Since I Became Healthy After My Contract With a Weapon Was Broken, I Decided To Live For My Happiness - Chapter 3

Chapter 03 – I Became Healthy!!

When I opened my eyes, I had no idea where I was. I thought I’d died but looks like that’s not the case. My lower half was completely submerged in water. Looks like my body floated down a river and got stuck in a rocky stretch. My surroundings were a dense forest and felt completely alien to me. I coughed violently and expelled a large amount of water. Seeing the quantity of water that came out, I was surprised that I’d managed to breathe for so long. The water I spat out had a weird twinkle which almost looked metallic. Oh shit! This is the River of death. A river which has a high concentration of Animium. I remember my mother warning me long ago to never go near it. I drank that water. Then again, there is no point worrying about it when I’ve already been injected with Animium.

I stood up hurriedly once I noticed that my entire body felt freezing cold, and waded unsteadily towards the bank. The river was only waist deep and its current wasn’t fast. I walked slowly and reached the nearest bank. I quickly removed my sleepwear and stood in my underwear. Looking down, I could clearly see how thin my body was. I could count all my ribs by sight as if I were made only of skin and bones.

I sure did well to wade through the river with such a body.

The moment that thought occurred to me, I finally noticed several things.

“Huh?”

First, my head doesn’t hurt at all. The chronic pains I used have all over my body have refreshingly disappeared. I never felt my head to be so light. Moreover, I am able to breathe without any difficulty. Of course my teeth are chattering due to the cold, but I am not wheezing like I used to. It felt like I could take in enough fresh air with just one inhalation. I didn’t have any abdominal pain either, so I straightened my back and stood to my whole height. My line of sight suddenly felt too tall. Every part of my body felt so pleasant that I forgot about the cold for a while

“What is this feeling? My body is so light!!”

The constant headache I had had disappeared like an illusion. Like being released from shackles after a long time, my body felt so light and free. I unexpectedly now had the healthy body I’d always wished for.

“This is amazing!! But how!?”

Thinking about it for a bit, I reached a singular answer.

“It’s because of Animium.”

I recalled the book I was reading just before I was betrayed and had Animium injected into me. Elves and Beastfolk are never afflicted with mana poisoning because they have an organ that circulates mana without allowing it to build up in one place. Until now, the massive quantity of mana in my body had stagnated in one place. But now, I have a large dose of Animium inside my blood vessels and body! And the Animium can conduct mana! In other words, my body now has a pseudo organ that can circulate mana!

“With this body I can now start my life afresh.”

It was a bitter and painful existence. It felt like I was finally under the sun after labouring through a dark cavern laid with thorns. Now I’m broke and only have the clothes on my back. I’ve lost my status as noble too, I am just a 16-year-old now. But, I am alive and healthy. I am truly grateful for that. This time I will live for my happiness.

The wind picked up and gave me goosebumps all over. “Brrrr!!” Well, I suppose I am just a half-naked 16-year-old now. Despite my new resolve, cold things are cold.

I picked up my wet clothes and headed inside the dense woods in search of a place to shelter from the wind. After walking for a while I happened upon a cave. Something was flickering inside, but I entered hurriedly without minding it. The cave was quite deep and spacious. Since the walls were glowing, my vision was quite clear even as I ventured in deeper. I thought of starting a fire, but I felt warmer as I proceeded deeper into the cave.

“Is there a fire burning inside?”

As I rounded a corner in the cave, I saw a light swaying in the passage. There could be someone down there. The light source was shining a from a place further down the serpentine passage. I walked quickly towards it and called out.

“Excuse me! Could I share the fire…”

Rounding the last turn, I stopped in my tracks. As I expected, there was a fire burning in a torch. But the one holding that torch was a small green creature. It’s a Goblin. And then I finally realised, this place is a Dungeon.

The Goblin was only about chest high. He held the torch in his right hand and something that looked like a knife made of stone in his left. The face lit by the torch had a fist size nose and a pair of large round eyes above it. Looking at the top half of its face you wouldn’t think that it’s an animal, at least not until you saw its yellow pointed teeth lined up from ear to ear. To put it plainly, I’m fucked.

The Goblin stared at me with its large cute eyes, and tried to intimidate me by wrinkling its big nose and showing all its teeth. “Guwoo!” Growling, the Goblin thrust its knife towards me. “Whoa!!” I jumped back nimbly like a rabbit1 and dodged it. Hold on, isn’t this Goblin built like a boulder? It suddenly jumped at me and swung the knife again with its uncommonly muscular body that one would never expect to be paired with those cute round eyes.

“Uwaaa!!”

I was too surprised and fell backwards on the ground with the Goblin straddling me. It tried to stab me in the stomach, but I resisted by seizing its hands. The result was obvious. My frail stick like arms could never be a match for the Goblin’s bulging ones. The knife drew closer to my stomach2.

I’m going to die!! And right after I got a second chance! Fuck no! I was finally free!!

“Like hell I’ll just shut up and die!!”

I strained to summon every ounce of strength I had in my body. I didn’t just push the Goblin back with my frail arms, but flung it hard against the wall. The Goblin slammed into the wall and collapsed. Its head must have hit the wall, it began to bleed profusely.

“Eh?”

I stood up and looked at my own arms. The bracelet that hung loosely, as if on a peg, and the lack of any visible musculature remained the same. Moreover, the sensation of this strength is quite familiar. I practised it over and over without ever getting it right.

“This is… Body Strengthening”

I tried to recall the sensation of using it during my Ability training. How my body felt flushed and strength coursed through me. I concentrated and tried to recreate the same feeling. My body slowly became warm and strength filled it. Until now, I could only strengthen one or two portions of my body, but now every single part of it has been strengthened. I could clearly tell because the biting cold I felt throughout my body has completely disappeared.

“This is awesome!! Even though I failed every single time before.”

Feeling strong for the first time, I became really impatient to move my body and test it out. I swung my arm to see how powerful it was. “Uwaa!” My hand was so light that it swung all the way behind me, dragging my torso along with it. I got turned around and lost my balance. I tried to move my foot around too and brace myself, but forgot that they were strengthened too. My foot shot diagonally upwards. The ceiling and floor, front and rear, all reversed. I did a clean backflip. Of course, I didn’t stick the landing, I fell on my face. “Ouch!! It hurts!!” While my face wasn’t injured by the rocks, it still hurt. This is definitely the same Ability.

How am I using it without a servant? Ah, that’s right.

Mana is now being circulated inside my body. If it is, I should be able to use magic just like Elves and Beastfolk. I could be the first ever human to use magic!

I couldn’t use Ability or do any physical activity, I was just merely watching the days pass by until now. It’s different now. I can practice magic. Just the knowledge that I can do something made me really excited.

As I ruminated while lying face down on the floor, I heard a voice coming form deeper inside the passage.

“Cornelia, didn’t you hear something like a voice before?” It was a woman’s voice.

“It was probably just a Goblin.” The other one was a husky voice that could have belonged to a man or a woman.

I could hear their footsteps steadily coming closer. I righted myself and picked up the Goblin’s torch. Thanks to the fire that was still burning, I could see their figures approaching.

— —

T/N Notes: