Magic's Corruption

A week later, Roy sat in the mill's barn, focusing his mind on the template:

Personal Level: Lv. 3 (0/1500)

Skill Points: 1; Attribute Points: 1

In the past, he would have kept investing in his strengths, putting his attribute point into his Perception, which was already at 7.

But lately, his thinking had changed. He realized that every improvement to his strength should now prepare him for the Trial of the Grasses.

No matter how high he raised his Perception, if he failed to survive the Trial of the Grasses and died, it would all be for nothing. And according to Letho before he left, an apprentice's will to survive and their body's resistance to poison both affected their chances of surviving the trial. The higher, the better.

The two attributes tied to those qualities were Willpower and Constitution. Roy's Willpower was only 4.8, below the average of 5, while his Constitution had only just reached the required level after he'd consumed the herbs.

So from now on, he had to put the attribute and skill points he earned from leveling up toward improving those two attributes as much as possible.

Roy glanced at his skills.

Meditation Lv. 1: A discipline for the body and mind. Through focused meditation, it regulates the body and mind, speeding up the recovery of injuries, magic, and stamina. It also gradually improves coordination and increases affinity for Chaos Energy.

Note: Each time this skill is upgraded, it permanently increases Constitution and Spirit.

Even Letho, a Witcher old enough to be Roy's grandfather, hadn't managed to train Meditation to level 10. That told Roy just how difficult it was. Most importantly, it could permanently improve Spirit and Constitution... With that in mind, Roy focused on the plus sign next to "Meditation." The letters Lv. 1 blurred and faded, then, a few seconds later, changed to Lv. 2.

Roy immediately put his attribute point into Willpower.

In an instant, warmth surged through his entire body. Every patch of skin, muscle, bone, and blood vessel sprang to life, like roots burrowing into the earth and rapidly drawing up nutrients, growing tougher and stronger.

The brain inside his skull, that most mysterious part of him, seemed to be nourished by something as well. A cool sensation enveloped it, and for a moment, it felt as though countless tiny hands were gently stroking it. Every cell seemed to be screaming with pleasure.

Roy's eyes flew open, starlike brilliance flashing in them. But it lasted only an instant before they returned to normal.

Meditation Lv. 1 → Lv. 2

Spirit 6 → 6.5

Constitution 5 → 5.5

Willpower 4.8 → 5.8

With a total of two attribute points gained in an instant, Roy felt stronger than ever before—or so it seemed.

The transformation was still underway. When he stood and rolled his neck, wrists, knees, and other joints, his whole body began to crackle. A tingling sensation, like ants crawling over his skin, made him slightly uncomfortable.

His face flushed, and he was so keyed up that he could barely contain himself. For no apparent reason, his chest swelled with courage and confidence. In that moment, he felt as though he could run for an entire day and night without getting tired, and face any challenge head-on.

"Phew..." Roy took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists. He forced down his restless excitement, sat on a haystack, and meditated for fifteen minutes until his body and mind had calmed.

Ordinary people could only raise their attributes by one point through years of training and countless small gains. He had gained two points in just a few minutes. It was only natural that his body felt a little uncomfortable.

That made Roy think of the Trial of the Grasses. The Grass Potion would transform and enhance the body in a short time, far beyond what he'd just experienced, to a truly terrifying degree. This discomfort would probably become excruciating pain. That was why so few survived the trial.

At the other end of the barn, a faint groan suddenly came from a crude straw mat.

"Toya, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Roy went over and sat beside the mat. He reached into the blankets to feel the girl's smooth forehead, then sighed with relief. "Your temperature's normal. Looks like the Wild Yam worked."

"Roy... what... what happened to me?" The girl was still wearing the apron she'd had on while working, but she looked haggard, her eyes dull and her lips frighteningly pale, as if she'd been seriously ill.

"You suddenly passed out while sweeping today and came down with a high fever..." Roy patiently explained. "Una and Henk found you and brought you in. But don't worry. I gave you some herbs, and the fever's gone down."

"I see..." Toya stubbornly pushed herself upright with both hands. With Roy's help, she drank a few sips of water, then said gratefully, "I've troubled you again... You must be tired from looking after me. Why don't you go get some rest?"

At that, Roy shook his head and looked into the girl's eyes. "Toya, we're friends. Tell me honestly: this isn't the first time you've passed out, is it?"

The girl sat hunched on the straw mat, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees and her chin resting on them. A hint of confusion and fear crossed her small face, and her voice trembled. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I have so many problems. It's not just my hunchback, which everyone hates. I keep passing out for no reason, getting high fevers, and talking nonsense."

"Even my own father despises me. He doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Roy," Toya suddenly whispered, "am I a burden just for being alive?"

"Toya, you're absolutely not a burden!" Roy said earnestly. "I've been happy spending the past two weeks with you. That alone proves you're a good listener. You're hardworking and clever, too."

"You've just been trapped in a mill that's like a prison, surrounded mostly by narrow-minded, ignorant people. That's why you haven't made many friends, and why you've started thinking the wrong way."

"Is that so?" A spark of life returned to the girl's eyes.

"Of course..." Roy nodded. "How are you feeling now? I'd like to understand your illness a little better..."

"I'm fine," the girl said, taking a deep breath. "Ask me anything."

"When did these fainting spells begin? Have they been happening more often?"

"When did they start?" The girl furrowed her thin brows and thought for a moment. "Probably after my body started becoming deformed."

"They happen every year. At first, once a year. Now it's four or five times a year." Toya's voice faltered. She spoke with self-pity. "I always feel like one of these times, I won't wake up again."

"But if this is the fate Goddess Melitele has in store for me, I'll accept it. To fall into an eternal sleep without pain, without knowing anything... that wouldn't be so bad."

"Toya, you're still young. Your life is full of possibilities..." Roy comforted her, then asked, "Think back. In the past few years, have the spells always happened around certain festivals? New Year, the Winter Solstice, the spring festival, the Summer Solstice..."

"The last one was on the Harvest Festival... The one before that was around Beltane," Toya said, surprised. "You guessed them all, Roy."

"Then I was right... The closer it gets to a magic point, the more easily the magic inside your body resonates, slips out of control, and harms you." Roy sighed, his eyes full of sympathy as he looked at the girl.

According to Observation, after this fainting spell, her Constitution had dropped from 3 to 2.8. Her vitality was visibly fading.

"What does 'magic point' mean?" Toya asked, curious but frightened. "And... why is there magic inside me?"

"Don't worry, Toya. I'll explain everything..." Roy said. "Do you remember when I told you about Aretuza Academy on Thanedd Island?"

"I remember every word you said." The girl said, "It's a place that trains female sorceresses?"

She pulled out the Gwent card Roy had once given her from beneath her pillow. It depicted a beautiful woman with fiery red hair and a red dress. She didn't hide her envy. "Like Sabina Glevissig. She can use amazing magic, even more impressive than your tricks!"

"Right..." Roy took a deep breath. "But did you know that many sorceresses didn't look as beautiful as the women on those cards when they were young?"

Toya suddenly held her breath, her expression frozen. She had a strong feeling that Roy was about to tell her something frightening.

"At first, most of them were like you..." Roy took a moment to gather his thoughts, then spoke slowly, one word at a time. "They suffered from uncontrolled magic inside them from childhood, and looked different from other people. Later, they went to magic academies and received training. Only then did they gradually correct their appearance."

In the past two weeks, Roy had already laid the groundwork, helping the girl glimpse a little of the mysteries of this world. She was now far more prepared to accept them.

"You... you mean..." Toya's teeth began to chatter. A wild idea, unlike anything she'd ever imagined, surfaced in her mind. She could barely breathe. "I... I..."

"That's right... There are eight magic points, which means eight festivals when magic boils over. Since there's magic inside you, it resonates with them, causing you to pass out as those festivals approach." Roy's voice grew firmer. "Simply put, you have the potential to become a sorceress, as long as you get the chance to train at Aretuza. And as far as I know, Aretuza accepts girls from all over the world, regardless of their poverty or appearance, as long as they agree to its harsh contract."

"Like her?" Toya clutched the card so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Could I become like her? Could my body return to normal? Could people stop discriminating against me, despising me, and laughing at me?!"

"If you become a sorceress, magic could transform your body and restore it to normal."

"Uh... uh..." Toya suddenly choked on a sob and slumped against the damp, moldy wall of the barn. Tears the size of beans rolled down her pale cheeks.

Her expression was impossibly complicated, somewhere between grief and joy.

"No, Roy. You're lying to me, aren't you?" Toya still couldn't believe it. "You're my friend. You can't lie to me!"

"I swear," Roy said solemnly. "I'm not deceiving you... I just want you to have another choice."

"That won't work!" A hint of hope appeared on Toya's round face, but she suddenly shook her head. "I'm just an ordinary country girl. I've never even left the mill."

"I can't go anywhere. Henk and Una won't let me leave."

"And you said Aretuza was very far from Edersberg, thousands of miles away. So far that I could never get there."

Roy fell silent.

Toya was right. Most sorceresses' parents refused to send their daughters to so-called sorceress academies. Joining one meant cutting ties with their families of origin, which offered their parents no benefit.

Those greedy parents would rather treat their daughters as free labor and work them to death.

"I'll try to think of a way, Toya." Now that he'd started making a plan, giving up halfway wasn't Roy's style.

He already had a rough solution in mind, inspired by an idea he'd had only recently.

"Toya, I need to tell you the truth. Every time you pass out, the magic further corrupts your body and causes more harm. You can feel it, can't you? You're getting weaker and weaker. If you can't receive proper magical training in time..." Roy licked his dry lips. "I don't know if you'll live to see twenty."

"Don't you want to see the world beyond this place?"

In this benighted age, a hunchbacked country girl would probably spend her short life in pain and misery.

But Roy had always believed she deserved a chance. Once he had an idea, he had to turn it into a plan and put it into action. That was his creed.

Besides, giving Toya a chance might earn him one of his own in the future.

Whether from excitement or fear, the girl's shoulders trembled uncontrollably. "Roy, you... you're not an ordinary person, are you? How do you know all this? And why are you telling me?"

"What does it matter who I am? If we switched places, would you help me?" Roy asked in return. Then he saw the answer in the girl's eyes, full of longing for freedom.

One strong, steady hand clasped a smaller hand covered in chilblains.

"Friends help each other... Toya, just wait. One day, you'll see the sunrise over Aretuza. I promise."