Chapter 119: Heart Limit

The common way to gauge how strong a person’s Heart is would be their Strength of Heart.

Strength of Heart was a measure of how effectively and strongly a Vitalist could output Vitality from their Heart. A good way of seeing this was imagining a lightbulb as a Vitalist, its quality as Strength of Heart, and energy as Vitality.

If a lightbulb’s quality were high, it would waste less energy while also being much brighter. On the other hand, if a lightbulb’s quality were low, it would face more energy wastage, while also being less bright.

Strength of Heart was one of the few things that set apart a weak Vitalist from a strong one.

However, increasing a Vitalist’s Strength of Heart was an arduous and harsh process, as only hardships and impactful events could strengthen the Heart — for example, the Entrance Exam.

This training process was called Heart Tempering.

After writing the two key terms on the board, Hilda drew arrows from them pointing to the Heart diagram she drew up.

She then moved on to the next diagram in the form of a long straight line.

After placing 0% on one end and 100% on the other to create a percentage scale, she divided it into five equal parts.

Because Strength of Heart measured efficiency rather than capacity, it was expressed as universal percentages.

In practical terms, if two individually unique Vitalists were to have the same Strength of Heart, they would be considered on equal footing in terms of Vitality output. And if you were a Vitalist with low Strength of Heart, enduring a little bit of hardship would allow you to one day stand shoulder-to-shoulder with more powerful Vitalists.

This now leads to the next topic: Heart Limit.

Every Vitalist, upon Heart Awakening, would awaken a Strength of Heart between 0% and 20%.

The average Vitalist would awaken below 5% to 10% of Strength of Heart — these individuals were predominantly found among those of the middle and upper classes. These were also the type of Vitalists who were turned away from taking part in the Combat Exam.

However, awakening with more than 20% Strength of Heart was considered impossible, because of one thing.

Heart Limit.

Heart Limit was an intangible wall every Vitalist would face at intervals of 20% of Strength of Heart — totalling up to 5 walls, each stunting a Vitalist’s growth: Heart, Vitality, and all.

There was no effective or efficient method when it came to surpassing your Heart Limit, except for one... Enduring hardship.

Only after surviving a traumatic event or experiencing a powerful enough stimulant would your Heart allow you to continue.

Hilda continued jotting down on the board.

"Nobody truly knows why Heart Limits exists. But there had been countless theories, with the most recent being that Heart Limits were created by a Vitalist’s Heart to ensure their safety, in fear that the body might explode from not being strong enough to handle Vitality at its strongest."

She then placed down the pen and turned around. "I hope that answers your question."

The man nodded, jotting the last bit down in his notes. He then asked, "If there are 5 walls of Heart Limit, does that mean it’s possible to go past... 100% of Strength of Heart?"

"You’re precisely right." Hilda nodded. "There’s actually a term for surpassing 100%. It’s called—"

DING...! DONG...! DING...!

Just as Hilda was about to reveal the term, the loud ringing of a bell echoed across the campus, causing everyone in the vicinity to flinch.

Herman, as surprised as everyone else, checked his watch.

’4 o’clock already?’ He thought in surprise. If it wasn’t for the "end-of-the-day" bell, he would’ve lost track of time!

With a slight cough, he got out of his chair and clapped his hands. "That’ll be all for today’s class. Hilda will answer all your questions next time. I hope you’ve learnt a lot from this lesson, and I hope you’ll look forward to more in the future during your time here with us."

"Wait, that’s the end?"

"No way!"

"Time goes by so fast..."

With the revelation that it was the end of the day, everyone swiftly began packing their things, preparing to leave.

Upon seeing this, Hilda quickly grabbed everyone’s attention.

"Before you all leave, I need two things from you all. First, I need the people I’m going to call out to stay behind."

She then grabbed a small physical list from thin air. Though from the way her eyes were wandering around, it didn’t look like she was reading it, as if it was all theatrics.

"Nadia Crane, Seraphine Halloway, Callum Ashby, Ross Kestrel, Roxy Rutherford, Elias Thorne, und Beatrice C. Johnson."

The individuals who were called instantly stiffened.

’What’s this about?’ They collectively thought, worried.

Everyone then watched as Hilda stored the list back and pulled out something else.

It was a white, metallic board that was capable of folding. It was decorated with colours and flares, with a ranking of stars on the side — from 5 stars at the top to 1 star at the bottom — each with its own mood face.

And on this board were exactly 23 blank star magnets attached to it.

"Since I’m still new to all this, I need some feedback!" After hanging it near the entrance, Hilda held out two black whiteboard pens.

"So, if you could please, as you all leave, pick a star und write your initials on it. Then, stick it onto a section on this ranking chart for how you felt about this lesson! There’s also no need to worry about how I’ll react; the most I would do is ask you about it." Hilda smiled brightly.

With how cheerful and innocent Hilda looked, they were immediately convinced, though obviously there were some who were hesitant about it, given her... past behaviour.

As they came down from their seat, Herman approached Hilda with a warm look in his eyes.

"That was a splendid lecture. You have quite the talent, Hilda."

Hilda leaned back against the teacher’s podium with an appreciative smirk. "You think?"

She then looked over at everyone gathering around the chart.

"I hope they think so too."

After everyone finished writing their initial on a star, having finished taking turns with the limited supply of pens, they began their rating, which resulted in all 5 stars.

Hilda, previously calm and relaxed, was overcome with joy when she saw this!

With eyes sparkling from happiness, Hilda began to feel giggly and jubilant from the praise. She even felt slightly embarrassed!

As of this moment, saying she looked "cutesy" wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate.

Nadia, whose turn was next, stood in front of the chart, deep in thought.

Seeing how everyone had placed their magnet in five stars, she considered doing the same.

Hilda’s lesson was that good, after all — enough that she was able to write 3-4 pages of notes in just an hour.

’5 stars sounds the most appropriate.’ Nadia decided.

With the magnet in her hand, she raised it towards the 5-star section.

But as her hand hovered over it...

She sensed Hilda’s extremely intent stare on her back. A thought then flickered inside her head.

With Hilda’s attention in mind, along with the fact that the woman hadn’t given her any points for the exam...

"Ehhh!?"

She rated Hilda’s lesson as 4 stars.

Hilda leaned in, visibly offended. "Only 4!? My dear Dame, why only four?!"

Nadia, facing away from Hilda with a stoic face, said:

"... Because of your face. It irritated me."

Hilda gasped sharply and immediately threw a tantrum in response. "That’s SO unreasonable!"

Everyone watched as Hilda childishly stomped on the ground repeatedly and felt the urge to leave, especially Herman, who still had work to do.

...

After they left, all that remained were the people she asked to stay behind.

With the rest of the class gone, Hilda swiftly composed herself, like she had switched faces.

She turned to Nadia and smiled. "Meine Dame, please take a seat at the front as I talk with everyone outside."

Nadia quirked an eyebrow. "Everyone? Why am I being excluded?"

"Because you are. Now do as I say, I’ll make it worth your while~"

After that, she tucked her hand into her pocket, pulling out a rectangular box before taking everyone but Nadia outside.

The Heroine watched as the German closed the door behind everyone and huffed.

"Tch..." After clicking her tongue, she decided to do as the woman asked, figuring it might really be "worth her while".

She placed her stuff on the very front desk and sat down, waiting.

But as she waited, she couldn’t help but hear vague noises coming from beyond the door: muffled voices.

Sensing the surprise and joy in the tones, she got up and walked over to the door, unable to hear anything from her spot.

But found the voices still sounded muffled, even when she was standing right in front of it.

Wanting to know what was going on outside, she tried to slide it open, but found it to be stuck in place, refusing to budge.

She attempted a few more times before giving up, deducing that someone on the other side was obviously keeping her trapped in. And there could be no other person...

Nadia groaned. "Hilda..."

With a need to satisfy her curiosity, she leaned in to press her ear against the door.

But the moment she tried to—

Skrrr!

—The door swiftly slid open.

Having not expected this, Nadia instantly stumbled forward. "W-whoa—!"

With no time to steady herself, she crashed headfirst into a pair of soft mounds, which had a slight firmness to them.

’Huh?’

Hilda, having sent everyone off, looked down at Nadia curiously, who still remained pressed against her chest — visibly clueless of her situation.

"Pfft." Hilda chuckled and stroked the back of Nadia’s head. "We weren’t apart for that long, my adorable Dame. But if you missed me so much to embrace me, I’m not opposed to that idea—"

"E-embrace who!?"

Nadia quickly pushed herself off the woman and backed several steps away, her face slightly pinkish with fluster and embarrassment. "As if I would ever embrace you!"

Hilda laughed amusedly. "Haha, I was only joking. No need to get defensive~"

Nadia, wanting to retort, watched as Hilda turned around and closed the door. At this, she immediately sensed something wrong. "What... are you doing?"

In response, Hilda turned her head to look at her.

She smiled mischievously, then muttered in a strange tone:

"Now it’s just us~..."