Six Months Later.
Adrian just sat quietly right on the edge of his bed.
He stared straight down at his own two hands resting in his lap. He slowly opened and closed his fingers to feel the smooth and painless stretch of his muscles. Then he let out a very soft sigh and tightly clenched both of his hands into fists.
Because there was absolutely no pain right now. And there hadn’t been any real pain for the past six months either.
But the reason he felt completely different today was because of something else entirely. So he looked right up and stared straight ahead.
He was looking directly at something that no one else in this entire world could actually see. Three system notifications were just hovering right in front of his face.
[Mana Heart has been successfully healed.]
[System Online.]
[All System Skills Reinitiated.]
Adrian just looked at the glowing blue text. And a massive and totally genuine smile completely broke across his face. He just couldn’t help it.
It had taken him six long months of just sitting in this bed to finally fix the microscopic cracks in his Mana Heart. The first phase was finally over.
But that wasn’t the end of the road at all. There was still a whole lot of stuff left to do.
So he didn’t waste a single second.
’Dungeon Link.’ Adrian commanded mentally.
And he instantly felt a very familiar invisible connection snap into place.
He reached right under his mattress and grabbed the stacked wooden runic array that Caelum had carved for him months ago. He casually tossed it straight into his dungeon.
’System.’ Adrian ordered. ’Take that parallel runic array. Use all of the stuff we stole from the Royal Library and completely optimize it. Give me the best version of this array you can possibly make for increased mana absorption efficiency.’
He paused his thoughts for a second.
’And do not worry about the material costs.’ Adrian added. ’Just tell me what resources you actually need to build the perfect version. And I will get the dungeon to spawn them right now.’
[Affirmative.]
[Running simulations. Calculating optimal runic pathways.]
Adrian just sat there and waited patiently. And exactly two minutes later, the blue screen suddenly flashed.
[Optimal array calculated. For maximum structural efficiency and conductivity, the array must be forged entirely from pure Mithril.]
So Adrian immediately got his dungeon to make the mithril without thinking too much about it.
[Consuming 50 Mana]
[Synthesising 50 kg of Mithril.]
[Constructing Parallel Runic Array.]
Just ten seconds later, another screen popped up right in front of his face.
[Creation Complete.]
[Array efficiency increased by 50x compared to the original wooden base model.]
[Estimated time required for complete recovery of shattered Mana Veins: 52 Hours.]
Adrian immediately pulled the brand new item directly out of his dungeon storage.
And a thick and gleaming plate just dropped heavily onto his mattress.
Unlike the bulky wooden board that Caelum had made, this new Mithril array was incredibly dense but thin. It had six completely separate and extremely thin plates layered directly on top of each other. But despite all that massive complexity, the overall thickness of the metal runic array was actually much thinner than the original wooden version.
Adrian grabbed the metal array and shoved it right under his mattress.
He laid down flat on his back and completely closed his eyes. And he immediately began using his mana breathing method.
Then, in just five minutes of active breathing, he could feel exactly how terrifyingly efficient this new array actually was.
This was not a general purpose enhancement array. The original wooden board had just helped him suck more ambient mana right into the room. But this Mithril version was oddly specific.
It forcefully grabbed the ambient mana straight from the atmosphere and aggressively shoved it right into his body.
Adrian didn’t even have to actively control the flow. Because the Mithril array completely controlled the raw mana and steered it straight into his shattered Mana Veins. It was forcefully fixing the cracked veins back together with extreme precision.
It was perfect in that regard.
But there was one massive and horrifying drawback.
It really hurt.
It hurt so incredibly bad that Adrian almost bit his own tongue right off.
The array was built purely for maximum speed and efficiency. So the system had completely ignored the fact that he was actually a human being with a central nervous system who could feel pain.
The raw agony of his veins being forcefully pulled together was worse than the blinding pain he felt when he experienced Hugo’s full body healing months ago.
But Adrian didn’t stop at all.
He just gritted his teeth hard and dug his fingernails right into the bedsheets. He withstood the agonizing process for a full hour, and then he finally cut the magical connection and sat straight up on the bed.
He was completely drenched.
Cold sweat dripped right down his chest and totally soaked his trousers. It wasn’t from physical exertion either. It was purely from his body reacting to the overwhelming pain.
He aggressively unbuttoned his soaked tunic and pulled it right over his head. He used the dry parts of the fabric to quickly wipe the sweat off his face and neck. Then he just tossed the wet shirt right onto the floorboards.
He pushed himself off the bed and walked straight out of the bedroom. And he headed right for the guest room next door.
That was exactly where Lorcan had stayed during the first few weeks of his recovery. But now, it had basically been converted into a massive playroom and bedroom for Aria and Serena.
The two of them had gotten incredibly close over the past six months of just being stuck in Draven’s mansion.
Claire had actually stepped right up and built a strict daily routine for Aria just to keep the kid focused. Aria would spend six full hours down in the basement doing physical combat training. Then she got four hours to just play and be a totally normal kid with Serena. The rest of the day was split between sleeping and just hanging out inside Adrian’s room.
Sometimes Serena and Claire would pull wooden chairs right up to his bed, and the four of them would just goof around. They would tell stories and make stupid jokes while talking about what happened in the town that day.
But it was mostly just Adrian listening to them talk.
He didn’t exactly have any fun stories to share. Because his entire daily routine literally consisted of lying flat on his back and just trying not to scream while he healed.
But that was exactly how they had safely passed the last six months.
Adrian forcefully pushed the guest room door open and walked right inside.
Aria and Serena were sitting cross legged on a thick rug. They were playing with some stuffed toys, and Aria was controlling a stuffed bear to lift a small wooden toy cup.
The bear gave the cup to a pink and bipedal dog doll that was weirdly skinny. The dog grabbed the cup and awkwardly brought it right to its mouth.
And the exact moment Adrian walked in, they both completely froze.
They looked right up at him. And both of their faces instantly flushed bright red.
It wasn’t really because he was shirtless, at least not for Aria. To her, it was just totally embarrassing to be caught actually enjoying playing something like this.
But for Serena, it was something else entirely.
Aria quickly dropped her stuffed doll right into her lap and hugged the bear tightly. And Serena just awkwardly tossed her own doll to the side. She frantically tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her skirt, refusing to make eye contact with him.
But Adrian didn’t even care about being shirtless. He just gave them both a very serious look.
"I am going to lock the door to my room." Adrian told them. "I need to focus on healing for the next two or three days straight since I feel like I will finally be able to fix my Mana Veins in this time. I don’t want distractions, even the pleasant ones."
Serena just looked up and gave him a serious nod.
But Aria just gave him a massive and totally exaggerated pout.
She stared at him for a few long seconds while puffing her cheeks out. And then she just dropped the pout completely.
"Promise me you will play with me after the three days are over." Aria demanded.
And Adrian just couldn’t help but chuckle.
"I promise I will play with you." Adrian smiled down at her. "And let’s have a massive feast once I am finally healed up."
Aria’s eyes instantly lit up and she nodded excitedly.
"Can I cook this time?" Aria asked while bouncing eagerly on her knees. "I want to help make the feast!"
Adrian thought about it for a few seconds. Because letting a six year old anywhere near a hot cooking stove was usually a really bad idea.
"Okay, sure." Adrian agreed. "But you have to do exactly what I tell you to do in the kitchen. Cooking is dangerous if you do not know what you are doing."
Aria just grinned widely.
She stood up and ran straight over to him. She threw her small arms right around his waist and Adrian crouched down to match her height and hugged her right back.
"I hope you heal completely in these three days, Papa." Aria mumbled quietly into his bare shoulder. "I really miss playing properly with you."
Adrian just gently patted the back of her head.
"We will have our normal playtime back soon." Adrian promised her softly. "And we will be going right back to Oresfall too.
"I am pretty sure that you miss home."
[A/N: For the past few days, you might have noticed that I’ve not been consistent. A comment pointed it out too. And... I apologise for that. No matter how much I push myself, i’m just unable to write too much. I feel like i’m affecting the quality too but that’s something you should judge, not me. Idk if it’s writer’s block or just the stuff happening around me rn but it’s hard to come up with interesting things. I shouldn’t yap too much here so... I’m thinking of setting a goal for myself. Starting small, i’m gonna try and hit 300 total Chapters by the end of this month. Hopefully this goal will push me into writing more.]