The First Victim of a Healing Spell in History

The Caster Association's hall was already packed with people.

Before the ceremony officially began, news that Hannas, the lord's son, would duel Jia Xiu from the tailor's shop spread swiftly throughout the town.

Those who had originally been too busy to attend the award ceremony also put down their work to witness this rare spectacle.

Who could refuse watching a poor boy challenge a noble to a magical duel?

Quite a few tourists from out of town had come as well. Creekwood Town had beautiful scenery, and tourism had always been an important source of income.

By tradition, the dueling ground was a platform one and a half meters wide and fourteen meters long, covered in red carpet, with the two duelists standing at opposite ends.

Hannas was brimming with confidence.

Before stepping onto the dueling platform, he drank three potions.

One Intelligence Potion to increase his spell damage; one Agility Potion to speed up his casting; and one Spell Resistance Potion to defend against magical attacks.

That was not the limit of his family's potion reserves, merely the limit of his stomach capacity.

He truly could not drink another mouthful.

Although he looked down on Jia Xiu, that filthy errand boy, he still had to make thorough preparations.

What if he lost? If a noble lost to a commoner, how would he ever show his face again once word got out?

Looking at Jia Xiu more than ten meters away, Hannas found him more and more unpleasant to look at.

A commoner with black hair and black eyes—what gave him the right? Pretending to have noble blood was bad enough, but he was handsome too!

Hannas's anger kept rising.

He had already planned out his strategy. First, freeze Jia Xiu with a Freezing Ray. Then use Acid Splash to disfigure that face that looked so punchable. Finally, finish him with a Flame Arrow.

Oh, he could not wait to see that face burned to ruin.

"Both sides, prepare!"

At the referee's command, the two duelists entered the field and stood at either end.

A small red flag hung between them. The instant it was raised would mark the start of the battle.

"Begin!"

The instant the command was given, Hannas sprinted forward. He needed to get within ten meters, the range at which his Freezing Ray could hit.

Yet the moment he took his first step, he saw Jia Xiu standing still, green magical light gathering in his hand.

Hannas's first reaction was to sneer at Jia Xiu.

Clearly, he had never received any duel training at all and did not even know how to control casting distance.

As for Jia Xiu being able to hit him from so far away—

Hannas had never even considered that possibility. In all of Creekwood Town, aside from his teacher, there was no second person capable of casting that far.

Once that lowly commoner discovered in shock that he could not hit at all, he would panic and fail to prepare a second spell in time. Hannas would seize that chance and use Freezing Ray.

Then he would smoothly chain his spells together and claim an elegant victory.

Just as he had imagined.

The advantage was his!

However, just as Hannas was feeling pleased with himself, an odd sensation suddenly came from his right foot. It felt as though something had been wedged into both sides of his big toe.

Then his left foot felt the same way.

The sensation gradually intensified, progressing from a foreign-body sensation to pain, then from pain to agony.

It was as if someone were sawing at both sides of his toes with serrated blades.

Hannas staggered, swaying as he barely managed to steady himself. Standing still felt slightly better than running.

His mind was filled with questions.

What spell had his opponent used? He had never heard of such a bizarre spell, one that only needed to be cast from over ten meters away without any visible effect before causing excruciating pain in his toes.

And he had clearly drunk a Spell Resistance Potion, so why had it provided no defense at all? Had his father bought counterfeit potions? Or had the butler taken a cut!

No, he could not let his mind wander. He had to focus!

Dignity and honor mattered more than life—or rather, suffering for the sake of pride. That was probably a common trait among many nobles.

When Jia Xiu saw that Hannas's forehead was already covered in sweat, his body trembling as he struggled to tilt both feet outward and keep his weight off his big toes, yet was still trying to guide a Freezing Ray—

Honestly, Jia Xiu felt the tiniest bit of admiration.

Using sheer willpower to endure Paronychia? Hannas, you bastard.

What happened when toenails grew sideways into the flesh on either side? The hard nails pressed against the delicate nail folds—an ingrown toenail. The nail folds became red, swollen, bleeding, and pus-filled under the pressure—that was Paronychia.

They said fingers were connected to the heart, and toes were much the same. The torment of Paronychia was no less severe than a flare-up of pulpitis.

By Jia Xiu's own estimate, the degree to which Hannas's toenails had grown into the nail folds on both sides made him, at the very least, a severe case.

But since he still wanted to fight back, Jia Xiu had no choice but to make his pain a little worse.

It was all for research.

Well, perhaps there was a bit of personal grievance mixed in too.

"Radiance as thread, wounds restored anew."

Jia Xiu did not use the Paronychia version of the healing spell again. After all, he was not some kind of devil.

This time, he used a healing spell that made toenails grow forward.

What would happen if toenails that had already embedded themselves in the nail folds on both sides grew a little longer?

"Ah—"

Hannas's miserable scream gave the answer.

He dropped to one knee, sweat dripping onto the carpet. His face twisted hideously as he ground his teeth, seemingly using anger to fight the pain.

But no matter how he tried to distract himself, the agony of his toenail edges feeling like red-hot branding irons had been driven into them—like countless steel needles piercing beneath his skin, sending clear, agonizing pulses through him with every heartbeat—continued to gnaw away at his sanity.

He had never suffered like this in his life.

He desperately wanted to vent through curses, but he could not.

This was a public occasion, with hundreds of eyes from across the town watching. Cursing would be beneath his status.

Seeing that Hannas had lost the ability to retaliate and that his experimental objective had been achieved, Jia Xiu did not intend to keep hurting the unlucky boy.

So he kindly advised him, "Just admit defeat. Why force yourself to endure it? It must be awful."

What Jia Xiu had not expected was that, despite his gentle tone, Hannas snarled at him.

"You used underhanded methods! You have no honor at all! The noble Hannas will never surrender to a lowborn wretch like you!"

Hearing Hannas's words, Jia Xiu was not angry. He found them amusing instead.

If his strength were even half as tough as his mouth, he would not be in this state.

For someone incapable of recognizing reality, verbal instruction was no longer effective. Strong measures were necessary.

So Jia Xiu raised his foot, took aim, and positioned the heel of his leather shoe directly over Hannas's big toe.

Then he stomped down with all his strength...

What did that feel like?

It was hard to describe.

It was probably like having a nail stuck beneath your toenail, then kicking a wall as hard as you could.

This time, Hannas did not scream.

Because he fainted outright.

The outcome had been decided, and Jia Xiu successfully won the award.

The townspeople who had come to watch the excitement simply stared at one another. They had no idea what they had just witnessed.

This duel was far too strange.

It was not just them. Even the people from the Caster Association could not make sense of what had happened.

An apprentice approached Margaret.

"Mage Margaret, what spell did Jia Xiu use, exactly?"

"Uh..."

Margaret could not say for certain either. Judging from the magical power he had released, it should have been a Basic Healing Spell, but the final result...

What kind of thinking could lead someone to use a healing spell to deal damage, even with a control effect attached!

"It should have been a Basic Healing Spell. It should have been."

"You mean Jia Xiu used a healing spell to heal Hannas until he screamed, then healed him unconscious?"

"Well... magic is supposed to have limitless possibilities."