I slowly opened my eyes and found my cheek pressed against the cold floor. I was back inside my cellar. I felt utterly exhausted and had no strength to move my body. I just lay there, motionless, waiting for the fatigue to pass.

I hear footsteps approaching. A guard came to my cell and slid in a tray of food.

"Eat up and get ready for the next ritual. We’ll be heading to the courtyard in the next 30 minutes," said the guard.

I lazily sat up and took the tray.

Today's lunch was musk bull steak with stir-fried veggies, a piece of flatbread dipped in honey, some meatballs, and a side of milk. There was also a small mana potion and pills that helped regenerate my mana.

This was indeed a luxury meal, one that I had been provided with ever since I moved here. A common person would have to spend three months' earnings just to buy a meal like this.

After eating the meal, I felt better. I also consumed the mana potion and pills, then sat in a meditative state to let the potion flow throughout my body. In a few minutes, I was able to stabilize the mana within me and fully utilize the potion’s effects.

Through meditation, I started to understand the inner workings of mana and meridians. I learned about meridians during my personal tutor session in the citadel.

Just then, two guards approached my cell and entered.

“It’s time to head up,” one of them said.

I opened my mouth, exasperated. “Yeah, yeah, let’s go.”

Again, I headed out to the upper courtyard. I met new people, healed them, and they thanked me. Then, I felt a massive headache and passed out. I woke up in my cellar, my body hurting, feeling like shit. My mind was fuzzy. I waited to recuperate. Food and potion arrived. I ate, felt a little bit better, and then the next ritual began. Repeat.

My situation has worsened since I started doing the blessing ritual three times a day. Headaches were a common occurrence after the rituals, but now I was also experiencing body cramps. It felt as if all my joints were getting stiffer day by day.

Again, I heard footsteps approaching. The steps came to a stop right in front of me. I let out a sigh.

“Please, let me rest a few minutes more.”

As I glanced at the gate, I was stunned. A beautiful woman wearing white robes and high heels stood before me. She had her signature black lipstick and was holding a small notebook in her hand.

“Madam Rita? It's a surprise seeing you here!”

“Master Almond, it's high time you apologize to the enforcer. They will let you back into your room,” said Rita.

“Is that what you say to your student the first thing we meet?” I asked.

She let out a sigh,

“Listen, child, put aside your pride and just return to your room. We can resume your studies and graduate before it’s too late.”

“I will not apologize to those stuck-up enforcers. I don’t mind being held back for a year or two. It’s a matter of my reputation. I won’t be able to live without holding my head high,” I rebutted.

Suddenly, the nearby noble prisoners burst into laughter.

“Haha! The little lamb wants to live with dignity, he says!”

“Soon enough, he will be crying for his parents anyway.”

“Ignorance is bliss. I want to watch this charade a bit longer.”

I suddenly got angry. “What the fuck is the deal with you pigs? Stop eavesdropping on private conversations, will you? Not once did you guys interact when I tried talking, and now suddenly you all feel chatty, huh?”

Miss Rita suddenly turned back,

“If that’s your decision, so be it. There’s no turning back anyway.”

Without another word, she walked away like the wind.

She was one of the three teachers sent by the Royal Academy to be my personal tutor. This was my teacher Miss Rita who taught me plant magic and healing arts.

She taught me everything that is about healing arts and even discovered that my healing arts were quite potent.

She was the one who conducted a test to determine the purity of my healing arts and was quite shocked with the results, revealing an almost 98% purity.

After a few more tests, they determined that my healing arts could not only heal wounds but also cure diseases, lift curses, and perform exorcisms. My ability was a divine trove that could fix almost anything. Later, the tutors confirmed that I had a very unique body constitution, which was the real reason behind my selection as the exemplary candidate.

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The only catch with this ability is that my healing arts don’t work on me.

Yes, you heard that right. If I were to be cursed or possessed, my own mana arts wouldn’t help. Even if I sustained a minor bruise, my healing arts wouldn’t be able to fix it. It’s almost as if my own body is immune to my healing arts.

During my second year as a homeschooled student, the higher-ups decided that I should host a blessing ritual. Nobles and aristocrats from faraway places would pay a high price to come here and have their problems solved.

Unique mana-depleting diseases? Possession by evil spirits? Paralyzed limbs? I could fix almost anything using the basic mana arts I had learned.

At first, I had no issues conducting the blessing rituals. It felt even better when so many faraway nobles would thank me on their knees like I was some kind of god. It really bloated my ego.

But as the number of people increased, so did the frequency of the rituals. That’s when I started to feel the backlashes. I began experiencing headaches followed by severe fatigue due to mana depletion. Healing so many people at once drained a significant amount of my mana.

When I asked to back away from the blessing ritual, the organizers threatened the safety of my parents. Not once did they let me contact my parents, and now they were stooping low to blackmail a mere 15-year-old kid.

However, we later came to an understanding that I had to conduct a total of 3,000 blessing rituals to earn my freedom. Currently, I have done about 1,889 rituals so far. Only 1,111 more to go.

—

Blessing ritual session 2,101.

I stood beside the priest in the shrine in my usual place, the crystal ball placed in front of me. Hundreds of people were on their knees, praying. The usual scene, one I had seen thousands of times by now. I placed my hand on the ball and began the incantation:

“Oh, Benevolent Lady Grimshaw,

In your radiant light, we find solace.

With gentle hands and a heart full of grace,

Mend our wounds and ease our curses.

Bestow upon us your divine touch,

That our bodies may be restored,

Our spirits lifted,

And our hearts filled with hope.

In your name, we seek wholeness,

For you are the eternal healer,

Guardian of life and vitality.

Bless us with your sacred gift of life.

Oh! Mother Grimshaw!”

The crystal ball lit up with a vibrant green light, and the healing began. People started to recover almost instantly. But then, a sharp pain hit my head. I clutched my temples and fell to the ground.

“Aaargh!” I screamed, writhing in agony as the headache threatened to split my skull apart. The guards rushed to my side, trying to lift me up.

I pushed them away, screaming at the top of my lungs while gripping my head. It felt like my brain was about to burst open.

Suddenly, strange noises echoed in my mind—murmurs from an unknown entity. The voices were so loud it felt like I needed to gouge out my eardrums to escape them. My vision blurred, and my thoughts became a haze.

The guards started dragging me by the shoulders. As I glanced toward the head priest, I saw him smiling. He had this sinister devious grin as if taking pleasure from my pain. Before I could react, I passed out and fell unconscious once again.

—

I slowly opened my eyes, groggy and disoriented. Above me was a high white ceiling covered in runes that seemed to float and move like tiny bugs. Panic set in as I abruptly sat up.

“What the—” I looked around, bewildered. “Where the hell am I?”

I found myself in a large white room, its walls covered in those same animated runes. The place was immense, almost like a vast man-made cave. A heavy mist floated near the ground, adding to the eerie atmosphere that I couldn't quite describe. I had no clue how I ended up here.

“Am I still in the citadel, or am I hallucinating?” I muttered to myself, trying to make sense of the bizarre situation.

Suddenly, my eyes caught movement within the room. Amidst the heavy mist, there was a silhouette, barely discernible. I blinked, trying to clear my head.

I got up on my feet, still clad in the robes from my prison cell. How had I ended up here? Am I dreaming?

A faint murmur emanated from the silhouette in the mist, a sound that struck a chord of familiarity. With cautious steps, I approached, my guard up in case of danger.

As I neared, the fog began to clear, revealing a sight that left me baffled.

“What the fuck is this thing?” I muttered to myself, staring at what lay before me.

There was a big creature pinned to the ground by three big crosses. The three big crosses impaled the creature and held it in place. The crosses contained runes inscribed on them, and orbs of different colored mana floated around them.

It looked like a restraining seal.

“What the hell is that? Where am I?” I muttered confused.

Grrrrr

The creature grunted as if sensing my presence. I cautiously took another look, finally getting a good view of the creature.

It was a hideous monster lying on its stomach. Its head was wide and grotesque, adorned with sharp fangs but no eyelids. The monster had two humanoid-like limbs, with its arms impaled by two of the crosses. The largest cross pierced it from behind, cutting through its chest and keeping it firmly in place. The creature's body was black and emitted an evil mist that surrounded it. I could see black blood slowly oozing from its wounds where the crosses impaled it, draining its lifeblood.

"I had never seen such a creature before, not even in my previous life as an overlord. This really is some weird dream," I thought to myself, trying to shake off the lingering unease.

Just as I watched, the creature shifted its head, and a sudden wave of paralysis gripped my entire body. My hair stood on end as a clear sense of impending danger emanated from the creature.

“I will devour you!” it spoke, its voice sending shivers down my spine.

With a jolt, I woke up, sitting upright in my cellar once more. It had all been a dream. Still shaking, I wiped cold sweat from my brow, my breath coming in ragged gasps.

"The fuck! First headaches, then body aches, and now nightmares," I muttered to myself, lying back on the cold floor, utterly exhausted. "What the fuck was that all about?"

I took a sip of water and reclined on my bed, trying to calm my racing thoughts. Everything felt surreal like I was on the edge of losing my mind. The nightmares, the exhaustion, the constant strain of the blessing rituals—it was all taking its toll.

If this continued I might first lose my mind before completing my remaining blessing ritual sessions.