A Wish to Grab Happiness

Volume 7, Chapter 173: The Pouring Magical Power

Filaret’s numb fingertips touched the ground. The air that hit her cheeks felt strangely cold.

Her lungs were still raging painfully, and heavy breaths rushed out of her throat. Her body was far from being calm and peaceful. Her black hair bounced in the air as if it shuddered.

Filaret’s chaotic state had a reason.

The enormous magical power drained from the ground was still being discharged to the world through Filaret’s body. “Even if I try to calm down, my mood will rise whenever the magical power mixes with my blood flow, and my body will become gradually exhausted.”

Even though Filaret was only using this power as a support, the strong magical power embedded in her mixed with her own power, albeit temporarily. However, this fusion was dangerous. It could deprive her body of its vitality, and her soul could wear out in a blink of an eye.

“I cannot be calm under such circumstances. Should I feel uplifting feelings? Or should I feel despair? I am not certain anymore, and this uncertainty inevitably increases the exhaustion of my soul.”

Filaret took a big breath for two consecutive times to push cold air into her lungs. Then, she sighed smaller and slowly.

“But, even so. I have to regain my composure and my spirit for a moment or I won’t be able to control the magic within my body.” Filaret unknowingly bit her lips with her teeth. Thoughts began to wriggle around in her head. Odd words whispered in her chest, and she immediately wondered if the man named Lugis became someone crazy.

…I want to use your magical power to kill that beast. Something that will mangle its belly for good.

Lugis’ words implied to change the destination of magical power towards that beast, just like the time when he wanted her to change the flow of water. When she heard those words, Filaret’s eyebrows naturally distorted in great way. Words stuck in her throat.

Filaret thought that Lugis’ idea was crazy. She carefully picked out the words to respond that his idea was too far-fetched. She replied with a small-sounding and apologetic voice.

In a sense, magical power was like alcohol. The right amount made people very cheerful and gave them power beyond their own. However, if it exceeded the tolerable amount, it could quickly turn humans into irrational beings. Of course, there were individual differences, but if someone poured magical power beyond a certain threshold, it could become like poison. A strong poison that would eat up humans from the inside.

People commonly called this magic-related disease as the Adventurer’s Disease.

The name derived from the fact that such symptom often appeared in adventurers who encountered beasts with abundant magical power, the so-called demon beasts. Especially those who preferred to eat the meat of the deceased demon beasts.

Symptoms began to appear when the body eroded gradually. The physical strength weakened and the sleep time naturally increased. If the physical strength squeezed to its limits, the fangs would bite into the soul, taking the exhaustion to a completely different level. Upon reaching this stage, sleeping would no longer be possible and their health would decrease dramatically.

In the end, the adventures infected with this disease would become addicted to the magical power that was inherent in them. Their hearts would stop beating, and they would die quietly. A rumor said that when the doctors dissected the corpse of an adventurer infected with this disease, they found all blood vessels darkened to a point of carbonization.

An effective treatment for the Adventurer’s Disease had not yet been established. Filaret gently touched the ground with her hands, breathing profoundly again.

Filaret wondered if Lugis knew about it. She wondered if he had a plan already. After all, the lump of meat that now looked like a horrifying monster was once Mordeaux Gon, just a normal human being.

If so, Filaret wondered if Lugis thought about the possibility to stop the monster from moving by suddenly injecting magical power that exceeded the tolerable amount. Just as alcohol fooled people to the point of causing acute symptoms of intoxication.

“I see. It makes sense. In theory, it might be possible. However, it is a different story whether we can achieve it or not. It sounds too easy in theory.”

In the first place, magical power manifested in a strong form because it bound itself with the laws and physics of the world. However, if someone leaked the true form of only magical power to the world, it would quickly scatter and become the same as the air.

Therefore, if one wanted to inject magical power into someone, then that person had to touch his or her body directly, or make a special contract. The kind of contract that connected souls to one another.

“It is almost impossible for me to be in contact with the monster whose body is made of chunks of meat. In addition, it is more unlikely for me to sign a contract. If a human soul makes a contract with a distorted being, then that human soul will be shredded.”

Therefore, the idea of pouring magical power into that monster no longer made sense. Yes, Filaret certainly told Lugis that his idea was not possible.

“Ah, even so. Really, this person.”

Filaret’s lips tightened strongly and the sighs that continuously leaked from her throat had stopped. Then, the breathing itself gradually diminished and eventually disappeared.

At the same time, Filaret’s black eyes, which should have been shaking, narrowed and stopped moving. The sound of Caria’s blade, which was slamming around, disappeared from the back of her ears.

“…Still, if Lugis says that it’s the best solution, because someone will die if we try to take other measures, then I will do my best to make it happen.”

For that to happen, Filaret knew that it would be necessary to make precise adjustments to the magical power. Precise calculation was required. No madness was allowed. Filaret knew that she had to cut off every little inch of carelessness. This was not the time to hesitate.

“After all, this is not the place where I can invoke a muddy stream like before. Injecting magical power in that monster is far from being a simple task.”

“Never hurt, never break.” Filaret realized that it was necessary for her to focus like never before. Like passing through the hole of the needle repeatedly without missing the mark.

Breathing could even become an obstacle. Therefore, Filaret had to stop the behavior of her raging lungs. And even stopping the heart palpitations if possible.

Filaret’s movements, and even the behavior of her nodes, were lost naturally. Her black eyes lost its focus and her sight vanished. Her ears became deaf and her nostrils were no longer transmitting odors. Filaret erased everything she did not need. She decided to pour everything into what she really needed.

Filaret slowly and carefully stretched the thread of magical power, aiming to create a pledge tied to her soul. Even her rational thoughts were cut off.

The last momentum. Words whispered inside Filaret’s chest, just before all of her thoughts were lost.

“…It can’t be helped if it’s Lugis’ wish. It’s a little regrettable, though. Yes, really.”

After whispering those words, Filaret’s thoughts were buried in an unforgivable brutality. Neither Lugis nor Caria grasped the whispers. Filaret herself was the only one who heard such hidden intentions. Why? Because those words were whispered almost unconsciously.

—

…There was one ritual between parents and children of Sorcerers and Wizards that continued to be performed in some well-known families.

A ritual that connected each other’s souls with contracts and oaths. Yes, a ritual where the parent gradually poured magical power into the child. From the beginning of those days up to the day when that child would stand alone as a magic-handling person.

By doing so, that child could store magic within his or her body from an early age. This practice allowed the child to have an increase of the limit of the tolerable amount. In addition, by adjusting the amount that parents poured in each time, it was possible for the child to avoid suffering from the symptoms of the Adventurer’s Disease.

In this way, the family of Sorcerers and Wizards continued to increase the amount of poison that could be stored in their own bodies with each passing generation.

The problem was that if a parent took care of himself or herself even for a moment, the poison of magical power could easily eat the child from within.

Then, until the day when he or she learned how to handle magic by himself or herself, the child could never be far away from the parents who were the infusers of magical power.