Chapter 313: Big Brother

He carefully brought his Disruption Mana Blade into contact with the tip of one of the Aura needles and attempted to sever the infected portion. Unfortunately, the curse proved far more resistant than he had expected, and his initial attempt barely affected it.

Alex increased the mana supplied to the blade and strengthened his Will, gradually pushing his concentration higher as he examined the structure of the strange energy. He soon discovered that the curse possessed an unusually stable foundation, which prevented his Disruption Mana from breaking through it easily.

’Ordinary disruption won’t be enough. I’ll have to adjust the vibration patterns to match its structure more closely,’ Alex thought.

He began making small adjustments, testing each variation against the infected Aura while carefully preventing the blade from damaging Ophelia’s remaining energy. Each failure gave him a slightly better understanding of the curse, and he continued repeating the process, gradually refining his Disruption Mana Blade as he searched for a vibration pattern capable of breaking through its resistance.

Even with Advanced Battle Instincts operating at full power, a small part of Alex’s mind remained concerned about Ophelia’s condition. What he was doing must have been incredibly uncomfortable, perhaps even painful, since he was directly interfering with the Aura connected to her soul rather than Aura that had been separated from her body.

However, Ophelia merely gritted her teeth and endured the process without making a sound. Alex could sense her Aura trembling occasionally, but she continued maintaining the needle-like structure he had requested.

After several more adjustments to the vibration patterns of his Disruption Mana Blade, Alex finally managed to sever the portion of Aura containing the curse. The strange energy immediately lost its connection to Ophelia and began dissipating, allowing her remaining Aura to return to its normal state.

"It’s done," Alex said, standing up while wiping the sweat from his forehead. His clothes were already drenched, and his head felt as though it had been subjected to hours of continuous pressure.

Nevertheless, he didn’t reduce the intensity of Advanced Battle Instincts. He knew that if he stopped now, the accumulated mental exhaustion would probably leave him unable to move properly, much less continue treating the others.

Someone grabbed his arm and began asking him something in a shocked voice, but Alex barely registered the words. He simply moved toward the next patient and began examining the curse attached to their Will.

Fortunately, the process became considerably easier after his experience with Ophelia. Although each patient’s energy was slightly different, the fundamental structure of the curse remained the same, allowing Alex to adjust his Disruption Mana Blade without repeating the entire process.

He continued moving between the injured patients until he had removed every curse he could detect. By the time he finished, the Priests had already begun healing the patients whose treatment had previously been obstructed.

Alex finally found an empty chair in the corner and sat down before gradually reducing the output of Advanced Battle Instincts. Almost immediately, a sharp ringing sound echoed through his head, while dark spots began appearing across his vision.

’I might actually pass out if I don’t do something,’ Alex thought, hurriedly overloading Advanced Blood Vitalization to recover from the accumulated exhaustion. Although the spell couldn’t immediately repair all the strain on his brain, it helped him remain conscious while his condition slowly stabilized.

Despite the discomfort, Alex couldn’t stop himself from smiling when a notification appeared before his eyes. His effort hadn’t been wasted, and he had gained something valuable while helping the others.

[Disruption Mana Blade Spell has leveled up. Level 8 → Level 9.]

’Just one more level before evolution,’ Alex thought, feeling excited about the possibilities. Once Disruption Mana Blade reached Max Level, he could finally examine its evolution options and attempt to fuse it with Mana Shuriken.

He continued using Advanced Blood Vitalization until the ringing gradually subsided and his vision cleared. Looking around, he noticed the Priests frantically healing the injured people while several doctors and nurses assisted them.

From the conversations he overheard, Alex gathered that treating injuries with conventional medicine before applying healing blessings could reduce the amount of Faith and effort required. It was an interesting discovery, although he was currently too exhausted to investigate it further.

"Thank you for helping Mom," a familiar voice suddenly said, causing Alex to turn toward the little girl standing beside his chair.

Charlotta was holding a bottle toward him, and he smiled wryly at the sight, finding it amusing that someone was offering him another drink so soon after Sophia had done the same thing.

"You’re welcome," Alex replied, accepting the bottle and taking a sip. To his surprise, it contained cold lemonade, and the taste was considerably better than he had expected.

"Big Sis said you liked lemonade, so I made some for you," Charlotta explained with a pleased smile.

Alex took another sip before asking, "Big Sis? Who are you talking about?"

"She said her name was... Megan, I think?" Charlotta answered, although she didn’t seem entirely certain.

Alex immediately recognized the name, since Megan was his college classmate and someone who had consistently ranked below him academically.

He had once considered approaching her so they could study together, since she understood certain subjects better than he did. However, the way she frequently stared at him had made him suspect that she disliked him, so he had eventually decided against approaching her.

’She knew I liked lemonade?’ Alex found that somewhat strange, but quickly dismissed the thought. Perhaps Sophia or someone else had mentioned his preference to her.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be outside with the others?" Alex asked, looking at Charlotta curiously.

The little girl smiled innocently before admitting, "I sneaked inside."

She continued, " Nobody was letting me see Mom while she was injured. But when I saw big brother coming, I knew you’d heal everyone, so I quickly made you lemonade and sneaked inside while everyone was busy."

..

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