal cells.
And just as removing a tumor isn’t easy, even in modern society with its advanced technology, though lacking magic…
‘Is that even possible?’
Although the fields were different, so a perfect one-to-one analogy wasn’t possible, it was still hard for me to grasp that they had performed that task together.
“It was within a controllable range, okay? Can you stop acting so high and mighty over something so trivial?”
“If I hadn’t intervened, Rudrick might have become unable to use magic ever again, with your needlessly inflated pride.”
“Hey, are you done talking?”
“I’m not finished yet. So listen quietly.”
And as expected, they started bickering again. This was a common occurrence, so much so that I was used to it.
It was amusing to see them so full of energy, continuing their quarrel, despite having just collapsed onto my legs from exhaustion.
Leaving the two non-humans, who were old in age and size, but still had the mental age of elementary school students, I slowly circulated my mana.
Children grow through fighting, after all.
“Oh?”
A sound of surprise involuntarily escaped my lips. The sensation was different from usual.
There was a strange, unfamiliar feeling.
Magic is a miracle achieved through three processes: activating mana through circuits, visualizing an image, and then materializing the visualized image into reality. Magic cannot be manifested without these three processes.
It was similar to the way physical laws work.
There are no exceptions to this process. Not even for me. No matter how much of a genius I was, reaching the level of an archmage at this age, I couldn’t be an exception to this fundamental law.
Even though this talent came at the cost of my lifespan, there was a different, unfamiliar feeling now.
“Amazing.”
As I clenched and unclenched my hand, mana gently circulated from the newly connected mana circuits.
Was this what they called zero to sixty?
My mana circuits weren’t a car, but the speed at which mana was activated was incomparably faster than before.
It had already been faster than that of ordinary mages, but now it felt like I had evolved from driving a compact car to a racing sports car.
As I was still getting used to the changed sensation, just clenching and unclenching my hand, Sylphia quickly interjected.
“It’s because the circuits themselves are completely new.”
“The circuits?”
“Yes! You see, human mana circuits inevitably accumulate impurities throughout life! Once you reach a certain level of mastery in magic and establish your own style, you start to filter them out automatically. But the impurities accumulated during the growth process before that don’t disappear.”
Aha.
So, it was like replacing a filter with a new one.
I quickly grasped Sylphia’s meaning and nodded.
Then Arwen added, showing off.
“By the way, I was the one who connected all those circuits one by one. Even for a True Ancestor like me, it wasn’t easy, but for you, Rudrick…”
“You’re taking credit for connecting what I made, as if you did it all yourself? Aren’t you just trying to take credit for the work I’ve done?”
“Don’t you know that connecting them all without a single error is the more difficult task?”
“Sigh, this is why home education is important. What’s the use of bragging about being born alone? Look at you, talking so shamelessly because there’s no one to teach you.”
“…Are you done babbling?”
“Not yet.”
And as soon as she finished speaking, round two began.
Watching Arwen and Sylphia growl at each other again, I shook my head almost reflexively.
These two were hopeless.
Well, children grow through fighting, so it couldn’t be helped.
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Leaving behind Arwen and Sylphia, who had started bickering and fighting, I thoroughly checked my body’s condition.
After all, I should know my own body best.
Furthermore, the procedure performed on my body this time was an unprecedented, novel method.
I didn’t doubt Sylphia and Arwen’s skills, but I couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy. I had even considered the worst-case scenario of becoming unable to use magic.
But as if mocking my worries…
“I’m fine?”
My body was in surprisingly good condition.
It was hard to believe that this was my condition right after undergoing a procedure that defied common sense. And crucially, my mana circuits, which I had arbitrarily called overloaded, had become no different from those of a normal person.
Instead, there was an additional process of storing natural mana in my body before using it, so I wouldn’t be able to use magic as freely and recklessly as before.
But perhaps because the capacity itself was so vast, it was only a difference like scooping out a single cup of water from the ocean.
So, in other words…
“So, I’m no longer terminally ill?”
My reflection in the mirror stared back at me with a dumbfounded expression.
The current state of my body meant only one thing.
I was completely cured. My terminal illness was gone.
“…”
I felt incredibly bewildered.
I wondered if it could be cured so easily. Even I, a human, couldn’t possibly feel at ease living with a terminal illness.
Of course, I could postpone it through methods that were embarrassing to even mention, but being completely freed from that worry was an entirely different matter.
Aside from the bewildered feeling, the realization slowly began to sink in.
Although I hadn’t been consciously aware of it, it felt like a heavy stone that had been weighing on my mind had been lifted.
A sense of relief and lightness spread through me.
“…Heh.”
Unconsciously, the corners of my mouth lifted, and a silly laugh escaped my lips.
One thing was certain, those who hadn’t experienced this feeling would never understand.
With a silly laugh still escaping my lips, I threw open the door and stepped out.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t properly thanked them.
I thought I should at least express my gratitude to Sylphia and Arwen, albeit belatedly. But as soon as I opened the door…
“Argh! So you really want to go at it today, huh? This isn’t over until you’re on your knees begging!”
“You’re saying what I wanted to say. I’ll yield the first move. Even then, it’s impossible for someone of your level to reach me.”
As soon as I heard their voices echoing down the hallway, my thoughts vanished in a puff of smoke.
Well, this was my home.
Like the saying about a tree with many branches never being free from the wind, it would be stranger if they weren’t fighting.
With a ‘figures’ expression, I shook my head.
Then, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
Listening to them shouting, it sounded like they were about to fight…
“Wait, if you use magic and stuff here, everything will collapse.”
A belated, yet obvious thought struck me.
I can’t with these two!
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