Healing System

Pace yourself. You never know what could happen.

'I know.' Michael stretched a little. The system had warned him because he was practically out of mana after finishing the healing.

He thought about leaving those in the faraway domes to die. However, some still seemed pretty healthy, even if others weren't so much. Therefore, he had made his way there as well, healing a couple more domes.

That was the least he could do before disappearing. After all, with nothing left to do besides going back to Vivum or elsewhere entirely, he would likely choose elsewhere.

He had planned to leave right after coming back from this trip, but now that the opportunity presented itself, he would do it a bit sooner.

From Elarion, he could either head straight down to Daor or make his way over to Neutus, though it would take much longer than he would like.

Obviously, he was still interested in talking to Meph, but he was growing hesitant. So many things had happened over the last couple of years that he wasn't even sure what he wanted to ask him.

But there was one question he was particularly curious about—the one regarding Reinhardt. It was a mysterious being that seemed to be behind both Rebecca's disappearance and Meph's imprisonment.

You have a bit of time. Why rush? Besides, it's best if you complete the ascension before moving to a different world.

'I know I have time, but I don't want to fall behind Astraea and Rebecca that much...' Michael shrugged it off. He was planning on doing the ascension soon; it would give him a little power-up, perhaps.

Michael finally heaved a sigh of relief after looking at his map. No more people were dying, and there were quite a few green dots left. What would the people who had their homes destroyed do? He didn't know.

With merely 4% of his mana remaining, he felt a bit powerless. It would be a real disaster if someone attacked him, but thankfully, that was not the case.

However, his work was not yet over, as he still needed to use Purify. According to the status, its range was 1,000 meters in all directions, meaning he would need to cast it at least four to five times to encompass all of the domes that had people inside them.

It was not an insanely difficult task. The only problem was that the mana had to regenerate quite a lot since it required 20% of his total MP per cast.

The demonic mana scattered around wasn't helping either. Instead, it felt as though his mana was recovering even slower than before.

However, before he could make any assumptions, the system gave him an answer.

While you are unaffected by any ailments demonic mana might cause, it is interacting with the preexisting mana in the air and tainting it, reducing its effectiveness in increasing the speed of your mana regeneration.

'So if I purify an area around me, will that get rid of it?' he asked. His purification made it so that no diseases could enter an area; it was like effectively locking it away.

It was a pity it didn't work as well on people. He still had to use Purify on them a couple more times.

Yes, it would restore the regular 10% per hour speed instead of the current 5%.

'What if I just fly high into the sky?' Michael asked but then facepalmed. One glance was enough to notice that the sky above them was still a purple color. It was likely even worse up there than it was down here.

Genius. Just head to the outskirts; it will only take you a couple of minutes, and you can wait for your mana to be restored there.

Michael nodded. It was his next course of action anyway.

He took one more glance at the domes and began flying away to a nearby forest. The explosion stretched out across the entire city and a bit beyond it, almost as if it were perfectly planned.

But he was not certain whether or not the demons and evangelists had his interference in mind. Michael assumed that the amount of destruction the demon wanted to unleash was not as great as what had just happened.

Nonetheless, he found an area that seemed the least affected by the surrounding purple radiation.

Michael sat down on a nearby rock, one that still had a bit of heat from the explosion. He didn't mind it; his mana was flowing decently well here, and he didn't want to go out too far.

Because on the off chance that the demons came back, he wouldn't hesitate to strike them down again.

For now, his focus remained on recovering his mana until he had enough to use his Purify skill at least more than once.

'Tell me if anyone is approaching.' Michael stated and closed his eyes. However, a sudden jolt of pain startled him out of his meditation-type focus.

It was his way of relaxing his mind. It even felt like he was restoring mana a bit quicker, but it was likely a placebo.

But that wasn't the issue right now. Instead, it was the pain he felt that began increasing. It felt as if his skin were burning.

'System... are you doing this?' he asked while enduring the ever-increasing pain.

Yup. You'll get mana at least twice as fast this way. Isn't it a good boon that you also train while you're at it? Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

'And do you seriously think this is the right time for that!?' Michael exclaimed. While he would appreciate the added speed bonus, the added pain was not something he wanted right now.

It's good to steel yourself. Also, don't worry about the mana usage to heal you. I managed to absorb quite a bit of mana into the halo by refining that wretched mana.

'So you can do it without the Sanctuary skill then?' he asked with suspicion clear in his tone.

I was able to collect the excess. I still can't refine it while it's forming. And of course I can do it. It's me.

Michael shrugged off the system's arrogance. It was only a suspicion. He doubted the system would screw him over to the point where it would force him to watch a whole city die just for experience.

Hmm? Do you take me for some sort of demon? If I could have saved them, I would have done so from the start. Their trap was well-prepared, and it even dated back to the time when you were roaming the villages with your group.

'...What do you mean?'

I did some analyzing and figured out that Jax, the demon, had a very recognizable mana pattern, at least for me. Remember when the entire village was slaughtered? There was some energy in the air that seemed to be caused by the summoning of a demon.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

'So... that was him then?' Michael's expression soured. It was all planned, and he walked right into the middle of it.

Yes. In the case of this being a lowest-level world, only three demons can be active at a time. You killed two, while the last is pretty tame.

He thought for a moment before his eyes widened in realization.

'Meph...? I thought he was some kind of monster hybrid?'

You could consider him that. I still don't have enough information regarding him, but his origins are definitely from the demonic realm. As for how he made it here, I have no clue.

'Hmm...' Michael thought for a moment. However, the searing pain, which had stopped briefly, came back once again.

Now now, no time for goofing around. We won't stop until your mana reaches 100%.

He twitched in pain as the intensity suddenly spiked, causing him to lose control of his body and spasm on the ground.

'...Fuck you.'