Elixir (3)
Elixir (3)
Hong Yeon-hwa was glaring at the hologram floating before her eyes.
A hologram displaying a scrolling message log. Her stare was intense enough to bore a hole through it, but the hologram remained unmoved.
"Staring at it won't make a reply appear, milady."
"I know."
Saturday afternoon. In preparation for the Tower Entry the following week, Hong Yeon-hwa had been refraining from any activity that would strain her body.
She had done only light stretching and had avoided all physical training. She was resting her mind as well, all to ensure she entered the Tower in optimum condition.
Which was why she could lie sprawled across her bed like this, blankly staring at a hologram. Occasionally she would toss and turn, then sit up and try meditating, only to find herself sneaking glances at the message log again.
For Eriel, who was handling minor household chores, the sight prompted an involuntary sigh.
She understood that attitude all too well—precisely because she was tasked with guarding and attending to Hong Yeon-hwa.
Eriel swallowed her sigh as she looked at Hong Yeon-hwa, still locked in her staring contest with the hologram, and spoke.
"...If you are that curious, why not simply go see him in person?"
Hong Yeon-hwa's shoulders flinched—an immediate, unreserved reaction. And her voice came out trembling, as if to confirm it.
"Wouldn't that be a bit much? I gave it to him, and now I'm showing up to check if he took it... Besides, he might just be asleep and unable to reply..."
"I fail to understand how you, milady, knowing full well why, can wage an unwinnable staring contest with a hologram."
"I wasn't having a staring contest."
"To be precise, you have been doing so ever since you returned to your quarters yesterday evening."
Hong Yeon-hwa's brow twitched. She turned her head and buried her face in the pillow. With that clear signal that she was done communicating, Eriel took her leave, this time not bothering to suppress a sigh.
The sound of footsteps receded. Sensing Eriel's presence fade as she went to find other tasks, Hong Yeon-hwa let out a sigh for no particular reason.
Languid sunlight streamed into the room. A gentle breeze accompanied it, as the window had been left open for ventilation.
The atmosphere was deeply peaceful. So peaceful it could manufacture drowsiness where none existed, prompting Hong Yeon-hwa to think about taking a nap. She adjusted her pillow and lay her head down.
...Truthfully, she wasn't sleepy.
Hong Yeon-hwa grimaced and flipped over. Her cheek squished against the pillow. She fidgeted restlessly for a moment, then stole a glance at her smartwatch.
No new messages. More precisely, no messages from the contact she had set an alarm for.
'Did he use it well?'
The elixir she had given Lee Ha-yul. She had told him it was just gathering dust in the family warehouse, that it was an investment, but it was still precious.
Those who awaken mana are called superhumans.
Among them, those who use their abilities for social contribution—such as slaying monsters and dealing with villains—are called 'heroes.'
There is also the title of hunter. These are also superhumans, but they focus more on exploring dungeons and ruins rather than exterminating monsters and villains.
Heroes and hunters. Many superhumans walk these two paths, but not all do.
Wherever you go, there are people who despise blood-soaked combat, and others whose talents bloom not in battle but elsewhere.
Alchemists were one such example.
Developing and producing medicines intended for superhuman consumption. The number of superhumans who specialize in alchemy and pharmacy is not large.
Moreover, those who have achieved mastery in the field are vanishingly few.
The Calamity Flame family held a position from which they could always receive elixirs from these vanishingly few talents.
The elixir given to Lee Ha-yul was among them—a precious elixir supplied roughly once a year and fed to the family's heir.
An elixir centered on the root of a fairy tree.
A fairy tree was a rare treasure so precious that a family accumulating virtue for three generations might not find a whole tree, and even finding a mere branch was considered heaven-sent luck.
The Calamity Flame family, having forged a deep bond with the Taesan family since the days of the progenitor, could acquire the ingredients with relative ease. That was why they received one or more elixirs every year.
Because Hong Yeon-hwa's Calamity Flame had bloomed to an unprecedented degree, she hadn't needed to consume all the elixirs supplied, leaving a surplus.
The efficacy was undeniable. Hong Yeon-hwa had taken it at least three or four times and felt it firsthand.
So she handed it over. She thought this was a crucial period for Lee Ha-yul, who was just beginning to grow.
She was certain it would have a positive effect on him as he rapidly developed.
'... Will he like it?'
While gloomily staring at the unrefreshed messages, she suddenly imagined the future, and a faint smile crept onto her lips.
She looked forward to Lee Ha-yul's reaction the next time they met. How would he react? Would he be astonished by the immense effect? Would he be endlessly grateful to her again?
"Ehehe..."
Or maybe, he would show her that smile again.
Her heart swelled with anticipation. Hong Yeon-hwa buried her face in the pillow, letting out a laugh.
* * *
'Ah, shit.'
My face automatically crumpled.
Feeling a foreign substance, I spat. Ptooey. Without fail, black blood splattered onto the floor.
Spitting on the floor of my own place. It was a filthy habit, beyond bad manners, but right now I didn't particularly care.
That was because the floor was already a bloodbath. Congealed blood had claimed the floorboards to the point where spitting on it dozens more times wouldn't be noticeable.
At a time like this, I felt just the slightest bit grateful that I had no sense of smell. At least I didn't have to smell the disgusting stench of blood.
'Augh...'
What kind of situation even was this.
Sitting blankly against the wall, I sank into contemplation.
I ingested the elixir, and then blood poured from my mouth. The amount gradually increased until I lost consciousness, and I only regained it after nearly an entire day.
Why? For what reason? I had no idea...
I was about to sigh, but instead used my fingers to scrape the dried blood scab from inside my mouth. Unable to spit it out, it had congealed in my mouth, hindering my breathing.
Even lifting a single finger felt like a struggle.
When I first tried to get up, I nearly collapsed right back down. The floor wasn't as slippery as I'd expected. Probably because the blood had dried.
The problem was my body. When I propped my upper body on my arms, I was half convinced I could manage, but the moment I tried to stand on my legs, my strength nearly gave out.
My body felt as heavy as cotton drenched in water. My reactions were sluggish, as if I had just woken up, and I couldn't muster any strength.
Since I found moving around too difficult right away, the best I could do was lean my back against the wall.
My physical state could be summed up as heavy. In contrast, my mana was churning and boiling.
The capacity of my mana core had increased so drastically that it was impossible to claim it was the same core as before.
If the previous capacity could be compared to a water droplet, now it had transformed into a cup of water.
My circuits had become unrecognizable. They had grown at least twice as thick and wide as before. The minute movements of mana felt foreign to me now.
On top of that, new circuits had formed. Because they had opened up between the existing circuits, even denser mana circulation was now possible.
Though all I felt right now was heaviness, my body had changed too.
It seemed my body had received positive effects during the process of ingesting the elixir and absorbing its mana.
As for my current physical condition, I could only guess that it was a backlash from the sudden growth.
It was an absurd transformation. I couldn't stop marveling at the fact that a single elixir had brought about this much change.
How was it in the original story? Honestly, I didn't remember because you usually didn't stop at just one dose back then. I didn't even know if I could compare the stats here to those from the original story...
Because of all that, I couldn't use magic right now. The preposterously inflated mana capacity and quality, the changes in my core and circuits.
Reckless manipulation of mana probably wouldn't have a good effect. That must be what the advice to "harmonize" for a day or two meant.
For now, I limited myself to gently soothing the elixir's energy so it could properly settle into my body.
'... And what was that.'
While I sat against the wall, blankly sorting through my thoughts, I recalled the dream I had just before waking.
Actually, 'recalled' wasn't quite the right word. They say dreams are like that, but I couldn't remember it clearly after I opened my eyes.
Just... I had a vague, hazy memory of a dreamlike forest, some floating light clusters. Nothing more came to mind no matter how hard I tried.
'I have no clue.'
I didn't know what any of this meant. Was this what normally happened every time you took an elixir? I felt like it probably wasn't...
Unable to hide my bewilderment, I took in the information about my room through my Spatial Perception.
A carpet of black blood, congealed after devouring well over half the floor...
'Eugh.'
A sigh automatically escaped me. I wanted nothing more than to just close my eyes, but I couldn't leave this mess unattended.
Fortunately, this disaster was easy to clean up. I had forgotten until now, but the dormitory rooms came equipped with various convenience magics.
When I activated the built-in Purification and Cleaning magic, the bloodstains covering the floor vanished cleanly. Hooray for magic.
I staggered to my feet and washed my body in the shower. While I was blankly letting the warm water run over me, a jolt of alarm hit—I felt like I might fall asleep on the spot—so I hurriedly washed off just the blood and got out.
I threw on a white gown I'd never worn before. The texture was soft and cozy, deeply satisfying. Maybe it felt even nicer because it was against bare skin.
The room was now clear of all bloodstains. I left a window open for ventilation. Though I couldn't smell anything with my sense of smell sealed away, I still felt a sense of unpleasantness lingering.
I'd felt this ever since that time with Professor Atra, but I didn't understand how I was even sensing this unpleasantness.
It was true that both Professor Atra and Professor Liana had drunk alcohol the day before, but they had both washed properly and used cleaning magic or similar to completely erase any scent.
How this body of mine perceived that and reacted was a mystery.
'I'll think about it later.'
My head hurt after just a moment of deep thought. I had a fever too. Dragging my feet, I headed for the living room sofa.
Even if I couldn't smell it, I didn't want to fall asleep in a room that felt unpleasant.
After grabbing a suitable blanket, I collapsed onto the sofa. With the blanket draped over me, it made a fairly decent bed.
'Let's sleep just a bit...'
Even though I'd been unconscious for a full day, I was still tired. They say sleep is the best medicine for illness. Just a quick nap, then I'll wake up and think things through...
...
- Bringgg! Bringgg! Bringgg!
Just as I was about to drift off, an alarm went off. A series of alarms.
'Ugh.'
I grimaced and tapped my smartwatch. I had been about to drift off, and now a string of alarms was going off. What kind of timing was this...
A hologram blinked to life.
[Monday AM 6:40]
Strange text appeared. I scratched my head for a moment and checked my Spatial Perception. After confirming there were no anomalies, I tried parsing the hologram again.
Monday, AM, 6:40.
Monday... The day I was scheduled for the Tower of Growth.
'Ah...'
Was I experiencing hallucinations through my Spatial Perception too? Or was I still dreaming? Had my smartwatch broken?
I fell into serious thought.
The alarm rang on, oblivious. Reality strode up to me.
The aftermath of a weekend in which I had failed to make any proper preparations.
The day of the Tower Entry had dawned.