From the onset, Victor had expected this question. Deep in his heart, he knew he had already revealed too much. However, that was the only way to go about it if he truly wanted to heal Cecilia.
After a brief silence that didn’t last more than ten seconds, his lips parted slightly.
"It’s my Talent."
"What talent?"
"It’s a secret of mine, and I hope the princess respects that."
Cecilia narrowed her eyes, a cold gleam appearing within those violet eyes.
"You think I’ll accept that answer?"
"You will," Victor replied firmly in a deeply authoritative voice. "Because right now, no one except me can cure you."
Cecilia fell silent. She hated the feeling of someone holding her lifeline in their hands. But she understood even more clearly that Victor was telling the truth.
She had seen everything with her own eyes.
It was not some illusion. The curse had truly weakened.
If word of this spread, it would be enough to shake the entire royal family. Even the Holy Radiance Church might immediately send people to take Victor away for study.
After all, Abyssal corruption had always been one of the most troublesome problems on the entire continent.
Abyssal creatures themselves were not necessarily terrifying. But the corruption they left behind could erode land, mana cores, and even souls.
If someone possessed the ability to directly devour that corruption, their value would be immeasurable.
Then Cecilia suddenly realized something else.
...Victor had just used such an important secret directly in front of her.
"You’re not afraid I’ll tell others?" she asked.
Victor smiled slightly. "I am."
"Then why did you dare?"
"Because you won’t."
"Why?"
"Do you want others to know that your curse has become so severe that you had to secretly come to me for treatment?"
Cecilia tried to work her jaw.
Even before she could speak, Victor pointed out, "And if my ability gets exposed and something happens to me, who treats you the second time?"
Simple. They now held pieces of each other’s secrets.
Cecilia did not want the outside world to know about the curse, while Victor did not want the true effect of [Mana Devour] becoming public either. At least, not yet.
It was a win win situation.
"So."
Victor leaned against the white jade pool. "Pleasure doing business?"
Cecilia looked at him for a while. Then, to Victor’s surprise, she actually extended her hand.
"Pleasure doing business."
Victor glanced at the right hand that had been covered in curse markings only moments earlier, then shook it.
[Cecilia Saint Laurent Favorability +8.]
[Current Favorability: 20.]
Eight points wasn’t much. However, it was enough to prove that her attitude toward him had undergone a real change.
And most importantly, the chances of her killing him over his provocations had decreased.
The system notifications were not finished, as a new string of text unfolded before Victor.
[Host has effectively interfered with the core destiny of an SS Rank target for the first time.]
[Current action qualifies as a Special Investment.]
[Investment Content: Weakened the Abyssal Heart Erosion Curse and extended the target’s safe period by 29 days.]
[Investment value cannot be accurately measured in gold coins.]
[Calculating stage return...]
Stage return?
Victor’s heart skipped a beat.
In other words, he did not even need to wait until she was completely cured. There was already a reward now!
[Target Potential: SS Rank.]
[Current Destiny Danger Level: Extremely High.]
[Degree of Destiny Alteration: Moderate.]
[Congratulations, Host. You have triggered a 520× Stage Return!]
Five hundred twenty times!
Although the system said the investment value could not be accurately converted into gold coins, the multiplier itself was already absurd.
[As this investment belongs to a special destiny type investment, the return will automatically be converted into special rewards suited to the Host.]
[Generating rewards...]
Several seconds later, three options appeared simultaneously.
[Please select a Stage Return Reward.]
[Option One: Special Constitution: Abyss Resistant Body.]
[Option Two: Talent Evolution: Mana Devour receives one enhancement.]
[Option Three: Permanent Attribute Reward: Spirit +80, Constitution +50.]
Victor’s gaze instantly locked onto Option Two.
There was no need to think. [Mana Devour] was currently one of the most important growth abilities the system had given him.
And if he wanted to completely remove Cecilia’s curse twenty three days from now, strengthening it was the most logical choice.
"Two."
[Selection Successful.]
Boom!
It felt as though something deep inside Victor’s body had been completely opened.
His mana core, which had only just calmed down, suddenly shook violently!
An invisible suction force spread outward from the depths of his body.
The mana that had originally been evenly distributed throughout the treatment room actually shifted toward him for an instant.
Cecilia noticed, a look of concern that wasn’t born out of care, but because of what she might lose if something happened to him, appearing in her eyes.
"Victor?"
"I’m fine." Victor closed his eyes, watching as the System messages refreshed rapidly.
[Mana Devour evolving.]
[Devouring efficiency increased.]
[Resistance to polluted mana increased.]
[Daily absorption limit increased.]
[Special effect unlocked.]
Several seconds later, a completely new talent panel appeared.
[Mana Devour]
[Quality: S+]
[Type: Growth Type Talent]
[Current Stage: Stage One]
[Effect One: After defeating a target or coming into direct contact with ownerless mana, Host may devour and convert it.]
[Effect Two: Daily permanent mana absorption limit increased from 100 to 300.]
[Effect Three: Decomposition efficiency toward Abyssal, curse type, dark, and other polluted mana increased by 100%.]
[Effect Four: When devouring high quality special energy, there is a chance to obtain corresponding resistance or talent fragments.]
[New Ability: Mana Plunder.]
[Host may forcibly absorb a small amount of externally released mana from a target through physical contact during combat.]
Victor opened his eyes.
As if the increase in rank and the three hundred daily limit weren’t good enough, he could now directly plunder another person’s mana in combat as well?
It was already beginning to transform from a pure growth talent into a combat ability.
Most importantly, its efficiency against polluted mana had doubled, meaning the danger of curing Cecilia twenty three days from now had fallen even further.
"System."
"Recalculate the success rate for complete purification."
[With assistance from the Moonlight Sacred Spring.]
[Current Success Rate: 99.4%.]
The corner of Victor’s mouth finally rose.
Now that was more like it.
"Your aura..."
Suddenly, Cecilia spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"What about it?"
"Just now." Her eyes narrowed. "Your mana presence became stronger."
’As expected of a Level Twenty Seven professional,’ Victor thought, not surprised.
His talent evolution had not directly raised his level, but Cecilia had still somehow sensed the subtle change.
"You became stronger after treating someone," Cecilia slowly said. "Is that your talent?"