Chapter 6: A Hidden Problem

Chapter 6: Chapter 6: A Hidden Problem

The moment Xavier swallowed the Constitution Essence, a strange sensation spread through his entire body.

The Constitution Essence was no ordinary restorative substance.

It was an exceptionally rare treasure capable of purifying the body, strengthening the blood and mana within it, and fundamentally improving a person’s physical foundation.

The Restoration Elixir Mira had taken earlier was merely a diluted derivative of this substance.

One vial of Constitution Essence could supposedly be divided into more than a hundred portions of Constitution Holy Water, and even after being diluted to that extent, each portion could still command an extraordinary price of 750,000 crowns.

That alone showed just how valuable the original substance was. Its effects were simply too powerful.

Xavier had briefly considered selling the Constitution Essence, using the money to purchase other resources, and then investing those resources in Mira.

The thought lasted only a moment before he discarded it. The problem was simple: he was far too weak.

The value of the Constitution Essence was more than a hundred times that of the diluted version, and if word ever spread that he possessed something like this, powerful families and organizations would undoubtedly fight over it.

An ordinary person carrying such a treasure through the streets would be no different from a child walking through a crowded market with a chest full of gold.

Valemont might have excellent public security, but this was still an age where people possessed supernatural abilities, and there would always be individuals willing to break the law when the reward was valuable enough.

Xavier wasn’t interested in finding out what would happen if the wrong person learned about his secret. If he wanted to protect Mira in the future, he first needed the strength to protect himself.

The effect of the Constitution Essence continued processing.

The effect was slow and powerful. A tremendous force erupted inside his body. His blood seemed to come alive, surging through his veins with newfound strength, his muscles tightened, and faint cracking sounds came from deep within his body as his bones and channels were washed by the powerful energy.

Every trace of fatigue disappeared. It felt as though invisible restraints that had shackled him for years were being torn apart one after another.

Xavier slowly clenched his fist. Power. Real power. For the first time in his life, he could genuinely feel it coursing through his body. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face.

He immediately summoned the system. A translucent panel appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Xavier Kane]

[Rank: Body Tempering, One Star]

[Magical Affinity: Inferior]

[Physique: None] [Combat Skills: None]

Xavier stared at the information. Then his eyes widened.

"I actually awakened," he breathed.

After countless attempts and disappointments, he had finally crossed the threshold into the ranks of the awakened.

He had become a true magic user. But that wasn’t even the most astonishing part. He had gained an affinity. It was only the lowest possible grade, but that didn’t matter.

Before today, he had possessed nothing. Now he had something, and that difference alone was enough to make Xavier’s heart pound.

Magical affinity wasn’t something that could normally be acquired through hard work.

It was an innate quality that determined whether a person could walk the path of magic in the first place, and those born without it were destined to remain ordinary unless they encountered some extraordinary opportunity.

Xavier had spent ten years waiting for exactly that kind of miracle. He had never expected it to come from a single bottle of Constitution Essence.

"As expected of something this valuable," he murmured, looking at his hands, still unable to hide his excitement.

He finally understood why Constitution Essence was so tightly controlled by the government and the major powers.

Something capable of transforming an ordinary person’s foundation was simply too dangerous to circulate freely. Even its diluted form was already worth a fortune. The original was practically priceless.

****************

In the bedroom next door, Mira was having a very different experience.

She sat quietly on the edge of the bed, staring at the resources Xavier had given her.

She had already taken two Restoration Elixirs that day, and although another one would undoubtedly help, she couldn’t bring herself to waste it. Her injuries were complicated.

The damage caused by the removal of her Celestial Core had gone far beyond ordinary wounds — it had damaged the very foundation of her body, and ordinary healing magic could only repair the surface.

The Spirit Elixir was another matter. It could strengthen her spiritual power, but that wasn’t her immediate concern.

Before thinking about increasing her spiritual abilities, she needed to figure out what had happened to her body.

In the end, she decided to begin with the Vitality Elixir and the Constitution Holy Water. She had once been surrounded by resources like these.

Back when she was still regarded as a prodigy, her family had never hesitated to provide her with whatever she needed. But everything changed after her condition began deteriorating.

Once her academy and family stopped believing she could recover, even ordinary cultivation resources became luxuries she could no longer afford, and during the past week, when she had barely been able to survive, using precious resources had been completely out of the question.

So despite everything she had endured, Mira still held a trace of hope as she swallowed the two items. Maybe this time would be different. Maybe her body would finally respond.

But that hope lasted only a few moments. The familiar sensation returned. Nothing.

The energy from both resources disappeared the moment it entered her body, as though a bottomless void existed somewhere inside her, greedily devouring every trace of magical energy before it could benefit her. Not even the slightest improvement remained.

Mira’s hands began trembling. This had happened before. It was the very reason her strength had started declining six months ago.

No matter how many resources she consumed, no matter how many healers examined her, the energy simply vanished. Her body swallowed everything and gave nothing back. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Why?" Her voice shook. "Why is this still happening?"

She had only just begun to believe that perhaps her life wasn’t completely over.

She had found someone willing to stand beside her, someone who hadn’t looked at her as though she were broken. And yet even now, her own body refused to give her a chance.

Tears slipped down her cheeks. She lowered her head, covering her face as her carefully maintained composure finally collapsed.

The sound reached Xavier from the next room. He immediately hurried over.

"Mira?" he called.

She didn’t answer.

Xavier found her sitting on the bed with her face buried in her hands, her shoulders trembling. He didn’t press her for an explanation.

Instead, he sat beside her and gently pulled her into his arms.

"If something’s bothering you, you don’t have to carry it alone," he said quietly. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. We’ll figure it out together."

Mira’s body stiffened for a moment. Then her remaining restraint finally broke.

"Xavier," she said, burying her face against his chest.

The tears she’d been holding back for months poured out.

So Mira finally began to speak. Between broken breaths and tears, she told Xavier everything. He listened without interrupting, and whenever her voice faltered, his hand gently moved over her hair in reassurance.

His expression remained calm throughout her story, but inside, his emotions were becoming increasingly turbulent.

He could understand why the academy had eventually given up — they had spent months trying to help her, and according to everything he had heard, they had genuinely exhausted their options.

He could even understand the coldness of her former classmates and the younger generation of the Sinclair family; people naturally respected the strong and looked down on the weak.

It was ugly, but it was hardly surprising.

Then Mira told him about her Celestial Core. And Xavier’s expression changed.

Xavier’s jaw tightened. "How could they do that to you?" The words escaped him before he could stop them.

Blood relatives. People who were supposed to protect her. Yet the moment she lost her value, they had treated her as something disposable. His anger continued to build as Mira explained everything that had happened.

Still, there was one part that bothered him even more. The reason she had broken down tonight wasn’t simply because of what her family had done. It was because her body still wasn’t responding.

The grievances could be settled later — once he became strong enough, he could take Mira back to the Sinclair family and demand an explanation himself. But her condition was different.

He needed to understand what was happening inside her body.

The healers at Arcadia Academy had spent three months investigating it without discovering the cause.

Xavier had only awakened today.

There was no reason to believe he could immediately accomplish what those experienced healers couldn’t.

Yet as he looked down at the woman crying quietly against his chest, one thought refused to leave his mind: there had to be a reason. And now that Mira was his wife, Xavier had no intention of simply watching her suffer.