Allen fled in a panic for several kilometers before finally stopping and looking back.
At that moment, Rochi also turned her head to glance behind.
The two exchanged a brief "eye contact" before simultaneously turning and continuing on their way.
The path was uneven.
Allen had just descended a slope, and the hill between them blocked their line of sight.
To be precise, if it weren't for that hill, Allen would still be running now.
Phew. That was dangerous. Is this what the gods' invitation looks like? Honestly, seeing Rochi made me want to accept it immediately.
Rochi had been traveling alone all these years across the Asura Kingdom. Even though she was now striving to become a Water God-level mage, after witnessing my skills, I suspect deep down she was also looking for a like-minded adventurer companion.
Whether it was helping her long-lost apprentice find family after the Great Migration, or pretending to be cold when reuniting with her parents—only to break down crying upon learning their true feelings—these all proved that Rochi cared deeply about close relationships. It was just that for so many years, due to her hair color and short stature, she had been discriminated against from Milis Continent all the way to the Central Continent, forcing her to feign coldness as a defense.
Rochi could easily be called the heroine with the most tragic background and experiences.
Allen sighed.
The butterfly effect was just beginning to manifest, but the system's tasks still had to be pushed forward. Besides, I can't afford to lose the pseudo-future vision. Sorry, Rochi. Wait a bit longer. The time isn't right yet.
As he spoke, Allen slowly drew his sword. The moment the blade slid from the sheath, the hilt left his hand, and the blade spun around his wrist like a dancing butterfly.
When Allen grabbed the hilt again, the blade was reversed in his hand, gleaming coldly as it hovered horizontally before him.
The tip hovered exactly one centimeter above the inner skin of his left arm.
Allen looked down at the blade's tip, his brow raised, and licked his lips.
Stab.
The blade slid smoothly into the flesh without resistance. Blood seeped slowly along the edge.
Without pulling the sword out, Allen frowned and whispered, "Activate Healing Magic Glyph."
At that moment, he felt his mana surge like a flowing stream toward the Dragon Saint Dou Qi embryo core in his abdomen, crawling along the tree-shaped magic glyph, which began glowing with a misty green light.
His mana seemed to be dyed green, radiating from the glyph, flowing instantly to his arm.
The wound healed as the damaged skin wrapped tightly around the blade tip, and the bleeding stopped.
Allen stared at the wound, silently counting to nine before swiftly pulling the blade out.
The wound visibly sealed itself instantly, not allowing a drop of blood to escape.
"Deactivate Healing Magic Glyph."
Allen lightly touched the sweat hair around the wound with the blade tip. There was only a faint white scar, which turned to skin flakes and blew away with a blink. Beneath it, the skin looked brand new.
He smiled in satisfaction.
The duration of the effect matched the time his mana flowed in the body. Not bad, very fast. This could be maintained during battle at any time, essentially like a no-casting healing spell. Not bad for a conscientious system.
The healing effect was no different from an intermediate healing spell.
The mana consumption and activation duration lasted 10 seconds and drained mana.
Allen checked his mana status and immediately turned pale.
About one-tenth. That's way too much. My Dou Qi internal circulation normally consumes only about a fifth of my mana. Now I'm only at four-fifths of full mana. Damn it! Maintaining this 10-second healing spell would take me nearly 100 days to recover the lost mana.
Allen's mana consumption was equivalent to Orsted's, but his recovery speed was 1000 to 1.
In other words, while an ordinary person could fully recover mana after one good night's sleep, he would need a thousand sleeps. This was why the system called this growth path the Swordmaster's Path — it basically cut off Allen's chances of casually casting water blasts between sword swings.
The alternative path for mages was basically a copy of Rudius's growth trajectory — without entwining Dou Qi in the body, relying on close-range mage combat in magic armor instead.
It was worth mentioning that the system's templates were all copied from characters already established in Mushoku Tensei. The Swordmaster's Path was derived from Orsted, while the Mage's Path came from Laplace. It was foreseeable that walking either path to its end would produce a complete replica of these two characters.
Of course, this would take a very long time, and without breaking lifespan limits, it was unlikely to be achieved.
Allen had previously analyzed the mission template and guessed it might be related to the phone implanted in his forehead before he transmigrated. When he died, the only novel stored in that phone was Mushoku Tensei. If there had been more novels stored, perhaps templates from other story worlds could have been introduced.
A pity. But now it was what it was — time to face reality and accept it. After all, this was only speculation. Even if there were other novels stored, it wasn't certain more character templates would be available.
What if the system randomly extracted all entertainment files from the entire phone, causing some strange template to be loaded? That would be a disaster.
After all, nobody wanted an Itou Makoto template, right? The kind where the Shounen Tutor arc ends with Alice beheading him and taking his head onto a ship. That would be absolutely trash.
Allen exhaled, looking at the Dragon Saint Dou Qi embryo core in his abdomen. The blade tip moved down and pierced the skin again.
He hoped the Dragon Saint Dou Qi buff, which reduced mana consumption, could stack with this healing buff. If not, he'd deactivate the magic glyph immediately.
Dragon Saint Dou Qi embryo core and Healing Magic Glyph activated simultaneously.
Wrapped in high-quality Dou Qi, Allen's senses overloaded again, allowing him to vividly feel the changes occurring inside his body.
Then, a wondrous scene unfolded: the magic glyph began to pulse like a heart, slowly beating. Waves of mana inside Allen's body were drawn in by it and then pushed out to every limb.
He didn't feel extra mana consumption from the Dragon Saint Dou Qi. Perhaps the glyph was inscribed directly on the embryo core, allowing it to draw mana through this medium and benefit from the mana reduction buff without draining the Dou Qi further.
The mana consumption rate slowed noticeably.
After counting to nine again, Allen pulled out the blade — this time with some effort, as Dou Qi wrapped tightly around his wound and muscles.
Watching the wound rapidly heal, Allen immediately deactivated the Healing Magic Glyph.
He kept the Dragon Saint Dou Qi embryo core active, as this time the mana loss was smaller and required the Dou Qi buff to be clearly felt.
The effective duration was unchanged; the Dou Qi did not amplify the healing glyph, nor did the healing effect increase.
The mana cost for 10 seconds was 1/50 of his full mana — equivalent to half a second of mana recovery per day. Using the healing spell once every few days could replenish the consumed mana, so it was sustainable.
If he kept fighting continuously, his Dou Qi would need to consume about a fifth of his mana for internal circulation year-round. In extreme conditions, he could squeeze the remaining four-fifths to sustain 400 seconds of continuous battle. Divided by 60 to convert to minutes…
6.666666666
Six minutes.
Tomorrow, he would meet the Rudius family and pursue Rudius's favor line. That would be interesting.
However, the overall story during childhood was too peaceful. To truly test Allen's strength, a more intense conflict was needed—a conflict that Allen and Rochi would bring about, triggering a chain reaction of butterfly effects.