Chương 51: One Point at a Time

The system waited until the Firian leader disappeared before filling Sieghart's vision with notifications. Messages overlapped across the smoking crater, forcing him to dismiss several before he could see his grandfather clearly. Black Magic had received more experience from that single death than it gained throughout the entire battle. [Black Magic has reached Level 5.] Something stirred inside Sieghart.

The sensation spread through every elemental path at once, making the nearby water, wind, fire, and loose earth feel more responsive. His control became sharper despite his exhausted mind. Sieghart ignored it. Black Magic could have reached Level One Hundred, and he still wouldn't have cared while Edric remained unconscious beneath his hands. He pressed two fingers against his grandfather's neck again.

The pulse remained present, but it was weak enough that Sieghart struggled to distinguish it from the trembling in his own fingers. Another message appeared. [New Spell Created: Giant Fireball.] [Magic increased by 2.] Sieghart stared at the notification.

"Why now?" He had used Giant Fireball before receiving the message. The final attack wasn't the first time either, since he had destroyed the boulder at the farm by creating increasingly powerful versions of Fireball. Something had changed. Sieghart focused upon the wording. The message didn't say that he had learned Giant Fireball. It said that he created it. The distinction mattered. Flame had appeared when Sieghart first understood how anger ignited mana.

Fireball emerged after he gave that flame rotation, expansion, and a stable shape. The system recognized those discoveries only after Sieghart performed them successfully. It hadn't given him instructions or placed completed spells inside his mind. He created both techniques. Black Magic reaching Level Five probably removed some hidden limitation, allowing the system to recognize a larger and more advanced version as a separate spell.

That meant Sieghart didn't need to perform mysterious predetermined tasks to unlock every ability. He could design spells by understanding the desired effect and forcing his mana to reproduce it. The system wasn't a list of fixed rewards. It was recording what he developed. That revelation should have been exciting. Under different circumstances, Sieghart might have spent days testing how many new spells he could create through combinations and altered structures. Now, it offered only one question.

Could he create healing magic? Sieghart dismissed every notification and looked at Edric's back. The burns remained severe, and several damaged areas still released uncomfortable heat. Healing should be possible. The Firians had restored muscles, skin, and blood vessels within seconds by directing heat through their bodies. Their method was unnatural and dangerous, but it proved that supernatural recovery existed. Sieghart didn't need to understand their forbidden transformation.

He only needed to create his own version. He placed both hands near Edric's shoulders and activated White Magic. Protection spread across Sieghart's skin as usual, but he refused to let it remain there. During the explosion, a thin section of the spell had extended beyond his body while he covered Edric. The layer hadn't been strong enough to stop the fireball, yet it protected his grandfather from falling fragments afterward. Sieghart had used Protection on someone else.

The effect had been weak and accidental, but it proved that support magic could cross between bodies. Mana that defended another person should also be capable of helping them recover. Sieghart focused upon Edric. A faint layer of Protection formed across the old man's skin. It flickered several times before stabilizing, reducing the heat and preventing dust from reaching the exposed wounds. The spell didn't heal anything. It confirmed that Sieghart could place White Magic upon him.

Healing had to be another step beyond that. Sieghart told himself to think quickly. The battle continued around them, and nothing guaranteed that another Firian wouldn't reach their position. He started with the emotional method that unlocked his first spells. Fire responded to anger. Water responded to serenity. Protection responded to his need for independence and safety. Healing might require compassion. Sieghart focused upon the desire to help Edric.

He remembered every meal his grandfather prepared, every lesson on the farm, and every book purchased without complaint. Mana gathered around his hands. Nothing else happened. Sieghart tried imagining himself injured and alone. He concentrated upon self-pity, hoping that the emotion might create a technique designed to restore his body. The result was equally useless.

"Apparently, feeling sorry for myself isn't magical. Fuck…" He attempted generosity next. Sieghart imagined giving health, strength, and comfort to someone else. The thought felt vague and artificial, producing no meaningful change. He tried kindness, gratitude, hope, and several other emotional concepts that sounded appropriate for healing. None gave the mana a usable form.

"This sentimental bullshit isn't working." Edric didn't respond. Sieghart's frustration intensified. He had created Fireball by understanding what the mana needed to do, not merely through emotion. Anger provided the ignition, but the spell required rotation and expansion. Water Creation depended upon calmness while still demanding a clear image of water emerging from mana. An emotion opened the path. Understanding shaped the result. Sieghart stopped trying to feel like a saint and examined the problem practically.

Protection placed mana around the body to prevent damage. Healing needed mana to enter the body and repair damage already inflicted. He moved the protective layer inward. The spell resisted. Protection was designed to cover skin, muscles, and bones from the outside. Pushing it deeper made the mana lose structure before reaching Edric's wounds. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Sieghart tried again.

He concentrated upon the damaged tissue and attempted to force the mana directly into it. The burns didn't react. Naturally, it failed. Sieghart had no idea how to rebuild flesh cell by cell. Even infinite mana couldn't follow instructions that didn't exist. He knew only the most basic facts about healing from Earth. The body repaired itself gradually. Blood carried oxygen, nutrients, immune components, and whatever else damaged tissue needed to survive. Sieghart couldn't remember the complicated biological terms.

He had never studied medicine beyond the lessons required at school. He understood enough to know that blood connected the entire body. The heart sent it everywhere. That provided a path. Sieghart recalled Mana Transfusion. The spell allowed him to give mana to magical tools by matching the flow required by their runes. Edric possessed no runes, but his body already contained a network designed to distribute resources. Sieghart focused upon giving. Not generosity as an emotion. Transmission as a physical act.

He placed one hand over Edric's heart and the other against the side of his neck, where the pulse remained weakest. Sieghart released a tiny amount of mana. The energy entered Edric before losing structure. Sieghart followed it with his concentration, preventing it from dispersing completely. He sent another thread. Then another. Slowly, the mana gathered around the old man's beating heart. Sieghart made it stir. He didn't attempt to control the blood directly.

Doing so without knowledge could stop Edric's heart or damage vessels already weakened by the burns. Instead, he allowed each heartbeat to carry a small amount of mana through the body. Pulse. Mana spread into the chest and shoulders. Pulse. It traveled along the arms, neck, and damaged back. Pulse. The energy weakened as it moved, but Sieghart replaced it continuously. Every heartbeat distributed another wave. He imagined the mana supporting the natural work already occurring within Edric.

It wasn't creating new flesh from nothing. It was giving the body energy to repair itself. Sieghart felt a response. The mana traveling through Edric's blood changed. White Magic gave it a gentler, warmer quality unlike the elemental paths of Black Magic. The system appeared. [Support Magic has developed a new branch.] [Healing Branch unlocked.] [New Spell Created: First Aid.] [First Aid — Level 1 +1 Resistance] [Effect: Restores 1 Health per second.] One point. Sieghart almost laughed.

Edric had suffered burns across most of his back. A spell restoring one point of Health every second sounded painfully inadequate. It was still more than zero. Sieghart activated First Aid. White light spread beneath both palms before entering Edric's body. The spell followed the path Sieghart established through his circulation, distributing restorative mana with every heartbeat. The wounds reacted. Nothing dramatic happened.

Destroyed skin didn't reappear instantly, and the burns didn't vanish beneath a convenient flash of light. The changes occurred slowly. Bleeding from the cracked wounds diminished first. The inflamed edges became slightly less swollen, while the angry red color surrounding the burns began fading. It was working. Sieghart increased the mana flowing into the spell. First Aid continued restoring one point per second. More power didn't bypass the skill's limitations.

The spell possessed a structure, and forcing additional mana through it only made that structure harder to control. Sieghart changed his approach. Instead of increasing raw output, he focused upon improving distribution. He guided the mana toward the worst injuries and attempted to prevent any energy from dispersing through undamaged areas. The efficiency improved slightly. Edric's burns remained resistant. Severe burns were complicated injuries.

The damaged tissue continued holding heat, circulation around some sections had weakened, and large areas of skin could no longer perform their ordinary functions. Sieghart suspected the burns were reducing the spell's effectiveness by at least half. First Aid restored one point every second under ideal conditions. These conditions were terrible. He faced another decision. Should he continue using the reliable spell, or attempt to create something specifically designed for burns?

A specialized technique could remove trapped heat, restore damaged skin, and improve the healing effect. Developing it might save Edric faster. It could also waste precious time. Sieghart had needed several attempts merely to understand First Aid. Creating a more advanced spell while exhausted and surrounded by battle sounded reckless. Every second spent experimenting was another second Edric remained close to death. Sieghart chose reliability.

"First, you stay alive. I can figure out how to make you look better again later." Edric didn't react to the joke. Sieghart placed both hands flat against the safest sections of his grandfather's back. He activated First Aid through each palm and attempted to divide the spell. The strain increased immediately. Casting the same technique twice wasn't identical to doubling its strength. Sieghart had to maintain two healing patterns, guide them through different sections, and prevent their flows from interfering.

His Mentality had improved through Mana Transfusion. Black Magic Level Five had sharpened his general control but only for that aspect. The task remained difficult. Sieghart clenched his teeth and continued. Two currents of White Magic entered Edric. One focused upon his upper back and shoulders, while the other supported his heart, lungs, and damaged side. The healing rate increased. Not perfectly. Some mana overlapped, and part of the second current dispersed before reaching the wounds.

Sieghart corrected the paths repeatedly. One point became slightly closer to two. That was enough. Edric's pulse grew stronger. Sieghart felt each heartbeat beneath his hand. The rhythm remained slow, but it no longer threatened to disappear between beats. His grandfather drew a deeper breath. The movement pulled against the burns and produced a weak groan. Sieghart had never felt more relieved to hear someone in pain.

"You're still alive." Edric didn't wake, but his fingers moved against the dirt. Sieghart continued healing. The system remained visible at the edge of his sight, showing First Aid beneath the newly created Healing Branch. It was weak, inefficient, and badly suited to severe burns. Sieghart loved it more than every destructive spell he had learned. Around them, the battle turned. The explosion had erased the Firian leader and shattered the confidence of his followers.

Warriors who had advanced without hesitation now stared at the crater where their strongest fighter disappeared. Some stopped moving. Others looked toward the hills, searching for officers or signals that no longer existed. Their orange veins remained bright, but the will behind their attacks had weakened. The defenders noticed. They had watched companions burn, formations collapse, and their camp become surrounded during the night. Fear had kept many of them fighting defensively.

The leader's death transformed that fear into rage. The ice swordsman raised his damaged blade and charged the nearest Firian. His Aura flickered from exhaustion, yet the remaining frost spread across the enemy's legs. The green-Aura spearman followed him. His movements lacked their earlier speed, but the disorganized Firians failed to coordinate a defense. His spear pierced one throat before changing direction toward another enemy's chest. Archers climbed the remains of wagons and fired upon retreating targets.

Shield bearers advanced together, forcing isolated Firians away from the fires that could restore their power. The temporary soldiers no longer looked like cannon fodder. They looked furious. Every burn, every dead companion, and every shattered tent demanded an answer. The defenders drove the Firians backward through the camp. Some enemies attempted to flee. The defenders pursued.

Sieghart heard the clash of weapons, the screams, and the repeated notifications granting Black Magic experience whenever someone affected by his earlier spells died. He dismissed everything. Experience could wait. The camp could finish its revenge without him. Sieghart kept both hands upon Edric and maintained First Aid. He watched the burns improve by amounts too small for anyone else to notice. One point every second. It wasn't impressive. It wasn't fast. It was working.

For the moment, that was all Sieghart needed.