Morning came quietly, but Reinhard had already made up his mind. The day before had given him one answer.
Emily still wanted to be an Awakener. She had simply stopped believing she could be one again, and Reinhard wasn’t willing to accept that yet.
He found her by the window and crouched beside her. "We’re going somewhere today."
Emily looked at him. "Where?"
"An Awakening Training Center."
Her expression tightened.
"Don’t worry. I’m not asking you to train," he said with a smile. "I just want to see what options are out there."
She was quiet for a moment. "...All right."
As he stood, he noticed a strand of silver hair across her face and gently brushed it aside, and she immediately looked away. "You don’t have to do that every time."
"I disagree."
"Why?"
"Because my wife should always look her best."
Her cheeks warmed. "...You’re impossible."
"I’ve been told."
A familiar blue window appeared.
[Investment Opportunity Available.]
[Target: Emily Ashcroft.]
[Objective: Support the target through a specialized Gnosis examination despite her fear of another failed treatment.]
[Difficulty Grade: B.]
[Success Probability: 25%.]
Reinhard glanced at Emily. So that’s the investment? A faint smile crossed his face.
...
With Emily’s agreement, Reinhard went back to searching for anything related to Gnosis restoration. Hospitals, private clinics, and research groups all offered some version of the same answer Emily had already heard, until he found the Aetheris Awakening Center.
Unlike an ordinary hospital, Aetheris specialized in Awakener examinations, Gnosis analysis, ability evaluation, and recovery treatment. Further down the page, one line caught his eye. Specialized Gnosis examination available.
His eyes narrowed. "This might be what I’m looking for."
Before he could look any further, Lily wandered past, stopped, and backed up to peer over his shoulder. "Why are you looking at Aetheris?"
"You know it?"
"Of course." She pointed at the screen. "Yuna trains there. Her mentor teaches Awakeners there, and she’s been going for a while."
Reinhard glanced toward the hallway, thinking of all the mornings Yuna had left early without saying where she was going. "I didn’t know that."
"There are apparently a lot of things you don’t know."
"Fair." He turned back to the screen. "Can you tell me anything else?"
"It’s one of the better places around here." Lily hesitated. "If you’re thinking about taking Emily there..."
"I am."
She went quiet, then nodded. "Then I hope they can help."
That answer surprised him.
A moment later, Reinhard found Yuna by the front door, already dressed for training. "Yuna. You train at Aetheris, right?"
She looked up. "Yes."
"Can you take us there?"
Her expression shifted. "Us?"
He gestured toward the hallway, where Emily was waiting in her wheelchair.
Yuna’s eyes widened slightly. "You’re taking her to Aetheris?"
"I want her examined."
"Why?"
"Because I want to know if there’s anything else we can do."
Yuna studied him for several seconds, and finally she nodded. "All right."
"Thank you."
"Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t seen the place."
Reinhard smiled. "Then let’s go see it."
...
Aetheris came into view after a short drive, and it looked nothing like a hospital. Young Awakeners trained across enormous fields while instructors shouted corrections, mana flashed through the air, barriers rippled across the training grounds, and glowing formations covered several combat areas.
Yuna moved through the facility with easy familiarity, trading greetings with instructors who recognized her, but Emily grew quieter with every step. Reinhard noticed right away. This place was full of the life she had lost. He moved closer and rested his hand over hers, and she didn’t pull away.
They were nearing the entrance when Doctor Alfred stepped outside. His eyes landed on Emily first, then Yuna, then Reinhard. "You’re here for Yuna?"
"No," Reinhard said with a smile, gesturing to Emily. "We’re here to have my wife examined."
Alfred went still. "Reinhard." His voice carried a warning. "You shouldn’t bring her here."
"Why?"
"You already know what the result will be." His gaze moved to Emily. "How many times does she need to hear it?"
Emily lowered her head, her fingers tightening around the wheels.
"She deserves the chance to try everything," Reinhard said.
"We’ve already tried."
Reinhard looked at Emily before he answered. "Then try again."
"Reinhard..."
"You can’t cure her. I understand that," Reinhard said, his voice calm. "But you’re asking her to give up because you don’t have an answer." Alfred fell silent. "I’m not asking you to promise she’ll recover. I’m asking you to make sure there isn’t something you’ve missed."
Alfred looked at Emily. "Emily. You know what will happen."
She had heard those words for years. There’s nothing more we can do. You need to accept it. You should stop trying. Her fingers tightened around the wheelchair frame.
Then she raised her head. "I’m going."
Alfred blinked. "Emily..."
"Please step aside, Doctor Alfred."
Her voice wasn’t loud, and it didn’t need to be. Alfred stared at her, then finally moved out of the way, and Reinhard gently guided her past him.
"It will only hurt her more!" Alfred called after them.
Emily stopped, and Reinhard took another step before realizing she wasn’t following. She didn’t turn around. "Maybe," she said quietly. "But I still want to know."
Then she moved forward, and this time nothing stopped her.
...
They had barely stepped inside when a younger instructor glanced at Emily, and his expression changed. He leaned toward another instructor, his voice barely audible. "Is that... Emily Ashcroft?"
Several nearby Awakeners looked over, and Reinhard felt Emily’s hand tighten around his. She kept her eyes on the floor. Whatever her name had once meant here, she clearly didn’t want to remember it.
Soon after, Emily was taken in for her examination, and Reinhard waited with Yuna. She had been quiet ever since they arrived, and finally she spoke. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"All of this." She gestured at the examination room. "Emily, the wheelchair, the park, the doctors. Everything." She looked down. "You never used to care."
Reinhard didn’t answer right away.
"What happens when it doesn’t work?" Yuna asked, and he understood what she was really asking.
He sat down beside her. "I don’t know."
Yuna looked at him, surprised.
"But I want to keep trying," he said.
"Why?"
It was the same question everyone in the family had asked him. Reinhard looked at the examination room door. "Because we’re family. Whatever happened before, we’re still the people who have to be there for each other."
Yuna’s eyes widened slightly, and her fingers loosened around her bag. "...We’re family."
"That’s why you can tell me when something’s wrong."
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t leave either. From beside him, she watched Reinhard wait. He wasn’t drinking, disappearing, or complaining. He was simply there, patient and present.
A moment later, the examination room door opened. "Mr. Ashcroft?"
Reinhard stood. "That’s me."
...
Emily went through test after test. They measured her mana flow, scanned her shattered Gnosis, checked her nervous system, and examined every remaining trace of activity, and at first nothing seemed unusual.
Then the monitor flickered. The specialist frowned and ran the test again, and a faint pulse appeared. He stared at the screen, then ran it a third time, and there was another pulse.
"That’s strange." He studied the readings before turning the monitor toward them. "Her Gnosis is shattered." He paused. "But there’s something we didn’t expect."
Emily looked at him. "What does that mean?"
"There’s residual activity. Normally, a shattered Gnosis shouldn’t show any meaningful response." He tapped the monitor. "Yours does."
For several seconds, Emily said nothing. Reinhard wanted to smile, but he didn’t. This wasn’t recovery, not yet. But after everything Emily had been told, even this mattered.
The specialist raised a hand. "Don’t misunderstand me. This doesn’t mean her Gnosis can recover. It doesn’t even mean restoration is possible." He looked directly at Emily. "It only means something inside you hasn’t gone completely silent."
...
After the examination, Emily sat quietly with her hands folded in her lap, and Reinhard crouched beside her. "You heard him."
She looked down. "Don’t give me hope just to watch it fail."
Reinhard met her eyes. "Then I’ll find a way to save you." She stared at him. "I don’t know how yet," he said, smiling faintly. "But I’ll find one."
Emily studied him for a long moment. He couldn’t promise he would succeed, but he could promise that he wouldn’t stop looking. He adjusted the blanket over her legs, and she let him.
A familiar blue window appeared.
[Investment Objective Completed.]
[B-Grade Investment Successful.]
[Calculating Returns...]
Reinhard glanced at it. That was enough?
The calculation finished almost immediately.
[Reward Calculation Complete.]
[Reward Granted]
[Legendary Reward Granted: Gnosis Recovery Medicine.]
[Effect: When dissolved into liquid, increases the effectiveness of Gnosis recovery treatments.]
His eyes narrowed. Useful. It wouldn’t repair Emily’s Gnosis on its own, but anything that made future treatments work better could be valuable.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Leg Damage Diagnosis.]
Information flooded into his mind, bones, muscles, nerves, and mana pathways, and suddenly he understood Emily’s legs in a way no ordinary examination ever could.
Then he noticed something else.
Deep inside her legs, a strange mana had gathered around the damaged pathways, and it wasn’t leftover damage. It was actively stopping her body from healing.
So that’s why her legs aren’t recovering. The doctors had tried to treat the damage, but they had never known what was blocking the recovery.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Mental State Insight.]
For a brief moment, thoughts Emily had never spoken aloud crossed his mind.
Is it worth it? What if it doesn’t work? Maybe I should stop trying.
Then another thought surfaced.
These last few days have been the happiest I’ve been in two years.
Reinhard went still as the insight faded. He looked at Emily, who was staring quietly at the floor, unaware of what he had just heard, and a faint smile crossed his face. So it really is worth it.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[Restorative Food Infusion.]
[Effect: When added to food, improves the target’s ability to sleep and recover during the night.]
Reinhard raised an eyebrow. Wait. If this worked, even the cheaper medicine might become useful again. That’s going to make dinner interesting.
[Additional Reward Granted.]
[60 Days Compressed Mana.]
Warmth spread through his Gnosis as two months of mana filled it almost instantly. Not a bad return.
[Additional Reward Granted: Physical Strength Enhancement.]
[Effect: Permanently strengthens the user’s physical body without relying on Mana.]
A strange warmth spread through Reinhard’s muscles.
His body didn’t suddenly become enormous or change in appearance, but something inside him had clearly shifted. His muscles felt denser, his movements felt more powerful, and even the simple act of clenching his fist felt different.
So the System can strengthen my body directly.
Before he could think about it further, another notification appeared.
[Additional Reward Granted: Physical Durability Enhancement.]
[Effect: Permanently strengthens the user’s bones, muscles, organs, and connective tissue without relying on Mana.]
The warmth spread deeper.
Reinhard felt his bones and muscles gradually becoming more resilient, as if his entire body had been reinforced from the inside. He flexed his fingers and looked at his hand.
This is completely separate from Mana.
That was interesting.
[Additional Reward Granted: Enhanced Reflexes.]
[Effect: Permanently enhances the user’s reaction speed and nervous system without relying on Mana.]
Reinhard blinked.
A small medical instrument slipped from the edge of the nearby table. His hand moved before he consciously thought about it, catching the instrument in midair. He stared at it for a moment.
...That was fast. A faint smile appeared on his face. How fast would I be with mana then?
Another notification appeared.
[Additional Reward Granted: Fooling Mastery.]
[Effect: Grants advanced knowledge and experience in the use of Fooling, allowing the user to more efficiently manipulate fear, perception, and sensory information.]
Knowledge flooded into Reinhard’s mind.
He suddenly understood Fooling on a completely different level.
Before, he had thought of it as an ability that allowed him to create fear and illusions.
Now he understood how to manipulate perception itself, how to layer false sounds over reality, distort what someone saw, and turn a person’s own expectations against them.
He could make an illusion feel more real without increasing its strength simply by controlling what the target believed they were seeing.
So that’s how I’m supposed to use it. His smile widened. Interesting.
The final notification appeared.
[Additional Reward Granted: Mana Capacity Enhancement.]
[Effect: Permanently triples the user’s current Mana capacity.]
Reinhard froze.
For a moment, he wondered if he had read it correctly. Then his Gnosis suddenly expanded. Mana surged through his body as his existing reservoir rapidly grew, creating space for far more power than before.
The windows disappeared, and the specialist spoke up. "Mr. Reinhard, wait a moment. Could I speak with you?"
Reinhard turned, and the specialist’s expression had changed. Yuna noticed too. She moved beside Emily and took hold of the wheelchair handles. "Come on. Let’s wait outside."
Emily looked between them. "Why?"
"He probably needs to explain something to Reinhard."
Emily hesitated, then nodded, and Yuna wheeled her into the hallway as the door closed behind them.
Reinhard turned back to the specialist, who was looking at the scan again. "This isn’t residual mana."
Reinhard’s expression changed. "Then what is it?"
"I don’t know." The specialist took a slow breath. "That’s what worries me."
Reinhard stared at the strange pattern on the monitor. "What exactly are you saying?"
The specialist was silent for a moment, and then he looked directly at him. "Your wife’s Gnosis isn’t completely inactive." Reinhard went still. "Something is still happening inside it."