The Grace of Holy Water

“Ugh…”

My head felt like it was about to split open. I instinctively ran my hands over my body.

There were no wounds. I’d been covered in injuries from my fight with Kirgas, yet now I was perfectly fine. A few scars remained, of course, but they were nothing compared to the damage I’d taken.

Even circulating mana felt completely normal. Usually after using One Flash, the pain made it almost impossible to cycle mana properly. But now…

A strange energy was flowing through me instead. It wasn’t just mana—it was purging impurities from my body and healing the damage.

Wait. Healing me?

My mind snapped into focus. I hadn’t taken any potions, so this kind of power could only mean…

“My holy water!”

I shot up from the ground. Something rolled against my foot with a glassy clink. My eyes followed the sound.

A transparent glass bottle filled with crystal-clear liquid that let you see straight through to the bottom.

The sacred energy radiating from it left no doubt—this was holy water.

But the bottle wasn’t full. Roughly half of it was gone.

Which meant about half of it was now inside me.

I recalled the last thing I saw before losing consciousness. There had definitely been a golden energy hovering in front of me. Looking back now, that must have been someone’s soul.

I couldn’t tell whose soul it was, but that soul had clearly fed me the holy water.

This was an experience I’d never encountered in the game.

In the first place, the game would never have let me make the decision to drink only half.

Regardless, I had consumed the holy water, and its aftereffects had pushed me into the third tier. The frailty penalty that had lingered in my traits was long gone.

My stats had risen significantly too.

I looked at the stats floating in the window and let a satisfied smile spread across my face.

Every stat had gone up by two, and mana had shot up by five after reaching the third tier. Strength, agility, and stamina had each gained an extra point thanks to the artifacts I was wearing.

On top of that, Composure had reached level three, while Equanimity, Patience, and Swordsmanship had all hit level two.

The skill levels were probably thanks to the fight with Kirgas rather than the holy water, but hey—good is good.

I dismissed the status window hovering in the air and rummaged through the luggage I’d left outside to check the time.

Nearly two full days had passed.

Considering I hadn’t even spent half a day in here before hunting Kirgas, I must have been unconscious for quite a while.

“Still, I won’t be late.”

The scheduled return to the academy was about three hours from now. It had taken me roughly five hours to gather my things and get here, so heading back now would give me plenty of time to spare.

“Since I’m already out here, maybe I should pick up a few things?”

I had the money that had come into my account for being the top freshman. I couldn’t sell the artifacts I was wearing, so I might as well use that.

With a light heart, I grabbed the holy water and left the dungeon.

“…So that’s what you bought?”

“Yes.”

Siren looked at me with an utterly fed-up expression.

“What the hell is that?”

She pointed at my mouth.

“Ginseng. First time seeing it?”

“It’s not my first time seeing it, but why are you munching on it on your way back?”

“They say it’s most effective if you consume it immediately after purchase?”

“No, I mean… Haah… Fine, let’s say that’s true.”

Siren clutched her head like a migraine had suddenly hit her.

I tilted my head, watching her. Was eating wild ginseng really that shocking? What’s with that reaction?

It’s not like the academy banned eating ginseng inside the grounds.

“Then what is this?!”

“This?”

Her eyes widened as she pointed at the shopping bag in my hand. The bag was packed full of medicine.

I glanced down at it and scratched my head. There was an inspection when entering the academy anyway—anything that wasn’t allowed would get caught. I didn’t understand why she was so interested.

Plus, it was written clearly on the outside.

“It’s a tonic. You’re looking right at it, so why ask?”

“…You’re actually insane. That’s not a tonic, it’s Viagra!”

“Why did you have to say it out loud?!”

Siren stared at me with a truly disgusted look for a moment.

“…Haah. Anyway, what exactly did you do while you were gone?”

“There shouldn’t have been any reports filed.”

“I’m not talking about the accident, idiot! You look guilty as hell, so clearly you did something else out there.”

Tsk. As expected from her. She’s way too good at leading questions.

To guide the conversation so naturally… Maybe my experience is still lacking.

“Stop making that weird face. It makes me want to smack you.”

“Can a professor even do that?”

“Want me to show you?”

“Violence off! I prefer conversation!”

When I desperately crossed my arms into an X to protect myself, Siren let out a small snort and lowered her fist.

“I was asking because I wanted to know how you jumped from the second tier to the third tier in the time you were gone.”

“…I’d like to ask how you even know that.”

“People like me can tell at a glance!”

Siren spoke as if it were nothing, but I knew it wasn’t nothing. Even my Eye of the Transcendent couldn’t easily observe higher tiers.

People at high tiers like her could probably see through someone’s rank at a glance. Or maybe only certain people like her had that ability.

Either way, it wasn’t something to mention so casually.

Yet Siren had said it lightly. Whether she didn’t want to burden a student with heavy information or whether her words were simply true, I couldn’t tell.

I snorted and shrugged.

“I just wandered around for two days and it happened?”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Thump!

“Ow, that’s unlucky.”

I got hit pretty good. Even though it was just a light flick to the forehead with her middle finger, the speed and power were absurd.

It really drove home just how skilled Siren was.

Separately from that realization—

“Aaaargh!”

“Hey, I went easy on you!”

It hurt. It hurt like hell.

I returned to my room, carefully rubbing my still-throbbing forehead with the egg.

Siren must have felt a little guilty about flicking me, because she’d gone and gotten an egg from somewhere and handed it over. She hits me and then takes care of me…

In many ways, she really didn’t match her nickname.

I admitted that my initial judgment of Siren after entering the game had been wrong.

I’d thought she simply loved fighting and only taught upperclassmen because she couldn’t spar with the lower years. But seeing her personality, that didn’t seem entirely accurate.

She acted rough, but the fact that she brought me an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠egg showed she was surprisingly considerate.

Someone like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that wouldn’t teach only high years just because fighting them was more satisfying. There had to be another reason.

“Sigh.”

Well, I didn’t need to dig any deeper than that.

I set down the egg Siren had given me and rummaged through the luggage I’d brought back.

Before returning to the academy, I had stopped by a shop popular with hunters and bought freshly stocked wild ginseng and viagra… no, tonic.

The ginseng was because I figured anything that improved the body would naturally help with virility. The tonic was because I fell for the salesman’s pitch.

Some people might click their tongues and ask who actually falls for a sales pitch, but I had seen it.

The salesman’s genuine, passionate sincerity!

The way he described the tonic’s effects with such sorrowful disappointment that no one was buying it had struck a chord in me as I was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠about to purchase the ginseng and made my wallet open on its own.

Of course, a considerable amount of money had been spent in the process, but that was fine.

Money is meant to flow. Wasn’t it better to use it like this, circulating it through society, rather than letting it sit and rot?

And if I could help that passionate salesman in the process, all the better.

…Okay, enough of that nonsense.

It was true the salesman’s pitch had tempted me, but the real reason I bought the tonic was the hope that trying it might offer a solution.

Erectile Dysfunction. This trait had no clear solution in the game. That was why I was trying tonics and searching for elixirs.

I had even consumed holy water, yet the erectile dysfunction showed no signs of improvement.

Since even that sacred holy water had no effect, one might think this tonic obviously wouldn’t work either. But let’s think about it the other way around.

All those expensive tonics might naturally have no effect. Was it because their efficacy was inferior to an elixir?

No. That wasn’t it.

It was because they weren’t the cure for this trait. While good tonics could build up immunity to illnesses, penalty traits usually had specific medicines designed to counter them.

For example, the ‘Nine Yin Severed Pulse’ trait was treated with yang-energy-rich tonics—especially elixirs from yang creatures like the Solar Fire Lotus.

For the common penalty of poison, there were antidotes or neutralizing agents with opposing properties.

So perhaps erectile dysfunction had a matching treatment as well?

With that thought in mind, I had bought this tonic.

I carefully unwrapped the packaging. Inside the container was a round medicinal pill.

Was it really just a simple medicine? I wasn’t sure.

With mixed feelings, I stared at the pill before tossing it into my mouth in one go.

The sensation of it sliding down my throat was vivid. After waiting for it to fully digest, I summoned the status window with a trembling hand.

And there it was.

“What the fuck?”