As the mana spread through his mana veins, a portion of it leaked out and seeped directly into his physical heart. His real heart pumped and pushed that mana infused blood straight into his arteries.

He could sense the changes already.

He was a mage. He had a mana heart and he could easily sense mana. Regular knights spent years just trying to feel the energy inside them while Adrian could map out exactly where the mana was flowing in his body right from the start.

Becoming a high ranking knight was not going to be an impossible goal for him. To become one, he needed to things. One was to sense mana and control it to some extent and the second, was to have a body that could withstand pressure of the mana that moved inside his body.

The only problem was his body, which was extremely weak. He needed to drag his physical stats up to the level of a knight before he could actually use this power in a fight. If he tried to use a knight’s skill with his current state right now, his own muscles would rip themselves apart from the sheer force.

He refused to be one of those stupid protagonists who broke their own arms in the middle of a life or death battle just to win. He would rather break his body in a safe, controlled environment and enter the battlefield at peak physical condition.

Two minutes passed.

The magic circle on the steel plate did its job and sent mana into his body, which began to slowly damage him in multiple areas.

Adrian felt the strain. A dull ache started in his arms and legs. Then it hit his chest. After that, he felt like his bones were actually vibrating. Muscles locked up tight and soon, they began to tear but he still kept breathing. Three in and seven out.

He just sat there and continued to accumulate damage. His nose started bleeding and a thick drop fell onto his chest.

His skin started to dry out soon after. It stretched tight across his muscles and then it began to crack. Tiny cuts opened up all over his arms and shoulders and blood seeped out of the peeling skin.

Celeste gasped as she looked at him. She took half a step forward before Adrian raised his shaking hand, making her stop.

His entire body convulsed. He locked his jaw tight enough to crack his molars. No screaming. The pain hit a completely new peak. Someone taking a sledgehammer to his ribs while his blood literally boiled into steam. That was exactly what this felt like.

Sixty seconds left. He held on right up to the absolute edge of losing his mind.

Adrian threw his weight sideways. He got off the steel plate and his shoulder slammed into the cold stone tiles. He sucked in desperate gulps of air. His hands were balled into tight fists just to keep the screams trapped in his throat. Escaping the circle did not magically stop the pain after all. His nerves were still on fire.

"Tub." Adrian croaked out.

Caelum and Celeste scrambled over. They hooked their hands under his armpits and hauled his dead weight up. Dragging him across the floor. They practically dumped him over the ceramic rim. Green sludge sloshed out and pooled on the stone.

This wasn’t some basic healing potion. Normal potions were simple. You drank them and they sped up your natural recovery. They burned through your own body fat and sugar to stitch you back together. This green liquid bypassed all of that. It didn’t drain Adrian energy, but instead, provided its own energy.

The medicine soaked right into his open cuts. It patched the torn muscle fibers and sealed the cracked bones. But it kept going. Whatever wasn’t used for fixing wounds just burrowed deeper, straight into his organs. Down into his arteries and bone marrow. It fixed everything and also pushed the targeted places into a much better state compared to a few hours ago.

Adrian felt his skin burn, almost like he was being boiled alive inside a pot. He just squeezed his eyes shut and took the punishment.

Twenty minutes passed.

Slowly, the insane heat went down. What felt like boiling water, finally turned into a cool, soothing liquid against his skin.

That meant his body was fully repaired.

Taking a massive breath, Adrian grabbed the slick rim. He dunked his entire head straight under the green sludge.

He had to heal the microfractures in his skull too. The magic circle did not target his brain or his eyes, but the bones in his face and head were still damaged. He repeated the dunking process until the burning in his skull subsided.

He pulled his head out and wiped the potion from his eyes.

"It works." Adrian said. "The theory is confirmed."

He looked at Caelum. "You can leave. I do not need you for the next part."

Caelum nodded quickly, looking deeply disturbed by the whole process. It almost looked like he suffered more than Adrian.

He turned around and basically ran out of the room.

Adrian looked at Celeste. "I want you to stay since you’re also a doctor. If I pass out or something like that, pull me out and fix me."

Celeste swallowed hard and nodded. She walked over to the wall, leaned against it and continued watching him.

Adrian used the dungeon link again. He commanded the system to widen the bathtub. Then he targeted the steel plate on the floor. He merged the engraved steel plate directly into the bottom of the bathtub.

He spawned a small steel cap and locked the mana crystal into place so it would not float away in the liquid.

He laid back down in the green medicine and activated the magical rune circle.

This time, the damage and the healing happened simultaneously.

He started his breathing technique, and this time, he stayed in the tub for three whole hours.

The magic circle was perfectly designed. The damage did not hit him all at once. It started extremely small and slowly ramped up over time, but after three hours, the rate of internal destruction finally outpaced the healing speed of the green liquid.

Adrian jumped out of the tub and landed on the stone floor, panting.

[Ding! Congratulations you have learned the skill...]