novelraw Chapter 98 : Chapter 98
Chapter 98 : Chapter 98
Chapter 98 : Body Manipulation
"Calm down. No need to panic, Sal. I just need to check what we're dealing with."
Vanessa spoke softly as her essence pierced through Sal's body in an instant.
It was distinctly different from the gentle aura he had felt from Lucia during Skill class.
Sal's mind snapped awake at the sudden sensation.
Still shocked by the fact that Vanessa possessed Body Manipulation abilities as a Controller type, he suddenly wondered if her dazzling appearance might have been crafted by her own power.
Trying to catch his breath, Sal attempted to ignore her rushing essence, but it was futile.
'Is this what Crafters feel when they unleash their skills?'
But since Divinity had shown no reaction, that couldn't be it.
Vanessa's eyes had not yet returned to their original green, still shining with the same silver light as Sal's.
Sal was startled by her sharp gaze and inwardly wondered if others looked at him with such eyes.
Just as Sal was about to ask her what she intended to do, his essence began to react to Vanessa's essence.
Along with unpleasant dizziness, Sal felt as if he were being toyed with like a puppet by an invisible, massive force.
It was a sensation on a different dimension from when he had visualized the threads of essence winding around the gates before.
Goosebumps rose on his forearms, and soon a cold shiver swept over his entire body.
He couldn't describe the sensation precisely, but it felt like all the energy in his body was gathering in the center of his chest.
Suddenly, cold sweat broke out all over his body, and his temperature rose uncontrollably.
Whatever trick Vanessa was playing, it was clear that the aftermath was having a profound effect on his body.
Sal felt extreme discomfort.
Frowning slightly, Vanessa let out a light sigh.
"There's not much I can do for you, Sal. It seems your core was recently reset, so you have to go through a process of slowly rebuilding it. It's just amazing that you can use abilities with this level of internal essence."
Wrinkles formed on Vanessa's forehead as if she were deep in thought.
A moment later, his essence condensed into a ball shape in his chest.
His limbs felt paralyzed, and his head throbbed.
While energy drained from his entire body, intense waves seemed to concentrate deep in his chest.
Vanessa glanced at Sal with a slight smile.
"It's not a large amount, but it should be fine for a start."
Sal was dumbfounded.
Because it seemed she was going to leave him like this.
He felt like he would collapse before taking two steps in this state, and an ominous feeling that he had actually regressed crept in.
He wanted to express it in words, but he didn't even have the strength to move his lips properly.
Sal was engulfed in extreme fear that everything had gone wrong.
"Get ready."
Vanessa's crimson pupils flashed.
Sal couldn't even guess what she was saying, nor did he dare to ask.
Vanessa glanced at Sal and laughed.
"Sorry, it's going to hurt more before it gets better. Since your body is recovering itself, you have to pay the price."
As soon as she finished speaking, the essence clumped in Sal's chest squirmed.
"Gasp...!"
A groan mixed strangely with pain and relief burst out.
He struggled to ignore the warning signals sent by his sensory organs.
Pain piercing through every joint in his body assaulted him, but Sal tried to focus on the changes occurring in his chest.
Closing his eyes with intense will, he tried to sense the movement of the essence, but as the essence moved again, waves of violent pain washed over his body.
"Ugh...!"
In the midst of excruciating pain akin to torture, Sal wondered deeply what he had done to Vanessa.
"Three... two... one..."
Vanessa recited numbers in a heightened voice, and at the same time, the essence moved to another location.
Sal felt a momentary sense of relief as a pleasant pulse seemed to circulate through his body, gifted by the essence.
Pain still followed, but the essence felt much more distinct than before.
The condensed essence was withdrawn and refined a little more delicately.
Sal opened his eyes wide in surprise and looked at Vanessa.
The realization that finally came, and Vanessa's meaningful smile, seemed to confirm that he was right.
"We passed through three gates in less than a minute. It's going to get harder, so brace yourself, Sal. I'm watching how much your body can endure, so just focus on not dying. I'll handle the rest."
Although the word 'death' was terrifying to Sal, Vanessa wore a confident expression.
Sal wanted to trust Vanessa, and tried to trust her, but enduring the pain piercing through his entire body made him feel like he hated Vanessa more than anyone else in the world.
Sal regained sensation in his body for a moment at the comforting wave that followed.
The tear tracks wetting his cheeks still remained, but even those soon disappeared as the essence headed for the next gate.
He wanted to count the number of gates passed and think of an excuse to suggest stopping at a certain count to Vanessa.
As the next wave of pain swept through his entire body, Sal barely caught his breath and fell to his knees.
Vanessa held his hand, took a step closer, and stared at him with eyes dyed red.
Sal was convinced it was a signal to stop now, but Vanessa showed no sign of stopping.
Sal's vision blurred, and he could barely distinguish the details of the room.
His mind wandered in a thick fog, unable to properly recognize even the shapes in the room, and staggered.
The only things barely holding Sal were Vanessa's firm grip and her heels visible blurrily.
A warning rang in his brain that he would lose consciousness the moment he closed his eyes.
"Three... two... one..."
Vanessa's voice sounded muffled, and her tone seemed lower.
Sal struggled to understand what Vanessa was saying, but the thick fog seemed to block even his hearing.
He couldn't even lift his head due to the dull pain felt at the nape of his neck, and his limbs became heavy like lead, weighing him down.
The only thing making him feel he was still alive was the pain burning tumultuously in his chest.
Sal focused only on breathing, inhaling and exhaling while counting the seconds.
He did so for nearly a minute, trying to shake off the fear that the moment might never come.
Since fainting due to the shirt he crafted before, he feared losing control of his body.
It would have been much easier to succumb to fatigue and pain, but he persisted and endured to the end.
Vanessa said she knew the limits Sal's body could endure, and Sal wanted to trust her.
While tears flowed endlessly down his cheeks, Sal had to fight desperately against the fear in his heart that all this might be a trap.
Fear that he might have been betrayed.
As his vision cleared, Sal's mind opened up with a flash.
Blinking a few times, he saw Vanessa squatting in front of him, smiling brightly.
"I'm redistributing the essence so you can hear me now. You've done quite well so far, but I'll warn you in advance that the next stage will be much more painful. It's okay to stop here... or you can push through to the end and raise your skill level to the peak. The choice is yours, Sal."
Although he wanted to stop immediately, Vanessa's seemingly sarcastic smile provoked Sal.
He had never experienced such severe pain before, and tissues all over his body were screaming to end it right here.
Reason said it was okay to take it slow, no need to excel all at once, and his body screamed to quit.
But that damn smile of Vanessa's shook his heart.
Vanessa knew his body was weak and had seen Sal collapse in front of her.
But what she was trying to test wasn't Sal's body... but his endurance, his limits.
Sal knew Vanessa respected him as Mythos Crafter and an Appraiser.
But he wanted her to respect him as a human being as well.
Frowning and swallowing harsh words, Sal soon nodded and answered with a rough voice.
"Please continue. I can endure it."
At Vanessa's bright smile, his chest tightened, but Sal was glad he had recovered enough to make such a choice.
Just as he was about to add a request to go a little easy on him, essence was sucked out from every part of his body, and his clear mind vanished in an instant.
At the pain that became even more severe, he immediately regretted his choice, but clenched his teeth and steeled his heart.
He recalled Divinity, who was currently training essence control, and the time and effort Vanessa had poured in to become the best.
He didn't want to pass through the academy easily relying only on his ability.
He knew well his weak mentality of avoiding external activities and shirking from facing monsters.
Perhaps guilt over his own cowardice made him decide to endure this hellish process with Vanessa.
Or maybe it was a desire to be acknowledged by her.
However, one thing was certain: to gain something on his own, he must undergo such effort and pain.
'I don't have a trump card, special ability, or gear to rely on to make this process easier.'
The strength to endure this arduous trial would become the foundation for true growth.
The condensed essence no longer moved slowly between gates.
It wrapped fiercely around points throughout his body and broke through.
Just like that moment on the first day of Skill class when he failed miserably.
Following Vanessa's instructions, Sal squeezed out all his strength and shot through each gate like a train running at full speed.
Even catching his breath became a difficult challenge, but Sal endured with all his might.
The momentary relief had vanished long ago, and Vanessa attacked his body in a ruthlessly efficient manner.
Vanessa's grip, which gave relief just moments ago, now felt like a metal clamp tightening helplessly.
His bones might have been crushed.
Struggling to secure his vision, what entered Sal's eyes was not Vanessa's face, but only two red pupils that seemed to pierce his soul.
Only then did Sal seem to vaguely understand why even Vila's terrifying aura didn't work on Vanessa at all.
Vanessa was a very powerful existence that no one dared to approach carelessly.
Suddenly, as a chilling laughter penetrated the fog, Sal realized he had spoken aloud the last words he was repeating in his mind.
Warm hands gently wrapped around Sal's jaw and cheek, and it took quite a long time to realize that those hands were Vanessa's.
Sal still couldn't read Vanessa's expression, but even while barely holding onto his consciousness, he could vaguely guess from just that laughter that Vanessa was smiling at him.
A few mumbled words were heard faintly, but he couldn't grasp their meaning.
Those hands moved from his face to the nape of his neck and shoulders, holding him steady as he swayed.
Relieved by the warmth, Sal guessed that he was now entering the almost final stage.
At that very moment, unimaginable, extreme pain assaulted him.
"Ugh...!"
The hands pressing down on his shoulders were suppressing Sal's essence, and it was akin to torture beyond imagination.
Amidst the violently rushing pain, Sal let out a beast-like groan bursting from deep within his throat.
"Kuh... Huuuk...!"
He could no longer feel the movement of essence, and only pain that seemed to burn his insides endlessly remained.
At least, Sal believed so...
Until the essence surged up, filling his skull with burning needles, and pierced through his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.
'Something like this isn't worth enduring. There is absolutely no reason to suffer this pain.'
Sal couldn't breathe, think, see, hear, or do anything.
Unstoppable flashes poured out as if his head would explode.
Amidst hallucinations of blood pouring from his eyes and nose, Sal barely breathed only through Vanessa's essence.
Vanessa's two hands pressed down on Sal's face, and Sal couldn't even tell when Vanessa's grip was released.
Only pain filled his mind, and it was doubtful if he could even regain other senses.
If he had even the strength to speak left, Sal would have begged Vanessa to please stop.
He would have done anything if only he could beg her to end that pain.
Sal lost his sense of time and fell into despair as if thrown into a purgatory with only pain.
Before that, Barry's void illusion was his absolute standard of fear.
But he finally realized more deeply.
That Vanessa's ability was the most terrifying in the world, and that he had foolishly volunteered for it.
No growth could compare to such a sacrifice of the mind.
Just then, as Sal was cursing Vanessa countless times in his fading consciousness, everything stopped.
Sal blinked continuously in shock and stared at Vanessa.
Vanessa's form still shimmered faintly, and Sal just wiped away tears with his hand.
Only after confirming there was no blood on his fingers did Sal sigh in relief that the terrible fear was not reality.
The moment Sal met Vanessa's gaze, Vanessa seemed to pierce his soul with still eerie crimson eyes.
A victor's smile hung on her face.
"Do you still hate me, Sal?"