"Hmmm, what? Can't you leave me in peace for five minutes?" I muttered irritably to the Fable. Over the last few months, it had made a habit of chiming in at random intervals just to annoy me without any real reason.
[Unknown Fable: They are going to put you through physical training today. Remember—do not draw upon my power until you truly own me. It was the Dungeon Master's design that you wouldn't have to earn my acquisition, yet you still do not possess true ownership.]
"Anything else? Or are you just acting like a newlywed who doesn't want to be touched?"
[Unknown Fable: You son of a d*g! Who the hell do you think you are?! Go ahead and use it, then! Just don't come crying to me when it tears you apart!]
"At least he's not wasting energy reading every stray thought anymore," I mused silently. "And if I irritate him enough, he usually sulks in silence for hours."
Now that two full months of recovery had finally brought me to a turning point, a heavier question weighed on my mind: "Once I'm cured, who do I go see first? Mira? Or Mother?*
Probably Mother. I knew I had met Mira a while back, though the exact *when* and *where* felt strangely blurred—like trying to grab smoke. It was suspicious how my memories only held onto tiny, fragmented pieces of that encounter, but I pushed the thought aside as I finished my meal. Gripping my cane, I forced my heavy legs off the mattress and stood up. Walking was still a grueling effort, but with the help of my mana core reinforcing my limbs, I could manage.
Stepping out of my room, I entered a long, open corridor with no dividing gates. To my left lay a vast library; to my right, the kitchen. At the far end of the hall stood Lina, swiping through a glowing system menu floating in the air.
Her eyes flicked away from the screen, catching sight of me. With small, unhurried, and effortless steps, she walked toward me. She was draped in a long, furry pink trench coat that covered her from neck to toe, complete with matching sleeves. Reaching my side, she smoothly slipped her arm beneath mine, bracing my back to support my weight.
"I can walk on my own now," I insisted.
She let out a soft chuckle. "You're going to need your mana for exercise today. Save it."
I wanted to protest, to pull away and prove I wasn't helpless, yet my body betrayed me, leaning into her steady support without resistance.
[Unknown Fable: You are officially the first host I have ever seen who needs a woman just to walk down a hallway.]
*Ugh, this Fable again. Why can't it stay quiet?*
[Unknown Fable: The chatter of a priest often irritates the sinister.]
*Get out of my head,* I yelled internally, before replying calmly, *"Listen to me—this is strictly for recovery."*
[Unknown Fable: Whatever.]
Passing through the corridor, we entered a central hub. In the center sat a massive round table carved with the emblem of a star, surrounded by empty chairs. Hanging from the ceiling on heavy chains were ornate lanterns casting a blend of soft blue and warm orange light, mimicking the exact hues of early dawn. Eight massive gates lined the circular wall.
Lina guided me through one of them into a specialized chamber. Inside sat three plush, ergonomic chairs resembling high-end massage recliners, each wired with a sleek headset connected to a large monitor mounted behind the headrest.
On the far-left seat sat Ruby, already wearing her headset. She leaned back completely motionless in the recliner—calm, unbothered, and entirely still, as if she had drifted completely away from the room around her.
Lina eased me into the chair on the far right. "Ryn, since your mana core and brain have recovered to a wide enough degree, we're moving you to our fastest rehabilitation phase: the ANBD."
"Okay... and how do I take this? This... A-N-B-D? Whatever it is."
"Don't stress yourself over the details," she said lightly. "It's an advanced specialty from my homeworld."
"Right."
"We're going to chemically numb your physical body and feed your brain a sensory simulation," Lina explained, adjusting the dials on the monitor. "Inside the simulation, whenever you attempt to move a muscle or tissue that hasn't fully healed, your brain will fire real neural signals to execute the motion. Because of the numbing agent, your limbs won't actually move—forcing your mana core to focus its healing directly on those areas to keep up with your brain."
I blinked, processing the medical jargon. "So... can I just sum it up as 'it heals my unhealed parts'? Because I barely understood half of what you just said."
Lina smiled. "Yes, you can."
"It kind of hurts my brain when the name is as simple as ANBD, yet the function is that complex."
"It's an acronym," she corrected with a smirk. "Artificial Neurons and Body Development."
"I'm sticking with ANBD."
As Lina stepped back toward the monitor with an amused smirk, typing commands into the console, the plush fabric of the recliner seemed to pull me in. A deep, radiating warmth enveloped my spine, making me sink deeper and deeper into the cushions until all I could register was the soothing heat.
With deliberate, measured steps, Lina walked back in front of me. She lifted my wrist, gently dabbing a small, cool, damp piece of cotton against my skin before pulling a syringe from her coat pocket.
"This won't hurt," she said smoothly.
*A complete lie.* Over the past two months of treatment, I had taken well over twenty injections, and every single one stung worse than the last. Though, now that I thought about it... whenever Ruby was the one administering my shots, she never bothered using the wet cotton swab beforehand.
Slowly, the needle pierced my skin and slipped into the vein. A sudden, sharp wave of heat flared up my arm, though the prick itself barely registered. If I hadn't been melting into this overly comfortable chair, I would have yanked my hand back the second I saw the syringe. *Maybe the wet wipe actually numbs the skin... and Ruby really was just skipping it to mess with me.*
I tried to pull my fingers back, only to be hit by a wave of helpless panic as my arm completely refused to respond. The numbing agent had already taken hold.
Lina gently rested my limp arm onto the chair's padded armrest. "Your entire body is numb now, so don't try to resist." She lowered the headset over my eyes, her voice dropping into a teasing lilt right before the visor clicked shut. "Train well, Ryn. After all... you're going to have to face Ruby in there!"
*Wait—WHAT?!*