Gaal took the newspaper and read it. The bounty on it had been issued by the Heartfilia Family and had been up for six days.
Seven days earlier, however, there had been a surge of Time-Space Power. Gaal frowned slightly as he thought about Magic Deficiency Syndrome…
Cana, watching Gaal's frown, asked, "What's wrong? Is this disease hard to treat?"
Gaal nodded. "It certainly is difficult to cure. Because it's an incurable disease, patients who contract it only live for at most half a year. That is especially so when the patient is a prince of a Kingdom. What a pity, even relying on a Kingdom's power to extend his life proved futile. In the end, that Kingdom exhausted its wealth treating the prince, public discontent boiled over, and enemy nations brought about its downfall."
Cana's face registered surprise. "Ah? How can that be?" *
Gaal explained, "Magic Deficiency Syndrome requires an enormous amount of Magic Power to be pumped into the patient's body just to keep them alive. This consumption is massive and continuous, twenty-four hours a day. Even with the wealth of an entire Kingdom, it only lasted for half a year before everything was completely used up, leaving no hope for further sustenance."
Cana's eyes widened. "Then isn't it hopeless?"
Gaal frowned thoughtfully. "In theory, yes…"
Under the azure sky, Dragonite pulled the cable car cabin, gliding through the heights of over a thousand meters.
Outside, white clouds drifted by as the landscape below, mountains, lakes, the sea, spread out in full view.
Lisanna, Elfman, and Cana all stared intently at the scenery below, exclaiming in amazement, while Dragonite headed directly toward the Heartfilia Family's residence.
After enjoying the view for a while, the three little ones returned to their seats and looked toward Gaal.
Gaal set down his magical notebook and looked at the three, saying, "Now let me explain what Magic Deficiency Syndrome is. In all things throughout nature, there exists a magic factor. Mages enhance their Magic Power by absorbing these magic factors or through meditation, gradually growing stronger. Now, the question is: where in the body are these magic factors stored?"
Gaal's words left the three a bit puzzled until Cana ventured, "Of course, it's…"
Suddenly, she fell silent.
It seemed that no one had ever explained this before.
Cana furrowed her brow and asked, "Hmm… where exactly in the body?"
Gaal raised his hand, and in his palm a virtual projection of a fist-sized orange-yellow cell sphere appeared.
This was a magnified cell, its interior filled with a water-like substance bubbling with tiny bubbles.
"The human body is made up of many components, and cells are one of them," he explained. "They are also an essential part of storing Magic Power. You now see this, a cell in its normal state, brimming with Magic Power."
Gaal pointed to the bubbling water-like flow, indicating that it represented Magic Power: "Each person has tens of trillions of cells in their body."
Then the orange-yellow cell projection in his palm began to enlarge and become more solid, storing even more water-like (magic) flow to appear even stronger: "And as your physical strength increases, your Magic Power gradually grows. The cells, in turn, become stronger and more vibrant, enabling them to store even more Magic Power."
Soon, the water-like flow in the cell projection began to drain away until it disappeared, only to slowly return and eventually fill the entire cell once again: "This is the process of consuming and replenishing Magic Power. When you use magic, your body draws upon the Magic stored in these cells, gradually depleting them until they are empty—that's when your Magic runs out. You can then restore your Magic Power using potions, or through meditation and absorbing various Magical Materials, until your cells are once again filled with Magic Power. But the human body has its limits. There is only so much Magic Power available; when faced with a formidable enemy or when you simply can't stop, if your body's Magic is completely depleted and you persist, what happens then?"
Cana raised her hand and said, "It will consume your life force!"
Gaal nodded. "Exactly. It will consume your life force. And the primary cause of Magic Deficiency Syndrome is that after consuming a massive amount of Magic Power, if you cannot pause, your body starts to consume its life force."
The water-like flow (Magic Power) inside the virtual cell in Gaal's hand rapidly diminished until it was completely gone.
Then a pale green flow quickly began to fill the cell, only to be depleted once again, and then the pale green flow filled it up rapidly once more.
After several repeated cycles, Lisanna, Elfman, and Cana watched in astonishment as the once robust and lively cell in Gaal's palm became limp.
Several large holes even appeared around the cell.
Yet despite its deteriorated state, the cell projection continued to move, accelerating its absorption of Magic Power; inside, the green flow slowly rose, only to spill out through the ruptured holes.
Gaal's voice rang out, "When life force is continuously consumed while Magic Power is constantly replenished, the cells in your body, subject to prolonged high-intensity extraction and exhaustion of Magic, will eventually become damaged. Even if you cast a prohibited spell or something to halt the process, the cells, already compromised by sustained high-intensity extraction, continue to instinctively absorb Magic, causing Magic to leak out uncontrollably."
Then, the virtual cell in his hand rapidly shrank, and soon a little figure radiating red light appeared within the projection.
"Cells are spread throughout your body, so when all your cells are destroyed, a mage's body becomes a sort of morbid conduit, constantly absorbing Magic, while the damaged cells continuously leak Magic. Your body simultaneously craves Magic and absorbs it while losing control and letting Magic overflow. Thus, the mage turns into a sort of transit station, with Magic flowing in and out ceaselessly as every cell works around the clock. And the consequence is…"
Gaal's hand once again displayed the now slack cell projection, its holes steadily expanding until it could no longer contain any Magic: "The destruction of the cells grows increasingly severe, and the holes on them enlarge more and more. Until, after working at that intensity for a day, a week, half a month, a month… every cell in the body is completely worn away. Then the mage finally meets death. This process is excruciatingly painful."
"Because the cells continue to work instinctively, non-stop, the patient endures unbearable torment every single moment; those with weaker willpower might even be driven to suicide. And even those with unyielding will, like the prince of that Kingdom, can only endure for half a year. But the consumption is colossal, even if an entire Kingdom's finances were devoted to sustaining him, it wouldn't be enough. In just half a year, the reserves of an entire country would be exhausted, making further life extension impossible. And that is why Magic Deficiency Syndrome is known as an incurable disease."