[You have taken the Dragon Pill.]

[A large amount of mana is flowing throughout your body.]

[The amount of mana is too much!]

[Attempting to expand your mana core in order to accommodate the mana!]

It was good so far. It seemed the Dragon Pill was working properly. However...

[Your mana core isn’t trained at all. The expansion of the mana core is progressing very slowly.]

[Mana has started to flood.]

[It is recommended to discharge the unacceptable mana from your body. Would you like to accept?]

It was a bit strange from here.

[The mana flooding is causing cracks in the expanding mana core!]

“...!”

Hell had begun. There was a shock like being stabbed in the stomach and then all the blood vessels in his body twisted simultaneously. The maximum amount of pain that the system allowed spread from the top of Grid’s head to the tip of his toes.

‘This...! What?’

It was a pain that continued without any breaks, making him dizzy. It felt like his mind and body were completely burning.

[You have suffered a serious internal injury!]

[The mana core has been damaged, making it harder to accumulate the mana.]

[It is recommended to discharge the unacceptable mana from your body. Would you like to accept?]

The system warned again. Grid almost accepted, but then he gritted his teeth and ignored the notification windows. The Dragon Pill was a myth grade elixir. It was an elixir even the gods coveted and he would never obtain it again. Grid absolutely wasn’t willing to give up the effects of the Dragon Pill.

"Kkuk...!”

The pain continued. Rather than adapting, he became more sensitive. All the life and death experiences he had been through passed through Grid’s mind.

Yura and the Yatan’s Servants including Malacus, Pope Drevigo and Pope Candidate Pascal, Hell Gao, Braham’s golem army, Randy who protected the mysterious forest in Pagma’s form, Elfin Stone and the direct descendant vampires, the legends of the Behen Archipelago and his clone, Kraugel, Agnus, Mercedes, the Red Knights, the evil dragon Bunhelier, the yangban Garam...

Grid was dominated by the worst pain and had the illusion that their alternating strikes were putting him to death. He couldn’t even scream. However...

‘Endure it!’

Grid was determined to hold on. The current him wouldn’t have existed if he gave up all his opportunities.

“Your Majesty? My Liege!”

Mercedes detected something while guarding the entrance of the training hall and ran in. She found Grid collapsed in the centre and screamed.

“Your Majesty! Ugh?!”

Mercedes let out a groan as she tried to help Grid. Grid’s reddish skin was as hot as lava. Even so, she was someone who would jump into a volcano to protect Grid. Mercedes swallowed back her screams and lifted Grid onto her back. Her hair, cloak, and armor were burning from the heat, causing a big burn on her back, but she didn’t care. Grid barely managed to speak to her as she tried to find Sticks.

“I’m ok...ay.”

It sounded like scratching iron. Grid coughed up blood every time he breathed but he barely managed to squeeze out a few words.

“Let... go.”

“...I understand.”

Mercedes obediently put Grid down. She sat down in front of the groaning Grid and cut off her burnt hair with a knife.

‘I vowed twice that I can’t be too careless.’

Mercedes’ deep eyes stared at Grid. Her Keen Insight was trying to figure out exactly what her liege was going through.

***

[It is recommended to discharge the unacceptable mana from your body. Would you like to accept?]

The same warning was repeated. He didn’t know how many times it appeared. There was no time to count when he couldn’t even breathe.

[It is recommended to discharge the unacceptable mana from your body. Would you like to accept?]

“Kuweek!”

His eyes closed as the shaking Grid vomited out blackish red blood. Mercedes closed her mouth. Her Keen Insight could see it. A large amount of mana flooding in was expanding Grid’s blood and veins to the limit, slowly permeating Grid’s mana core.

Grid was working hard. Rather, the situation might worsen if she put her hands on his body.

‘Stay strong, Your Majesty.’

She wondered if her desperate support would reach him.

[Your mana core has succeeded in accumulating a small amount of mana.]

[The cracks in your mana core have been restored.]

[Your mana core has achieved the first step expansion.]

[Your mana has permanently risen by 3,000.]

[The expansion of the mana core has enhanced the Magic Swordsman of the Epics class. The effects of the magic attached to Grid’s Sword Dance have become a bit stronger.]

Grid initially welcomed the change, but then the intensity of the pain remained the same. It was natural. The amount of mana accumulated in the Dragon Pill was very high. It couldn’t be handled by a single mana core expansion.

"Kkuk...!”

His mind was becoming dizzier. Curse words automatically rose in his heart.

‘Can I be satisfied with this much?’

It was hard for Grid’s willpower to endure this terrible pain for a long time. Grid felt like it had been a few hours, even days. Now Grid was trapped in an eternity of hell. His will was broken. However...

‘...No, just a bit more.’

Grid re-established his broken will. He endured knowing that the regret of missing out on this opportunity for the rest of his life would be much more painful than the pain he was experiencing right now.

“...!”

Grid lost his spirit for a moment. It was the aftermath of the pain one felt when a fire occurred. Every time it happened, Grid convulsed.

‘Just a bit more… a little bit more...’

Both eyes were tightly closed as his floundering hand grabbed the hand of Mercedes sitting next to him. It was a coincidence. Nevertheless, Grid couldn’t throw her hand away and Mercedes wrapped her trembling hands around his. Mercedes’ hands were burning from the heat.

[The mana flooding is causing cracks in the expanding mana core!]

[It is recommended to discharge the unacceptable mana from your body. Would you like to accept?]

The vicious cycle was repeated and Grid’s heart crumbled. How long did he have to endure for the mana core to recover and pave the way for expansion? It was even more frustrating because it couldn’t be measured at all.

“......”

Grid barely managed to open his eyes. He used a superhuman mentality to see how much time had passed. It was a mistake.

‘10 minutes...?’

Grid’s heart collapsed as he saw the time at the top of his field of view. It had only been 10 minutes since he took the Dragon Pill? Didn’t it feel like at least half a day?

‘This... I can’t endure it...’

It took 10 minutes to expand the first stage of the mana core and these 10 minutes were as long as a day. It was practically impossible to expand his mana core several more times in the future. He would go crazy before his mana core was expanded.

“......”

Grid shifted his gaze to the side. He could see Mercedes praying. Her hands—wrapped around his—were burned red. This was the decisive factor.

‘Give up... I have to...’

Grid’s hesitation was over. He didn’t ignore the system’s warnings anymore.

[It is recommended to discharge the unacceptable mana from your body. Would you like to accept?]

‘Accept...?’

He would accept. The moment Grid tried to shout this word in his heart.

-Don’t do things that don’t match with you.

It was a blunt voice.

-Isn’t it your specialty to think irrationally and be foolish? Yet you will give up? How stupid.

This absolutely arrogant tone. The person Grid longed for had finally woken up.

‘Braham...!’

[The soul of Legendary Great Magician Braham has started to adjust the mana that is running wild throughout your body!]

[The cracks in the mana core have been completely restored.]

[The blood vessels and veins that have swelled to the limit are stable.]

[Your mana core has succeeded in accumulating a large amount of mana.]

[Your mana core has achieved the second step expansion.]

[Your mana has permanently risen by 3,000.]

[The expansion of the mana core has enhanced the Magic Swordsman of the Epics class. You can now learn the basic magic books.]

-Bah.

[The soul of Legendary Great Magician Braham has transformed your mana core. You can’t learn from the basic magic books. Instead, the cooldown of Grid’s Sword Dance is reduced.]

[Your mana core has achieved the third step expansion.]

[Your mana has permanently risen by 3,000.]

[The expansion of the mana core has enhanced the Magic Swordsman of the Epics class. You can now learn the low-level magic books.]

-Cut it out.

[The soul of Legendary Great Magician Braham has transformed your mana core. You can’t learn from the low-level magic books. Instead, the cooldown of Grid’s Sword Dance is reduced.]

-The sword dance can never surpass swordsmanship?

Braham’s soul snorted.

-Forget what that guy call Biban or whatever said. The potential of the sword dance is never trivial.

[An unknown person is writing the third epic.]

“...I know.”

The pain was over like it was a lie. Mercedes’ burned hands stroked his as Grid focused on his conversation with Braham, not the world messages.

“The sword dance that I created with you can never be trivial, Braham.”

[The beginning of the story comes from the reunion with an old friend.]

-Bah. You should know. By the way, can you feel it?

“...Yes.”

-My soul has fully recovered. That damn Dragon Pill helped.

[He swallowed the heart of a dragon.]

“Are you going to resurrect now?”

-Right. It is the end of living as a parasite.

[He was prepared for a farewell following the reunion.]

“What are you going to do in the future?”

-Of course, I will recover my body first and end this love and hate relationship.

“I see...”

-You see? You are speaking like you are a stranger.

“...?”

-Help me. I want to solve this tiring love and hate relationship first. Then I want to live a new life. Can you give me a house in your kingdom to stay in?

[He learned that there was another reunion following the farewell.]