Allen didn't stop running until he'd fled several kilometers. Then, finally, he turned back to look.
At that very moment, Roxy also turned around.
The two 'locked eyes' from afar for a split second—then simultaneously turned and resumed their journey.
The road wasn't flat.
Allen had just descended a slope, and the incline now stood between them, blocking their lines of sight.
Truth be told, if not for that slope, he'd probably still be running.
"Phew… that was close. So this is what it feels like to get invited by a god?"
Honestly, when Roxy made her offer, he almost said yes on the spot. After all, she'd been traveling the Asura Kingdom alone all these years. Even though she now aimed to become a Water-God class magician, after seeing his skills, she must've subconsciously longed for a competent partner to share the journey.
Whether it was searching tirelessly across the world for her long-lost student after the Displacement Incident, or breaking down in tears after reuniting with her parents and realizing they still cared deeply for her despite her aloofness—everything about Roxy proved she genuinely cared about personal relationships. She only wore the mask of cold indifference because she'd spent years being discriminated against for her short stature and blue hair—from the Millis Continent all the way to Central.
Of all the female leads, Roxy had arguably suffered the most.
Allen sighed.
The butterfly effect had already begun—but he still needed to push forward with the system tasks. And his fake "future vision" was too valuable to risk. Sorry, Roxy… just a little longer. The time isn't right yet.
With a quiet mutter, Allen slowly unsheathed his sword. The moment the blade cleared the scabbard, he let go of the hilt. The blade spun in the air, pivoting around its guard like a butterfly in flight. When Allen caught it again, he held it in a reverse grip—cold steel gleaming before him.
The tip hovered precisely one centimeter above the inner flesh of his left arm.
Allen lowered his gaze to the blade, licked his lips, and—
Stabbed.
With no resistance, the blade slipped cleanly into his skin. Blood welled along the steel's edge.
He didn't pull the blade out. Instead, he furrowed his brow and muttered:
"Chiyu-jutsu Mamon (Healing Spell Engraving), activate."
The moment he spoke, his magic surged from within like a flood, drawn toward the embryonic Ryūsei Tōki (Dragon Saint Douki) core in his abdomen. The energy climbed the tree-shaped magic engraving, which began to emit a soft green glow.
Then, his magical flow turned completely green, racing toward his wounded arm.
The wound began to mend. The torn flesh wrapped tightly around the blade. The bleeding stopped.
Allen stared straight at it and counted to nine.
He swiftly yanked the blade out.
Before his eyes, the flesh instantly knit together. No blood escaped.
"Chiyu-jutsu Mamon (Healing Spell Engraving), deactivate."
Allen tapped the wound with the blade's tip. Just a faint white scar remained. And as he blinked—it turned to dry skin, flaked away on the breeze, and was gone.
He smiled, satisfied.
The healing activated in perfect sync with his internal mana flow—fast enough to be practical in combat. Essentially, he now had a passive, chantless Chiyu (Healing) spell on standby.
And its effect was on par with a standard Intermediate Healing spell.
But…
The smile vanished from Allen's face.
After sensing his own mana status, his expression turned grim.
The activation cost him one-tenth of his total mana.
"That's insane…"
His Ryūsei Tōki only consumed about one-fifth for its internal circulation. And right now, he only had 80% total mana.
To maintain this healing effect for just 10 seconds would take 100 days' worth of mana recovery.
Why? Because Allen's mana recovery was as terrible as Orsted's—a 1000:1 ratio.
In other words, what a normal person could recover with one good night's sleep… would take Allen a thousand sleeps.
That's why the system called this the Path of the Kenshi (Swordsman)—because it ruled out ever casually tossing out Suibaku (Water Cannon) between swings.
The other path, Majutsushi no Michi (Magician's Route), mimicked Rudeus' growth instead—no Douki (Battle Aura), only close-combat magic armor and offense from range.
It was worth noting that the system based these two templates on existing characters in Mushoku Tensei—the Kenshi Route was modeled after Orsted, and the Majutsushi Route after Laplace. In theory, completing either path would make Allen a copy of those two in their prime.
But it would take decades—perhaps even more than a human lifetime—to reach that point. Without some kind of lifespan extension, it was impossible.
Allen had suspected from the start that the system's templates were tied to the smartphone embedded in his forehead from before he died. His phone had only contained Mushoku Tensei's novel at the time.
If he'd stored other stories, maybe he could've accessed templates from those worlds too.
But that was just a theory. And even if it were true, what if the system had drawn data from all his entertainment files instead of just novels? The results could be disastrous.
Nobody wanted a template like Makoto Itou…
Imagine getting decapitated by Eris and carried aboard a boat during the tutoring arc—hell no.
Allen exhaled, "looking" toward the embryonic Ryūsei Tōki in his abdomen. He adjusted his grip, then sliced down again.
Let's see if the Ryūsei Tōki's mana-efficiency buff stacks with the Healing Engraving buff. If not, I'll cancel it right away.
Ryūsei Tōki Embryo, Chiyu-jutsu Mamon—activate simultaneously.
As a high-quality Douki wrapped around him, Allen amplified all his senses to feel every minute change inside his body.
Then something strange happened.
The engraving began to pulse like a heart. Allen's magic flowed through it like liquid—drawn in and redistributed throughout his body.
He noticed something: no extra drain on his Ryūsei Tōki.
Maybe because the Healing Engraving was embedded directly into the Ryūsei Tōki core, it could draw mana more efficiently, benefiting from its reduced-cost buff without further strain.
Mana consumption visibly slowed.
Again, he counted to nine and yanked the blade out—this time with more difficulty, as the tightly bound muscle clung to the steel under Douki.
The wound healed instantly again. Allen deactivated the Healing Engraving but kept the Ryūsei Tōki running, to observe his magic more clearly.
Same duration. The Ryūsei Tōki didn't enhance the healing itself, but it drastically reduced its mana cost.
10 seconds of healing now cost only 1/50 of his total mana—roughly the amount a normal person could recover in a day. At this rate, using the spell intermittently would be sustainable.
In battle?
His Douki normally consumed 1/5 of his mana just to maintain internal circulation. That left 4/5 for offense or other enhancements.
In extreme situations, he could use that leftover mana to sustain 400 seconds of full combat operation.
Divide that by 60…
6.666666666
Six minutes.
Tomorrow, I'll meet Rudeus' family and enter his affection route. Things are going to get interesting.
Though the early-stage story is a bit too peaceful… Allen's true strength needs to be shown through more intense conflict.
The butterfly effect from Allen and Roxy's encounter will set that into motion.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]