Three days passed in oppressive silence within the Healing Spire. For the Elves outside, it was a period of quiet convalescence. For Nihil, it was an unending, cold, private hell. He lay on a bed woven from living wood, his body a conceptual battleground. The `Void Sanctuary` he maintained internally was the only thing keeping him sane. It didn’t heal; it merely muffled the ceaseless scream of two absolutes mutually annihilating within his veins, reducing it to a constant, dull throb.
[Activating: Void Sanctuary (Rank F)]
[Capacity: 45/50 -> 44/50 (and draining slowly)]
His regeneration was barely functional. Every time `Void Reconstruction` tried to weave a damaged cell back together, the silver residue of holy energy would burn it away, negating the process itself. He was trapped in a cycle of damage and failed repair, his energy draining uselessly.
Elara Moonveil sat in a chair beside his bed, her eyes glued to her data tablet. She hadn’t slept for three days. She had become a shadow driven by caffeine and scientific obsession, mapping the invisible war within Nihil’s body.
"This is inefficient," Nihil stated suddenly, his voice hoarse but clear. He wasn’t speaking to Elara; he was addressing the problem itself.
Elara looked up, dark circles under her eyes making her appear older. "What is inefficient?"
"Waiting," Nihil answered. "My regeneration system operates like a ’brute force’ program. It tries to rebuild the entire operating system from scratch every time there’s an error, but keeps failing because there’s a virus in its foundation. It’s a stupid approach. I can’t win a war of attrition against an opposing concept."
"Then what’s the solution?" Elara asked, her tone now attentive, recognizing the analytical glint in Nihil’s eyes.
"I don’t need a sledgehammer," Nihil said. "I need a scalpel. I can’t *see* the ’virus’. My `Void Sonar` can only detect presence and absence. It’s too crude. I need to upgrade it. I need to turn it from sonar into... a conceptual resonance scanner."
*Elara’s Thoughts: Conceptual resonance scanner? That concept... doesn’t exist. He’s not talking about known magic or technology. He’s talking about re-engineering his own sixth sense. Is that even possible? His energy fluctuations are unstable. Doing this could kill him.*
"It’s dangerous," Elara voiced her concern. "You’re trying to modulate the frequency of a perceptual ability we don’t even fully understand. You could damage yourself permanently."
"My current condition is already slow-motion permanent damage," Nihil countered. "Doing nothing guarantees defeat. Attempting is the only variable that can yield victory. I will begin the experiment now."
He closed his eyes. Lyraelle, who had just entered to bring food, stopped in the doorway, sensing the shift in the room’s atmosphere.
Nihil ignored the external world. He drew his consciousness inward, into his internal battlefield. He started by activating `Void Sonar` normally.
[Activating: Void Sonar (Rank F)]
[Capacity: 40/50 -> 39/50]
In his mind, a crude three-dimensional map of the room formed. He saw Elara as a warm life-form, Lyraelle as a brighter shape due to her nature magic, and himself as... a hole. A human-shaped void.
Now the hard part. He didn’t try to extend its range. He tried to shift its "frequency". He imagined the sonar waves no longer seeking presence, but seeking *types* of presence. He tried to feel the vibrational difference between his healthy cells, his Void-infused cells, and the cells contaminated by holy energy.
Instantly, excruciating pain slammed into him. Far worse than before. It felt like every nerve in his body was on fire simultaneously. The map in his mind shattered into deafening static.
On Elara’s tablet, all alarms screamed red.
[WARNING: VOID ENERGY FLUCTUATIONS UNSTABLE. CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM MALFUNCTION DETECTED.]
"Nihil, stop!" Elara yelled, jumping from her chair. "You’re burning yourself out from the inside!"
Lyraelle drew her sword, unsure what to attack. "What’s happening to him?"
"He’s trying to re-engineer his power!" Elara answered frantically. "And it’s failing!"
Nihil didn’t stop. He processed the pain as data. *First failure: Frequency modulation too coarse. Caused excessive sensory feedback. A more refined approach required.*
He tried again. This time, instead of trying to change the entire sonar wave, he focused on a single tiny point on his fingertip. He sent a minuscule, focused "pulse" of perception, trying to "listen" to the returning echo.
The pain lessened, but the result was still static. He kept trying, dozens of times, hundreds of times. Each attempt drained concentration and energy, but he didn’t waver. It was a scientific problem to be solved.
*Lyraelle’s Thoughts: He isn’t moving. But I can feel the struggle within him. It reminds me of his trial in the Silent Forest. He’s fighting not with muscle, but with will. A terrifying will.*
An hour passed. Then two. Elara and Lyraelle could only watch helplessly as Nihil’s body occasionally convulsed from internal feedback.
Then, something changed.
In Nihil’s mind, amidst the endless static, one echo returned cleanly. It was a very faint signal, but distinct. He focused on it, amplified it, analyzed it. He found it. A unique "frequency" of resonance specific to the holy contamination.
He began scanning his entire body using the new frequency. The static in his mind slowly began to recede. His internal map began reforming, but this time, it wasn’t just a black-and-white map of presence and absence. It was a color map.
His healthy cells appeared neutral gray. His Void-infused cells appeared deep black. And crucially, the cells contaminated by holy energy now shone like thousands of tiny silver stars scattered throughout his system, most concentrated around his heart and central nervous system.
He had succeeded. He had created his own conceptual MRI scanner.
In the external world, the tremors in his body ceased. His breathing, which had been labored, became calm and regular.
Elara stared at her tablet in awe. All danger signs were gone, replaced by a new, stable, incredibly complex energy pattern she had never seen before.
Nihil opened his eyes. There was no relief there. Only the cold focus of a surgeon who had just completed a diagnosis and was now preparing for the most difficult operation of his life.
"I can see it now," he said. "Every particle of the infection. Now... it’s time to cut it out."
The silence in the Healing Spire hung heavy with anticipation. Elara watched Nihil, her data tablet held tightly, ready to record whatever came next. Lyraelle stood nearby, her hand resting on her sword hilt, a gesture more protective than threatening.
"What will you do?" Elara asked, her voice barely a whisper.
"Surgery," Nihil answered curtly. He sat upright on the bed, an action that seemed to cost him considerable energy. "My automatic regeneration is too stupid. It tries to rebuild a burning house while the fire is still raging. I will put the fire out first, room by room."
He closed his eyes again, drawing his consciousness inward. He could sense Elara and Lyraelle in the room, but they felt distant. His only reality now was the intricate internal map of his body.
[System: New Support Skill created through deep conceptual understanding.]
[Skill Name: nternal System Analysis (Rank F)]
[Description: When activated, this skill drastically enhances the user’s internal perception. Allows `Void Sonar` to map the body on a conceptual level and `Atomic Manipulation` to be used with microscopic precision within the user’s own body.]
"Commencing procedure," he whispered to himself.
[Activating: Internal System Analysis (Rank F)]
[Capacity: 35/50 -> 34/50 (and draining slowly)]
His internal map became crystal clear. He could see every cell, every muscle fiber, every neural pathway. And he could see the holy contamination, shining like lethal silver constellations.
The first step was the hardest. He had to fight his most basic survival instinct. He consciously suppressed `Void Reconstruction`.
[Activating: Synchronization Control (Rank E)]
[Capacity: 34/50 -> 33/50]
He felt a protest from his power, the urge to heal, to repair. He forced it to be silent. For the first time since arriving in this world, he was completely vulnerable, without the safety net of regeneration.
Now, the surgery began. He chose his first target: a small cluster of muscle fibers in his left arm, a non-critical area. He focused on the area, zooming in on his mental map until he could see individual cells.
He activated `Atomic Manipulation`, but not in the way he usually did.
[Using: Atomic Manipulation (Marginally Stable)]
[Capacity: 33/50 -> 32/50]
He didn’t create fire or stone. He used it with the finesse of a nano-surgeon. He extended a conceptual "hand" into the contaminated cells. He didn’t destroy the cells. He painstakingly isolated and **"erased" only the signature of the holy energy** from them. It felt like trying to pluck a single silver thread from within a black cord without damaging the cord itself. The process was mentally exhausting. Every "erasure" required absolute concentration.
On Elara’s tablet, a miracle occurred. In a tiny area on Nihil’s left arm, the previously stable holy energy readings abruptly plummeted to zero.
Elara’s Thoughts: Impossible... He didn’t neutralize it. He didn’t fight it. He... erased it. He’s performing conceptual deconstruction on a cellular level. This isn’t healing. It’s re-engineering. He’s rewriting the fundamental code of his own existence.
After the tiny area was "sterilized," Nihil moved to the next step. He released his hold on `Void Reconstruction`, but only in that cleansed area. Read complete version only at novel⸺fire.net
The familiar black dust emerged from the muscle fibers in his arm, and this time, no silver sparks fought it. Within seconds, the small area was fully restored, stronger than before.
He had succeeded. The concept was proven.
Now, he just needed to repeat it. Thousands of times.
For the next eight hours, Nihil didn’t move. He sat on his bed, eyes closed, sweat beading his forehead. Outside, the sun set and the moon rose. Inside, he performed the most intricate surgery in history. He moved from one area to another. Arm. Leg. Torso. Each process demanded immense concentration. His Capacity steadily drained, not from massive bursts, but from the constant use of support skills and precision.
[Capacity: 32/50 -> 31/50... 25/50... 15/50...]
Elara and Lyraelle kept vigil, not daring to interrupt. They could only watch as the "clean" areas on Elara’s scanner slowly expanded, like light pushing back darkness.
Finally, only the most difficult areas remained: his heart and brain, where the contamination was most concentrated. He hesitated for a fraction of a second. One mistake here would be fatal.
*Nihil’s Thoughts: Risk of failure: 47%. Risk of doing nothing: 100% failure long-term. The logical choice is clear.*
He began the procedure on his central nervous system.
As dawn broke, he finished. With one final mental push, he cleansed the last remnants of holy energy from his brain.
Instantly, his entire body erupted with pure Void energy. Black dust enveloped him completely, forming a dark cocoon. Inside the cocoon, `Void Reconstruction`, long suppressed, was finally unleashed, working at full efficiency to repair all remaining damage.
The cocoon shattered seconds later. Nihil sat there, breathing heavily, his body slick with sweat, but his eyes clear. The constant pain was gone. He felt... whole.
[System: Through deep understanding of internal mechanics, skill `Void Reconstruction` has evolved.]
[Void Reconstruction (Rank D)]
[Recovery efficiency increased. Resistance to low-level conceptual interference increased.]
[Void Sync Increased: 13.0% -> 15.0%]
[Capacity: 5/50. Initiating normal recovery.]
He had succeeded. He wasn’t just healed. He had become stronger. He had turned crisis into evolution.
Lyraelle, who had kept vigil all night, stepped forward, profound relief on her face. "Nihil?"
Nihil looked up, meeting her gaze, then Elara’s. He nodded slowly. "Procedure successful," he said, his voice still hoarse from exhaustion. "Now... give me a report on what I’ve missed."
Even after traversing hell, the mind of a scientist never rests.