Chapter 258
Chapter 258
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 258
Chapter Title: Ariya's Test - (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
***
“This can’t… be.”
As the words escaped his lips in a daze, Cheon-seong realized something completely unexpected had occurred.
*I can’t say it.*
Amidst the rising nausea and dizziness, a thought bordering on disbelief wouldn’t leave his mind.
‘Why won’t the words come out of my mouth?’
I was sure I had spoken. Instead of making excuses, I had intended to reveal the ‘truth’ to her.
*The truth that I am not from this world.*
Caught between confusion and nausea, I had thought that Ariya, of all people, might understand my words. That was why I had tried to say it for the first time.
“...!”
But it wouldn't come out.
While clamping my hands over my mouth to fight the nausea, I felt like my head was about to explode.
Why? The words declaring I was from another world… they wouldn't leave my lips. I couldn't tell Ariya.
I felt a pressure, as if someone was forcibly preventing me from speaking.
In the grip of an unprecedented sensation I couldn't resist in the slightest, I was overwhelmed just by the effort of accepting the Mandrake’s energy.
…….
After that, I focused all my attention on steadying my body, and no more words were exchanged between Ariya and me.
I had no idea how much time passed.
Even the purpose of my visit to the Mage Tower had completely faded into the background.
The thought of seducing Ariya to win her heart had been pushed aside by the desperate need to somehow endure the Mandrake.
And now.
My entire body was sapped of strength, as if every ounce of energy had been drained, and my mind was just… blank.
“Hah…”
Even as I let out a shallow breath, my vision was so unfocused that I couldn't even properly fix my gaze.
I just wanted to let everything go.
It was hard enough just to endure and process the Mandrake, but my mind was also reeling from a truth that was even harder to accept. I felt like I was overloading.
*Rustle.*
“That’s enough. Han Cheon-seong, for now, just think about resting.”
Her calm, lovely voice rang out, and my gaze drifted dazedly toward Ariya, but her silver hair was just a blurry, white smudge.
*Click.*
I heard the sound of Ariya walking away, but I couldn't do anything.
My body felt like it was floating, and my senses were strange, as if a bizarre heat and a chilling cold coexisted within me.
At some point, the nausea subsided, but the extreme fatigue was so overwhelming that even my blurred vision didn't clear up.
“……”
As I watched Ariya leave the space, my eyes closed on their own.
Pushing all complicated thoughts aside, I just wanted to rest.
***
*Rustle.*
Ariya picked up a stabilizing potion from a nearby room, shaking her head.
“Seeing him in such pain, it’s hard for me to do anything more.”
It was difficult to press him for the answer I hadn't received or to ask anything else.
I could see with my own eyes that he was barely holding on, treading a fine line.
I had certainly given him the Mandrake as a reward, but I never imagined he would try to endure it to such an extent.
‘My plan was to soothe him and erase the distance between us, like with Esia…’
But since he was enduring it so tenaciously, I couldn't bring myself to forcibly interfere.
*Rustle.*
When she returned with the potion, she saw Han Cheon-seong, unconscious as expected.
He was slumped against the sofa with his eyes closed, and she clicked her tongue without realizing it.
*Clink.*
She placed the potion on the table and gently sat down beside him. Then, she carefully surveyed the scene.
But there was no foul stench or vomit like she had expected.
He just looked like he had lost consciousness.
“You really endured it.”
She muttered, a dry laugh escaping her lips.
She had expected him to either vomit from being unable to bear it or lose consciousness and unconsciously expel the Mandrake’s properties.
But it seemed he was absorbing the Mandrake's properties with his own energy, which was simply dumbfounding.
“……”
She considered waking him to give him the potion, but seeing him sleeping peacefully with soft breaths, she decided to let him rest for a while.
*Rustle.*
Resting her chin on the table, she narrowed her eyes.
His face, visible through his disheveled black hair, was slick with sweat and showed clear signs of exhaustion. His hands trembled slightly, and his faint, weak breaths were barely audible, a sight she found fascinating.
‘Can this really be called the domain of will?’
Now that she was observing Han Cheon-seong closely, all sorts of thoughts came to mind.
Is it possible for a human to accept a Mandrake? Of course, she didn't think it was impossible for *all* humans.
But several conditions had to be met first.
A human whose body was perfected with complete power, one who possessed a certain stature as a being, could accept a Mandrake.
Such a human wouldn't have struggled like Han Cheon-seong just did.
However, that made one thing certain.
“Han Cheon-seong shouldn't have been able to withstand it.”
By that standard, Han Cheon-seong’s body was not one that could accept it.
To put it metaphorically, it was like pouring an excessive amount of water into the vessel that was Han Cheon-seong. So much water that it wouldn't have mattered if the overflow spilled everywhere.
I had thought he would only need to accept as much of the Mandrake as he could handle.
But in reality, Han Cheon-seong had tried to contain several times more water than his vessel could hold, and unbelievably, he had managed to absorb several times the amount of the Mandrake's energy into his body.
“I just don’t get it.”
Still finding it incomprehensible, she lightly flicked her fingers.
*Snap!*
With a crisp sound, a cool breeze began to envelop Han Cheon-seong.
The gentle wind immediately started to wash away his sweat and any impurities. As it regulated his wildly fluctuating body temperature, a smile crept onto her lips.
‘Still, he definitely has talent.’
Though it wasn't a talent for mana, it was the power through which humans could grow the most.
Considering the power that was a trait unique to humans, Han Cheon-seong possessed a talent greater than anyone she had ever seen.
A willpower that transcended understanding.
“That’s why I gave him the mark, after all.”
A mentality that could endure the Nine Apostles couldn't possibly be ordinary. In a way, it felt right, yet it was a strange feeling.
She just sat there, watching him for ten minutes, then twenty, for nearly an hour, lost in various thoughts.
The human to whom she had given her mark.
He was worth that much, so she didn't feel that spending her time on him was a waste.
If anything, she felt a deep sense of regret.
‘I guess this is as far as we go today.’
It was obvious that Han Cheon-seong had reached his limit.
Looking at the state of his body, it seemed unlikely he could learn what she had intended to teach him on their first day.
‘Even if I were to restore his body, his mind wouldn’t be able to keep up.’
Humans were incredibly fragile, after all.
No matter how great their will, willpower was intangible and had clear limits.
It was like a string of a fixed length. It could certainly be stretched out, but it had a definite end.
If you ignored that and forced it, the mind could easily break. So pathetically… the mind shatters with such ease.
Moreover, a human who had just reached adulthood was mentally more immature than their body, so they couldn't be treated carelessly.
Even if Han Cheon-seong had just displayed a will strong enough to surprise her.
“Aftereffects will be inevitable.”
In that case, there was nothing more she could do today.
At that thought, she felt a renewed sense of regret, but a smile still graced her lips.
Really…
“What in the world are you?”
Objectively, he was a human with nothing. He didn't have a distinguished bloodline or a high-grade trait.
And yet, he possessed a strong will that even humans who had everything lacked.
It was as if a human with nothing was achieving it all on his own.
What was the driving force? What was the reason? Her curiosity soared.
He sparked so many curious thoughts within her, which was unusual.
Then, she slowly reached out her hand.
Just as she was thinking he was a human who had sparked her curiosity for the first time in a long while…
“Ah.”
Han Cheon-seong’s eyes suddenly opened, and she froze, slightly surprised, with her hand still outstretched.
‘Already?’
She wondered if he had already regained consciousness, but she didn't hesitate to continue reaching out.
*Rustle.*
***
“……”
Keeping his eyes closed, Cheon-seong simply wanted to rest completely.
His body was so terribly tired and exhausted that he wanted to fall asleep right then and there, but he couldn't.
His mind wouldn't allow it.
So he just lay there with his eyes closed. Just closing his eyes made his body feel much more comfortable.
*Click.*
When he realized Ariya had returned, he thought he should get up, but his body seemed to refuse.
His eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and his limp arms and legs just wanted to remain leaning as they were.
So, he found himself maintaining that posture.
A strange state, as if he were dazedly drifting in and out of sleep.
He heard Ariya’s words, but they went in one ear and out the other, his mind unable to process them properly.
How long had he been lying there with his eyes closed?
In a strange state of being conscious while practically asleep, Cheon-seong was finally able to gather his thoughts.
*Rustle.*
Just as he opened his eyes.
Through his gradually focusing vision, a pale white hand was reaching toward him.
“Ah.”
He opened his mouth in a daze, unable to understand.
Why was Ariya beside him? And why was she reaching for him now? None of it made sense.
*Rustle.*
But when her hand touched his hair, he flinched, yet accepted the touch.
*Swoosh.*
A hand gently stroking his hair.
…It was strangely soft, and it felt like he had received something he never expected.
“Don’t try to think too hard. For now, you can just rest with an easy mind.”
*Thump.*
Ariya’s voice was still cold.
Ever since they met today, her voice had never been anything but cold. Even when she was being kind to me, her tone remained chilly.
But that cold voice now…
It felt a little different.
A dissonant feeling, as if there was a small warmth within the coldness.
It was a contradiction, but strangely, every time her cool hand moved through his hair… he couldn't shake that contradictory thought.