Healing System

"Are you mad at me?" Michael asked with a smirk, dodging another invisible attack from behind him.

Chloe was oddly targeting his vitals. Of course, he wouldn't die because of his healing capabilities, but still, it felt strange.

The only reason he said that out loud was that he was sure she could hear him. The possibility that she might not even be in the same realm as him didn't cross his mind.

But he was no expert in space-affinity-related stuff or anything like that. He was just a simple Light affinity user who used it to kill his opponents or, well, heal them instead.

However, in the current situation, without using his full strength, he was at a bit of a stalemate.

Each time she attacked, he blocked, negating most of the damage the attack inflicted and restoring the mana used, which, in turn, made the fight drag on a little while.

Especially since she did not use anything other than whatever her little hide-and-attack skill was.

But since she wasn't planning on coming out, he would make her.

He memorized the patterns of her attacks, and the moment she appeared once again, he used Piercing Light to strike her in the leg.

Although it felt like he had connected, it was definitely not with her leg. Instead, as he turned around, he saw his skill impacting some kind of fissure in the air, one that seemed completely colorless.

It seemed like she used something similar to his shields to block the attack. He was honestly surprised she even managed to spot it in the first place. After all, even some higher-tier individuals were unable to.

But then again, her perception was much greater than anyone he knew.

Michael could see sweat trickling down her forehead as he sent several more attacks. Although she managed to block them, it wasn't with ease.

He could slow down his skills, but their strength remained the same—the only courtesy he would offer while limiting his abilities, as he wasn't sure how to completely restrain his total output.

Nonetheless, it at least made the fight fairer. He was going to win anyway.

But just as he thought that, he felt a sharp pain assaulting him, coming from his abdomen. Upon looking down, he saw a little spatial fissure there, circling all around the area she attacked, being dyed red with his blood.

A wound so small wouldn't normally hurt, but whatever she did made the tissue around the fissure keep twisting and ripping. Had that landed anywhere else, it would have been a real problem.

Michael simply cast a heal on himself, immediately alleviating a bit of the pain, but due to his moment of carelessness, he forgot about Chloe.

He quickly flicked his head toward her and saw her standing in the air. It seemed like she was standing on nothing, but upon closer inspection, it was another invisible spatial fissure, much like the ones she had been using so far.

She looked down at him emotionlessly, though he could see a small tug at her lips, indicating she found the situation amusing.

"Having fun up there?" Michael teased as he cast his fourth heal on himself; the fissure hadn't gone away after the first heal, only shrunk. It was a really troublesome skill.

"Maybe..." she said with a shrug, trying to hide her forming smile, before disappearing again.

As he was about to speak again, he suddenly felt an invisible force of mana appear right in front of him, traveling at incredible speed.

However, just before it reached him, he used his shield to parry it. Michael was unsure of her location, but his parry should have, at the very least, stopped her momentum.

'Fighting against someone with space affinity is such a pain... he snickered inwardly.' While he didn't mind letting her vent her frustrations, it would be nice to know why she was mad at him in the first place.

The only thing he could think of was the time he killed a vampire and had its curse placed on him. Beyond that, he couldn't recall doing anything to wrong her.

Maybe she likes you?

Michael raised a brow at the system's comment. 'Why would she like me? Also, you should know better than anyone that I'm not interested in her.'

After all, when he was around her, he didn't feel anything. Well, except amusement, but that was more in a friendly way. He didn't have any feelings toward her, and he highly doubted she did either.

Are you sure?

'Do you consider yourself a dating expert? Because based on the advice you've given me so far, you're a shit advisor.'

Hmm... point taken.

Michael rolled his eyes at the system and expanded his mana all around him. It was worth a shot to try something new.

The way Chloe used her mana, especially the fissures, led him to believe they were chunks of unformed mana. Yet, because of her affinity, they were still solid.

It was a strange phenomenon, but his suspicions stemmed from previous experiences with such mana, especially during testing.

Michael waited patiently for her to attack, and when she did, he expanded his inner mana outward, creating a thin protective layer around himself.

The fissure approached rapidly, and the moment it came into contact with his inner mana, it solidified fully, revealing a disfigured purple shard that seemed far more powerful than her previous attacks.

"What is this?" Michael's curiosity got the best of him as he reached out and touched it.

Despite expecting something magical, nothing happened—it was just a fancy-looking shard.

But as he looked away, he noticed the arena around him was completely silent—a stark contrast to the deafening cheers from moments ago.

As he was about to ask the system what had happened, the shard suddenly shattered, and cheers once again resounded as if nothing had changed.

What the...

His confusion was interrupted by another attack from Chloe. However, due to his momentary loss of focus, he used too much strength in his Sword of Light, completely catching her off guard and stabbing through her leg.

'Shit.' Michael sighed at his carelessness and approached her to heal the injury. However, she suddenly cast another fissure aimed at his arm.

He was speechless at yet another attempt to lop his arm off. Without hesitation, he enveloped the fissure with his own mana, overpowering it and dissolving it.

Chloe stared wide-eyed before plopping to the ground, exhausted and in pain.

Luckily for her, he was the Saint. What better chance than now to show off his healing abilities?

Michael approached cautiously, ensuring she wouldn't try anything. When he was close enough, he began casting Aegis of Light, using its healing function.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

He could have healed her from afar, but it looked more "holy" to do it up close. 'Better for the cameras too...' he thought with a small smile as Chloe's injury healed visibly.

In seconds, the hole was completely sealed without even a scar—a perfect heal befitting his image as the Saint.

"That was a good fight. You've gotten much stronger," Michael praised as he noticed the announcer approaching.

Chloe scoffed. "If it was such a good fight, why didn't you try?"

"Obviously because I'm stronger? What do you think?" he replied, confused.

The fight would've ended in moments if he had used all his capabilities. What would've been the point?

"..." Her expression turned glum as she looked down.

'...What did I do this time?'

I misjudged. She doesn't like you. She sees you as a rival, and when your rival doesn't try and looks down on your abilities, it feels pretty shitty. Trust me, I know that feeling.

'Well... shit.' Michael facepalmed. Had he known, he would've gone all out from the start.

The announcer finally reached them, standing in the center and speaking into his microphone. "The winner is Saint Michael!"

Cheers erupted again, but the fight had ended on a sour note. His earlier satisfaction had completely vanished.

"We'll take a short ten-minute break to prepare for the next round. Please excuse us!" the announcer said.

Only then did Michael notice the platform around them, covered in cracks and massive holes he hadn't even realized appeared during their fight.

'...I don't have to pay for that... right?'