The serious illness represents the side effects of Xia De swallowing those "dirty things", but since the side effects have appeared, it means that the power that originally did not belong to Xia De is successfully becoming a part of him.
Not only could he himself feel that the upper limit of his spiritual power and the upper limit of his recovery speed were increasing while he was in a coma, but the girls who took care of him could also feel it.
"His hair and beard grow really fast."
The twenty-second day of the Windy Month, Saturday.
When Shad woke up in the new morning, he heard Luvia and Tifa talking.
He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he unexpectedly found that he was in exceptionally good spirits today. Although he was still a little tired and his headache hadn't completely disappeared, compared to the pain that was like a sledgehammer hitting his temple a few days ago, the feeling now was almost like Mia scratching his skin.
Given his understanding of his own physical condition, this could almost be considered a recovery.
"Yes, he has grown half an inch in height in the past week or so. It's not much, but for someone his age, it's almost impossible."
Tifa agreed softly.
Xia De had no intention of eavesdropping on the conversation, and wanted to open his eyes to show that he was awake, but he felt the quilt on the side being slightly pulled up, and then a hand gently pinched his upper arm:
"Not only his height, Shad has also gained some weight, and his bone density and muscle strength have increased. But the strange thing is that from the outside, Shad's body shape has not changed at all. There are no exaggerated muscle masses, and his abdominal muscles are at the same level as before."
Luvia said softly, then loosened her grip on his upper arm and tucked the quilt back in place:
"Even those magics that can permanently enhance physical fitness, such as the Iron Body Giant Strength and Farias's Silver Knight's Ear, don't have such exaggerated effects. I even doubt that Shad can defeat the Earth Elemental Giant with his physical fitness alone."
"It shouldn't be that exaggerated. The lady said that the witches think that Shade's physical changes are more like a kind of... evolution."
It can be heard that the black-haired maid is trying her best to find a suitable way to say it:
"The spirit runes of ring sorcerers are different, which leads to great differences in physical fitness even for the same ring. Those distorted powers are probably extremely compatible with some of his spirit runes, which leads to this phenomenon. This is an all-round enhancement of physical fitness. The enhancement of hand-to-hand combat ability is actually not important. What is important is the further evolution of life form."
"He will probably live longer than all of us."
Luvia said very gently, and even with his eyes closed, Shad could still feel those purple eyes looking at him.
"That's good. He won't leave before me."
"Please don't say such things so early in the morning."
Hearing this, Shad finally opened his eyes. Neither Luvia nor Tifa were surprised by his awakening.
Tifa gently helped him sit up, and greeted Shade softly, as if she was worried that the loud noise would kill him. Then she got up from the chair beside the bed and arranged for the maids to bring breakfast.
Luvia touched his forehead, then placed her hand on his chest to test his heartbeat:
"Your body temperature has returned to normal, but your heartbeat is still a little fast. But it should be getting better. According to my divination, your integration of those powers that we cannot understand will take a few days to completely end, so it will take a few days for your condition to fully recover."
"Let me raise a possibility. My heartbeat is so fast. Could it be that you are listening to my heartbeat?"
Shade said, looking into those purple eyes. Luvia also looked at him, and after a few seconds she smiled. She looked very beautiful when she smiled with her eyes narrowed.
"Hearing you say this, I know you are in much better spirits than a few days ago."
As she spoke, she took little Mia, who was lying on the quilt, aside to prevent the cat from crushing the "weak" Xiade.
Mia has not been in a good mood in the past two weeks. She lies next to Shad's pillow all day long, as if she is worried that Shad will die at any time. The reason why Shad can see Mia at the head of the bed or on the windowsill every time he opens his eyes is that this cat, who is almost one year old, has never left.
"We prepared cat food for it every day according to your instructions, but its appetite is one-fifth less than what you said."
Luvia said, and seeing that Shade said he was fine, she put Mia back on the quilt. Shade leaned against the bed and stroked the cat. Mia seemed to be able to sense that Shade's mental state had improved a lot, and she lay down obediently under his hands without moving:
"I feel like this week was a dream. Now that I'm awake, I still can't tell which memories of the past few weeks are real and which are dreams."
"I still remember one night, I called you to get up and take medicine, and you waved your hands in fear and said you didn't want to take the medicine, as if I was going to murder you."
Luvia said in a chastising tone, and reached out to help Shade tuck in his feet. Shade recalled and realized that he had dreamed of the story of 105 men and three women robbing houses together, which he had seen in his hometown.
"Now that you're finally getting better, we're relieved."
Luvia said, with a sad look in her eyes.
"Thank you for taking care of me these past two weeks. If it weren't for you, I would probably be curled up in my bed, waiting for the doctor to find out that I didn't go to the meeting."
"And us, do you still need to thank us? Xia De, you know what this disease is about. From now on..."
"Luvia, if I didn't do that in Randall Valley, what else could I do?"
Shade asked, he looked into those purple eyes, but he actually didn't know who he was seeing at the moment:
"Sacrifice Sirius? Or let the guardian consume the pollution and then explode? That is not the ending we want, especially not the ending you want."
Luvia pursed her lips and said after a moment:
"Then let the church handle it, and let the damn madness spread across the world. You said it yourself, the end will come, and I don't care about anyone else, I only care about you."
"That's not something you should say."
Shade said with a smile, and then reached out to hug Luvia, and at the same time noticed that he had never seen the pajamas he was wearing before:
"But from the current perspective, the results of my choice are not bad. The story of Randall Valley was resolved relatively satisfactorily. Although I was seriously ill for more than a week, my life is not in danger. On the contrary, I have benefited from it. Even if I need to devour strange things in the future, my resistance will be much stronger than it was more than a week ago."
"Will you do it again?"
Luvia raised her voice slightly, then took Shade's hand:
"Shad Suellen Hamilton, promise me that if you want to take such an adventure in the future, at least discuss it with me in advance, okay?"
Generally speaking, being called by your full name means that it is a very serious occasion.
"I know you won't lie to me."
Luvia said, and Shade pursed his lips:
"Okay, I promise you that I will take the initiative to discuss it with you whenever I have the chance."
The fortune teller smiled, and Tifa happened to come back with the maids. But they didn't eat first, but washed first. Shade had to brush his teeth by himself, but according to the practice of the past few days, Tifa had to wipe Shade's face with a hot towel herself.
"I'll do it myself today."
Shad, who felt that his body had entered the recovery period, said this, and then Tifa looked at him with a reproachful look, and started to fight without even discussing it with Shad.
After dinner, they conducted a simple examination on Shade and confirmed that Shade's physical condition had improved significantly. This made the girls very happy, so Luvia went to work at the Prophet's Association as usual, while Shade was asked to stay in bed and continue to rest.
He originally wanted to read a book to make up for the "laziness" of the past two weeks. But after all, his body had not recovered yet, and after reading for half an hour to understand the standard process of impurity purification and treatment in potion making, he felt sleepy.
Normally, Xia De would insist on finishing the book, but since he was still sick, he simply put the book down and went to sleep again.
When I opened my eyes, it was already noon two hours later.
The house seemed to be very lively, and Shad heard many voices from the living room. He tried to get up while holding Mia, and came to the living room in his pajamas, only to find that not only Luvia and Tifa were there, but also Miss Carina and Dorothy.
"Good afternoon, ladies. I am so glad to see you."
Seeing that all the girls he could call "family" in this world were there, Xia De felt that his mental state was better.
Luvia wanted Shad to go back and rest quickly, but Dorothy thought it would be better to let Shad get out of bed and walk around, or let him go back to bed after lunch.
So after a week, Shad finally got the right to eat at the dining table.
Suddenly, three more people were eating with him at the usually deserted dining table, which made him feel that No. 6 St. Teresa's Square was even more cozy.
Tifa still refused to sit down with Carina and was busy in the kitchen with the other maids.
The ladies at the table took advantage of lunch to tell Shad what happened during the week he was seriously ill. There were always various things happening around Shad, but the world would not stop just because a stranger closed his eyes and rested.
"You have already received your honorary degree."
This was the news Dorothy brought back. Although Shad got a good paper from the Randall Valley, the subsequent collaboration with Professor Manning for publication and other miscellaneous matters were all handled by the writer and Her Royal Highness the Princess.
"The degree ceremony was held the day before yesterday. Everyone knows that you were seriously ill, so I helped you get your degree certificate and medal of honor, Honorary Doctor of Hamilton~"