Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 92
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 92
As soon as Lion put his finger to the reward collection button, something dropped out of thin air.
[Item is being re-bound.]
[Item has been stored in the inventory.]
Lion caught the object reflexively and tilted his head at the feel of it.
It was an overwhelmingly familiar sensation.
Round, smooth, and slightly cool…
“A bottle?”
This… This was a potion bottle, wasn’t it?
Lion lowered his gaze and studied the glass bottle resting between his hands.
‘But…’
Unlike any bottle he’d seen before, this one was extremely worn-out and battered.
Fortunately it wasn’t cracked or broken, so the contents were unlikely to leak, but…
If this truly was a bottle meant to hold a potion, no alchemist would ever use it.
The bottle was that shabby.
To top it off, it was completely empty, not a trace of anything inside.
It was enough to make you think, ‘Isn’t this just a dud reward?’
“…”
Even so, Lion silently observed the bottle.
For a long, long while.
Lion felt an enormous sense of wrongness.
And as if confirming his suspicion, a belated additional notification appeared.
[Cannot currently identify the item.]
It was a notification he’d never even heard during his time playing the game.
‘Can’t identify it?’
He’d definitely obtained the item, and it had even been bound to him.
Moreover, if it was a “re-binding,” that was clearly the same phenomenon as when he’d gotten the Ability Blocking Accessory Set.
That meant it belonged to his main character—or one of his alternate characters.
But he couldn’t identify what it was?
Not even through the Expert’s Eye could he see any information.
Just in case, he concentrated mana into his eyes and used the enhanced version of Expert’s Eye, but he still couldn’t see anything.
“…”
Lion pulled a random item from his inventory and examined it.
[Mellow Grass (★★)]
-The sweet white fruit is soft and a little chewy, just like cotton wool.
-It would taste even better grilled, wouldn’t it?
-Price: starting at 300 Shillings
[Usages - Food, Potions]
[☞ Click to view recipe.]
Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the Expert’s Eye itself.
That meant this shabby old bottle was an item of an astonishingly high grade.
So high that he couldn’t glean even a sliver of information!
Lion’s indifferent expression slowly turned serious.
There was definitely something.
The Bydantis Family Necklace at least had revealed basic information.
But this one gave him absolutely nothing to go on.
In fact, this was similar—yes.
It resembled when his level was too low to detect Flame Grass.
So since he couldn’t gain any information right now, should he give up and just stash it away for the time being?
“No.”
Lion moistened his lips with his tongue and the corner of his mouth curled up.
There was still a method left.
You’re asking, “How, when you couldn’t confirm anything with basic reinforcement?”
That would be…
‘The three basic magics.’
The spells he’d learned when he mastered the First Circle.
Of those three, he planned to use Self-Enhancement Magic.
Elvia or his grandfather would likely have said it was the wrong choice if they’d read his thoughts.
After all, it was just a spell a First Circle master could learn.
It only made you “a little bit” stronger.
Meaning it wasn’t much different from focusing mana directly into his eyes.
But—
“What if I have this?”
Lion took out his staff.
[House Asteri ■■■wood St■ff?]
-A wand used by the Grand Magus Petrick Asteri in the days when he traveled with the Hero.
-Size adjustable.
-Has high mana conductivity, is harder than iron, and facilitates explosive firepower and mana control… but the time has come to let it go.
-※Caution※: The staff will be destroyed after 3 uses of magic.
-When the staff is destroyed, the user will be rendered “safe”.
With this staff, there was no way he’d only trigger a First Circle level of Self-Enhancement Magic—he couldn’t say for sure, but he felt confident.
Lion gripped the staff lightly and closed his eyes.
He poured mana into the staff as much as it could hold, then swung it freely through the air as if conducting.
It was different from what ordinary mages did.
No incantation, no unraveling of formulas.
He simply linked the mana structures that rose in his mind, connecting them to one another.
[Self-Enhancement Magic is activated.]
[Due to the current weapon’s effect, Self-Enhancement Magic increases by two stages!]
[Strain may be placed on the caster’s eyes. Proceed with caution.]
Wooooong—.
As if sensing its master’s will, the staff gave off an extremely calm resonance, then fell silent.
‘I didn’t fail.’
Crack…
Another fine fissure joined the already cracked staff, and
-The staff will be destroyed after 2 uses of magic.
a notification sounded that the count had been reduced.
A clean success.
Flash!
When Lion opened his eyes, a strong mana light was swirling within them.
Those eyes did not belong to an ordinary person.
His pupils were like the abyssal canyons of a pitch-black sea, and the irises, glowing a brilliant violet, churned with mana like a colossal vortex.
They were sharper than the Sage’s Clairvoyance said to see through all things, and shone brighter than the greedy eyes of dragons that were said to have gone extinct.
They were not the gentle eyes Lion usually had.
This was surely…
[The ‘Expert’s Eye’ skill is being greatly enhanced!]
[Remaining Time: 1 minute 30 seconds]
[You will gain information about things you dare not know at present!]
[Please be careful of physical and mental shock.]
“Hm.”
Lion lightly shook his head at the sight distorted from the norm.
‘This is no joke.’
Lion forced himself to ignore the pain aching in his eyes and head.
The staff’s effect was truly remarkable.
To use enhancement magic of this magnitude… he suspected you’d need to be at least a 6th Circle mage.
Of course, his own level was so insignificant that the time limit was short and it seemed to be putting severe strain on his body.
‘Let’s look quickly and end this.’
Lion picked up the bottle he’d left aside and examined it again.
And then.
[Old Bottle (??)]
He couldn’t read it clearly, but a partial set of information came through.
Frowning, Lion slowly followed the revealed information with his eyes.
The information seemed to be written out character by character, and the letters appeared slowly, sometimes blurred into an unreadable form.
-None of any ■■ that belongs to this world will know the existence of this bottle.
‘Stay calm.’
Time flowed on ruthlessly.
But Lion concentrated without losing focus.
-Inside the bottle is filled with the ■■ of ■■■.
-If placed into a ■, you will be able to use the power of ■■.
-Seal (5th stage) currently applied.
‘If it’s a seal…’
It was definitely related to divine power.
Normally, a seal was used to lock away demonic objects or the core itself along with a price.
‘But a 5th stage?’
As far as Lion—no, as far as Baek Yi-hyeon knew, the highest stage of sealing was the 3rd stage.
Didn’t even that require an enormous sacrifice?
“Then what in the world is a 5th stage…”
At what price, and to seal what exactly…?
-※Warning※: Do not open ■■ until all preparations are complete.
Bzzzt!
The slowly forming letters suddenly sped past as if someone had frantically scribbled them down.
At the same time, a massive pain shot through his eyes, as if he had glimpsed something he was not meant to see.
-※Warning※: Do not open ■■ until all ■paration■ ■■ complete.
-※Warning※: Do not op■ ■■ until all ■paration■ ■■…
“Uggh!”
The same phrases came up in quick succession, obscuring his vision.
It was like the notification window had glitched out.
Lion hurriedly shut his eyes.
He was certain that if he opened his eyes now, he’d be devoured by that dense feast of characters.
Even so, the warnings kept flooding into his eyes and mind.
At that moment—
[‘Companion Spirit’ Nature blocks your vision.]
Not the usual short wings, but massive wings touched the corners of Lion’s eyes.
Even with the different size, he could tell. This was certainly Nature’s power.
A soft and abundant essence of nature covered his face, absorbing the shock.
His remaining mana was sucked out in one go, but his body actually felt more comfortable.
And then a few seconds later.
[The enhancement of the ‘Expert’s Eye’ skill has ended.]
Luckily, the Expert’s Eye enhancement ended right on time.
The light faded and the notifications disappeared without a trace.
The same went for the information about the bottle.
“…”
Only then did Lion slowly open his eyes.
His blurry vision gradually regained focus.
‘That was almost a disaster.’
A chill ran down his spine. He understood firsthand why mages who dabbled in forbidden magic went mad.
“Thank you.”
“Peep…”
Nature, who had returned to its small size at some point, had exhausted itself and lay sprawled on the bed.
Its wings gave a slight flutter as if to say it had succeeded, then it went still.
[‘Companion Spirit’ Nature falls into a deep sleep.]
[Spirit Art proficiency has reached Apprentice Lv.6.]
It seemed it had used up a great deal of its strength.
It might not wake for several days.
Lion carefully covered Nature with the blanket and got up.
“No injuries?”
He walked over to the mirror.
Fortunately, he looked fine.
He wasn’t bleeding anywhere.
Only his pupils were a little dilated, from having seen something he’d never experienced.
[You have safely wielded magic beyond what is imaginable at your current circle!]
[As a result of this phenomenon, a second circle is forming in your heart.]
[You have earned the achievement ‘Exceptional from the Start’.]
[You have acquired 3,000 Shillings.]
“Hoo.”
Only then did Lion feel relieved and sink back onto the bed.
[You have drawn a little closer to the truth of a new world.]
[Expert’s Eye is growing.]
“…”
That truth seemed pretty spicy, didn’t it?
Grumbling inwardly, Lion slowly went over the information he’d glimpsed moments ago.
“First and foremost, this is a sealed bottle.”
And one with a seal as high as the 5th stage, at that.
It was a level of seal he’d never even seen while playing the game.
The moment the seal broke, trouble was bound to follow.
That was probably why those warning notifications kept popping up.
It was a bit like seeing countless warnings plastered all over a nuclear waste storage facility.
Now that he knew its nature, he had absolutely no intention of opening the lid.
Lion shuddered and shoved the item as far back into his inventory as possible.
It was called a reward, but it didn’t feel much like one.
‘And besides, “power”…’
What on earth would I do with power in a peaceful world like this?
But—
‘I’ll need to look into the seal and divine power.’
One person came to Lion’s mind.
It was the young priest who had checked his body at the orphanage—Licht.