Voom

The space wobbled and a leg stepped out.

Coming out of thin air were three figures. The very air changed the moment the three stepped out.

Wearing thick metal armor with a golden lion insignia, they looked around.

"Are we here...?"

Captain Wesley Reijnder of the Hell-Lion Brigade asked.

Looking around, he could feel the cold tickle his skin. With a thick mane of blonde hair, a mustache, and a bulky body, he was a perfect fit for the Brigade.

"Brr, captain. It's cold~"

Behind him were the two other members of the Brigade.

With short black hair and blue eyes, Samantha had a distinctive mole at the bottom of her chin. At Tier 5, she was an important member of the Brigade.

On the other hand, standing beside her, with long black hair covering his face and a hunched back, Ray looked around while muttering to himself.

".....I'm tired. I want to go back. Why always me?"

"Stop complaining."

Samantha sighed.

Ray was a rather unique member. He was hard to describe, but if Samantha had to put it in words, it'd be 'Extremely introverted'.

If not for the fact that this mission involved a [Curse] heavy area, they wouldn't have brought him with them.

Brushing her hair, she looked towards the walls in the distance.

"Umm, is that the town?"

"It should be."

The captain replied.

Samantha nodded while her eyes fluttered with interest.

"They said it's a necromancer. I wonder how strong it is."

"We've got people coming."

Just as the captain spoke, a few individuals showed up. Recognizing one of them, a smile crept on the captain's face.

"If it isn't a familiar face. I didn't expect to see you here, Inquisitor Hollowe."

"You're finally here."

Brushing his hair back, Inquisitor Hollowe looked at the captain before him.

"You guys came a lot faster than I thought."

"Haha, well we had some free time, and given that it has something to do with a Mirror Crack, Central deemed this place to be rather important."

"That's true."

Turning his head to stare at the town, the Inquisitor nudged with his chin.

"Let's have a talk. There's a lot that I need to fill you on."

***

It first started with the weakness.

My body grew limp and I lost control of it. Blankly staring at the sky, I couldn't move at all.

It was as if I was completely paralyzed.

'.Is this it?'

It didn't seem to be that bad.

At least, that was until my head started to ache. The world started to spin and my stomach churned.

"."

Something started to build up in my stomach.

With each minute that passed, the more it built up.

And then.

"Blergh."

It all came out of my mouth.

"!"

But I was still paralyzed. All I could do was remain still on the ground as the puke flowed out of my mouth.

"Ukh!"

There was so much of it that it started to suffocate me.

'I can't breathe.'

"Blergh."

And if it wasn't bad enough, the puke continued to flow out of my mouth.

With my eyes wide open, I lay on the ground unable to do a single thing as my breath left my body,

A weird, almost suffocating tingling permeated the depths of my mind as I tried to find some leeway to breathe.

But it just never appeared.

".!"

I was running out of oxygen.

The tingling sensation became more apparent as my body started to spasm on its own.

'Air! I need air!'

I internally screamed to myself, but my body refused to listen to me.

Gurgle!

The vomit continued to spill.

My knees trembled, and my neck twitched.

The world was starting to get dark.

The tingling was as strong as ever, and it felt suffocating.

But I could do nothing about it.

I was slowly starting to lose sight of my own conciseness.

And yet, there was an irony in all of this.

Lvl. 1 [Hands of Malady] EXP + 0.3%

Lvl. 1 [Hands of Malady] EXP + 0.01%

I had finally started to improve again...

'Haaa'

My world turned dark after that.

"."

When I woke up again, the first thing that I noticed was the large notification in front of me.

97%

It had worked.

"Looks like someone has woken up again. How are you feeling?"

"."

I didn't answer as I usually did.

Rather, I helped myself up and faced the ground on both knees. I lowered my head to stare at my hand.

It was purple again.

"H-Hu."

My chest trembled with nervousness. I could see why. Recalling the pain that I had previously experienced, I felt hesitant.

It was a different type of pain.

A suffocating, and drowning one. I wasn't accustomed to such pain.

However, thinking about my current circumstances, I grit my teeth.

"I have to do this."

Turning my head, I glanced towards a certain figure.

.....I was sure I wouldn't die.

She was after all protecting me. Even if she didn't show it, she cared.

The only thing that I needed to handle was the pain.

"Okay."

I closed my eyes.

Then, I brought my hand towards my face.

Thump!

I fell forward this time.

Gurgle

And I yet again started to choke on my own vomit.

The tingling sensation returned, and the suffering continued. Despite that, amidst the torture, I focused my perception entirely on my experiences.

From the paralysis of my body to the churning in my stomach, and the throbbing in my head.

I focused all my attention on those feelings.

I needed to properly understand how the spell worked to jump to the next level. What effects it brought to those that it hit, and how effective it was.

I focused my attention on such thoughts.

'It hurts.'

'I can't breathe.'

'I can't focus.'

'My stomach hurts.'

'I'm hungry.'

'I'm thirsty.'

The more I started to dissect the feelings, the more I started to understand the depths of the spell.

Not only did the spell weaken someone, but it also made them experience all sorts of pain.

It became clear to me the more I was under such a state.

'This sucks.'

"....."

When I woke up again, I immediately checked the progress bar.

99%

I was almost there.

I was just one experience away from leveling up [Hands of Malady]. Ideally, I'd have to put myself under such torture again, but I didn't.

"....."

I understood that there'd be no point in doing that.

Rubbing my eyes, I checked my body. As expected, it was all healed up again. Daphne's voice reached me from the side.

"Hm? Are you not going to do the same thing this time?"

".....No."

This time, I answered.

"Oh? You're finally talking to us again?"

Daphne raised her voice as if shocked. I scratched the side of my face. The puke that had previously been around me had disappeared, and my clothes were clean.

I looked towards her and lowered my head.

"Thank you."

"....It's nothing. It's nothing."

She waved her hand at me.

"What I did is nothing compared to Aurelia. If you want to thank someone, you should thank her."

"Right."

I nodded at her.

There was no denying this. If not for Aurelia, I wouldn't have gotten to this point.

And at the same time, without her, I wouldn't be able to progress to the next level.Taking a few steps in her direction, I only stopped when I was a few meters behind her.

"....."

She, like usual, was staring at the Rock Dragon.

"I'm almost there."

I started to speak.

"I've hit the limit of what I can do by myself."

Indeed,I had hit the limit.

Although I was only missing one percent, I knew that I wouldn't be able to cross the one percent regardless of how much time I had.

"I don't know how long it will take for the Empire's reinforcements to come, but I am almost done reaching the next level. I don't know how to reach the next level."

"....."

Not minding her silence, I lowered my head.

"Please teach me."

Yet again, I asked her to teach me.

I knew that I didn't have to ask her. Despite her 'coldness' she had been teaching me diligently the entire time.

Every time my body recovered from one of those sessions, I felt a certain energy coming from her. It guided me on the paths I needed to use and how to use my mana more efficiently.

In fact, it felt as though my overall mana purity had improved.

'It was Tainted the last time I checked. I wonder what it is now...'

Too bad I couldn't check.

".....Why?"

Yet again, Aurelia asked me why.

I didn't hesitate to reply.

"Because I have to."

"...You have to?"

Aurelia's body turned and I came face to face with her.

Smiling, I replied,

"I don't want to die. I want to go back to Ellnor. Do you not want to go back as well?"

"...."

There was no reply but the answer was obvious.

I sat down crossed my legs and placed my back against hers.

"I'm ready whenever."

I could tell that whatever I needed to do to get to the next level would lead to unbelievable pain.

But I was ready for it.

If it meant getting over everything and reaching the next level, I didn't mind putting myself through this torture.

"...Why do you do this to yourself?"

Even Aurelia seemed confused by my perseverance.

"I have seen you torture yourself to the point of death each time. You have no regard for your body at all. It's as if you don't even care about yourself. Why...? Why are you doing this?"

"...."

I didn't reply immediately.

Without looking back, I stared ahead. In the distance, I could see Daphne, Gork, and Liam together. Noticing my gaze, they waved their hands at me.

I felt like smiling, but I didn't.

I couldn't find it in me to smile.

Still, when I thought about the situation, I pursed my lips.

"....It's for the same reason as you."

"Me?"

"I want to go back."

Yes, I wanted to go back.

But not to Ellnor.

Somewhere else. Somewhere further away from here.

A very far place that I wasn't sure I could go back to anymore. Still, it was worth a try.

For that reason, I could take on this pain and put myself under such pain.

"We are not that different."

Aurelia said, her voice reaching my ears from behind.

"That's why I didn't want to teach you."

"I know..."

A cold hand pressed against my back, and my body trembled. Yet again, I felt pain. It coursed through all corners of my body like molten lava.

"....."

I shouldered the pain in silence.

"People like us will never be happy."

In the silence, Aurelia's voice continued to echo.

".....We keep chasing for things that even we know are probably not possible."

I could hardly focus on her voice.

The pain was making its way through every corner of my body.

"And yet, despite knowing that we can't stop ourselves."

My shoulders trembled.

My heart trembled.

"We are cursed to be like this."

An unspeakable pain captured my body. It weakened my entire body and once again, I grew limp. Automatically, my body limped forward but a hand stopped me.

"Regardless of whether we like it or not. We still try to chase that meaningless goal of ours."

It held me straight.

"I hate it."

Stopping me from falling over.

"I hate you."

And it kept me upright.

"I hate you because I hate myself."

Allowing me to get a better look into the distance.

"....And for that, I can't help but want to cheer for you."

My vision changed.

A notification flashed.

And in that moment, all the pain that I experienced disappeared.

"Ah."

My shoulders felt light, and so did my chest.

All I felt was relief.

Lvl 1. [Hands of Malady] --> Lvl 2. [Grip of Pestilence]

'I did it.'