Chapter 58: Saint’s Sanctuary – Life Link – Purifying Light [CASTLE BONUS]
Her original Talent had only been D-rank when the apocalypse began.
Even after Cain spent System Points to improve it, Vital Restoration had only reached C-rank.
Yet the Yellow Scroll had pushed it directly to SS-rank.
The increase was so enormous that Evelyne momentarily wondered whether she had misread the notification.
She slowly raised both hands.
Pale green Mana gathered around her fingers almost immediately.
Previously, she had needed to consciously control her healing energy to prevent unnecessary Mana from dispersing.
Now the energy obeyed her with almost no effort.
The light remained perfectly concentrated around her palms.
There was barely any waste.
Even without activating Restorative Light, Evelyne could already feel that her understanding of Healing Mana had fundamentally changed.
"This is ridiculous..."
Cain chuckled.
"You’re welcome."
Evelyne finally looked toward him.
A bright smile began appearing on her face.
Before she could say anything, however, another notification appeared.
[Ding! Saintly Restoration possesses extremely high compatibility with the user’s existing healing abilities.]
[Ding! The evolution of the user’s healing abilities is continuing.]
Evelyne blinked.
"There’s more?"
Cain raised an eyebrow.
That surprised even him.
The golden energy surrounding Evelyne had not completely disappeared.
Instead, the remaining power flowed deeper into her body and began interacting with Restorative Light.
Evelyne suddenly felt new knowledge entering her mind.
Her previous understanding of healing had been relatively straightforward.
Find the damaged area, then gather healing Mana.
Use the Skill to accelerate recovery.
Now, that understanding began expanding.
Healing Mana did not necessarily have to be limited to repairing damaged flesh.
Depending on how it was manipulated, the same energy could isolate harmful substances and remove them from living tissue.
It could also be transmitted through a stable Mana connection, allowing the healer to treat someone without maintaining direct contact.
The possibilities appeared inside Evelyne’s mind naturally, as though she had spent years studying them.
The first new Skill soon appeared.
[Ding! You have obtained Purifying Light.]
[Purifying Light]
[Transforms Healing Mana into powerful purifying light capable of cleansing poison, disease, infection, corrupted Mana, and other harmful substances from a living target.]
[If the harmful energy is too powerful to completely remove, Purifying Light can suppress its spread and weaken its effects for a period of time.]
Evelyne’s eyes immediately sharpened.
"Corrupted Mana..."
Cain understood what she was thinking.
"Don’t start testing it on someone who gets bitten."
"I wasn’t going to."
"You looked like you were thinking about it."
"I was thinking about whether it could help them."
"That’s exactly what I meant."
Evelyne glared at him but did not argue further.
Even without considering zombie infection, the skill was extremely valuable.
Medicine would become harder to obtain as time passed.
Hospitals could be destroyed and existing supplies would eventually run out.
Poison, disease, and other harmful substances that had once been treatable could become serious threats again.
Purifying Light gave Evelyne another way to handle those problems.
Before she could fully examine the new Skill, another notification appeared.
[Ding! You have obtained a Life Link.]
[Life Link]
[Creates Healing Mana connections between the user and multiple living targets. Healing Skills can be transmitted through these links, allowing connected targets to receive restoration from a distance.]
[The number of targets that can be connected and the efficiency of transferred healing depend on the user’s Mana, Magic, and control.]
Evelyne read the description carefully.
Her eyes gradually widened.
Until now, healing multiple injured people meant moving from one person to another.
During a chaotic battle, that could waste precious time.
Life Link changed that completely.
If several fighters were connected to her beforehand, Evelyne could send healing Mana directly through those connections.
She would no longer need to physically run toward every injured person.
Cain immediately understood the battlefield value of the Skill.
As their enemies became stronger, injuries would inevitably become more common.
Nathan could fight from a distance.
Elara fought close to the enemy.
Jack practically threw himself into melee combat with his fists.
Having a healer who could reach them without physically crossing the battlefield would become increasingly useful.
Evelyne was still examining Life Link when the remaining golden energy suddenly expanded around her.
A circular wave of pale green Mana swept through the empty classroom.
Cain felt the warm energy pass over his body.
It did not have anything to heal, but the sensation itself was comfortable, and he could feel Mana in the surrounding area becoming noticeably easier to absorb.
The light continued outward until it covered most of the room.
The final notification appeared.
[Ding! You have obtained Saint’s Sanctuary.]
[Saint’s Sanctuary]
[Creates a large area of restorative energy centered around the user.]
[Allies within the Sanctuary continuously recover from injuries while their natural Mana recovery is accelerated. Resistance toward poison, disease, corrupted Mana, and other harmful energies is also greatly strengthened.]
[Maintaining Saint’s Sanctuary continuously consumes Mana. Its range, restorative strength, and duration depend on the user’s Mana and Magic.]
Evelyne slowly looked around the classroom.
A pale green glow covered the floor and walls. The air itself felt different within the Sanctuary.
Cain flexed his fingers.
His body did not require healing, but his Mana circulation became noticeably smoother while standing inside the affected area.
"This one is good."
Evelyne looked at him.
"Just good?"
Cain rubbed his chin.
"It depends on how much Mana it consumes."
Evelyne immediately checked.
She had only maintained the Sanctuary for several seconds, but she could already feel Mana continuously leaving her body.
It was not an ability she could carelessly maintain for a long time.
Still, the usefulness was obvious.
During a major battle, she could establish a safe area behind the frontline where injured fighters could retreat and recover.
Combined with Life Link, she might not even need to wait for them to retreat before sending additional healing toward the most seriously injured person.
Cain looked at her thoughtfully.
"You’re becoming annoyingly useful."
Evelyne’s excitement vanished almost immediately.
She glared at him.
"Can’t you compliment me normally for once?"
"I did."
"You called me annoying."
"I also called you useful."
"That doesn’t make it a compliment!"
Cain ignored her complaints and focused on the abilities she had obtained.
The difference compared to the Evelyne he had rescued from the university hospital was enormous.
Back then, she possessed a D-rank Healing Talent and a weak recovery Skill.
Now her information had completely changed.
He looked at her talent and skills’ information.
[Evelyne]
[Talent: Saintly Restoration - SS-rank]
[Skills: Restorative Light, Purifying Light, Life Link, Saint’s Sanctuary]
Evelyne stared at her own information for several seconds.
A faint smile gradually returned to her face.
Her greatest improvement was not merely gaining several new Skills.
Saintly Restoration had changed the foundation behind every healing ability she possessed.
As her Mana and Magic increased, those Skills would naturally become more powerful.
Even Restorative Light, which had not changed directly, would now benefit enormously from the SS-rank Talent supporting it.
Evelyne finally closed the status panel.
The remaining glow inside the classroom disappeared as she stopped maintaining Saint’s Sanctuary.
Then she turned toward Cain.
For once, there was no irritation or teasing in her expression.
"Cain."
"Hm?" Cain raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you."
Cain smiled.
"You’re finally saying it."
Evelyne stepped closer, her earlier stubbornness completely gone now that she understood exactly what the Yellow Scroll had given her.
However, before she could say anything else, a familiar sound echoed inside Cain’s mind.
[Ding!]
His expression changed slightly.
The Investment Harem System had finally responded to the Yellow Scroll.