Time has a sneaky way of slipping away from us, unnoticed. Before I realized it, another year had flown by, and I was now five years old. My strength was steadily increasing, making me feel powerful.
I wanted to see how much I had grown, so I asked Emma to show me my stats.
[Strength: 4
Speed: 3
Dexterity : 3
Mana: 0
Brain Power: 9]
This year had been a dull one, with nothing exciting happening. The emperor's son had celebrated his 8th birthday a month prior, but unfortunately, I missed it due to an unfortunate injury I sustained to my leg. While exercising, I tore one of my leg muscles, which in my world would have been a severe setback.
Fortunately, in this world, people had access to healing Magic, although it came with a hefty price tag. The majority of the Healing Mages belonged to the church and were difficult to come by.
The church held a monopoly over the Healing Mages throughout the multiple empires, making it necessary to submit a request and hope for approval if one needed their services. However, being the son of the Grand Duke of this empire, it was a simple task for my father to obtain one of the finest Healing Mages from the church to heal my injury.
I was eager to witness the healing Magic and couldn't contain my excitement when the Healing Magician arrived. He was accompanied by an entourage of guards who remained stationed outside while the Mage entered the mansion.
Despite the fact that he presented himself as a humble individual, I found myself uncertain of his true character as he was currently residing in the Grand Duke's mansion. If his demeanor was anything but humble, I could only imagine the consequences he would face at the hands of my father.
The mage had begun his examination of my legs by casting a spell, causing a strange film to attach to my injured limb. As my skin and healthy muscles disappeared, leaving only the torn muscle in sight, my heart began to race with excitement at the sheer spectacle of magic.
The sight of magic was an entirely new experience for me, and it was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. My heart raced with anticipation at the thought of reaching my awakening date and attempting to become a mage myself.
The mage then cast a spell on my injured leg, causing the film to disappear, leaving behind a fully healed limb.
The mage informed me that the healing process would take roughly a month, before he took his leave after having lunch, which was provided by my grateful father in appreciation for the mage's healing of my injury.
As I lay in my bed, I could feel the dull ache in my injured limb. Despite several days having passed since the injury, it was still slow to heal and was proving to be a major hindrance. I longed to be able to move freely again and exercise as I was used to, but the injury seemed to have other ideas. The inactivity was driving me crazy.
Every day had been a constant routine of pushing my body to its limits, and now, the lack of movement was slowly eating away at me. It was an unbearable sensation, feeling as if a thousand ants were crawling through my muscles every time I sat still for too long.
The frustration only continued to grow, and I felt helpless. I couldn't do anything to relieve the tension, as any movement would only impede the healing process that my dad had no doubt spent a great deal of gold on.
I tried my best to endure the frustration for 15 long days, but in the end, I couldn't take it anymore. The lack of movement in my body was slowly eating away at me, and I finally snapped. I ran madly around the room, desperate to release the pent-up frustration.
The sensation was incredible, the feeling of ants crawling through my muscles disappeared for a brief moment, but then my legs suddenly gave out and I stumbled, falling face first onto the hard floor of my room.
The fall had been painful, and I remembered letting out a terrible groan filled with agony.
But then something miraculous happened. Thanks to that fall, I discovered a unique aspect of my system.
The injury not only added a point to my dexterity stats but also activated an astonishing healing process within my body. My muscles began to move, connecting and repairing the damage at an unprecedented pace.
The sensation was both strange and fascinating, as I felt my muscles slithering through my body, swiftly mending the broken connections.
At first, it felt like tiny worms were worming their way through my legs, attaching to each muscle, but soon enough, the healing was complete, leaving my legs and even my nose, which had taken the brunt of the fall, completely restored.
The transformation was nothing short of miraculous. I slowly rose to my feet, amazed to find that not only was the pain gone, but my entire body felt invigorated, as though I had just stepped out of a refreshing bath.
An overwhelming sense of excitement filled my chest, causing me to jump and run with joy, releasing all the pent-up frustration that had accumulated within me.
Once I was done and completely exhausted, I decided that I didn't want anyone to know about the speed of my recovery, so I acted as if I was getting better slowly just like the Mage had said and a month later, I acted like my leg was fully healed.
My mother came to me recently, informing me that we had to visit the Imperial Palace.
so I quickly got dressed in a new outfit, similar to the one I wore during James's ceremony a year ago.
The door to my room soon had a knock, and a maid's voice told me that my parents were waiting for me at the door.