Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Fascinating Case Study

It didn’t take long before Mika’s operation evolved into a full-scale system, one so organized, efficient, and perfectly synchronized that it felt like an orchestrated rescue mission.

Mika, who was now walking on his own, would first select a spear, test its balance with a flick of his wrist, and then hurl it downward into the snow.

Once the spear vanished beneath the white surface, he’d wait just a few seconds, his ear subtly tuned to the faint shift in vibration that would come from the rope when it was grabbed, that only he seemed able to sense, before he would shout the cue.

"Team six! Pull that spear up—now!"

Immediately, the four-man group assigned to that section would grab the rope and start heaving with every ounce of strength they had. As the spear was pulled upward, the rope stretched taut—followed by the unmistakable sight of a hand breaking through the snow, clutching desperately at life.

Each time, cheers filled the valley.

While that happened, the next stage of the rescue began automatically.

Two of the volunteers—designated carriers—would rush forward, gently lifting the newly rescued person and carrying them toward the glowing golden dome Fauna had conjured earlier.

The moment they stepped inside, a wave of warmth washed over them. The bitter cold that had numbed their bones melted away instantly.

Their pain dulled, their shivering stopped, and faint trails of golden light began sealing their wounds.

Inside, Fauna and a group of medics and healers worked tirelessly, tending to each patient, feeding them warmth, mana, and strength.

Meanwhile, another team of volunteers would return the used spear and rope to Mika’s side. Cecilia, standing near him, managed the flow of equipment like a surgeon’s assistant.

"Next one." Mika would say, holding out his hand.

Cecilia would pass him the next spear. Without hesitation, he’d spin it, aim, and launch it again with deadly precision.

The cycle repeated—again and again—until the entire operation moved like a living machine.

Halfway through, something interesting happened.

Mika didn’t even need to call out which spears to pull anymore. The volunteers had begun to notice the pattern themselves.

If they tugged on a rope and felt sudden resistance—an unmistakable weight—that meant someone below had grabbed on.

They no longer waited for Mika’s signal. They simply pulled.

It had become an entire spearfishing operation for human lives, executed with speed and unity that even seasoned rescuers would envy.

The only challenge came when volunteers recognized the people they pulled up—their own family members, spouses, or children.

Many of them instinctively wanted to drop everything and run to embrace their loved ones, tears already spilling down their faces. But they held themselves back, choosing duty over emotion, knowing that if they stopped now, others might not make it.

By the thirty-minute mark, nearly ninety percent of the trapped survivors had been pulled out and Cecilia, handing another spear to Mika, could hardly believe what she was witnessing.

"This is incredible..." She whispered.

Mika caught her words, flashed a quick grin, and sent another spear plunging into the ground.

"Told you we’d get them all out."

She had also pieced together how the plan actually worked—one of the survivors she’d helped explained it to her, still trembling from disbelief.

Mika had somehow known exactly where each person was buried. Each spear he threw landed frighteningly close to their heads—within inches, yet never harmed a single one.

It was impossible accuracy.

She had later learned that when the spear pierced the ground, it didn’t just sit there.

The strange machine Mika had been tinkering with earlier emitted a frequency through the metal tips—a carefully tuned vibration that traveled downward.

At first, it produced a jarring, ear-splitting noise meant to wake anyone who was unconscious.

Then, a voice—Mika’s voice—would echo faintly through the spear, telling the trapped person that help had arrived.

He instructed them to place their hand on the sticky resin attached to the spearhead. The resin would bond instantly with their skin—holding firmly enough that even someone too weak to grip could still be pulled up safely.

The moment they touched it, their salvation was guaranteed.

Cecilia found herself speechless at the brilliance of it. It was both terrifying and beautiful, turning primitive spearfishing into a life-saving rescue.

But what intrigued her most was how he even managed to locate each person under all that snow in the first place.

She got her chance to ask when Mika finally said,

"That’s all of them. No more spears needed."

Cheers erupted from the rescuers. People cried and hugged. The last few ropes were being pulled as Mika crouched down to rest. Cecilia approached him, handing him a bottle of water.

"Great work." She said softly, catching her breath. "You’re not tired, are you?"

He chuckled, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip.

"Not at all. I’ve got the easy job here...I just throw spears. They’re the ones dragging people out and hauling them into Fauna’s dome."

She smiled faintly, then hesitated. "But I do have to ask, though...how did you even find them?"

"It’s not like any mana-detection or blessing ability could penetrate that much snow. And yet you threw each spear perfectly, every single one landed right beside them. Not to mention how accurate you were with your throws."

"Oh, that?" Mika tilted his head, a playful spark in his eyes. "The throwing’s easy. I learned that from one of the Battle Angels...you know who I mean."

"You don’t mean...her?" Cecilia stiffened. "The Battle Angel who fights barehanded and has levelled entire armies with a single clap of her hands."

"...the one they call the Asura of Blood and Havoc?"

He grinned.

"The very same. She’s a bit of a maniac when it comes to combat. But she taught me well. I’ve also always been a bit of a weapon junkie, so I like learning all kinds. Spears just happen to be one of my favorites."

Cecilia blinked, stunned. The idea of Mika casually learning from such a legendary being was absurd and yet, seeing his precision today, she believed it completely.

"But locating them..." She pressed. "You said no one was using magic or divine sight. So how—"

He interrupted her with a shrug.

"That part was simple too. When I told everyone to be completely silent earlier, it wasn’t for theatrics. I needed to listen. I heightened my hearing sensitivity so much that I could pick up the faint heartbeats beneath the snow."

Once I had those, I fine-tuned my sense of touch—the skin sensitivity—to detect warmth beneath the surface. I canceled out all the heat signatures coming from aboveground and focused only on what was below."

He smirked slightly.

"Once you filter that out, the body heat of a living person becomes...pretty obvious."

Cecilia just stared at him, utterly speechless.

"That’s...absurd. You’re telling me you located dozens of buried people just by listening to their heartbeats?"

"You make it sound harder than it is." Mika smiled faintly.

Cecilia blinked several times, her eyes wide in disbelief. Then she snapped upright, pointing at him.

"It is hard, Mika! Oh, not just hard—it’s impossible!"

She said vehemently, her voice rising with incredulity.

"I know there are blessed with super hearing, or those who can sense heat signatures through their abilities, but all of that comes from blessings! And right now, blessings are nullified. Completely nullified! Even non-contact ones can’t pass through snow this dense!"

She shook her head rapidly, trying to make sense of it.

"That’s exactly what’s crippling the rescue teams right now. They can’t detect anyone under the snow. Their mana can’t reach that deep, it disperses instantly. So how in the world..." She paused, her gaze narrowing on him. "...was your ability working just fine?"

"Why are your man-based senses still functioning when everyone else’s blessings are dead?"

Mika’s expression didn’t waver. He simply smiled lightly and said,

"That’s because I wasn’t using any blessing or any mana ability at all."

Cecilia blinked, which he chuckled quietly and went on to say,

"None of what I did came from a blessing. My five senses are just naturally stronger than normal. So I don’t really need anything else to do what I did."

Cecilia blinked rapidly, struggling to process that.

"That’s not possible." She said, shaking her head. "Everyone is born human. Blessings are what push people beyond their limits. Without them, we’re all ordinary."

"If you strip the divine mark from a Blessed, they revert back to being just that...a human. So how could you possibly have superhuman perception without any blessing to fuel it?"

"It’s because I’m not quite the same as everyone else."

He looked back up at her, his tone casual but his eyes unreadable.

"From birth, my body was...different. Special, you could say. I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse, but I was made with certain abilities that others can only dream of."

He turned his gaze toward the snow-covered valley, watching the last few survivors being carried into the healing dome.

"And blessings are powerful, sure—but they can falter. They can be suppressed, blocked, or nullified entirely, like now. You can’t always rely on them. But your own body...your own potential...that’s something you can always trust."

His words carried a strange weight, calm yet absolute.

Cecilia just stood there, speechless. Her lips parted, but no words came. Slowly, she sank down onto a nearby rock, staring at him as though trying to see through him.

All her life, she had been fascinated by biology—the human body, the complexity of its design, how fragile yet resilient it was.

She had once believed that humanity itself was the most mysterious creation in existence.

But now, looking at Mika, the man who could track heartbeats beneath snow, move with inhuman speed, and remain unaffected by the laws that bound everyone else, she found that belief shattered.

No...she thought to herself. It’s not the human body that’s most fascinating anymore.

It’s him.

And as he stood there under the dim winter light, Cecilia realized that every cell in her body wanted to understand him—study him, dissect his mystery piece by piece until she could finally comprehend what exactly Mika truly was.