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Apocalypse Healer - B1 Chapter 20
🕑 Added 2024-10-27 06:43:39 +0000 UTCEven though he was only supposed to have an easier time annexing Aether, David sensed it easier as well. First, he sensed the Aether inside him. He knew what it was, where it could be found, and how it could be annexed. It came naturally to him.
Second, a faint tingling swept across his skin, caressing as if trying to garner David’s interest. David removed his clothes until he was nearly stripped naked. Only his underwear protected his dignity; Fully exposing himself in a stranger’s home and lying nude in someone else’s bed wasn’t David’s cup of tea.
Once the tingling sensation spread across his exposed body, David activated [Holy Touch] again. Holy power surged swiftly to the Skill Rune before pulling toward the respective energy pathways. David picked the thickest energy pathways as his target and channeled [Holy Touch] through it.
Time seemed to come to a crawl as the pristine light passed through the energy pathway. The Aether within the energy pathway responded drastically. It spread in all Directions, momentarily expanding the energy pathway. It threatened to tear apart, which was forwarded to David as a sting of pain. He winced, and his concentration nearly faltered, but David made it through. He kept his eyes closed and watched the Aether intently as it stabilized. The instant it turned stable, David sensed the Aether more intently. It glowed faintly, its temperature increased by a notch, and it didn’t feel foreign anymore.
The energy is mutating. When it passed by, it connected to [Holy Touch] and changed under its influence.
Slowly but steadily, the Aether in the energy pathway transformed into holy power.
Is that what it means to annex Aether naturally?
David didn’t think so. Maybe the system boon made altering the Aether inside him easier, but it shouldn’t be what the system meant.
A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he reached out to the mutating Aether. He couldn’t control it as easily as holy power, which, for the records, still didn’t come easy to him, but it was possible. Unlike natural Aether, David could grasp its mutated version.
He didn’t try anything fancy and channeled the mutated Aether closer to the Holy Sea, which pulled the Aether closer and absorbed it smoothly.
The Holy Sea is tugging lightly on natural Aether. That allows the slow, natural holy power recovery rate. But once mutated, the suctioning force is much stronger. It’s not enough to pull mutated Aether into the Holy Sea instantly, but if I circulate [Holy Touch] through all energy pathways, or those fillest with the most Aether, I can shorten my natural recovery rate.
The experiment had yet to finish, but David was already quite happy. It shouldn’t be impossible to refill his Holy Sea in an hour, probably less than that, as his energy pathways were filled with Aether.
But I can do more than that. I don’t like to rely on the natural Aether in the energy pathways. It’s too dangerous to depend on something like that in a fight.
David tried controlling [Holy Touch] more precisely, circulating it through multiple energy pathways rather than telling it to coat his hands or other body parts.
He broke into a cold sweat, the mind-splitting headache returned, and blood spilled out of his nose like a pair of crimson streams, but his plan worked out.
The Aether within three energy pathways mutated. His Holy Sea had been sucked dry with the last act, but the mutated Aether slithered slowly to the Holy Sea.
That was decent. A good way to get started. If I keep going like this—...
David’s mind drifted away. The mind-splitting headache won the bout with his willpower. It embraced him tightly, forcing him to sleep.
***
David didn’t wake up until after the sun had risen high above the horizon. He hardly realized how exhausted he’d been, let alone that the mind-splitting headache forced him into a deep slumber,
Did I sleep half a day or what?!
The second day of the integration into the Pantheon started, but David didn’t even think about leaving the house. Quite the contrary. He had only 30ish hours left to experiment with the system’s boon.
Why did I have to fall asleep during the last experiment?
He cursed inwardly, but his sour expression lit up as a notification demanded his attention.
[Proficiency of Holy Touch reached 100%.]
[Tier-1 I] → [Tier-1 II]
Nevermind. The experiment was totally worth it!
He clenched his fists tightly, a victorious smile blossoming on his lips. Controlling [Holy Touch] at the same level as before should be much easier, while Infected would be better off avoiding him.
David took a moment to regain his composure. He sat up and prepared some simple food: a bottle of water and a can of tuna. It wasn’t the most pleasant food, but it filled him…after downing two cans in one go.
If I keep going like this, I will be out of food in…a week? Eight days?
He shrugged lightly and checked his energy pathways again. It took David a few seconds to go through the energy pathways, but the sight was pleasant. There was enough Aether in the energy pathways to fill his Holy Sea once or twice. Maybe more often if nothing went wrong.
This time, instead of activating [Holy Touch], David circulated holy power manually through the energy pathways.
I might as well test out if this works out as intended.
Controlling holy power manually was difficult, but it worked well enough. He circulated it through the energy pathways and altered the natural Aether within. It consumed no additional holy power, which was a welcome change of tunes compared to [Holy Touch]’s high consumption rate. Still, the average holy power was not as effective. The mutation progressed slower, and his Holy Sea wasn’t urged to absorb more holy power.
His recovery rate was still faster than normally, but [Holy Touch] was more potent. It accelerated all processes.
At least I know I can recover holy power faster even if I don’t use [Holy Touch].
That didn’t mean he would pay most attention to recovering holy power that way, but it trained his control of holy power. He had to grasp holy power with great care, circulate it through his energy pathways without tearing them apart due to the sudden influx of energy, and do much more. Everything required great precision and decently high control of holy power, something David had yet to acquire.
Thus, increasing his mastery of holy power was precisely what David did for the next few hours. It drained his mental power slowly, but it wasn’t as taxing as keeping Skill Runes active all day around.
He didn’t waste his time and energy either. Once his Holy Sea was filled to the brim, David switched to [Holy Touch] again. But not to replenish holy power. David started another experiment with [Holy Touch].
David had yet to start counting the empty energy pathways, but there were many. Several dozen at the lowest, but probably more than one hundred. Their sight annoyed him. The energy pathways looked like atrophied muscles. They were fragile and threatened to break when [Holy Touch] entered them, but David had already accepted the danger. He had already embraced the thought of feeling unbearable pain for days if that meant he would grow stronger than everyone.
Only the energy paths I’ve used actively are ‘active’ and absorb Aether naturally. The more often an energy pathway was used, the more Aether they could hoard. It’s comparable to muscles…somewhat. All they need is some destructive training…maybe it's not destructive, but whatever.
As long as energy pathways react similarly to muscles, inflicting tiny tears and damage should be fine through intense training. It would trigger the body to repair and rebuild the energy pathways, leading to the path’s growth.
David wouldn't be in mortal danger even if it didn’t work like that. He was a Cleric, a Healer with some useful Skill Runes.
That was enough for David. He sent [Holy Touch] through the empty pathways even if it wouldn’t replenish holy power right away. It was still necessary for long-term benefits.
The first circulation was painful. David realized he had been too fast and rough by sending [Holy Touch] through an energy pathway in one go. However, his greatest fortune was that the rough handling didn’t matter much. [Holy Touch], just like David had been hoping for, repaired all damages done to the energy pathway as they occurred.
It was painful, nonetheless.
Time passed slowly, and the pain never ceased.
Now that [Holy Touch] was of a higher rank, it was more efficient and more intense. Circulating it through his body repetitively was invigorating, fueling, and life-altering. His atrophied energy pathways bloomed and ‘activated’. Aether nestled the energy pathways, nourishing them alongside [Holy Touch].
They’re consuming a lot more holy power than expected. Then again, I didn’t expect the energy pathways to absorb holy power in the first place.
Every circulation infused more holy power into the pathways, slowly nurturing them.
David felt great. However, it was even better that he felt like ‘cultivating’. It was almost like his friends had thrown him into one of the novels they’d given to him in the past. Yet, it wasn’t the same. This was real. Different. More exciting!
He couldn’t train his Holy Sea to expand with this kind of cultivation, but he could replenish his energy reservoir much faster. That was, to David at least, far more important.
