Chapter Three: The Cost of Healing


    The moment Amelia’s wound closed before her eyes, a jolt of exhilaration rushed through her. The stinging pain was gone, replaced by a dull warmth that spread through her arm. She flexed her fingers, watching in fascination as the smooth, unblemished skin remained untouched, as if the cut had never existed.


    A soft chime echoed in her mind, and her gaze instinctively snapped to the glowing screen that hovered in her vision.


    [Healing Touch (Basic) Used – Experience Gained: 5 XP]


    Her breath caught. It worked. The system rewarded her for healing. For the first time in her life, she had a way to grow stronger. No longer a forgotten shadow lurking in the halls of House Everwyn—she had power now. Real power.


    But a darker thought crept into her mind.


    If healing granted experience… what if she kept healing herself? Would the system continue rewarding her? Could she accelerate her growth by inflicting small wounds and mending them over and over? The logic made sense. Her fingers twitched as she considered it, the dull knife still lying beside her on the bed. She could keep doing this. Small cuts, shallow wounds—nothing dangerous. If she healed enough times, she would level up, and maybe, just maybe, she could carve a path out of this life.


    Amelia shuddered at her own thoughts.


    She pressed her palm against her chest, feeling the frantic beat of her heart. This wasn’t right. Hurting herself to grow stronger—it was wrong. A part of her recoiled at the idea. The whispers of the servants came back to her.


    “She is cursed.”


    “A child of misfortune.”


    Perhaps she was. But even so, she refused to let this path consume her. There were others who suffered more than she did. Servants whose hands bled from endless work, stable boys with broken fingers from angry nobles’ punishments. If she wanted to gain experience, there were plenty of others who truly needed her healing. Not just herself.


    Yes. That was the answer.


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    Amelia released a slow breath and tightened her fingers into a fist. She wouldn’t resort to self-mutilation. She would help others. She had to.


    She focused back on the system, her thoughts shifting to the other notifications. There was something else she needed to understand.


    Mana:


    A quick glance at her status revealed that her mana had dropped slightly. If her full mana had been 10, she now had 8. Healing had a cost. It drained her, even if only a little. A fresh wave of excitement mixed with apprehension filled her.


    This meant she couldn’t heal endlessly. If she ran out of mana, what would happen? Would the system stop her? Or would she suffer consequences for overuse?


    A new thought settled in her mind, a dangerous one.


    What if she used all of it?


    Her fingers hovered over the blade again, her heart pounding. This time, the temptation was stronger. If she wanted to understand her limitations, she needed to push herself. A single cut had taken two points of mana. What would happen if she kept healing? Would the exhaustion be like missing a night of sleep? Or would it be something far worse?


    A dangerous curiosity burned inside her.


    What if she exhausted her mana completely?


    Would she pass out? Would the system punish her? There was only one way to know.


    Her breathing turned shallow as she slowly, deliberately, pressed the edge of the blade to her forearm. The last cut had been shallow. This one, she made deeper. Not enough to be dangerous—she wasn’t reckless—but enough to feel the sharp sting as blood welled up.


    She winced, but a strange sense of detachment settled over her as she activated Healing Touch once more.


    The warmth spread, the pain vanishing in an instant.


    [Healing Touch (Basic) Used – Experience Gained: 5 XP]


    Her mana dropped to 6.


    Amelia swallowed.


    Again.


    She made another cut, just below the first, watching with growing fascination as the skin split. Another surge of warmth. The wound sealed. Another chime of experience gained.


    Mana: 4.


    A dizzy sensation prickled at the edges of her mind. She was starting to feel lightheaded. Her breath came faster, and yet, she couldn’t stop. Just one more. One last cut.


    She dragged the knife across her palm, the sting sharp and immediate.


    Healing Touch.


    The warmth was weaker this time, but still, the wound disappeared. The notification flickered.


    Mana: 2.


    Her vision swam. The room seemed to tilt, shadows stretching unnaturally in the dim candlelight. A heavy exhaustion pulled at her limbs, whispering to her, urging her to stop.


    But she couldn’t. Not yet.


    A final cut, deeper than the others, ran across the back of her hand.


    One last heal.


    As the magic surged one final time, the world darkened. A weight crashed over her, her limbs refusing to obey. The last thing she saw before the void swallowed her was the flickering light of the system notification.


    [Mana Depleted – Entering Forced Recovery State]


    Darkness. Silence. Oblivion.


    Then, nothing.