“Why?”

Unable to see what was wrong, I stared at him curiously. Adar shrugged his shoulders.

“The sofa’s big enough. Do we really need to do it here?”

“I don’t feel comfortable doing it on the sofa. What’s the problem?”

“You don’t just let a guy lie on your bed. You do that when you’re doing something more together.”

“Ohh. Is that what you’re worried about?”

Nodding my head, I assured him.

“Don’t worry. You’re not my style. Believe me. I’m in no hurry to jump into bed with you, so rest assured and lie down.”

Pfft. Adar suddenly let out a snicker and tried to contain his laughter.

“You took the words right out of my mouth. Well, if you’re fine with it, then I won’t protest.”

He said as he went to lie down on the bed as instructed.

Adar’s gray hair and black eyes blended in with my black cotton blanket. I felt a little strange seeing how well they matched.

‘Could he look any more like this room belonged to him?’

Trying not to feel bothered, I undid the leather pouch and picked out a needle.

The thin needle was used for the treatment of inflamed blood vessels.

Its main feature was its slightly rounded tip. Since it was a little shorter than the other needles, it would be perfect for pricking the points that I wanted to.

Still, I couldn’t help but worry.

As I checked Adar’s pulse, I briefly dwelled on my thoughts.

Actually, sharp needles used in apitherapy are better than rounded ones for disentangling Adar’s tightly woven mana points.

Sharp needles work better than blunt needles. They would prick deeply and release the jumbled-up mana points.

And yet, there was a reason why I chose a rounded needle. Although Adar won’t be able to use mana quite as freely, using a rounded needle would allow his body to feel lighter.

What's more is that if he ended up bleeding from the treatment, I wouldn't have the medicine to deal with it. The mana in his blood vessels would burst, making matters worse.

Not only would that disrupt the flow of energy, but it would also cause a problem in the most vital acupoints.

If that happened, there would be no turning back.

‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. A rounded needle is a better choice.’

I closed my eyes and placed my left hand on Adar’s chest.

I felt a slow and heavy heartbeat.

With my right hand, I held the pouch of thin needles and brought it closer to his body.

The rounded needles were made of mana-sensing material. They started ringing at regular intervals.

Carefully, I concentrated on the thick mana points stemming out from his heart and listened to the ringing of the needles.

Then I placed the tip of my hand to where I assumed the largest pool of mana would be.

It was just below his collarbone.

When I lightly stroked the area below his thick collarbone, I felt my senses reach out to the pressure points like roots hunting for water.

Since it was close to his respiratory tract, however, his breathing got in the way of searching for his subtler mana points.

Mana points, unlike regular pressure points, are very mobile. The slightest movement could cause their location on the body to completely shift.

Frowning from deep concentration, I gave him an order.

“Stop breathing for a moment.”

Adar obliged and stopped breathing.

Once his breathing stopped, I thought I could almost hear a clear, vigorous body of flowing water.

I moved around, carefully searching for the acupuncture points. It was like I was counting every single capillary with my fingertips.

Below the densely interwoven mana points, there was clearly a deep ocean of mana that stretched out underneath.

It was the deepest pool of mana I’ve ever come across in my life.

To prevent the worst-case scenario from happening, I took great care in aiming the needle over the surface of the pool. Then, I gently stabbed it in.

I had to be careful not to overdo it. I needed to apply the least amount of pressure possible.

And yet, it had to be just enough to create a clear trail deep within that jungle of mana.

Tap.

The round tip of the needle lightly pricked through the surface of the mana pool.

Then, like water leaking from a tiny hole, one of the tangled mana points started flowing through the path created by the needle.

I smiled and opened my eyes.

“You can breathe now.”

Adar let out the deep breath he had been holding in.

I checked to see how he was doing and then went back to searching for his pressure points.

Looking for new points to prick had to be done with careful consideration.

There was no room for any careless mistakes. I had to perform the exact same process that I had just done.

This time, it was the palm of his hand.

It seemed like he regularly used mana with his left hand.

His elbow and his wrist were stagnant with big pools of mana.

I lightly pricked each of those places.

Three mana points were the most I could safely prick without the aid of any medicine.

About 10 minutes later, I gathered all of the needles back up.

“I’m done.”

I said while wiping the needles with cotton balls soaked in disinfectant. Adar raised his eyelids.

With a slightly tired expression, he said:

“This kind of treatment is a first.”

“There’s probably only about two other people who know how to do this in the entire Empire. It’s a variation of Eastern treatment.”

“Yeah?”

Adar mumbled in a groggy voice.

His voice was husky to begin with, but this time, it was lethargic like someone who had just awoken from a deep sleep.

I stopped arranging my needles in the leather pouch and looked him over with a serious face.

“What’s wrong? Is something the matter?”

“No.”

Adar raised his hand and stared blankly at his left palm.

“That was amazing.”

I couldn’t guess what he was feeling.

He just kept staring at his left hand in silence for a long time.

Unable to take the silence any longer, I asked:

“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m not sure.”

Adar’s somber voice went even lower.

“There’s too many things running in my head. I don’t know where to begin.”

At some point, he sluggishly got up.

It was hard to tell what he was thinking behind those pitch-black eyes of his gazing at me.

“Kakana, you know how to use mana?”

I didn’t understand his question at first.

I blinked my eyes. Then, I understood and crumpled my face.

‘What kind of nonsense is that?’

Why did he ask if I could use mana?

With the exception of performing acupuncture on mana points, I had nothing to do with mana, not even with the letter “m” it started with.

I wasn’t even remotely interested in something so troublesome and dangerous, nor did I want anything to do with it.

Feeling exasperated, I placed my hands on my hips and asked:

“Why are you asking me that?”

“You just felt it. Mana, I mean.”

“Me? When?”

“You knew all the places to prick that had the most mana.”

“Ohhh.”

Now I understood what Adar was mistaken about.

“That’s what you’re talking about. It’s because the needles are made of mana sensing material. That helps me to find where mana is pooled up at. It’s sort of like those dowsing rods used for looking for water.”

“You were feeling my heartbeat with your left hand. What was that about?”

“It’s just as you said. I was feeling your heartbeat.”

“Why?”

Adar asked with a blank face.

He usually had a light smile on his face. It was nothing trivial when it disappeared.

I tilted my head.

There was a serious look on his face.

His thinly stretched-out lips were strained as though he was about to make some important decision.

“Adar... Are you by any chance interested in acupuncture?”

“So, you were literally just feeling my heartbeat?”

Immediately dismissing my wrong guess, Adar asked further.

“And during the acupuncture, you were just pricking me with that mana sensing... or whatever that needle was?”

“Yep.”

Seeing me nod without a hint of hesitation, Adar stared at me and then suddenly let out a long sigh.

It was an embarrassingly loud sigh. I looked at him in confusion.

“I can’t tell if I should be feeling relieved or worried.”

He then looked up at me and grinned.

He was always joking around. Had he finally lost it? I waved a hand in front of his nose when he suddenly grabbed my wrist and squeezed it.

The callouses on his fingers rubbed roughly against my skin.

I knew he was solidly built, but it felt strange to actually feel his big hand around my wrist.

His hand was completely wrapped around my wrist without a single space in between. Finally, just as I was about to shake him off, he let go.

What was that just now?

“What was that for?”

Adar seemed to mull over something and then unexpectedly burst out into a soft laughter.

“You’re hilarious. How can you be so oblivious? Or are you hiding it?”

“Wh-what?”

Adar met my gaze with a sudden kindness in his eyes.

Feeling slightly flustered, I moved my lips without making a sound.

“Why do you have so many secrets, Kakana?”

His voice was so sweet it almost ached.

I wasn’t used to such a kind tone. It gave me the chills. I took a step back.

I tried my best to ignore my pounding heart and looked at him. Adar slowly continued.

“You’re making me curious.”

I fixed my gaze on him with my mouth tightly shut. Adar’s eyes curved into a smile.

My body turned stiff as though I had seen the smile of a black panther.

The indescribable tension finally came to an end when Adar gently patted me on the head.

I secretly let out a breath I was holding in and looked over his face.

Adar opened and closed his hand and then got up from the bed.

“My body feels light.”

“...”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

I got up from my seat with a frown.

“If you really are thankful, then you can pay me back by getting a lot of herbs for me later.”

“Sure.”

“You can leave now.”

I pointed to the door.

Go on. I urged him with my gaze.

He seemed curious as to why I looked so annoyed, but he eventually shrugged his shoulders and left.

As soon as Adar left, I crouched down on the spot.

I felt like I was going to go crazy.

‘Calm down. Adar has nothing to do with that person. He was just asking because he was curious.’

I desperately tried to regulate my breathing to calm the turmoil stirring up inside me.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go as I had hoped.

As if on cue, I heard a hallucination.

[Why do you have so many secrets, Kakana? I don’t like that.]

A thin and high-pitched voice viciously tore into my mind.

Lips smeared with bright red lipstick also appeared in my mind’s eye.

Despite knowing it wouldn't help, I closed my eyes and covered both of my ears anyway.

My head ached.

Pressing on my temple, I got up from where I was crouching.

I walked across the room slowly so as not to fall.

I got to the window and stood there for a long time. The curtains were made of white lace. Finally, I drew the curtains and pushed open the window.

A gust of freezing winter wind blasted violently into the room.

I snapped back to reality. It was like I had been splashed with cold water.

I looked down upon the Forest of Death in a daze.

Between the rough branches, I saw glimpses of a barren and bone-dry wintery clearing.

I kept my eyes on it... until a certain voice completely froze and faded away.

***

The next morning, I woke up in the most horrible condition possible.

‘I’m screwed.’

Though I was burning up inside, my body was cold like a slab of frozen meat.

I wiped my pale face and stayed still until I stopped feeling queasy.

This was all because of that damn dream.

‘We’re descending the mountain today...’

If the heroes saw me like this, they would obviously be worried sick.