Chapter 276: Learning Healing Magic (I)
Uhtred’s enthusiasm was at its peak. Once he could grasp healing magic, just how powerful would he become?
He had already begun to master the basics of space magic from Zara. With that, his offensive ability would reach a terrifying new height. He was already proficient in several Elemental magics, and once he moved past the basic level with space magic, even things like enemy barriers and shields would no longer be an obstacle. He could just attack the space behind their barriers.
Now, with healing magic on top of that, he was unlocking a whole other level of versatility. Even if he were up against a vastly more powerful enemy, he could simply flee with his Slipstream Stride technique — which was faster than literally any other movement technique he had seen from anyone else.
All he needed to do was hide and cast a full-body restoration on himself with healing magic, then return to terrorize his opponent once more. So long as he had enough cosmic essence, he could repeat that process over and over, becoming a literal nightmare to deal with.
So, one could easily understand just how eager Uhtred was to learn this magic. However, ten hours after he met with Diya and began training, his initial enthusiasm had entirely vanished...
"Be careful, Uhtred, it’s gonna explode again—" Diya had barely gotten the words out when the lab rat in Uhtred’s palm rapidly expanded and exploded into a bloody mist of flesh and gore.
"Fuck!!" Uhtred cursed out loud for the umpteenth time, veins bulging on his neck from sheer frustration. "What exactly am I doing wrong?! I did it just like you said, didn’t I?!!"
He slammed his hand on a nearby desk, shattering it to splinters out of anger before catching himself and clenching his jaw hard.
"I’m sorry, Diya." He let out a long sigh, his voice growing calmer. "It’s just... this fucking thing! Why is it so hard?!"
"Of course it’s hard. What? Did you think you’d just learn healing magic in a single day?" Diya chuckled, wiping a spatter of rat gore off her face. "There’s a reason why Healer Mages are so scarce — good Healer Mages, that is. There’s far more to healing magic than simply understanding medicine or having some knowledge of human anatomy."
She paused, then added:
"In fact, I think whatever this ’extra’ factor is happens to be why I’m the only Epic Grade Healer Mage on the planet. Because, objectively speaking, there are far more capable medical doctors than me — people who went to top-tier universities, became master surgeons, the absolute best medical minds... Yet, the most powerful among them right now are just Rare Grades... and those are even just about five to ten on the entire planet. The rest are all Uncommon Grades," she explained, walking up to Uhtred.
"Just like them, I think your problem is that you’re far too logical in your usage of magic. You’re always looking for structure, patterns... an underlying logic that guides how to use healing magic," Diya said.
She reached into a transparent, crystal-enclosed box and picked up another rat. It was a fairly large, vicious creature, taking up nearly the entirety of her palm. Even a lab rat like this had been evolved by the System after the integration. In fact, this particular species had been assigned a name and Level:
Lab Rat (Level 1).
For its low level, it acted incredibly viciously, gnawing and biting at anything in sight. However, it was completely harmless to someone of Diya’s Level.
She cut a small gash on one of its legs and began to heal it at a deliberate, slow pace for Uhtred to observe.
"I’m not saying you don’t need an understanding of cells and how they work, but you are far too fixated on analyzing what those cells are doing as they mend a wound. That’s why your attempts keep going haywire and turning your rats into a bloody mist."
As she spoke, the cut on the rat closed up entirely, without the slightest trace of a scar left behind.
"It’s almost as if, in your attempt to force the cells to do your bidding, you overwhelm them with too much information... you’re instructing them to do one thing while simultaneously interrogating them about how they function," she said. "All you are supposed to do is guide them subtly. A gentle nudge with your healing essence — that’s all. And if you do it well, you don’t even need to expend too much of your own essence. Your target’s natural vitality will aid you significantly."
As Diya spoke, Uhtred remembered the first time they had met.
"I remember you saying something like this before," he said, his brows furrowing in deep thought. Then slowly, a wicked, playful grin began to spread across his face.
"Yeahh... it was the morning after I faced that Level 13 Neanderthal. I remember it more clearly now. You even said something very... interesting," Uhtred’s smile morphed into a full-on devious grin, and Diya’s face turned a deep shade of red as she realized what he was referring to.
"Don’t you dare say it, Uhtred," she seethed in a dangerously low voice. But Uhtred couldn’t be bothered at all. He pressed on regardless:
"I was wondering how you had been able to heal me so fast, and you said something like: ’Ah... It wasn’t just due to my skill. Your body is just way too... fantastic.’"
Uhtred burst into laughter, but Diya didn’t share his humor in the slightest. Her face had turned as red as a tomato. She lunged at him like a feral wild cat while Uhtred easily evaded her, continuing to laugh aloud.
"You even remember it word for word!" Diya yelled, then suddenly broke into a fit of giggles herself, infected by Uhtred’s laughter. She continued to chase him around the large training room, their laughter echoing off the walls until a sharp voice cut through the air.
"L—Lord Uhtred?"