Reborn as a Mind-Reading Empress-Chapter 677: Saved at a Great Price

"Oh... I see... You were saved by the Great Primordial! That was why you grew up with him?" Elder Satara slowly nodded her head and glanced at Ferdinand.

"Yes. I spotted him from above when I was flying. The nymphs were protecting him from the fire and the attacks but they were all gravely injured," Ferdinand said and everyone was surprised. He never talked about it before when Alwin was present.

[Alwin did not talk for a while and just followed me around after that day. He was scared of everyone else. He should be fine now since he could speak about it with them.]

’I see. He was being considerate of Alwin. He was worried it might still be a difficult topic for him.’

"Where did you find them?" Arabella inquired.

"I think that forest is Mt. Callion now. Alwin was already injured and was barely alive when I picked him up. His mana heart was already shattered to pieces from a cursed spell the magicians had learned to use against the long-lived races. That was why the entire branch of the Holy Tree even the one that used to represent him had wilted and turned to dust," Ferdinand explained.

"His mana heart?!!" Elder Satara paled.

"My mana heart was shattered to pieces?!!" Alwin was shocked as well. He did not know about this either.

[I never said this before since there was no need to worry him when he barely even spoke back then.] Ferdinand looked away and scratched the back of his head.

"How am I able to use so much magic now if my mana heart had broken pieces? Please tell me, My Lord," Alwin implored.

From Alwin and Ferdinand’s lessons and explanations to Arabella about the long-lived races, she learned that one of the main differences between humans and the long-lived races was the presence of a mana heart.

Ferdinand told her that humans were once born with mana hearts as well. However, since only a few of them used it, after some time, only a few humans were born with mana hearts until it became as rare as it is nowadays.

Human magicians at present were the ones who were among those rarities born with a mana heart or were able to condense their mana into one as they trained to use magic.

Meanwhile, the longlived races were always born with a mana heart. As they grew up and learned to use magic, they were able to create more mana hearts for themselves or it increased on its own depending on their mana capacity. However, those were called mana cores. Only the one they were born with was called the mana heart.

For a child who had no other cores and only had his mana heart, having it broken to pieces could mean instant death. For adults, it meant becoming unable to use magic again for the rest of their lives and dying much earlier than the others of their kind.

Thus, if Alwin’s mana heart had indeed broken to pieces, he should have died on the spot or could no longer use magic.

And yet, here he was, a prodigy of the long-lived races with a healthy and massive mana heart that had so much capacity and power that he was easily mistaken as a dragon through his presence, if not for his elven features saying otherwise.

"Yes, your mana core shattered to pieces. But I fixed it back, so you have nothing to worry about now," Ferdinand said like healing a shattered mana heart was not a big deal.

Arabella and everyone else knew he was trying to hide something. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"But how could that be? I thought a mana heart shattered to pieces had no remedy," Alwin responded.

"It has. I did not teach you about it and no one else did since it is an ancient magic that could only be performed by those who had significantly more mana than you do. Only dragons, elder elves, and elder giants usually learn about it since we can perform it if we want to. But we no longer teach it to the younger generations," Ferdinand explained.

"Why? It’s such an important spell. If I was saved because you performed it on me, then, doesn’t that mean we can save others who experienced it as well?" Alwin inquired.

"Because it comes at a great cost. A little mistake and both the caster and the patient die. We cannot risk the lives of the new generation for this when the population has barely even caught up to how it once was. Moreover, it is extremely rare to find someone who survives despite having his mana heart broken into pieces," Ferdinand shut down Alwin’s idea. "I was only able to heal you because you were still alive despite your broken mana heart."

[Then, did My Lord have to pay a heavy price to save me?] Alwin gulped.

"What did it cost you, My Lord?" Alwin asked nervously.

[Fifteen of my mana cores.] Ferdinand thought but did not say it.

Arabella glanced at her husband at what she heard. She heard even creating one mana core was so difficult, and yet, he had fifteen.

{Don’t tell him what you heard.} Ferdinand told Arabella and she nodded.

"It’s nothing that great. Don’t worry about it," Ferdinand dismissed Alwin’s question.

Alwin blinked repeatedly and gulped. Everyone understood it must have been something very important if the dragons and all the elders in Estrella had decided not to teach the younger generation about it.

Alwin glanced at Arabella, his eyes telling her that he wanted to ask her about it.

[She must have heard. I will ask her later.]

Ferdinand shook his head when he noticed Alwin’s glance at Arabella.

[He’s obviously planning to ask her later.]

"Brat, you sure have learned to go against me," Ferdinand frowned and Alwin flinched. "Will you try searching and asking around if I do not tell you?"

Alwin bit his lower lip and admitted, "Yes, My Lord."

"Alright then," Ferdinand sighed deeply. "I used five of my mana cores to remove the cursed spell and used ten more to mend and heal your mana heart back. So fifteen mana cores."