The Price of Sight

The first thing that stood out was the efficiency of mana return. 

The upper and lower veins worked together to accelerate the movement of energy back to the heart, ensuring a steady supply for immediate use.

At the same time, the exchange vein synchronized seamlessly with his breathing, optimizing each inhale to draw in more mana than before.

But what made Ashen the most impressed was the newfound balance within his magic circuit. 

By evenly distributing the flow of mana across all three veins, he prevented any single area from becoming oversaturated or depleted.

His entire body now benefited from the passive nurturing effects of mana, rather than just a select few regions.

For the first time, he felt true harmony within his magic circuit. Maybe this was a foundation that, if trained properly, could take him far beyond his current limits.

Ashen continued using the circulation method, but soon, something felt off.

The flow of mana through the upper part of his body was much slower than in the lower half. 

At first, he thought it was a minor irregularity. Maybe his body just needed time to adjust… but the more he focused, the more apparent the issue became.

There were blockages in his upper mana vein.

Each time he tried to push through, a sharp, stabbing pain flared up, forcing him to stop.

"Why is this happening now...?" he muttered under his breath.

Scanning the instructions again, he compared what he was supposed to feel with what he was actually experiencing. Soon, he realized the problem and it made him feel like he was hit with a brick to the face. 

Every sign pointed to circuit damage… permanent circuit damage.

The more he probed with each cycle, the clearer the pattern became. Most of the blocked veins were concentrated near his eyes.

His gut twisted. My eyes...?

He didn't like where this was going, but his mind couldn't stop making connections.

His future sight ability… he had always wondered what powered it. No matter how often it triggered, he never felt exhausted or even particularly hungry. That alone ruled out stamina or fat as a fuel source.

The only viable option left was something magical. Mana.

At first, he dismissed the idea. Mana wasn't present in Esperra, or at least, that's what everyone believed. But then a troubling thought crossed his mind.

'Mana is extremely scarce in Esperra… but it was never said to be nonexistent.'

His expression scowled as he pieced it together. His ability must have been absorbing what little mana was available in the air. 

And because his magic circuit was still fragile when his future sight first awakened, the energy pathways toward his eyes were likely working well above their tolerance level, overloading for who knows how long… until it was completely crippled.

"What a load of shit..."

A deep, throbbing anger settled in his chest.

His future sight had already ruined his life by triggering against his will. And now, it turned out that it had also crippled his magic circuit. Worse still, the reason his mana reserves were so abysmally low must have been tied to this as well.

His fingers curled into fists.

'Should I just rip them out?'

The thought was intrusive, but the frustration behind it was real. 

He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to let go of the impulse before it spiraled out of control.

Right now, he needed to think, not act irrationally.

'Well, at least now I know why future sight eventually stopped working. Every path leading to my eyes is blocked. How could mana even reach there?'

Ashen remained rooted to the spot, motionless as a statue, but inside, his mind burned with frantic thoughts. A solution… something that could fix this had to exist.

'Should I just ask the coach for advice?'

The thought crossed his mind for only a second before he shoved it aside. This kind of damage was publicly known to be nearly impossible to heal. 

Unless, by some miracle, he stumbled upon one of those absurdly rare Enerleafs, treated like national treasures among Seravelleians. And even then, it had to be the healing type.

No way the coach had one of those lying around. Even if he did, why would he waste it on a random student? 

Ashen was just another trainee in a long line of recruits. His injury wouldn't warrant special treatment… assuming it could even be fixed in the first place.

'The only viable option now is to keep this hidden and wing it as I go.'

He clenched his fists, forcing himself to accept the reality of his situation. 

If they were being observed and graded, which was highly likely, exposing his condition could tank his evaluation. A half-cripple wouldn't score high.

'Guess I'll just have to train twice as hard if I want to stay alive later…'

The class ended as Ashen kept circulating mana using the circulation method absentmindedly, his mind still elsewhere.

He met up with Seraphine and Braun on his way back to his apartment.

"Ashen, are you alright? You seem to be out of it?" Seraphine seemed to notice his absentmindedness, so she asked him as they walked.

Braun also looked at him with concern, perhaps noticing that he wasn't his usual self.

Ashen hesitated for a bit before shaking his head. "I'm fine, just a bit worn out, I'll be okay with a good night of sleep."

Seraphine wasn't convinced by his flimsy excuse, as from what she knew in the past month, even when he was dead tired, he wouldn't be so out of it like this.

But she still didn't push him for an answer, as she felt that he probably wouldn't respond right now.

As for Braun, seeing that Seraphine stopped asking, he opted to stay silent as well, as he knew that Seraphine was much closer to Ashen, and if he didn't answer her, it would be unlucky that he would get an answer himself.

Ashen let out a relieved sigh when they stopped paying him attention, glad that they didn't swarm him with enquiries.

'Seraphine surprisingly has high EQ. Guess her being a successful businesswoman wasn't out of thin air.'

Actually, at first, he debated whether to confide in them about his problem as they were his only allies in this godforsaken place, but on second thought, he concluded that it would only give him a momentary moment of relief for sharing this mental burden. 

On the other side, it will make them worry about him unnecessarily and stress them out, even though the matter is bigger than they could handle.

So he just decided to deal with it himself.

As he reached his room, he plunged straight to the bed and drifted to sleep moments later, forgetting all his troubles momentarily.