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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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From now on, she had to absorb the mana inside Denok’s body like taking a spirit medicine and fill it with her own mana to properly control it.
I looked at Kayla with a tense expression.
“Ugh, ugh, huk…”
As if there were still remnants of pain, Kayla still looked strained.
Even so, she didn’t give up.
Her body was drenched in sweat to the level of having taken a bath, and an intense scent of mana was emanating from her whole body.
Considering that most of this was mana that couldn’t be absorbed, it was a shame, but as I said before, that wasn’t what was important.
Then, at one moment…
Kayla’s pain-filled struggle stopped, and the scent of mana flowing from her body vanished instantly.
“…Kayla?”
She didn’t move.
At that moment…
Crack.
Crack, creak!
Parts of her body popped up and sank back down with the sound of bones.
The restructuring of the body.
I had heard…
It was said to be something that 7th Class magicians or Master-level warriors experience in the process of overcoming a wall.
It was extremely rare, but I heard that the highest-grade spirit medicine, especially the superior ones, could also evolve the body of the user by one level.
Fundamentally, it was the same as the body restructuring experienced by Master-level warriors or magicians above 7th Class, but the slight difference was that the body restructuring due to the level was influenced by the path they had walked thus far, whereas the body restructuring caused by the influence of spirit medicine had to be less efficient as the directionality was the nature of the spirit medicine or just a directionless, comprehensive physical enhancement.
However, I heard that not everyone could do it just by taking the best spirit medicine.
Some said it was luck, and some said it was only chosen people.
Since there were so few cases, the exact cause couldn’t be known.
‘That… Kayla?’
I couldn’t tell what would happen if it was like this.
If she was really lucky, she might not need suppressants, and if she was even luckier, Denok’s body might have disappeared and her own body might have regenerated.
The reason I thought the latter was better was because there was no need to worry about other side effects.
‘Opinions may differ on this, though.’
At one point, a piercing stench began to emanate from her body.
However, there was no time to react to such a thing.
It was an unexpected situation, and since I didn’t know what would happen during the process, I couldn’t let my guard down.
While rummaging through all the knowledge I knew, I stayed by her side without taking my eyes off her for a single moment until she finished restructuring her body.
“Uhmm…”
The restructuring of her body took several hours.
However, it was almost a day later when Kayla opened her eyes.
“…Master? Where am I…?”
“You fainted during the treatment. No, should I call it fainting?”
“Treatment… Ugh!”
Kayla made a startled expression and sat up.
Her face was filled with a sense of defeat and anxiety.
Well, it made sense.
If she had fainted during the treatment… There was a high possibility that it had failed.
It was a treatment she had longed for and waited for so much, so if she had failed due to her own inadequacy… The frustration would be hard to bear.
“Ugh… What’s this smell… This on my body… How did the treatment go?”
“I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”
I looked at Kayla and said,
“First, I should tell you what happened.”
I carefully explained the scenes I had witnessed.
That she had succeeded in absorbing Denok’s body.
That she herself had struggled to somehow carry out my instructions.
That at one point, the scent of mana flowing from her body disappeared and she lost consciousness.
The restructuring of her body that followed.
“…Restructuring of the body… That’s…!”
“It’s rare, but I heard that there are cases where people experience body restructuring when taking the highest-grade spirit medicine, especially the superior ones, even if they haven’t reached that level.”
She was lucky.
I just expressed it like that.
“Then the spirit herb you gave me…”
“Yeah. It means it’s that precious. Anyway, since an unexpected situation occurred, I don’t know how the treatment went. We’ll have to wait and see.”
“…Then, did you keep watching from that moment until I regained consciousness?”
“Of course, how would I have known what would happen?”
“…I caused you trouble.”
“At times like this, just say thank you and move on. For now, check it quickly.”
Kayla closed her eyes as if observing the inside of her body, and after 1 second, she showed an expression filled with astonishment.
“Ma-Master?”
“…A mana heart has been created in my body.”
“I thought it might happen…”
Mana heart.
If magicians had circles, warriors had mana hearts.
However, while magicians could only use and learn magic if they had circles, the difference was that warriors could use mana to enhance their bodies or generate aura even without a mana heart.
Then, one might think that a mana heart wasn’t necessary…
‘But it’s absolutely necessary to surpass the limit.’
The efficiency of mana usage differs depending on whether one has a mana heart or not.
Master-level warriors all had mana hearts without exception.
Of course, I had heard that there were cases where people had mana hearts even if they weren’t Master-level, but this was a really rare case.
‘And that exception… is Kayla.’
It was a very curious feeling.
Since body restructuring had happened, I thought there was a possibility, but…
“Then… what about your leg?”
Instead of answering, Kayla sat up.
And she carefully pressed the floor and showed a slightly staggering appearance.
“It doesn’t move as I want. It’s not like I can’t feel it, but…”
She said it hurt when pinched.
‘We’ll have to do rehabilitation…’
Still, I thought it was hopeful.
From the beginning, this was exactly what I had expected.
Although body restructuring had suddenly occured, it was within the expected range for now.
Therefore, Kayla didn’t show much disappointment either.
“If you can feel pain, it means you’ve gotten over one hurdle. Just in case… Let’s try rehabilitation for a month while taking suppressants.”
Hope dwelled on Kayla’s face.
“Then, let’s wash up first.”
Kayla’s face turned red.
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I went back and forth between the castle and assisted Kayla’s rehabilitation.
Baron Owalan seemed to have no intention of making a move unless Rankbink recovered, so he continued to keep a low profile.
In the meantime, he tried to somehow contact the Siglen County, but it seemed to fail every time.
One day, two days, three days.
There was no particular improvement during that time.
“It seems to be accepting mana well. Still no movement, though.”
There was a slight sense of anxiety left on her face, and I comforted Kayla by saying not to worry and that there was no need to rush.
“It-it twitched. Master, it twitched!”
When a week had passed since the start of rehabilitation, her toes moved for the first time.
It was just a twitch, but it meant she was improving day by day, so it was meaningful.
‘It’s slower than I thought, but…’
Still, the fact that it moved had significance.
Hope dwelled on Kayla’s face again, and she repeated her gratitude to me.
When two weeks had passed, she had reached the point where she could move not only her toes but also her ankles.
Once movement was shown, rehabilitation gained momentum as if accelerating.
By then, she was able to walk around slowly, and for the first time, she shed tears in front of me.
After three weeks, she picked up a sword for the first time in a long while.
Since she was at a level where she could run without overdoing it, I allowed her to hold a sword.
She finished basic training with a stable posture, and even though it wasn’t very strenuous training, she was drenched in sweat all over her body, perhaps due to tension.
After four weeks, she was able to endure intense training.
When 30 days had fully passed and her suppressants ran out, I acknowledged that her treatment was successful.
And on that day, Kayla knelt before me.
“…Why are you doing this?”
“Master, you have kept your promise.”
When I first obtained a mana oath from her, she had said that if I fixed her leg, she would become my sword and shield.
“Therefore, as promised, I will serve you for the rest of my life. Even if I die, even after death, forever.”
“You know I’m a necromancer, right?”
“Of course. If I happen to die before you, Master, you can make me an undead. I will stay by your side until the end, even like that.”
In a voice that was endlessly serious without a hint of playfulness, Kayla said so.
“…Again. I even received a mana oath.”
As a Warlock, no, even before becoming a Warlock, I had never heard such words before, so I felt a bit awkward.
“I don’t care about that. The mana oath, the slave seal, none of that matters to me. Only one thing is important. That I have chosen you as the one I will serve for life.”
Kayla continued, looking up at me.
“I will become your sword and cut down those who insult you.”
“I will become your shield and block all threats that come to you.”
“I will become your servant and stay by your side forever.”
I couldn’t say anything at her serious appearance.
“I know I’m still lacking in many ways. My leg has just healed, and my body is lacking in various aspects.”
She had never trained with her leg reinforced by mana yet.
However, it wasn’t that she couldn’t reinforce her leg with mana.
It just required time.
It had already been confirmed that she could properly accept mana.
Although she was rehabilitating at an unbelievable speed, it still required time.
“Still, I couldn’t hold back anymore.”
Kayla’s eyes were upright and unwavering.
“Master. Will you accept my oath?”
“…Alright.”
Nothing would change from our relationship so far.
It was just that she had become a bit more sincere.
There was no reason to refuse.
However, I didn’t take her words lightly.
It was just a bit awkward.
“Thank you. …Truly, thank you.”
“For now, get up. You’re still in rehabilitation.”
I grabbed her arm and helped her stand up, and she accepted my help with a joyful expression.
Even after accepting her oath, daily life didn’t change much.
She trained for rehabilitation every day as if she wanted to regain her past strength as soon as possible, so Athena rarely received guidance from her teacher even though Kayla’s leg had healed.
“…I can’t ask her to do this…”
Athena and Thea came to the outside residence to congratulate Kayla on the recovery of her leg, which was because I wanted to keep the fact that Kayla’s leg had been restored a secret.
‘It would be strange if it suddenly recovered, and there’s no need to let it be known now.’
The fact that Kayla’s leg had been fully healed would be a great informational advantage if we were to fight Rankbink later on.
‘It will be helpful even if it’s not Rankbink.’
One might say what’s there to worry about now that she even has a mana heart, but that’s just how I am.
I thought it was better to be overly sensitive than to be careless.
I asked Kayla to act for the time being, and she readily agreed to my words.
Then, when I went to the castle because of the situation in the territory and to repair the magic circle, I could see Kayla sitting with a somewhat serious expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ah, Master. You’re here.”
“Yeah. But why do you look so serious? Did something happen?”
“Ah… that’s… it’s not a bad thing. I think I need to adjust the direction of my training because the muscle strength on one side of my leg is abnormal.”
According to Kayla, the muscle strength of one leg, especially around her ankle, was increasing at an abnormal speed.
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