NOVEL WEB Chapter 317
The Hemomancy class went on.
Walter weaved through the students, his wavy brown hair fluttering in a similar motion in a way which looked like falling leaves.
"As you all may know, the main drawback of hemomancy is that it directly consumes the caster's blood."
His soft, smooth voice brought in the students' focus.
"It is powerful, but risky. In practice, hemomancy has evolved to artificially inflate one's blood volume or to produce stronger effects with less blood. However…"
He carried the syringe in his hand like it was something priceless.
"Now, that trend is changing."
Hematopoietic injection.
It was a technique to artificially transplant hematopoietic stem cells, cells used to create blood, into another person's body.
"Where does blood come from? Blood is made not from the heart, but from the bone marrow in the bones. The bone marrow contains hematopoietic stem cells that assemble the main components of blood."
Walter then tactically paused, both giving time for any students behind on their studies to comprehend what he just said and to further gain everyone's attention.
"But. Blood Slimes are boneless monsters. They instead have special hematopoietic cells that can create blood completely on their own. That's the key. With this injection, you will have two to three times the hematopoiesis of the average person."
The room was filled with whispers.
If his statement was true, this was an extremely effective injection.
Not only would you be able to use two or three times as much hemomancy as normal, but you'd be able to do so with less risk of blood loss. It'd be possible to use stronger hemomancy spells, too.
However…
'…That sounds too good to be true.'
Thought Simon as he rested his chin on his palm. His mind kept flashing to the pen he was not meant to see, and his brows remained furrowed as he stared deeply at Walter.
If he had heard this from anywhere else, he would've dismissed it as a scam, but the one who said it was none other than a professor of Kizen.
There was no higher authority in the field.
As Simon's brow further furrowed, someone raised their hand.
"Jamie Victoria, sir! Would there be any kind of side effects from the injection?"
Of course, other students were also suspicious.
"You may experience slight dizziness or some tingling in your arms or legs, but nothing that should be a problem. It is similar to the blood potions you have drunk before."
Another hand came up beside Jamie's.
"Scott Snyder, sir! If I am not mistaken, we have a specific ratio of blood cells compared to other elements in our body. If that was suddenly doubled or tripled, wouldn't it inevitably have side effects?"
"You're misunderstanding this. Nothing changes about your blood itself. It literally increases your hematopoiesis, allowing you to quickly replenish your blood when you're low."
In a way, it was like making a blood potion inside your body.
As everyone taking the Hemomancy class started to come to that realization, their eyes hungrily turned to the syringe.
Seeing how invested everyone now was, Walter smiled as he placed the syringe back down onto his desk.
"Unfortunately, this item is still new technology. It is hard to mass-produce, and even if a hundred blood slimes barely amount to a single syringe. Hence, quantities are extremely limited. So, I will give one of the best achieving students this lesson a chance to try the hematopoiesis syringe."
Hushed whispers turned to shouts as the class went into an uproar.
Kizen was a breeding pool for competition, and it wasn't often that the prize would be so sweet.
"Then, shall we do a simple, practical exercise?"
* * *
The exercise was simple.
Students had to feel and control their heartbeat after applying 'Palpitation', a curse derived from concepts in hemomancy.
"The human heart rate isn't constant. It is affected by body temperature, emotion, stress, and the like. But a good hemomancer can even control their heartbeat to their liking."
It was Camibarez who took first place in this exercise, being quite literally born for this. She could fully control her heart rate, whether it needed to be fast or slow.
"Congratulations!"
"Must be nice."
Meilyn and other students congratulated her on her accomplishments. Simon also approached Camibarez.
"Congratulations, Cami."
"Ah, Simon! Thank you!"
Camibarez smiled. Simon hesitated for a moment and said,
"Cami."
"Yes?"
"Uhm, perhaps, could you reconsider…"
Having begun, Simon looked at Camibarez's face. She looked so happy to be congratulated by the people around her.
Of course, Simon knew that he was short of evidence to tell her not to take the injection.
All he knew was that Walter was suspicious. He had a bad feeling about the professor. But… to tell her to throw away this chance? An opportunity that any Hemomancy major would kill for?
"…Could you please reconsider taking the injection?"
Simon barely managed to get the words out of his mouth.
Camibarez' eyes widened.
"Wh-What? Why?!"
"Because it's currently untested. It could be dangerous…"
"What he said is true, Camibarez."
Said Walter, suddenly appearing from behind Simon.
Simon jumped like a kid being caught up past his bedtime, and then turned around. He wondered if sneaking up on people was one of Walter's hobbies.
"We have done clinical trials on humans. It is not untested. However, it does still concern me to use it on a vampire of the Ursula family. I would like to wait a little longer before offering it to you. Would that be okay?"
"Yes, that's fine!"
A few of the girls in the back swooned.
"As expected from Professor Walter."
"He's so thoughtful!"
Amidst the clamor of the students, Walter added in a voice whisper that only Camibarez could hear,
"Still, if you insist on getting it right now, then I guess it can't be helped."
"…"
Camibarez considered it for a moment, then turned her head to look at Simon. Then, she turned back to Walter and decided,
"It's fine. I'll take it some other time."
"I see. Alright."
Walter eventually had a student called 'Sophia Santana', the next highest-performer after Camibarez, take the injection. After taking the injection in her arm, she performed a hemomancy spell in front of everyone.
"Let's get right to it. In order to move the blood slime's hematopoeietic cells, you will need to tune your heartbeat to a special frequency. You can replicate the same conditions as the slime's body by beating at the same frequency as it."
Having just learned how to control her heart's beat, Sophia managed to pull it off skillfully.
"Now, try using a hemomancy spell."
"Yes, Professor."
She gathered her hands together and closed her eyes.
{Blood Frenzy}
Whaaaaaap!
A fountain of blood began to flow endlessly from the magic circle on her palms.
Genuine surprise filled her face.
"P-Professor! I've never seen this much before!"
The other students' jaws dropped at the endless stream of blood.
"Looks like it's actually working, huh?"
"Woah…"
Walter smiled gently and nodded.
"Well done. You succeeded."
Sophia deactivated her spell.
"Still, don't push yourself too hard. It will take time for the blood slime's hematopoietic cells to adjust to your body."
"Yes! Thank you very much, sir!"
Sophie bowed her head in delight. Envious glances from the students followed.
Camibarez was also one of them. She was clapping and congratulating her, but her eyes kept darting to the now-empty syringe.
'…Cami.'
Watching her, Simon's thoughts were getting complicated.
* * *
* * *
After the hemomancy class, Simon returned to the boy's dormitory early.
Room 409 was quiet as usual. Rick had gone down to Rochest, and Kajann was sleeping with the blanket over his head like always.
'?'
Just then, a crow could be seen circling around outside the window. It then started tapping on the window with its beak as if asking to be let in.
As Simon opened the window, the crow flew over and sat on Simon's shoulder.
'!'
A letter was tied to the crow's leg.
To: Simon Polentia
Seeing his name, Simon quickly untied the letter from the crow's leg. As soon as its leg became free, the crow flew out to the open window without looking back.
'I've never gotten a letter like this before.'
Normally, letters were first delivered to the dormitory and brought to the student from there.
Simon immediately looked at the letter's sender. It said 'Wyrm Miller', a name he had never seen before.
'Wh-Who is this?'
First of all, it was definitely sent to 'Simon Polentia', so he sat down at his desk, broke the seal on the envelope, and carefully opened it.
"Ah!"
He saw a name he hadn't heard in a long time.
[How are you? Methyn here.]
Simon let out a small gasp. He was so happy to hear from him that his shoulders trembled with pleasure.
'Methyn!'
It was the inquisitor who had been following Simon once he realized that Simon was a necromancer. This was back when he and Rete crossed over to the Holy Federation.
However, while traveling on the divine train, they were attacked by the Heavenly Blood, and when Simon saved Methyn's life and the lives of the train's passengers, the way that Methyn viewed Simon changed.
"You are a necromancer, yet you risked your life for believers from the Federation. In the end, you saved hundreds of lives. I admit it, the inquisitors—myself included—were completely useless. We were no better than a single necromancer. Thus, I'll give up on your interrogation."
Simon could still clearly remember Methyn's parting words.
Feeling better, Simon quickly looked at the next message.
[Rete, no, the Saintess of Stars has contacted me.]
Simon had written a letter to Rete, asking her to investigate the evidence from the train, and it seemed like she directed it to Methyn.
[I'm enclosing a copy of the evidence from the train. Please check it out.]
Simon pulled out the documents at the back of the letter. They were the classified documents they attained after defeating the bishop of the Heavenly Blood on the divine train.
Even if they were copies, Methyn's life would be in danger if his fellow inquisitors discovered that he had sent these to necromancers of the Dark Territory. Feeling thankful to Methyn for taking such a risk, Simon slowly checked the documents.
The job orders of the Heavenly Blood.
It contained all sorts of extreme, world-ending processes. Simon grimaced, but he pushed on.
'…'
One part caught his eye. The signatures on each order. Every signature was of the signature of the same person.
'Don't tell me…!'
Simon finally realized the source of his uncomfortable feelings. He jumped to his feet, grabbed the letter, and ran to the library.
'Archaic language, archaic language…'
When he arrived at the library, he grabbed all the thick books related to ancient languages from the shelves and opened them up.
They contained old languages that were no longer spoken. Simon was familiar with many of the archaic languages spoken by the nobles, having been taught etiquette from Richard, but he couldn't immediately decipher the language used for this signature.
Still, he was familiar with the language's sentence structure, so he had a hunch.
Simon turned to the appropriate book and began to decipher the signature.
'Hah.'
Simon drew a long sigh.
He finally felt the weight of all his heavy suspicions become lifted.
The signature on the job order, in an archaic language, said,
Bishop Judas of the Heavenly Blood
——