Adrian lay motionless.

The thought of strengthening himself burned in his mind. Yet when he attempted to sit up, pain lanced through his torso, forcing him back down with a strangled gasp.

Frustration coiled in his chest, hot and bitter. His grand plans meant nothing if he couldn’t even lift himself from a bed.

Soft footsteps echoed through the corridor beyond the door. A figure in white and gold robes entered.

The healer’s face remained neutral, professional. “I’m here for your evening treatment.”

Adrian studied the Defender’s features, a middle-aged woman with calloused hands that spoke of years of wielding healing magic. Those same hands now began to glow with emerald light.

The moment the healing energy touched his skin, Adrian’s pupils shimmered with faint white-grey luminescence. The Source stirred within him, hungry and eager.

The first spell unraveled in his consciousness like silk threads coming undone. A wave of regenerative energy, designed to flood damaged tissues with restorative power.

The healer’s mana flowed in careful patterns, targeting the worst damage first. Adrian’s comprehension raced ahead, absorbing every nuance with frightening speed.

Then came the second spell. Like invisible needles stitching torn vessels and broken channels back together.

“Your recovery rate is remarkable,” the healer murmured, pulling back after several minutes. “Most cadets would need weeks to heal from this level of trauma.”

Adrian managed a weak nod. “How much longer?”

“A few more days of steady treatment should restore you completely.” The healer’s expression grew stern. “But don’t push yourself. Your body needs time to adapt to the repairs.”

The Defender departed, leaving Adrian alone with warmth still pulsing through his veins. The healing energy felt foreign yet familiar, like a language he’d always known but never spoken.

Adrian raised his trembling hand, focusing on the first spell. His battered mana channels protested immediately, sending spikes of pain through his core.

The spell collapsed halfway through formation. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he fought the urge to cry out.

But he forced himself to try again. This time, emerald light bloomed from his palm, not as the healer had cast it, but refined by the Source into something purer.

The healing energy seeped into his flesh, revitalizing cells and knitting torn vessels. Adrian gasped as strength flowed back into his limbs.

All through the night, he persisted, casting and recasting the techniques. Each iteration brought a clearer understanding, deeper mastery.

His body responded with eager hunger, drinking in the restorative power. Muscles grew denser, bones more resilient, mana channels wider and stronger than before.

When dawn light crept through the medical bay’s windows, Adrian swung his legs over the bed’s edge. To his amazement, his body obeyed without protest.

He stood, testing his balance. Not only had the pain vanished, he felt fundamentally improved. Stronger, more durable, as if the healing had rebuilt him better than he’d been before.

A slow smile spread across his face. Healing wasn’t just recovery. It could also strengthen him.

Adrian stepped into the corridor, his movements fluid and confident. The white walls seemed brighter, his senses sharper than they’d been before the injury.

Helena stood beside the same robed healer from the night before. Both turned at his approach, Helena’s expression shifting from concern to sharp suspicion.

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“You shouldn’t even be walking.” Helena’s voice carried the edge of command. “Do you want to tear yourself apart?”

Adrian straightened to his full height, rolling his shoulders experimentally. Not a whisper of pain remained. “I think I’m already healed.”

The healer’s eyes widened. Without hesitation, she raised her hand, emerald light flowing outward to scan Adrian’s form.

The Defender staggered backward, nearly colliding with the wall. “Impossible… his body is completely restored.”

“More than restored,” the healer whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief. “His cellular density, bone structure, muscle fiber integrity, they’re all enhanced beyond baseline human parameters.”

Helena’s jaw tightened. Before the healer could voice their mounting questions, she stepped forward.

“That’s enough.” Her tone brooked no argument. “Come with me, cadet.”

She guided Adrian down a side corridor to a soundproofed chamber marked ‘Command Personnel Only.’ The door sealed behind them.

“You copied their healing spell, didn’t you? Used it on yourself?”

Adrian hesitated, weighing his options. The truth seemed safer than deception with someone who clearly understood the implications.

He nodded slowly. “Yes.”

Helena exhaled, frustration and reluctant admiration warring across her features. “Reckless. With your body that damaged, you could have crippled yourself permanently.”

“You should have waited until you were stable.” Her words carried the weight of experience, but her tone softened fractionally. “Still… you succeeded.”

She led him through another corridor to the treatment bay. Six suspension capsules hummed with healing energy, each containing one of his fellow cadets.

“They’ll recover in three days,” Helena said, “Until then, we remain here.”

Adrian studied his unconscious teammates through the translucent barriers. Marcus’s chest rose and fell steadily, while Lyra’s broken ribs knitted together under the capsule’s ministrations.

His hands flexed involuntarily. If healing could restore him this completely, perhaps it could accomplish far more.

Over the following days, Adrian haunted the medical bay like a ghost. Every healer who passed through became an unwitting teacher, their techniques dissected by his relentless observation.

An elderly woman specialized in bone regeneration, her spells weaving calcium and phosphorus into crystalline matrices. A young man focused on nerve repair, his energy dancing along synaptic pathways.

Each variation fed his Source’s hunger for understanding. The fundamental principles revealed themselves layer by layer, until healing became as clear as breathing.

On the fourth night, alone in the dimly lit bay, revelation struck like lightning. Within the complex web of restorative energies, he isolated a single thread, not mere recovery, but reinforcement.

The concept pulsed in his mind with clarity. Healing didn’t simply return tissue to its original state, it could surpass those limitations entirely.

Adrian raised his hand, mana flowing through channels now wider and stronger than before. The spell he wove bore no resemblance to conventional healing spells.

Instead of targeting injury, it sought perfection. Energy flowed inward, fusing density into bone, weaving resilience into muscle fiber, tempering flesh like steel in a forge.

His body drank in the power with eager hunger. Strength settled into his frame, permanent and profound.

A slow smile spread across his face. This was only the beginning, a passive method to transcend human limitations, one casting at a time lasted for hours!.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep