Reinhard pressed YES, and the screen responded instantly.
[Gnosis Recovery: Selected.]
He expected another straightforward objective. Instead, several new lines appeared.
[Analyzing Target.]
[Analyzing Gnosis.]
[Analyzing Available Information.]
A few seconds passed.
[Analysis Incomplete.]
Reinhard raised an eyebrow.
[Target Gnosis has suffered severe damage.]
[Cause of Damage: Unknown.]
[Restoration Method: Unknown.]
[Optimal Investment cannot currently be determined.]
He leaned back. So even the System needed more information.
Another window appeared.
[Investment Opportunity Available.]
[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]
[Current Value: C.]
[Objective: Obtain reliable information regarding Gnosis recovery.]
[Difficulty Grade: C.]
[Success Probability: 72%.]
Reinhard stared at it for a moment, and then he smiled. "So that’s what you want."
Finding a cure wasn’t something he could accomplish by throwing money at the problem, and if even the System needed more information, he would have to find it himself. He selected YES.
Reinhard pulled the computer closer. "All right. Let’s see what we can find."
...
His first searches were the obvious ones, Gnosis restoration, Gnosis regeneration, and shattered Gnosis recovery. Most of the results repeated what Doctor Alfred had already told them. A damaged Gnosis could sometimes be stabilized or supported with treatment, but there was almost nothing about restoring one that had been completely destroyed.
Then he tried something different. Residual Gnosis activity. One result caught his attention immediately.
Residual Gnosis Activity Following Complete Gnosis Collapse.
The article had been archived years ago, and much of the original material was missing, but one name remained. Dr. Elias Vane, Former Gnosis Researcher.
Reinhard opened what was left of the records. Vane had studied patients whose Gnosis had supposedly been completely destroyed but who still showed faint traces of activity.
Most researchers had dismissed those cases as anomalies. Vane hadn’t. He believed those traces proved a shattered Gnosis might not be as completely gone as everyone assumed.
Reinhard leaned closer. "Residual activity after complete collapse..." Emily’s Gnosis was shattered, and yet Aetheris had detected activity inside it. There might still be something left to recover.
He kept scrolling until he reached a single line. Research Status: Terminated.
His expression changed, and he searched Vane’s name directly. The results were strange. Old news articles held only fragments of his work, medical databases referenced his research without providing any documents, and several archives returned broken links. When he opened another source, the page loaded, and then the text vanished.
File Unavailable.
He refreshed it, and the same thing happened. He opened another archive, then another, and information that had been there moments earlier kept disappearing.
"That’s interesting," he said, grabbing his phone. If the information wasn’t going to stay online, he wasn’t going to rely on it being there.
He opened the first surviving document and began photographing the screen, page after page. Some paragraphs vanished while he worked, but most of the important details stayed long enough for him to capture them. Then he found something that made him stop.
Saint Aurelia: Gnosis Restoration Research Site.
Reinhard snapped another photo, and before he could scroll any further, the page disappeared. He stared at the empty screen. "Someone really doesn’t want this information around."
The laptop flickered, and strange lines of corrupted text flashed across the screen before disappearing again. Reinhard frowned. "What are you doing?"
The laptop began to vibrate. As he reached for it, a thin crack split across the casing, then another, and his eyes narrowed as the machine shook harder and the screen went black. "That’s not normal."
The laptop suddenly jerked upward, and Reinhard reacted instantly, reinforcing his body with mana as he grabbed it and hurled it through the nearest window. A few seconds later, an explosion echoed up from the courtyard.
Reinhard looked down at the smoking remains and scratched his cheek. "Was that an Awakener ability?" His expression hardened. "But why would anyone care that much about some old research?"
He didn’t have an answer. At least he had saved the photographs.
The System flickered to life.
[Relevant Information Acquired.]
[Gnosis Recovery Investment Updated.]
[Restoration Compatibility: 0.01% → 0.03%.]
Reinhard’s eyes widened. "It went up." The number was still tiny, but it had changed. The information he’d found had actually improved his chances.
[Investment Objective Completed.]
[C-Grade Investment Successful.]
[Calculating Returns...]
Reinhard smiled. "So that’s the game." The more he learned about Emily’s condition, the more the System could help him invest in her.
[Reward Calculation Complete.]
[Legendary Reward Obtained.]
[Mana Sovereignty.]
[Effect: Allows the user to perceive, control, circulate, and manipulate mana with significantly greater precision.]
[Additional Effect: Improves mana efficiency, stability, and control. Reduces unnecessary mana loss during manipulation and ability activation.]
Reinhard could already feel the difference. The mana inside his Gnosis felt clearer, as if a layer of fog had been lifted from his senses. "Useful."
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Gnosis Container Enhancement.]
[Effect: Doubles the capacity of the user’s Gnosis Container.]
Reinhard paused.
When he had first awakened, his Gnosis Container had been roughly the size of a small ball. After all the previous enhancements and this latest increase, its size had grown again and again.
Now, when he sensed it, the container was roughly the size of a basketball.
That’s a lot of mana.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Mana Infusion Enhancement.]
[Effect: Triples the user’s current Mana Reserve.]
Reinhard felt the change immediately as the mana inside his Gnosis surged.
Combined with his previous increases, his reserves were now more than nine times greater than those of an ordinary D-Rank Awakener.
He slowly clenched his fist. I really am getting stronger.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Fooling Enhancement.]
[Effect: Unless the target consciously focuses on detecting the illusion, the activation and presence of Fooling become extremely difficult to notice.]
[Additional Effect: Fooling can now affect all five senses.]
Reinhard’s eyes lit up. An illusion that could fool sight and touch alone was one thing. An illusion that could also manipulate sound, smell, and taste was something else entirely.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Mind-Nourishing Cuisine.]
[Effect: Allows the user to prepare food that strengthens mental faculties and gradually expands the capacity of one Gnosis Container.]
Reinhard stared at the notification and then another one appeared.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[30 Days Compressed Mana.]
Warmth spread through his Gnosis as his reserves grew, and Reinhard smiled. "Not bad."
The investigation wasn’t over, but now he had somewhere to start.
...
Later that night, Reinhard found Emily sitting by the window. "Still awake?"
She turned toward him. "I couldn’t sleep."
A strand of silver hair had fallen across her cheek, and Reinhard reached over and brushed it behind her ear. She went still. "You keep doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Fixing my hair."
"It’s always in your face."
"I can do it myself."
"I know," he said, lowering his hand. "I just don’t mind doing it."
A faint warmth touched her cheeks, and after a moment, she asked, "Did you hear that noise earlier?"
Reinhard chuckled. "Yeah. It happened while I was researching Gnosis recovery."
Her eyes widened. "Did you find something?"
"A lead," he said, sitting down beside her. "Nothing certain yet. I found research about people whose Gnosis still showed activity after everyone believed it was completely destroyed."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I’m going to keep looking."
Emily lowered her eyes. "Why are you doing all this?"
"Because you’re my wife."
She gave him the same quiet look she had given him before, as if she still hadn’t gotten used to that answer. Then she asked, "If I did recover... what do you think would happen?"
"You mean if you became an Awakener again?"
She nodded. "Most people would probably be happy. There are still a lot of people who remember me." She hesitated.
"But?" Reinhard asked.
Her fingers tightened around the armrest. "People would talk."
"Let them."
"They’d want to know how it happened, and whether I could still fight. Some of them would probably treat me like something that shouldn’t have come back."
Reinhard leaned back against the wall. "Then we deal with it." He looked at her. "Would you want to keep it a secret?"
Emily was silent for a moment, and then she shook her head. "No." Her voice carried a quiet firmness. "I have no reason to hide. I don’t want to hide away as if I did something wrong."
Reinhard smiled. "So you’d rather take the direct route?" She glanced at him, and his smile widened. "As expected of my Emily."
A small laugh escaped her. "There you go again, believing I’ll be able to come back."
"Of course I do."
She shook her head. "You’re really strange."
"I’ve been told."
Emily looked back out the window, and this time, she didn’t look away from the city.
A blue window appeared.
[Target Value Increased.]
[Emily Ashcroft: C → C+]
Reinhard smiled faintly.
...
The next morning, Yuna was getting ready to leave for training when Reinhard found her by the front door. "Yuna. Can I ask you something about mana?"
She looked at him curiously. "Mana?"
"Yeah. What can a newly Awakened person actually do with it?"
Yuna thought for a moment. "The basics are simple. D-Ranks can use mana to strengthen their bodies, their muscles, bones, and reflexes. They can also sense the life force of other people."
"So you can detect someone without seeing them?"
"Yes."
"What about reinforcement?"
"Control matters just as much as the amount of mana you have. If you spread it everywhere, you’ll waste it. If you concentrate it, you can reinforce one specific part of your body."
"Like putting more into your fist?"
"Exactly. Or your legs, or anywhere else you need more strength, speed, or durability."
Reinhard nodded. "Got it."
Yuna studied him suspiciously. "Why are you asking?"
He shrugged. "Just curious."
She didn’t look convinced, but she let it go. "I should get going. I’m already late."
"Thanks."
Yuna opened the door, then paused. "If you’re actually interested in Awakeners, ask me more when I get back."
"Sure."
Reinhard waited until the door closed behind her, and then he looked down at his hand. A faint smile appeared. "Let’s see if I can do it."
...
Back in his room, he closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed. This time, he had something to work with.
Yuna’s explanation had given him a basic idea of what to look for, and Mana Sovereignty made the process far easier than it should have been. He could almost feel every movement of his mana.
He slowly guided it through his body and into his hand, and nothing happened. He tried again, and this time the sensation changed. His fingers felt lighter, stronger, and faster.
"Interesting."
He focused on his whole arm, and mana flowed through it with surprising ease, sharpening every movement.
Then he closed his eyes.
At first, he couldn’t feel anything beyond his own mana, and then something faint appeared on the other side of the door. It was Lily.
His eyes opened. "So that’s what she meant."
He reached farther, and another presence appeared, then another, Maki and then Emily. Emily’s was weaker than the others, but he could still sense it.
Reinhard smiled. If mana could strengthen his body, there was only one thing left to find out. How much stronger could he make it?
He gathered mana into his hand again, concentrating it more precisely this time, and then he moved. His hand became a blur.
Reinhard stared at it, and slowly, he grinned. "So that’s reinforcement."
He flexed his fingers. He had barely started learning what mana could do, and this was going to be fun.