"Could it be because I just came into contact with Eris, the goddess of luck, today? How lucky."
Noa couldn't help but entertain the thought for a brief moment, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips despite the pain coursing through his body.
But almost immediately, he dismissed the idea.
The core trait of his perfect body had always been defined by a single concept—adaptability.
It wasn't luck that allowed him to survive and grow stronger under extreme conditions. It was the body's inherent ability to evolve in response to external stimuli. When exposed to heat, it developed resistance to high temperatures. When subjected to freezing conditions, it adapted to withstand the cold. Every change followed a logical pattern, a natural progression driven by necessity rather than chance.
And now, his meridians were being ravaged by an overwhelming surge of external magic.
If such a situation didn't trigger evolution, then the ability itself would be questionable.
Under the influence of the warm current, the violent magic within his body gradually began to calm. What had once been a chaotic torrent transformed into a more controlled flow, no longer threatening to tear him apart from the inside.
At the same time, his meridians underwent a dramatic transformation.
They were repaired at an astonishing rate, but not just restored to their original state—they were expanded and reinforced. The once narrow channels grew wider and stronger, their capacity increasing severalfold. What had previously been comparable to thin strands now felt more like sturdy conduits, capable of handling far greater pressure.
The change was so significant that Noa could clearly sense the difference.
The upper limit of his internal magic power had increased by more than ten times.
And that wasn't all.
His newly evolved meridians possessed remarkable resilience. Even if he pushed them beyond their normal capacity, they could endure far greater strain without collapsing. If he forced it, he estimated that they could temporarily handle up to ten times more magic than their new limit.
In other words—
Ten times the base capacity under normal conditions, and up to a hundred times under extreme load.
A hundredfold improvement.
Noa's eyes gleamed with excitement as he grasped the full extent of the change.
More importantly, the external magic supplied by the infinite magic furnace had become significantly easier to control. What had once felt foreign and unruly now responded to him with surprising familiarity, almost as if it were an extension of his own power.
It flowed smoothly through his meridians, obedient and stable.
Like an arm responding to a thought.
Beyond that, his perception had also sharpened.
Noa could now faintly sense the magic present in the surrounding air and environment. It was subtle, but undeniable. The ambient energy that had once gone unnoticed was now within his awareness—and perhaps, with further refinement, within his grasp.
The implications were immense.
If he could truly absorb and utilize environmental magic, then his dependence on stored reserves would diminish even further.
At the same time, he noticed another change.
His physical strength had increased as well—roughly doubling compared to before. The evolution of his meridians seemed to have influenced his entire body, reinforcing not just his magical capacity but his overall physique.
Soon, the warm current subsided.
The evolution was complete.
Without hesitation, Noa severed the connection to the infinite magic furnace, allowing it to return to its original function of producing magic crystals.
For a brief moment, he considered continuing the experiment.
If he reconnected and subjected himself to another surge of overwhelming magic, there was a chance that the adaptive evolution might trigger again, pushing his limits even further.
But he ultimately restrained himself.
The process he had just endured was, in essence, controlled self-harm. It carried significant risks, and there was no guarantee that the same result would occur a second time.
If the evolution failed to trigger, he would simply be damaging his own body for no gain.
There were safer and more reliable methods to increase his magic capacity. Compared to those, this approach was far too reckless to rely on repeatedly.
More importantly, his perspective had already shifted.
Once the issue of utilizing external magic power was fully resolved, the concept of a personal magic limit would lose much of its significance. With enough magic furnaces, he could access virtually limitless energy whenever he needed it.
In that sense, increasing his internal capacity was no longer the primary concern.
Instead, a new problem had taken center stage.
Noa's gaze grew serious as he reflected on the recent events.
The real limitation now lay in the maximum transmission capacity of his meridians—the amount of magic power they could handle at any given moment without collapsing.
No matter how vast the supply, it would be meaningless if his body couldn't safely channel it.
And that… would be the next challenge he needed to overcome.