Crown Prince Sells Medicine

[The royal bloodline’s hidden power, Asrahan Core Technique, which had been engraved in your heart but was unused due to your weak constitution, is awakening.]

Raciel’s eyes gradually widened as a bold message emerged before him. It was inevitable.

‘Asrahan Core Technique?’

In the original work of this world, ‘Devil Sword Emperor.’ The Asrahan Core Technique was a special mana method used only by the Magentano royal family in that story.

‘It was said to be a method created about 300 years ago.’

A grandmaster who left a long-lasting mark on history.

‘Javier Asrahan, was it?’

He was said to have co-created it with his master, ‘Lloyd Frontera.’ Since then, it became the Magentano royal family’s technique passed down only to their direct descendants.

‘So, it has been passed down to me as well. No, to be precise, it must have been implanted in this body, Raciel’s body. Because Raciel is the crown prince. The legitimate successor to the royal family.’

But up until now…

‘Although he possessed the technique, he couldn’t use it at all due to his weak constitution.’

However, things have changed now.

The message that appeared before his eyes informed him that the Asrahan Core Technique was awakening and becoming entirely his.

Ding dong.

[Asrahan Core Technique skill has been unlocked.]

[Skill name: Asrahan Core Technique]

[Stage: Single Circle Lv. 1]

[Absorbs surrounding mana. Processes/amplifies the absorbed mana through a circle created around the heart. The amplification rate increases significantly as the number of circles increases.]

[Mana amplification rate: 120%]

[HP required for the next level up: 1,000]

[Current HP: 100]

Keeiing-!

‘Oooh.’

As the circle began to spin, Raciel experienced a sensation akin to a smooth donut rotating around his heart.

‘Is this mana?’

With each breath, a peculiar force was absorbed into the rotating mana circle. It seemed to be drawn in from the surrounding air and amplified within the circle, flowing through Raciel’s meridians. 

As a result, a surge of vitality coursed through his body, a sensation he had never experienced after entering Raciel’s weakened body.

‘It feels like having a shot of iced Americano on a morning when I can’t wake up.’

Due to the Core Technique, the mana circle rotated automatically, but it was also within Raciel’s capability to exert some control over it. It was a process similar to learning how to walk or ride a bicycle for the first time, and Raciel awkwardly attempted to adjust the rotation of the mana circle. Though it was a clumsy effort at first, his control gradually improved.

‘I’ll need some practice.’

Raciel enjoyed the initial sensation of the circle with a curious feeling.

However, during that time.

Kuuuung!

‘Huh?’

The spinning circle hesitated.

And suddenly.

Kiaaaaaa-!

“……”

It began to spin wildly.

It was sudden and unexpected. Neither intended nor desired. An intense pain gripped his heart as if it was about to burst.

‘…Ugh!’

The suddenness of it all left Raciel incapable of even screaming. He found himself unable to draw breath or clutch at his chest, with only bulging veins in his neck betraying the intensity of his distress.

‘What?’

Why was this sudden pain coming? Why did it feel like his heart was being torn apart? He couldn’t understand the reason for the circle’s frenzied rampage.

It was an incredibly sudden phenomenon.

‘What, what is this?’

The spinning circle seemed to have a mind of its own, no longer following its original pattern. Initially, the circle had been a wide, generous ring of mana that encircled the heart, but now it had changed. It had become too small, ensnaring the heart within its confines. It was not merely trapped, but something more ominous than that.

‘At this rate… my heart will burst.’

The circle pressed down on the heart with a tightness reminiscent of a noose around a sinner’s neck or a predator tearing into its prey’s throat. It seemed to be squeezing and rotating, as though it intended to rip the heart apart with its unrelenting pressure.

‘Ku… Hah!’

Raciel struggled to stave off panic as a cold sweat broke out, causing his vision to blur uncontrollably. Through the haze, he could make out Gardin’s faint figure, seemingly shouting something at him. Was he asking why this was happening? Was he checking to see if Raciel was okay, his grip tight on his shoulder?

‘Tsk.’

It wasn’t just Gardin that was alarmed.

Ding-dong.

[The mana circle is excessively compressing the heart.]

[The development balance between the mana circle and the heart is mismatched.]

[The heart is on the verge of fainting.]

Messages mixed with screams were coming from various organs, including the heart, but they flickered and disappeared amidst the blurring of Raciel’s vision, leaving him feeling dizzy. Nevertheless, this confusing sensory input allowed him to surmise the root cause of his sudden predicament.

‘The development balance between the mana circle and the heart is mismatched?’

In retrospect, it was clear that the Asrahan Core Technique had just awakened, triggering the mana circle to reveal its presence and begin rotating. However, the circle’s size was unnaturally small; instead of generously encircling the heart like a doughnut, it now pressed against it with a forceful tightness, akin to an infinitesimally small ring pressing against a finger.

‘Development state… Balance… Wait a minute.’

An idea slowly surfaced.

It was a hypothesis.

‘In terms of development state, the physical heart has fully grown… but the circle hasn’t?’

Amidst the agony, Raciel’s consciousness grew hazy, and his heart began to beat irregularly. Despite the clear signs of a heart attack, his mind continued to race with thoughts.

‘Yeah, come to think of it, it’s natural. The original owner of this body, Raciel, was a crown prince. He was the emperor’s eldest son since birth. But the Asrahan Core Technique is a secret art passed down only to the direct descendants of the imperial family.’

Indeed, it was mentioned in the novel ‘Devil Sword Emperor’. The message that appeared when he first obtained the Asrahan Core Technique also said so.

The secret art of the imperial family, which had been ‘engraved’ in his heart but couldn’t be used due to the weak constitution, was ‘awakening’.

‘So, Raciel was born as a crown prince and inherited the Asrahan Core Technique, the imperial family’s secret art, shortly after birth.’

Perhaps the emperor himself engraved the circle in the heart of newborn Raciel. As it had been done for generations of the imperial family in a ritual-like manner. Raciel would have acquired the Asrahan Core Technique right after birth.

But the problem arose afterward.

‘Raciel had a congenital weak constitution. He was suffering even before he opened his eyes.’

It was said that he had been tormented by illness throughout his life. But with such a body, could he have used the Asrahan Core Technique?

‘No.’

That wouldn’t have been possible. With a body weakened by illness, there would have been no chance of using the Core Technique. So, the mana circle that should be activated when using the Core Technique…

‘It had never been rotated before. No, not even once, since it was installed in his infancy.’

Literally, this circle had spent its entire life in a semi-forced dormant state. That’s why it hadn’t grown at all from its size and shape. But in the meantime, Raciel’s body grew, and only his heart became bigger.

‘So, the balance is off.’

The combination of an adult heart and an infant circle was absurd, rare, and ironic. However, the chaotic party that this unlikely duo was currently throwing in Raciel’s chest was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

‘I have to do something.’

Raciel realized that if he remained in this state, he would not survive. 

This was no joke; it was a grim reality. Unlike the original Raciel, who had passed away peacefully without awakening the circle, his situation was different now. 

Having activated the circle, he needed to take action to balance his heart and the circle; otherwise, he would soon be booking a heart attack ticket and start discussing his future with the King of Hell.

‘Think. Just come up with something.’

Raciel racked his brain, focusing intently on the cause of his predicament and desperately searching for a solution to the problem. He clung persistently to the idea, determined to find a way to balance the heart and the circle. Finally, after much contemplation, he came to a conclusion: there was ultimately only one way to achieve this delicate balance.

Since he can’t reduce the size of the heart…

‘Enlarge the circle!’

As soon as Raciel discovered the solution, he abandoned all attempts to calm the frenzied rotation of the circle. On the contrary, he encouraged it to spin even faster, with a rough, breathless, fierce, and violent energy. He increased the circle’s speed with a single goal in mind: to forcefully expand its size using centrifugal force. It was a risky gamble, with his life hanging in the balance.

Kaaaaaa-ak!

‘…Ugh!’

The heart was ensnared within the circle, causing an immense surge of pain to course through Raciel’s body. It was so intense that he nearly lost consciousness, but he knew that doing so would mean the end. So he forced himself to endure and persevere, pushing through the agony.

Was it just because he had a high tolerance for pain?

No.

‘My chest… it hurts. It’s incredibly painful. But, compared to the pain in my chest when the Korean Oriental medicine clinic was going bankrupt, this is nothing!’

He recalled the most recent memory of heartache. It was the memory of the time when the oriental medicine clinic was going bankrupt due to the coronavirus situation.

‘Because two confirmed cases visited… the internet cafes and… social media chat rooms and… rumors spread throughout the neighborhood… patients stopped coming… nobody came to the clinic, just sighing deeply… even developed hair loss…!’

No matter how painful it was.

Would it hurt as much as it did then?

‘Yet the rent and loan interest was taken out well. I wanted to hold onto anyone, to beg someone, but I couldn’t. After moving out of the leasehold apartment and into a monthly rental room, I tried to make ends meet… damn, my leasehold.’

Raciel couldn’t recall how much he had cried alone while packing up his leasehold apartment. But, the pain he felt in his chest now…

‘It’s not even painful compared to then. Back then, my heart felt like it was being torn apart!’

Gritting his teeth, Raciel realized that the pain he was experiencing now was nothing compared to what he had endured before. Thus, he resolved to withstand any amount of pain that the expanding mana circle might bring.

‘Mana circle? Do you know what it feels like when your business is failing? Do you know the pain of self-employed people in Korea?’

With a fierce growl, Raciel directed his determination towards the spinning circle, as if biting down on it with his willpower alone. He endured the seemingly eternal pain, the circle’s rotation beyond its limits, and the agony of it expanding and tearing under the centrifugal force. Through sheer perseverance, he held on until, eventually, the circle responded to his efforts.

Kaaaaaa-! Crack!

With a sudden breaking sound, the circle expanded, bringing a sense of liberation to the previously oppressed heart. The pain vanished as if it had never existed, replaced by the smooth, glass-like rotation of the circle.

Kiiiiiing…

The rotation of the circle was now akin to a well-tamed beast or a well-maintained engine, promising to provide immense power whenever needed. As Raciel opened his eyes to this new sensation, a flood of messages appeared before him.

Ding-dong!

[You have perfectly balanced the development of your heart and mana circle.]

[Your mana circle has been contracted in a dormant state for a long time. Therefore, normal utilization was absolutely impossible.]

[However, you have successfully torn and expanded the mana circle with brilliant intuition, bold execution, resolute will, and indomitable perseverance.]

[In this series of processes, your mana heart has gone through a very rare growth phase, forcibly tearing and expanding according to the owner’s will.]

[By this unique and remarkable growth history, a special attribute is granted to your mana circle.]

[You have acquired the unprecedented ‘Mana Circle Slot’ in history.]

The messages shone like bright lights, filling Raciel’s sight as he read through them. Finally, he realized the magnitude of this moment – it was a historic success, a life-or-death gamble that had paid off in the form of a massive jackpot.