Luz's head was pounding and his vision was blurry after gradually regaining consciousness. A parrot seemed to be sitting on Luz's chest and his screeching of Luz being awake echoed through his head.

'Why can't I have a moment of peace?' were the only thoughts that ran through his mind before uttering: "Could you please be quiet for a moment?"

But the parrot ignored him, and it didn't take long for someone to approach him. Simon sat down across from Luz and opened a few graphs.

"What do the images represent? I don't understand them," Luz asked.

"That there is your mana core. A full recovery of your mana core is highly unlikely, however, we may have a plan on how to help you," Simon told Luz while pointing to several graphs.

"In summary, the problem with a broken mana core is that first, the mana absorption rate decreases over time, and second, your body has a difficult time retaining absorbed mana. If you are unlucky, it comes to the point where your mana desorption rate becomes greater than your mana absorption rate. At that point, there is no difference between you and a normal person," Simon explained while pointing at the zoomed-in cracks on his mana core.

The desperate expression Luz had on his face was reason enough to give him a moment to internalize what awaits him. Simon sighed before continuing with: "But it could end up much worse. If you continue to use mana, it could cause you to overexert your mana core and cause it to break. If it comes to that, your death is guaranteed."

"Could you please tell me about your plan?" Luz asked dejectedly as he gripped his armrest tightly.

'I have lost almost everything I had except magic. That's the only thing that sets me apart from the rest... and if... and if I lose that one as well, I'll never be able to find my siblings. It would even be hard to move out of this place. Without magic, I am nothing more than a talentless man...'

Luz's expression worsened and Jodoc smiled at the sight of it.

Telepathically, Jodoc told Simon, "You see. His look reveals everything. He's willing to sacrifice everything he has just to save his talent."

Simon sighed out of pity before presenting the two possible options that were available.

"Option 1 you won't use any mana from today and we will try to rehab your mana core slowly. This is the safest method, but your mage career would be as good as over," Simon explained before adding "But, your life would be guaranteed."

Luz only shook his head before asking: "What would be the other option?"

Simon smiled before continuing with: "Option 2 would be to force a symbiosis with another parasite-like organism, which has high regeneration abilities. Your body will regularly fight with it for control of your body, but this organism would also be forced to heal you, otherwise, it would die with you."

"If it gains control of my body then what is the difference with dying?" Luz asked.

Simon shook his head before stating: "You aren't the first one. Several mages use this type of cooperation with a symbiote, but I have never been able to reproduce this result, let alone force a symbiosis. The secrets behind how they managed it, as well as long-term studies and drawbacks, are kept top secret."

Simon paused for a second and flipped to a different page on his notes before continuing with: "The risk of failure is high, and even if a symbiosis works, I'm not sure if it's the ideal parasite, let alone how such a symbiosis will affect the advancement to a higher mage rank."

Luz was lost in his thoughts.

'To be honest, I don't want to take the risk. If I die, I will never find my siblings. But on the other hand, if I can't be a mage, then traveling around the world to find my siblings will be relatively difficult.' Luz sighed before replying with "I wish I had more choices but I would be willing to take that risk".

"Are you sure?" asked Jodoc the parrot, climbing up on Luz's shoulder.

"Yes, I am," Luz gave in with a sight.

"The young always tend to take risks," murmured Simon who led Luz up a few floors to where a large water tank was located.

The tank was slightly murky and it looked as if it were filled with just dirty water. Simon made Luz faint by hitting him on the neck with his hand.

"Let's pray that we'll succeed with him," Simon sighed while slowly attaching several tubes onto Luz. These tubs would regularly pump nutrients into his body, as well as mana, anesthetics, and even oxygen into his body.

Several measuring devices that record the values of pulse, blood sugar, mana, and nutrient levels every second were also attached to Luz's body. After everything was linked, Luz's lifeless body was dropped into the tank and one could see how the tank became clearer and clearer with time.

The graphs, which Simon the Mage as well as Jodoc the Parrot saw after a few minutes, looked grim.

The longer it lasted the more and more all of the measurements, which were recorded, were plummeting. It would not take much longer before critical levels would be reached.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all," whispered Jodoc the Parrot.

"Let's pray that it was a good idea," Simon whispered back.