Chapter 100 - 99: "Your body is very sensitive

Chapter 100: Chapter 99: "Your body is very sensitive

The reason was simple.

[Status:

...

Pain Shield: Remaining Duration: 4 minutes 32 seconds.]

Hesia watched the countdown on the panel, silently counting in his head, ’3... 2... 1.’

"Report: The sensation is completely gone now."

Fevik glanced at the Magic Hourglass beside her and paused, taken aback. ’Right on time?’

She couldn’t help but say cheerfully, "Exactly five minutes! To the second! Your body seems quite sensitive."

[Ghostly Half-Elf Fevik QuickThought’s Affinity towards you has increased. Decryption Points +3]

Fevik gleefully scribbled in her notebook, ’Precise duration, stable effect, highly perceptive subject, reliable data!’

Seeing the notification, Hesia immediately immersed his consciousness in the orb of light in his mind.

[Race: Ghostly Half-Elf]

[Decryption Points: 3]

[Term Extraction: Requires 25 Decryption Points]

’The increased Affinity is a good thing,’ Hesia thought, ’but what I don’t get is why this Half-Elf Mage is so happy about her conclusion that my body is ’quite sensitive.’’

As for Bruce outside the door, he understood even less.

He had been dozing quietly on the steps, diligently fulfilling his duties as a watchdog.

The soundproofing seemed to be excellent, as even his sensitive ears couldn’t pick up much.

But since Hesia had said there was no danger, he chose to trust his master.

Until he vaguely heard something like, "I’m scared of pain."

Followed by an exclamation: "How is it so hard?"

Then came a suppressed hiss from Hesia.

He couldn’t help but worry, and immediately perked up his ears to listen intently.

Fragmented sounds drifted from inside the door:

"...the sensation is gone."

"...five minutes! ...your body is quite sensitive."

Honestly, he considered himself a respectable dog.

But in a place like Print, the young townsfolk had few pastimes. By listening in, he had picked up a fair bit of... "knowledge."

He just never expected that Hesia, for the sake of that Magic Wand, would make such a huge... sacrifice!

’No wonder he was so evasive when I asked him yesterday.’

’No wonder he didn’t bring me with him today.’

’But they’re so different in size!’

Bruce felt like his brain was overloading!

’But that’s not important!’

’As Hesia’s most loyal subordinate, the only thing I need to do right now is—’

’Stop this restless Elf beside me!’

As an Elf, Zoya’s hearing was just as sharp as Bruce’s.

She had kept her ears pricked ever since Hesia went inside, paying close attention to any sound from within.

When she heard Hesia’s suppressed hiss, her hand involuntarily tightened around the dagger at her waist.

’This experiment... seems to be causing Hesia a lot of pain...’

She thought this, but worried that barging in would ruin the experiment and waste all the pain Hesia had already endured.

’But... I have enough money now... He doesn’t have to go through this kind of pain...’

At this thought, she hesitated no longer. She raised her hand, about to push open the wooden door.

Just then, she felt a sharp tug on her pant leg from behind.

Zoya looked down to see Bruce with his jaws clamped firmly on her pant leg, shaking his head vigorously at her.

"What’s wrong?"

"You can’t go in."

"But... Hesia sounds like he’s in a lot of pain," Zoya said, her brow furrowed in concern.

Bruce let go and gave her a look that screamed ’you’re still too young,’ the look of a worldly dog. "Listen, you just have to trust him! You might not get it, but I’m an experienced dog. Humans are weird. Sometimes, the more pain they sound like they’re in, the better they’re actually feeling."

Zoya tilted her head, her pure purple eyes filled with confusion.

She really couldn’t understand how something that sounded so painful could actually be pleasurable.

’Then again, I’m not human, and Bruce has been their companion for a long time.’

’Maybe... I should trust Hesia’s choice.’

With that thought, she slowly lowered the hand she had pressed against the door.

...

「On the other side of the door.」

Hesia was drenched in sweat, panting for breath.

He was anything but comfortable.

’This damn experiment!’

’That strange woman, Fevik, was actually making me haul a heavy bundle of wand materials back and forth in the cramped shop, like a common laborer!’

’Gods above, why are these wand materials so heavy!?’

’My pathetic 8 points in Power were woefully inadequate against this bundle of wood.’

"Phase two," Fevik said, floating behind him with her arms crossed like a foreman. "We need to simulate more practical combat scenarios to test this Magic’s effect on relieving muscle soreness and fatigue."

After constantly bending and lifting, barely managing three round trips, his legs were already starting to feel weak.

He had just put the wood down to catch his breath when a stern reprimand sounded in his ear.

"Why are you stopping? You move like an underfed goblin."

Thinking of the Magic Wand that was not yet his, and the "guidance" she had promised, he could only grit his teeth, bend over, and lift the bundle of wood again.

After forcing himself through another four or five trips, Hesia felt like he couldn’t even straighten his back.

Only then did Fevik nod in satisfaction and cast [Pain Shield] again.

A gentle white light enveloped his entire body.

Hesia felt as if he’d been doused with ice water on a hot summer day. While the deep, exhausting ache in his muscles remained, the overwhelming sense of fatigue pressing down on him was significantly lessened. It was as if someone had lifted half the burden from his shoulders.

"Keep going," Fevik commanded. "One more time."

Hesia had no choice but to haul the bundle of wand materials for another round trip.

When he put down the materials again, Fevik glanced at the Magic Hourglass and jotted something in her notebook.

"Your speed was about the same as on your fourth trip. Conclusion: The spell mitigates muscle fatigue by about fifty percent."

"Alright, you can sit and rest for a bit. We’ll start phase three shortly."

Hesia’s legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor, nodding wearily.

After about half an hour’s rest, Fevik gestured for him to place his hands into two separate basins of water.

Hesia did as he was told.

Fevik explained, "Phase three will test the Magic’s practical application against sensory stimuli in extreme environments. I’m going to lower the temperature of one basin of water, then cast the spell on you. Just like in phase one, you need to tell me roughly how much of the stinging pain from the cold is being blocked."

Hesia did as instructed, immersing his hands in the basins.

Initially, the water for his right hand was a normal temperature, while the water for his left began to cool slowly, remaining within a tolerable range.

But as Fevik continued her Spellcasting, the temperature in the left basin plummeted, with fine ice crystals even starting to form on the surface.

The bone-chilling cold first numbed his skin.

Then, the cold seemed to find an opening, boring into the two unhealed pinpricks on the tips of his left fingers.

"SSSK—" He couldn’t help but hiss, sucking in a sharp breath.

Sensing that Hesia’s reaction was even stronger than during the first phase, Fevik immediately stopped lowering the temperature.

"It hurts that much?"

Hesia nodded, gritting his teeth. "Yeah, the cold has quite a bite."