Chapter 18 - Atram and the Heart of Eden (1)
Etiang ran to the magic circle carved into the giant ice.
Soon, a look of pride, the first since entering the dungeon, appeared on her face.
“Should I disarm it? It will take time because several are layered, but I think I can definitely disarm this rapid freezing magic and preservation magic.”
It was the joy of finally finding something she could do.
“Are there no dangers in disarming it?”
“This magic circle here only has freezing magic inscribed in it. At the very least, there are no magical dangers in disarming this magic. However, the guarantee that the man named Atram inside the glacier won't attack us…… you know no one can make that, right?”
Just then, Dorn's shout followed the tail end of Etiang's coy words.
“There's something here!”
“Let's check what Dorn found and then decide whether to disarm it.”
Etiang nodded, and we all gathered where Dorn was.
“Mr. Savior. There don't seem to be any traps, right?”
“Still, just in case, I will check first.”
Behind the giant ice that took up most of the huge cavern, there was a small desk and a single book placed upon it.
I carefully checked this pastoral setting that didn't fit with the surrounding scenery.
“Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary.”
Dorn ran to the desk, blew -hoo- on the old book to brush off the accumulated dust, and then began to pore over its contents.
“How is it? Is there anything that could be a clue to the Heart of Eden?”
“W-wait a moment.”
Without answering Etiang's question, Dorn silently continued to read the ancient language.
And before long, tears began to well up in his eyes.
“Why? What is it, why are you suddenly crying?”
“Mr. Bob. Look at this. It's such a sad and moving story.”
“What is it? I don't know ancient languages. Explain it to me.”
“Hic, hic. This dungeon. It was apparently made to cure Atram's rare disease.”
From then on, we listened to Dorn's story for a whole hour.
It was because Dorn, having empathized too intensely with Atram and Diopina's story, added all sorts of flowery language, making the story needlessly long-winded.
“What did we just listen to?”
Bob scratched his head while staring into empty space.
“I feel like I heard something incredible, but I can't quite make sense of it.”
Kevin shook his head.
Only Etiang, with her outstanding intellect as a magician, managed to keep her wits and tried to mull over Dorn's story.
However, as if it couldn't be easily organized, she tore at her hair in confusion.
In the end, I, who knew the original story, opened my mouth.
“So. To summarize…….”
Long ago, in a certain kingdom, lived an Archmage named Diopina.
She, who possessed outstanding magical skills reaching the 6th Circle, researched the treatment of diseases using mana for a long time.
Then one day, a certain man came to visit her.
A man who had inherited the blood of the giant race but was so small and frail that he seemed like an ordinary human.
A mutant who possessed none of the brawny, rough, rock-like traits of the giant race.
Thanks to that, a man with a shining pebble-like appearance, unlike a giant.
It was Atram, who had crossed the continent from the far west after hearing rumors of Diopina, who researched and treated rare diseases.
“It's fine that my body is weak.
I can live with being small and frail.
However, when I bleed, it doesn't stop.
A small scratch that would scab over and heal in a week for a normal person remains as it is for over a month.
Please, cure my disease.”
At first, he was just another patient who had come to see her, but while researching Atram's disease, the two fell deeply in love.
However, despite Diopina devoting her all and trying her best, she ultimately failed to cure Atram's disease.
All sorts of magi-tech devices and magical artifacts implanted in his body to treat Atram actually shortened his lifespan instead.
By Diopina's calculations, Atram had only a week left to live.
So, she made a decision.
To preserve him by freezing him with rapid freezing magic until a cure was developed.
The two shared a tearful farewell, Atram fell asleep in the ice, and Diopina eventually succeeded in developing a therapeutic artifact called the Heart of Eden.
“Isn't it a truly beautiful story?”
Dorn, moved once again after hearing the summarized story, wiped away his tears.
“Weren't we listening to the same story? How did you understand this? And if she developed the artifact, why is Atram still in that ice?”
Bob spat out blunt words that contrasted with Dorn's tears.
“W-well. Maybe something happened to Diopina?”
“Still, Ms. Etiang, it's a relief. The possibility that something called the Heart of Eden actually exists in this dungeon has increased.”
At Kevin's words, Etiang smiled and nodded.
“Of course. I naturally thought it would be here. I never doubted it for a moment. Our archaeologist is competent, you know.”
I patted Dorn on the back and praised him.
“Hehe.”
Only then did Dorn also stop his tears and smile.
“So, how…… should we disarm it?”
At Etiang's question, everyone's gaze gathered on me.
However, I had no time to answer the question that suddenly popped into my head.
‘Why did Atram, who I didn't discover in my past life, suddenly appear?
Could it be that the awakened Diopina lured us here?’
No, the probability of that is slim.
Diopina is a magician who dedicated her all to save the man named Atram.
For such a woman to have opened the path to Atram for us, whose identities she doesn't even know, didn't make sense.
If so, only one reason remains for something like this to suddenly happen.
‘Winds of Fate.’
The Winds of Fate are clearly leading me with some intention.
Once my thoughts reached that point, I could make a decision.
The Goddess of Fate was always on my side.
If the power gained through her sacrifice intends to lead me, then at the end, something for me must surely be prepared.
I gave my answer to the team members who were looking only at my mouth.
“Please disarm the magic.”
“Yes, it will take some time.”
Atram will become the key to this dungeon exploration.
With a high probability, he would lead us to Diopina.
Perhaps he might even allow us to use the Heart of Eden immediately, which would normally require various studies after acquisition before use.
Kukugung.
Just then, with a loud noise, the giant ice cracked and split apart.
We hurried back out to the front of the giant ice.
There, Etiang was holding a collapsed man and shouting urgently.
“Quick, light a fire! His body temperature is too low!”
We hastily lit a bonfire and laid Atram next to it.
Even so, his body temperature didn't return, so we wrapped Atram tightly in a blanket.
After making a huge fuss performing emergency first aid, we were barely able to have a conversation.
“How is his condition?”
“I don't know. We're too short on equipment and facilities. So all I can do is send mana into his body to raise his energy levels……. But even that, I can't do it carelessly because there are too many unknown devices in his body.”
“So you're saying there's nothing we can do.”
“Yes……. It's frustrating, but that's right.”
I stared blankly at Atram.
Was my prediction wrong?
My prediction that the Winds of Fate would guide me here and that awakening him would open the next path of the dungeon…….
Did I needlessly release someone who was sleeping soundly from a seal only to have them die?
“If you don't mind, may I take a look?”
I asked Etiang politely.
“Yes……. I don't mind, but it's best to reduce external stimuli as much as possible right now. His heartbeat is very weak.”
“Yes, I understand. I'll be careful.”
Nodding my head, I approached Atram.
‘It's been a very long time since I examined someone.’
Among my hundred regressions, naturally, there was a time I devoted myself to the medical arts.
I received teachings in the medical arts not only from the Western Continent but also from a successor of the Eastern Continent's medical arts, whom I had found with great difficulty.
Thus, I reached a level of skill where I could confidently say I possessed the medical arts to cure any disease and trauma, as long as a cure existed.
‘Receiving the title of Master Physician from the Dainas Royal Family is no easy feat, you know.’
I achieved that difficult thing in three different fields over the course of three lives.
External injuries, internal injuries, and even the field of body transplantation.
I carefully placed my ear on Atram's chest.
A very faint heartbeat could be heard.
I focused mana into my ears to enhance my hearing.
The sounds from inside Atram became slightly louder.
I heard minute sounds hidden within the faint heartbeat that I couldn't hear before.
Squelch. Squelch.
The sound of something wet rubbing strongly.
Gurgle gurgle.
The sound of water leaking.
Rumble.
Even the sound of gas rumbling around, shaking the intestines.
The inside of Atram was a mess.
Indeed, just as written in Diopina's notes, all sorts of artifacts were operating to precariously maintain his life.
How on earth is he breathing in this state?
I couldn't understand.
It was a body that should have died long ago.
Focusing on the sounds coming from my ear, I carefully sent mana into Atram's body.
And soon, I detected something strange in the body that should have been composed of blood, muscle, and bone.
‘Iron? A machine? A magi-tech device? Or perhaps an artifact?.’
There was some kind of foreign object in his right chest.
In the place where a warrior would have a Mana Heart, and a magician would have a circle.
I fumbled with my mana to guess its shape.
A round, spherical shape.
It only emitted a faint mana and did not move at all.
But there's a subtle button in the middle?
I injected more mana and scanned the inside of the sphere.
And I was certain.
‘It's a prototype of the Heart of Eden. The structure is similar to the one I know, but subtly different.’
A prototype before the finished version.
If so, this button in the middle must surely be…….
Without hesitation, I pressed that button.
It was at that moment.
Uwing.
The sphere embedded in Atram's chest made a resonating sound and explosively emitted mana.
The mana flowed through artificially created mana circuits and scanned Atram's entire body.
And soon, it returned to its place and empowered the faintly beating heart.
The faintly beating heart began to beat strongly.
The lungs, which had been moving weakly, sucked in a large amount of oxygen at once.
Haah.
Haah.
Haah.
Atram let out rough breaths while lying down.
It was hyperventilation.
To reduce the amount of oxygen he was inhaling, I hastily covered Atram's mouth.
Atram gasped, unable to catch his breath, making gulping sounds.
“It's okay, Atram. Breathe slowly. Slowly. It's okay, Atram. Slowly…… slowly.”
Soon, Atram's breathing calmed down.
As I freed Atram's mouth that I had been covering with my hand, he shouted as if vomiting the words out.
“P-please save me. That crazy woman Diopina is turning me into a monster!”
Huh?
What is this?
Weren't those two in love?
At Atram's words, we all were struck dumb for a moment.
“Please save me. Please.”
Only Atram's desperate sobs echoed in the cavern.