"What?!" Both Adam and Berger's eyes had widened in absolute shock.
Viktor continued, "Edward was born with a frail body. The slightest touch to his skin would cause him to cry out in pain. It was very difficult for him growing up as a child. We all thought he wouldn't live long, but as the years passed, his health continued to get better."
He paused for a brief moment, thinking of the right words to say. Then, he continued, "After his health had improved, we tested him for his talent in spellcasting, but we learned that he didn't have any."
"How is that possible?! Could the test you conducted be flawed?" Berger was stupefied. He knew for a fact that Edward had a B-grade talent. Moreover, talent was something that one was born with. There was no way one would suddenly develop talent in their later years.
"Nothing was wrong with the test. I speak the truth," Viktor replied with a complicated look. "But a few years later, when I conducted the test again, I found that he had a D-grade talent."
Berger was speechless. There were very few things in the world that could incite such a reaction from him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "D-grade?! But isn't Edward…"
Viktor nodded. "After subsequent tests, I found that Edward's talent increased every few years. Now he is a B-grade and I believe his talent will increase again in a few years."
"This… Impossible! This is unheard of!" Berger was dumbfounded, losing all bearings of a powerful Magus.
Well, it couldn't be helped. His behavior was justified. After all, such a thing was indeed unheard of.
On this planet, that is!
Adam, who had been silent all this while, had an incredulous look on his face. Tumultuous waves were rising in his heart as he understood exactly what was happening.
He thought to himself in shock, I can't believe Edward is… No way! The probability of that happening is one in tens of millions—no, it's probably in the hundreds of millions! And to think, I would cross paths with such a person!
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})No, more importantly! He glanced at Elia, his gaze filled with shock and admiration. How did she even manage to survive for so long? By all rights, she should have died. But to think that she lived till now… What willpower!
It was common knowledge that there were five grades used to measure a person's talent for spellcasting - Grade A, B, C, D, and F. This was the standard for all the magical civilizations in the universe, not just the planet Adam was in.
The youth had confirmed it through the last set of memories he had devoured.
However!
There was another grade for measuring talent that very few people in the universe were privy to; a grade higher than even an A-grade! The chances of a person being born with such a talent were so minuscule that it was regarded as a legend.
Whenever such a person was discovered, they would immediately be scouted by the top organizations in the vast universe. Organizations would even go so far as to wage war to recruit such a person.
And the reason?
Because a person born with talent far surpassing A-grade was a person loved by mana!
A drop of sweat trickled down Adam's forehead and he involuntarily gulped. A trace of envy flashed across his eyes as he thought to himself, So fatty... you turned out to have an S-grade talent… What a monster!
He then glanced at Elia and confirmed, Well, that would explain everything.
When a being with S-Grade talent begins to grow inside a fetus, it requires a tremendous amount of mana and nutrients. When these requirements aren't met, the baby subconsciously starts to take them from its mother.
More often than not, the baby's requirements are never met and this results in the death of both the mother and the child. This is one of the main reasons why people with S-grade talents were few in the universe.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})But in extremely rare cases, the baby's requirements are met. This results in the baby being born, but the mother dying in the process. But in even rarer cases, the baby's requirements are met, and both the mother and child are safe.
Cases such as the last one were so rare that it would be apt to call them a miracle!
As Berger and Viktor were talking with each other, Adam muttered, "I think… I can do it."
"What?" Both men stopped talking and glanced at Adam.
Viktor asked again, "What did you say?"
Adam started to bite his nails, a bad habit that he'd acquired from Lisa, and mumbled incoherently, "I-It's possible if I use the acupuncture technique infused with mana…"
"Kid!" Viktor grabbed Adam's shoulders and barely managed to control his voice. "What did you just say?!"
Adam snapped back to his senses and looked Viktor in the eyes. "Uncle… There's a chance that I can cure her illness. But…"
"But what?!" Viktor nearly screamed.
"There's a chance that her rank may drop." Adam gulped nervously. "Or worst case scenario… she would never be able to wield mana again."
"But…" Viktor's arms trembled and his eyes shone with hope. "She'll live?"
Adam thought for a long time and then confidently nodded. "Yes!"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"Wait a minute." Berger walked toward Adam and asked solemnly. "Boy, did you find the root cause of her illness? What was your diagnosis?"
Shit! Adam cursed inwardly. How should I explain it to him?
He couldn't just tell Berger about the existence of S-grade talent. This would cause the gnome to be very suspicious of him. He might just think that Adam was lying.
Moreover, the Herbalist expert whose memory Adam had absorbed had never treated a person who had given birth to an S-grade talent. Heck, he had never even seen a person with S-
grade talent. The expert only knew that such people existed.
Adam had deduced the treatment procedure by himself based on all the herbalism knowledge he had acquired. After all, It was fairly simple to cure an illness if it was accurately identified.
But if Adam told Berger this, the latter would not allow him to treat Edward's mother. And if he didn't treat her now, things would get troublesome. She was sure to die soon. He couldn't let his friend's mother die knowing he could save her.
Thus, Adam blatantly lied through his teeth.
"You might not believe me but the wandering Magus who taught me herbalism had once treated someone with the same condition."
Berger's eyes narrowed. "You expect me to believe there was another person who had a talent increase as bizarre as Edward's? And that the person who taught you herbalism treated such a person's mother? Do you take me for a fool?!"
Damn it! Adam gritted his teeth. He took a deep breath and muttered solemnly. "Old man, I can cure her. Please, trust me."
Berger was still thinking that the youth was taking everything lightly. But when he saw the look in Adam's eyes, he swallowed the words he was about to say. He then looked at Viktor who seemed to be on the verge of tears, and couldn't help but sigh.
After hesitating for a long time, he glanced back at Adam and warned. "Do what you want, but if I sense something wrong, I will stop you. I will not hear another word from you."
"Umm, hehe." Adam laughed nervously.
"Well, you see… My methods might be a little unconventional."
