Exiting the Head Teacher's office, Max walked toward the infirmary building. He had promised to help the students who sought his aid.
However, after speaking with the Head Teacher, his current situation had completely changed. Previously, he had wanted to help these people as much as possible to gain votes in the competition. The purpose of this deed was to win the competition, thereby increasing his status both inside and outside of the academy.
But now, with the true nature of his [Salvation] skill revealed, frankly, he did not need to participate in this competition. Once people definitely came to know of his skill, it would make him famous throughout the kingdom.
"What sudden luck!" Max mused. Just two days prior, all of his skills had seemed useless; now, a single skill was going to help him achieve everything he had dreamed of.
However, this joy suddenly transformed into unease. Of course, the skill was powerful; every time he used it, it was equal to spending an enormous amount of money to buy an Elixir. But would that be enough for his whole life?
Max's mind started to overthink things, and he did not get to remain happy for long. Before that, his mind started to create scenarios of what would happen if things went wrong. This overthinking stemmed directly from his experience as the Son of a Grand Duke.
His mother had always told him that one could be the king of the world, but once they felt comfortable in that position, it would drag them into the mud. Here, 'it' referred to Politics. The people around him would wait their entire lives for the right time to strike. The moment he relaxed would be the end of his reign.
Therefore, thinking back, this overthinking was a good thing. He was not a guy who would naively become comfortable after one big success.
Now, people would only try harder to drag him into the mud. Previously, they would have acted in a relaxed manner, since Max was not much of a threat. Once the news of his [Salvation] skill spread wide, especially to those who were waiting to take his position, they would definitely suffer heartbreak, and their lifelong plans would crumble. But that would not stop them; they would come after him even more fiercely.
With these thoughts, Max entered the building. As soon as he walked inside, a large group of students gathered in the infirmary hall greeted his sight. This scene startled him, making him wonder if he had mistakenly walked into a practical classroom.
Glancing back at the front of the building, he saw a large symbol etched with a giant tree and a person kneeling in front of it. This was definitely the infirmary building. However, how could such a large crowd have gathered? He had only expected the few people who had met him at the canteen.
"Max."
While he was still confused, he heard someone calling his name. It was Moon.
"What are you doing here? Do you also want to get healed?" Max Joked, surprised by her presence.
"No, I do not want to be healed. I just came to see what you are doing," she said, looking at the crowd. "Why have so many people gathered here?"
"I do not know. They also must be here to see what I am doing," Max shrugged as he walked into the crowd.
Instantly, everyone's eyes landed on him. He saw many familiar faces, as well as a few unknown ones he did not recognize. While he walked toward the cots, his gaze landed on one particular person: Isabelle. She stood among the crowd with a hint of hesitation.
Max did not ignore her. Instead, he walked directly toward her, which caused a small commotion among the crowd.
"Hello," Max said.
Isabelle stared at Max with slight embarrassment, seeing how he had approached and spoken to her without hesitation while everyone else watched.
"Hi," she replied.
"Are you here to sightsee, or did you come seeking my help?" Max asked.
Isabelle hesitated for a moment before answering. "I came here to seek your help," she said.
Max was genuinely surprised. What could possibly be wrong with the daughter of a Duke? If people from ordinary families had issues, it would be understandable. However, Dukes were incredibly wealthy; they could buy any Elixir or call forth any famous, capable Healer. Therefore, he was slightly taken aback, having half-expected that she was merely here to watch what he was doing.
"Very well, come with me," Max said after hearing her response.
"Well, well, well. I did not know the Son of a Grand Duke would treat people so unfairly."
Suddenly, a voice rang out. Surprised, Max turned around and saw a youth standing nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets. Max did not know who this person was. He was definitely not from his class, and Max had never seen him before.
"What did I do?" Max asked, even though he knew exactly what this guy was talking about.
"Well, I clearly arrived before her. Yet, you are going to treat her first. Is this not called unfairness?" the youth said. He then looked around, expecting the crowd to support him.
However, no one spoke. The others simply stood there in silence, thinking that if they complained, Max might refuse to treat them. Realizing this fact, the youth's demeanor slightly changed.
"Well, it is not a problem, friend. If you arrived before her, I will treat you first," Max casually said.
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Hearing this, everyone's expressions underwent a drastic change. They had almost expected Max to kick the youth out. However, seeing that the youth would actually be treated first, they were taken aback.
"Moon, are you leaving for your practice?" Max asked, seeing that it was almost the end of the lunch break.
"Why? Do you need my help?" Moon asked.
"Yes. Can you note down everyone who came here seeking help?" Max requested. Since a massive crowd had gathered in the hall, he did not know how many had come to actually get healed and how many were simply here to see if the rumors they had heard were true.
"Well, I am busy with my practice, but I can skip the first half of the session," Moon said generously.
"Very well, then. Everyone who came here to seek help, please register your name with my friend. I may not be able to heal you today. However, I will definitely help you," Max announced.
Currently, with his 3% Skill Proficiency, he might have to expend all of his Mana to ensure a person was healed to 100%. This meant he would require a long time to recover his Mana pool. Even though the infirmary was designed with an abundant Mana recovery system, making even the Practice Hall inferior, he still needed at least ten minutes of recovery time before healing the next person. Thus, promising to treat twenty people was an appropriate way to schedule the process without wasting everyone's time.
"Let us go," Max said, looking at Isabelle.
"Do you want to proceed first?" he then asked the youth.
"It is not a problem. Let the lady take precedence," the youth said.
Max nodded his head as they walked toward the cots. A group of people stood there; they were the ones who had come seeking help during the morning at the canteen.
"You guys will be next," Max said, allowing Isabelle to enter the curtained section.
She stepped inside and looked around, noticing that the space was completely enclosed on all sides, with a single cot placed within.
"Please take a seat and explain your issue," Max said, pointing at the cot.
"When I was born, I experienced some difficulties with natural breathing," Isabelle began to explain her situation. "To cure this, my family used an Elixir. Although the breathing issue was resolved, I suffered a backlash when I awakened my class."
Since Max had recently learned about the differences between healing children and adults, it was only natural that her parents had used an Elixir to cure her condition. However, that very Elixir had caused problems upon her awakening. Her case closely resembled that of the child he was scheduled to meet this evening.
'Is there some undiscovered flaw with using Elixirs on children that the world has yet to find out?' Max suddenly thought of this possibility.
In the past two days, he had encountered two cases of problems caused by administering Elixirs to children. Was this merely a coincidence, or were there more people out there facing a similar issue? He had yet to find out.
"What exactly is the issue?" Max asked, putting aside his thoughts as he inquired about the problem that had occurred during her awakening.
"My Mana pool has a leakage. Every time I expend a certain amount of Mana to activate a Skill, another portion of Mana unknowingly leaks away. I am completely unable to control this leakage," Isabelle explained.
She had been suffering from this issue since the very first day she used a Skill. Although her parents had tried to fix the problem by calling in various Healing Experts, they had all failed to cure her condition. She had consumed so many Elixirs that she had long since lost count. Because of this, she could never truly shine when using her Skills. With her Mana depleting far too quickly, her battle capacity was reduced. Eventually, she became known as a mediocre talent, and that was exactly how the people who knew her viewed her.
Through great effort, she had managed to get selected into the number one academy in the capital. She intended to overcome this issue with sheer willpower, aiming to increase her Mana pool to double that of normal people. In that case, she could match the Mana usage and battle capacity of others.
Holding onto this hope, she continuously trained her Skills to consume less Mana while trying to expand the size of her Mana pool. However, she had yet to see any changes in her Mana pool.
She had tried extremely hard to achieve a better ranking in her Dungeon Expedition; in the end, however, she only placed 40th.
However, while she was having dinner last night, she overheard another table talking about a person who had suffered from an issue for a long time, only to be cured by a first-year student. When she gathered more details regarding the matter, she came to know that it was Max who had cured the girl.
Earlier, she had also heard rumors about him healing another girl outside of the academy. At that time, however, she had somewhat ignored the matter, as Max held a low reputation regarding his Skills.
But when she heard that a large number of people were trying to seek help from him, she could not help but come to the infirmary, hoping to find out the truth. Was this guy, who was considered below average, truly capable of curing a person's issue?
Even now, these thoughts lingered in her heart after explaining the issue she currently faced. She looked at him with doubt. This directly stemmed from the disappointments she had faced all these years, when her father had tried buying different Elixirs and bringing in various Healers to cure her, only to eventually fail. Along the way, her mind had started to believe that she would have to live with this problem for her entire life.
Meanwhile, Max, who had been lost in his own thoughts regarding the issues Elixirs caused in children, snapped out of his daze.
Currently, he did not have concrete proof that this theory was true, as he possessed very little data, having encountered only two people with this problem. Therefore, he could not come to a definite conclusion and blindly doubt the usefulness of life-saving Elixirs.
"No problem, Miss Isabelle. I will help you. Please lie down on the cot," Max said.
Nodding, Isabelle lay down on the cot. As she stared at the ceiling, her mind was filled with thoughts of all the unyielding results she had faced throughout her entire life.
"Are you ready?" Max asked. He placed both of his palms above her mid-stomach and activated his Skill.
"Just relax." he signaled.
Suddenly, a bright white light enveloped her entire body. Max could see through the fog of light, but he could not notice any changes on her face. Since the issue he was curing was not a visible one, he simply focused his concentration on the healing process.
On the other hand, Isabelle felt a sudden change in her mind. All of the stray thoughts running through her head quickly cleared away, and she was directly immersed in pleasant memories. All the happy moments she held dear in her life flashed through her mind; not even a speck of negative events surfaced.
Her heart was filled with joy and hope, and she remembered all the people she had shared those moments with. She could not even recall the issues that had constantly nagged at her heart. She wanted to remain in this feeling forever, reliving the moments she truly treasured.
While she was experiencing the greatest time of her life, a voice suddenly rang out by her ear.
"Isabelle, how are you feeling now?"
Pulling out of her thoughts, she looked up and saw a youth staring at her. Only then did she remember where she was and what was happening, finally returning to reality.
"I feel great," she said slowly. With the happy thoughts still lingering in her mind, she pushed herself up and sat on the cot.
"I have healed you. Take your time, use a Skill, and see if the issue has been resolved," Max advised.
Isabelle sat silently on the cot, feeling the difference within herself. Suddenly, she held her palm out in front of her. In the next second, something grew out of her palm; it was a small red flower with two leaves.
'Is she a Druid Mage?' Max thought to himself after seeing the flower grow out of her palm.
Max, who was observing the flower with great interest, failed to notice the tears rolling down her face. Isabelle sobbed quietly as she stared at her palm.
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