Spes opened his eyes, a familiar scent overwhelming his nose. He frowned, the smell of alcohol making him feel slightly nauseous.
"Awake already?" An old voice spoke as Spes struggled sitting on the table he was lying on.
"Medicus?" Spes immediately knew where he was from both the smell and the old man mixing herbs in front of him.
"I saw your fight out there, lad. The entire crowd couldn't believe you beat the captain." The old man laughed, adding a green liquid to the wooden cup he was holding and continued mixing the lot.
"I really did beat her..." He chuckled, recalling their last moments when Liber arrived just in time to aid him, giving him the power to defeat Crystal.
"It's easy to say since her sword stayed sheathed the entire fight..."
"A win is a win, lad. Give yourself the credit."
Spes tried to hide the smile forming on his face but couldn't control it. Giving up, he slapped his thighs, letting out a proud laughter.
"I beat her!"
"Also, you proved my speculations to be correct, lad."
"Speculations?"
"Remember when I told you your body was... special? I did some research and finally found the most likely physique you have!" A mad light shone in the Medicus's eyes as he left the wooden bowl next to Spes, taking out a thick book and flipping through its pages.
"Here!" He shouted, shoving the open page at Spes's face for him to see.
"Lifestream Physique?" Spes squinted his eyes, slowly reading the words the old man was pointing at.
"Yes, that! Very, very rare physique!"
"What's a physique even?" Spes wryly smiled, wondering what the old man was getting excited about.
"If you went through knight training, that would be the very first thing you would be tested for."
"A physique is an innate trait someone is born with that determines how their body interacts with certain power sources." The Medicus explained, going back to the mixture he was concocting in the wooden bowl.
"There are many types of Physiques documented, and many more undocumented. But those that are known were studied and classified within tiers: Mortal Physique, Awakened Physique, and Ascended Physique."
"This Lifestream Physique of mine must at least be Ascended if it's that rare then?" Spes's eyes brightened hearing the new set of information.
"The Lifestream Physique is a Mortal tier Physique..." The old man chuckled, seeing Spes's eyes droop as he mentioned the words: 'Mortal Tier'.
"Why did you have to lie saying it's VERY rare..." Spes glared.
"I did not lie." The Medicus laughed again.
"There has been only one documented case of that physique since the creation of the Kingdom!"
"Here," the old man passed the previous book to Spes, the book already open on the specific page about his Physique.
"It'll give you a better understanding if you read it yourself." The Medicus said before going back to his wooden bowl.
"This book... it will be useful to us if we incorporate it within the seed's database." Liber spoke with his usual robotic voice. This was actually the first time he had addressed Spes since their previous victory.
"Thank you again for that last second clutch." Spes said as he extended his hand to reach for the open book.
"It was all you. If you didn't last so long, victory would've been out of reach." Liber responded, sending out his Seeing Sense to the book.
[[Object Detected: "The Codex of Physiques"]]
[[Initiating data retrieval...]]
[[Content successfully integrated into Seed database.]]
[[Processing entry...]]
[[Analysis complete — full comprehension achieved.]]
"That was fast..." Spes raised an eyebrow witnessing the sequence of panels in front of him.
"To help accelerate the Soul-Link Channeling process, I had to focus all my attention on mending my soul, and with 50% of my soul mended, I managed to attain Authority lvl 2 with some effort. With that, new features have been unlocked and previous features upgraded."
"Ah, I remember! The Combat Assistance!" Spes nodded, recalling how that one feature chose the right spell before instructing him how to proceed, successfully securing him victory.
"I'll brief you on the matter another time, let's focus on this new data for now." Liber said, sending information on his specific physique to Spes.
[[Lifestream Physique]]
[[Tier: Mortal Physique]]
>>Physiques classification:
>Mortal Tier: Physiques that provide only physical enhancements.
>Awakened Tier: Physiques that grant both physical and magical boosts.
>Ascended Tier: Physiques that transform body and soul, elevating the individual beyond human limits.
[[Rarity: Unique (only 1 documented case)]]
[[Description: The Lifestream Physique, like the name says, is a physique that makes the vessel streaming with life. Gifted with high vitality, the vessel's healing factor and endurance become beast-like.]]
[[Documented Case: In the year 240, during the month of the Dragon, an unknown figure emerged from a secluded mountain to defend a village raided by demonic forces. Like an unstoppable force of nature, he single-handedly drove away the invaders with a fighting style so unbelievable that he tanked every attack directed at him—each blow fully healing within seconds. Afterward, the mysterious man returned to the mountains, never to be seen again.]]
Spes raised an eyebrow, wondering how this Physique from 600 years ago fit his case.
"You seemed unconvinced." The Medicus chuckled, noticing his expression.
"When you were brought here, you had bruises all over your body. Even your ribs were fractured. Tell me, how do you feel right now?"
Spes then turned his head all over his body, his eyes opening wide, realizing that all the injuries the Medicus mentioned were absent on him.
"See? I've been quite suspicious on the matter the moment you stepped foot in here." The Medicus smiled, adding more herbs in his wooden bowl.
"But the case doesn't match mine... Wounds healing within seconds?" Spes shook his head.
"Yours is still in its Mortal stages. Your healing factor is way inferior compared to his."
"Wait, is the Lifestream Physique not Mortal Tier?" Spes frowned, the Medicus was spouting contradictory words.