Chapter 57: Saintly Restoration — SS-rank Talent [CASTLE BONUS]
Cain stopped walking.
He slowly lowered his gaze toward his empty palm before turning around.
Evelyne stood several steps behind him with the Yellow Scroll pressed tightly against her chest.
For a moment, neither of them said anything.
Cain stared at her.
Evelyne stared back without showing the slightest intention of returning what she had just snatched from him.
"I thought you didn’t want it."
"I changed my mind."
"That quickly?"
"Yes."
"You literally just told me to give it to someone else."
"I already reconsidered it."
Cain extended his hand toward her.
"Alright. Give it back."
Evelyne immediately took another step away.
"No."
Cain nearly laughed.
"Why not?"
"You already decided that you weren’t going to use it yourself."
"So?"
"So there’s no reason to give it to Elara."
Cain raised an eyebrow.
"You were the one who told me to give it to someone who needed it more."
"I was speaking generally."
"Apparently Elara doesn’t count?"
Evelyne’s fingers tightened around the Scroll.
"She already received things from you."
Cain stared at her.
"So did you."
"That’s different."
"How?"
"It just is."
Cain opened his mouth, but Evelyne seemed to realize that continuing the argument would only give him another chance to take the Scroll back.
Before he could say anything else, she grabbed both ends of the parchment and immediately pulled it open.
Rip!
Brilliant golden light flooded the empty classroom.
Cain stopped speaking.
The Scroll began dissolving from the edges as countless particles of golden light poured out and surrounded Evelyne.
She had opened it so quickly that her intention could not have been more obvious.
Cain stared at his empty hand for another moment before slowly shaking his head.
"Women..."
"At least say thank you first."
"I’ll thank you after I see what I get."
Evelyne did not even look at him anymore.
Her entire attention had already been captured by the Yellow Scroll.
Cain’s eyebrow twitched.
"Ungrateful woman."
The last section of parchment dissolved.
The golden light surrounding Evelyne immediately intensified.
She instinctively narrowed her eyes as the energy flowed into her body.
Unlike the much weaker transformation she had experienced when Cain upgraded her Talent before, the power contained inside the Yellow Scroll felt far more substantial.
The energy passed through her skin before spreading deeper.
Evelyne expected it to gather somewhere inside her and form an entirely new Talent.
But it did not because almost all of the golden energy suddenly changed direction.
It flowed toward something already deeply connected to her body.
Her existing Talent — Vital Restoration (C Rank).
Evelyne’s expression changed.
A notification appeared before her.
[Ding! A highly compatible existing talent has been detected.]
[Ding! Yellow Scroll energy is resonating with Vital Restoration.]
[Ding! Talent evolution has begun.]
"Evolution?" Evelyne’s eyes widened.
Cain became more interested as well.
He had assumed the Scroll would simply grant her another Talent or Skill, similar to the Cyan Scroll Elara had opened before.
Apparently, that was not the only possible result.
If the energy inside a Scroll was sufficiently compatible with something the user already possessed, it could instead strengthen that existing ability.
The golden radiance surrounding Evelyne began mixing with a soft green light rising from within her body.
Both energies gradually became indistinguishable.
A strange sensation spread through Evelyne.
Her awareness of living bodies suddenly sharpened.
Vital Restoration had previously allowed her to sense damaged tissue with reasonable accuracy, especially through physical contact.
Now, that perception expanded far beyond what she had experienced before.
She could feel her own body with remarkable clarity.
The rhythm of her heartbeat.
The flow of blood beneath her skin.
Even the smallest traces of fatigue inside her muscles were immediately apparent to her.
More importantly, she instinctively understood how healing Mana should move through each part of her body if something became damaged.
Evelyne slowly raised her head.
Her gaze settled on Cain.
The moment she focused on him, her new perception spread toward his body.
Then she froze as there was nothing.
No torn muscle or damaged tissue.
Not even the minor internal strain she expected after watching Cain fight powerful zombies throughout the day.
His body was almost unnaturally intact.
Evelyne frowned and focused more carefully.
She knew Cain had fought several 1st Echelon creatures.
She had seen the condition he returned in after earlier battles.
There should have been at least some lingering damage.
Yet his flesh, muscles, and internal organs were all in excellent condition.
It was as if every minor injury had already disappeared before she could ever notice it.
Evelyne stared at him strangely.
Cain noticed.
"What?"
"Your body..."
"What about it?"
"There’s nothing wrong with it."
Cain raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds like a compliment."
"I’m serious."
Evelyne stepped closer and studied him again.
"You fought that many zombies today, but I can’t sense any injuries at all."
Cain understood immediately as it was obviously because of his amazing Undying War Body.
The Talent continuously repaired damage to his body, and even before evolving his healing abilities, Cain’s natural recovery had already become ridiculous.
Minor damage no longer remained long enough to matter.
Combined with Greater Restoration whenever he actually needed it, ordinary injuries had become increasingly difficult to leave on his body for long.
"I know." Cain smiled.
Evelyne looked annoyed by his completely unsurprised reaction.
"You already knew?"
"I know my body heals quickly."
"That isn’t quick." She looked at him again and continued, "It’s abnormal."
"Well, my body is indeed abnormal, especially my little brother down there." Cain chuckled.
Evelyne rolled her eyes.
Before she could question him further, another notification appeared.
[Ding! Vital Restoration has successfully evolved.]
[Saintly Restoration - SS-rank Talent]
[Grants an extraordinary affinity toward Healing and Life Mana, greatly increasing the power, efficiency, precision, and speed of restoration-type Skills while drastically reducing their Mana consumption.]
[Allows the user to naturally perceive injuries, internal bleeding, damaged organs, toxins, infections, corrupted Mana, and other abnormalities within living beings.]
[Healing Mana instinctively flows toward damaged areas and prioritizes injuries that threaten the target’s life. The ability to restore severely damaged tissue and internal organs is greatly increased.]
Evelyne stopped speaking.
Her eyes remained fixed on a single part of the notification.
"SS-rank..."