Chapter 77: A Miracle or an Opportunity? (2)

“I have never seen anything like this before,” said the physician as he gazed up.

There was an evident look of confusion on his face.

“His heart is clearly not beating. It’s only natural for him to die. No, he should have been dead already. But he’s alive. He’s even breathing…”

“Very perfectly, yes?” said the count.

“Yes,” replied the physician.

Lloyd was on the bed, and the physician’s gaze toward him was beyond dismay. It was chaos. It made sense. After all, it only made sense for a person whose heart stopped to die. That was the law of nature. But right in front of the physician was an exception.

At first, he wondered if he was looking at an undead creature. He thought the man was a freshly made zombie. But that wasn’t the case. This patient was well and alive! The count smiled in a wry way.

“Could you please explain some more?”

“Oh, yes, Your Excellency.”

The physician wiped his half-balded head with a handkerchief. Then, he continued to explain, “As you are aware, the heart is an organ that provides blood all over the body. Therefore, there is no pulse when the heart stops. Dead. But this patient is…”

“What is it?”

The count asked.

“His pulse is still there, even when his heart has stopped.”

The physician’s words went on.

“That’s not just it. He’s even breathing. His body has a slight fever, but overall, his body temperature is just normal. So that makes me wonder all the more. Tell me, Your Excellency, has this patient received some sort of magic treatment?”

The count shook his head as he replied, “No, he has never received such a thing.”

Since the Gigatitan wreaked disastrous havoc on the city that night, Lloyd wasn’t able to receive proper treatment after losing consciousness. Perhaps, the more accurate words would be that there was no method to cure him.

After all, no one dared to even try. Lloyd’s current state certainly was a mystery. His heart wasn’t beating. However, his pulse was all right and breathing was even as well. Each time the count brought in physicians, they were flustered, terrified, and shocked after assessing Lloyd. The same thing was happening today.

“Actually, I called other physicians before you came,” confessed the count. “You’re the 11th one to see him.”

“…….”

“Everyone showed the same reaction as you did. No one could find a cure since they couldn’t find the cause. Is that the same with you?” asked the count.

“I…”

“You can be frank with me. This is such a mysterious case, so no one is going to question your capacity.”

“I am sorry.”

“It is as expected, I see.”

“Yes, I have never seen a patient like this before…”

“It’s all right. It must not have been easy to travel all the way here. Thank you for visiting. Go now. The butler will take care of your compensation and reward,” said the count.

“Yes. Please excuse me.”

With that, the 11th physician left the place without any fruit. The count’s face darkened.

No one has found a way to wake him up. Lloyd Frontera was lying on the sick bed. Count Cremo didn’t want to lose him. The night of the disaster. The count wanted to save Lloyd the more he thought back about his debt to his unconscious friend.

Countless people are indebted to this young man. I, too, am indebted to him. If it weren’t for him, I wonder if I’d be fine as I am now.

He wouldn’t have been fine had it not for Lloyd’s determination. The sailboat he was on would have been attacked by the Gigatitan. He would have lost his life along with his only daughter.

The mere thought of it was awful. Shaking off the goosebumps, the count moved his gaze as and asked, “are you not tired?”

“I am fine, Your Excellency.”

The count was gazing at the corner of the ward. There, the wordless silver-haired knight faintly shook his head.

The count’s smile turned more bitter.

“I know that you’ve not healed completely yet.”

“I have enough strength to protect Master Lloyd.”

“How amazing.”

“You exaggerate.”

In actuality, Javier was wearing a splint on his left arm. He wasn’t fully healed from the injury the Gigatitan gave him that night with its forearm.

“I am perfectly fine as long as I can use my right arm.”

“But, you see, I think you have been staying up four straight days.”

“Insomnia is keeping me awake every night,” replied Javier.

“Is it the sword-master syndrome?”

“Yes, it looks like it,” Javier replied as he nodded.

At first, he had no idea. But thanks to Lloyd, Javier learned somewhat about insomnia that he was having now.

“You are experiencing the syndrome at such a young age. How amazing.”

“It is all because of my lord’s generosity.”

“Do you mean Baron Frontera?”

“Yes,” said Javier.

“I envy him.”

“Should you want it, I can relay the message to my lord.”

“No, don’t.”

The count waved his hands.

“What a close-minded fellow you are. The baron would be terrified if you told him that. I am not the kind of person who covets someone’s aid. Never do I wish to be misunderstood that way. But…”

The count paused, his eyes meaningfully glimmering.

“However this incident gets concluded, it looks like you will be a bit busy.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“His Majesty.”

The count continued to talk.

“I am bounded by the duty to report this matter to His Majesty. That is because all the lands of this kingdom are under His grace. And so, I cannot omit the story of your people.”

“……”

Javier faintly nodded. It was obvious. Javier had prevented the Gigatitan from getting into the city. And Lloyd finished the monster after. That was a fact they could never hide, even if they tried.

“His Majesty will show great interest in you. Anyway, what we can hope for right now is for him to wake up without any problems. His Majesty wouldn’t want such a talent to never open his eyes again.”

“The feeling is mutual,” agreed Javier.

“Anyway, I have been ranting. I shall go now. I’ll come here again at this time tomorrow with another physician.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“If you’re tired, have someone tell me. My knights can protect him just as well.”

“Yes, Your Excellency.”

“Whew, how rigid you are.”

“Thank you.”

That got the count to burst into a fit of laughter. He shot a worried glance at Lloyd the last time before he left. Now, only Lloyd and Javier were left.

“Whew…”

Javier finally let out a sigh, which he had been suppressing. Then, he threw a confused gaze toward the bed. Are you okay, Master Lloyd? Lloyd was lying on the sickbed as if he was sleeping. Javier’s blue eyes grew dismayed as they watched him.

Just then, he recalled the event of the previous day. It must have been after the tenth physician visited. Like the others before him, he wasn’t able to figure out what was going on with Lloyd. The mere sight of it frustrated Javier. And so, when he was left alone with Lloyd, Javier inspected Lloyd’s state in secret. Unlike the physicians, he resorted to using his own mana method. What he found out from it completely shocked him.

He has reached the triple circle stage. Javier could feel it as soon as he injected the mana. There were three circles wrapped around his heart. Lloyd had always remained at the double circle stage, but he had created another circle after passing out from fighting the Gigatitan.

There was something more that was shocking. The three circles are spinning at lightning speed. It was an unimaginable speed. The rotation speed was near the limit of the Asrahan Core Technique. Thanks to it, a powerful mana had completely enveloped Lloyd’s heart.

As such, Javier couldn’t look into the circle. He could neither look how his heart was. There was no way for Javier to guess what was going on in there. His confusion didn’t end there.

The carcass of the Gigatitan I’d seen two days ago was… worse. Javier could clearly recall the gigantic carcass that had fallen off the coastal cliff. He had taken part of the investigation to examine the monster, so he got a vivid view of the fatal wound in its body. There was a giant hole in the weak spot of the monster, the area between carapaces 11 and 12, which Lloyd had mentioned.

Javier knew right away as soon as he saw it. It was the mark of the mana blast. So, he was even more confused. The size and power of that mana blast was… too different from what I’m familiar with. The size was alarming. The power was maddening. A torch and a candle. A cannon and a marble. That was how much of a difference there was between his mana blast and what he saw. The more he observed it, the more awe he felt. Whatever the case was, one thing was for sure. That out-of-this-world mana blast had been used by Lloyd.

How in the world… Javier thought that there was some kind of connection between that massively powerful mana blast and Lloyd’s current state. But there was no way for him to figure out the details.

What on earth did you do on that day, Master Lloyd? Javier tossed a gaze that was filled with deep curiosity and worry. But Lloyd didn’t answer from the sick bed. The only response was his soft breathing.

Javier continued to watch over Lloyd, and the winter sunlight streaming into the tranquil ward curved in silence. But of course, Javier was absolutely in the dark about something. He had zero idea that an unprecedented miracle was starting to take place inside of Lloyd as he was looking at his young master.

♣

Thump. Thump. Lloyd’s heart pounded. No, it was the mana that did. His heart had stopped. It was obvious.

A few days earlier, his heart had received a great shock. It was exposed to the blow of the mana blast without any circle to protect it. What was worse was that it wasn’t an ordinary mama blast. It was the product of three circles. And the fierce collision and its power struck Lloyd’s heart without any protection.

If it was Javier or any other knight, the blow would have killed him in an instant. But Lloyd was different. He didn’t die. His heart didn’t burst. The manaheart in his heart didn’t explode. The reason was simple. He had no manaheart.

Thump… Thump… Lloyd had never managed to make a manaheart. That was also the case back when he started to prepare for the duel against Sir Neumann. He had no manaheart. To be accurate, he had no time to create a manaheart. In the first place, it wasn’t easy to make. The process demanded a great amount of time and effort. Even a rare genius needed at least six months and protege would take at least two years to create one. Thus, it was obvious what the case would be for ordinary people. At best, they would need five years, and a slow person could need more than ten years.

Obviously, Lloyd wasn’t a genius or a protege. He was a person who learned the Asrahan Core Technique just to fight Sir Neumann. And once he learned it, he thought that was enough. There was no need to be hung up on developing a manaheart. That was excessive. As such, Lloyd didn’t have a manaheart.

Unlike the flashy sides of the mana circles wrapped around his heart, the inside of his heart was like any other one. That was what saved him. It had saved his life from the force of the mana circles.

Thud! Thud! In the first place, a manaheart inside a human body wasn’t natural. It was the product of purposeful training. People shoved an unnaturally large amount of mana into their hearts to exert more force and power. That was the essence and identity of the manaheart.

But Lloyd didn’t have that. In other words, from the mana perspective, Lloyd’s heart was almost an empty space. There was no manaheart to burst. There was nothing. The blow of the mana blast worked instead to fill up that empty space, and the explosive power filled and coagulated. And once it got coagulated, it created the nucleus, the core of the special skill. Afterward, the mana storm was recomposed with the nucleus at its center, and it landed inside the heart.

Carefully, Slowly, but firmly. Thump…! Thump! Inside the fast-spinning circles, a completely new manaheart was coming into existence.

♣

A few days passed. Meanwhile, Cremo, the city of commerce, was cleaned up. Everyone worked hard to move on from the disaster, and the central plaza was restored. The broken buildings and bell tower were repaired, although haphazardly. The destroyed post 23 was stacked up again, and most of the injured people had got back on their feet.

Various rumors spread throughout the day. One of the rumors said that there was someone who saved people from drowning after the sailboats crashed and sunk because of the Gigatitan. Another said that a man put out the spreading fire near the plaza by using his summon partner. Additionally, there was a rumor about one man heroically fighting against the monster. There was also word about how the man who killed the Gigatitan was currently in a coma.

Just like that, many rumors spread around, each story and word piecing together like a puzzle. The truth was naturally revealed little by little. The man, who saved people from drowning in the sea, had also put out the fire. The same man, who put out the fire, had also killed the Gigatitan. And now, after killing the monster, the man was in a coma on the sick bed.

At last, everyone became enlightened. Lloyd Frontera. That was his work. Everyone was safe, thanks to him. Since that day, one by one, people started to gather at the plaza. It was for one reason. They all had one wish.

“Are you asking why we’re gathered here on such a cold day? It’s obvious. We wish for Lloyd Frontera, the man who saved us, to wake up alive.”

That was why they had gathered here. The biting cold of the winter couldn’t dampen their spirit. The wish of the people for Lloyd’s recovery was bigger and hotter than the icy wind. They prayed and sang with their hearts together as one. They thought that was the way to repay their debt to Lloyd, who had given his life for the city.

Ten days passed. The last day of the year rolled around. The winter was especially icy that day. And just as everyone wished, Lloyd opened his eyes.

[You have saved a lot of people from disaster with your sacrifice and valor, setting an example. The citizens of Cremo, the city of commerce, are deeply moved by your sacred action.]

[For that achievement, you have been awarded a massive bonus.]

[To read more about the bonus, please select “Here.”]

[You have survived the damage from the triple circle mana blast. You have acquired a unique manaheart through this special experience.]

[Manaheart skill has been upgraded.]

[To read more about the upgrade, please select “Here.”]