Chapter 113 - Circulatory System (15)

The beast stopped moving as if meeting death.

Thanks to its head being firmly embedded in the wall, even when its body went limp it remained fixed in place for a while. After hanging there in a horrific state, moments later its neck separated and fell, shaking the ground.

Thud!

Finally, all combat ended.

Bertrand's legs gave out and he collapsed in place.

"Ha, haha."

His hands tingled from unconsciously clenching his fists tight.

Cecil and Martha also sank to the ground as their tension was released.

Martha hesitated briefly then spoke, "I can't believe it."

Cecil spoke as if relieved, "See, I bet well, didn't I?"

"...It was a wise decision," Bertrand admitted he was wrong.

It wasn't just success but unprecedented great success. Right now he wanted to actively praise Cecil's judgment. Her gamble had saved the group.

The rumor about having enough skill to beat Sion was true.

Now, he instantly understood why that proud Sion desperately tried to find Candy. At this point, among all the students, only Candy could stand against Sion.

Bertrand looked around. Dead lizards filled every direction.

"We came in aiming for non-killing... but this is extinction level. Won't we get expelled from the circulatory system?"

Though grades didn't mean much after experiencing a life-or-death situation, practice was still ongoing so they had to fill the remaining period somehow.

Cecil's thinking seemed to have changed from when preparing for practice, as she didn't agree with his words.

"No, now we've finally joined the circulatory system's order of eating and being eaten."

Though a different perspective from mainstream alchemy, it was a reasonably valid interpretation.

"...Was that his plan too?"

"He didn't say directly. But probably similar?"

"..."

Everyone's gaze naturally turned to Candy.

They could no longer look at him with the same eyes as before.

The mysteriously glowing sword vanished from Candy's hand.

A summoned sword. Bertrand had never seen or heard of such a thing. He felt he wouldn't be able to sleep wondering what its true identity was.

Though they thought he was badly hurt from the tail hit, besides being soaking wet, his movements were surprisingly fine and even showed composure.

No sooner had that thought occurred than his soaked clothes slowly began turning red with blood.

Cecil, alarmed,  jumped up and ran over upon seeing his condition.

Following her, Luna also hurriedly ran to him.

***

Damian let out a sigh of relief and released his body's tension. Though dealing with witnesses who saw the magic sword's manifestation remained an issue, he was somewhat satisfied with successfully completing the hunt.

Despite his body aching from taking a direct hit from the tail, he ignored it and immediately reviewed the battle.

What pleased him most was how unexpectedly well he matched with Luna. Though it was Damian's first time fighting in coordination with someone, there wasn't even a slight misalignment.

Luna's reflexes and responsiveness were both excellent. Opposite tendencies and abilities met to create synergy complementing each other's weaknesses.

After finishing his review, he looked at his companions. Everyone had slumped down exhausted, but only Trisha stood alone staring at Damian with a mesmerized expression and rabbit-like eyes.

Though she seemed full of questions, they couldn't talk right away.

Soon after, Cecil and Luna jumped up and ran to Damian.

"Candy, blood!"

Damian checked his body. Blood was already spreading on his side and arm.

When absorbed in combat, excitement prevents pain even when injured. As tension released, the pain began flooding in.

Since it wasn't fatal, drinking a potion would suffice.

"It's fine, I won't die."

When he spoke as if it were nothing, Cecil was flustered.

"...What?"

Damian set aside his own body and checked Luna's condition.

"Luna, did you use too much mana?"

Luna shook her head.

"I'm... fine too."

Though she said that, her habitually neatly clasped hands were trembling.

When Damian quietly observed this, Luna hid her hands behind her back.

Given her tendency to not show her condition, there was a high chance she would cover up with lies even if she were struggling.

Just looking at her appearance showed Luna was tired.

Rain or snow, she always maintained the same style with neat hair falling straight to her waist and one side tucked behind her ear, but now stray hairs stuck out and the texture was disheveled.

Dewy sweat beaded on her forehead and neck, and she was still breathing somewhat heavily. Her complexion didn't look good either.

Since Damian's condition wasn't great either, they would be helpless if Sion launched a surprise attack in this situation.

They couldn't just be happy about hunting the dangerous zone's ruler. Rest had to wait until moving to a safe place.

"Let's just take some meat and move quickly."

Cecil cleared her throat several times and blocked Damian's path.

"Ahem, no, first... take off your clothes."

"...?"

Cecil took out a potion bottle from her pocket, waved it in front of him, and scolded.

"Are you sane? Never mind moving, shouldn't we treat you first?"

"Let's do it later."

"No."

The traces of penetrating wounds on his abdomen were as unwanted to show as his face.

The more people who knew about this, the higher the chance it would reach Silveryn's ears through some route.

This was exactly why he had been delaying treatment.

Trisha and Luna, and even Martha who had no personal friendship, quietly approached and blocked his path.

Seeing the female students blocking his way with snake-like eyes, Damian sighed.

Having no other choice, he undid his buttons. He exposed his upper body and sat on a rock.

"Let's hurry."

Everyone grew solemn seeing Damian's body up close. Even Cecil, who had seen it once before, trembled her eyelids examining it in detail.

Though the new injuries were quite large, they were nothing compared to the old scars connected across his abdomen and back.

The reason Damian could remain calm even facing the beast was because he had experienced hell incomparable to now. Those seeing the scars could sense this fact even without him speaking.

As everyone froze in place, Damian urged them, "Aren't you going to treat me? It's getting cold."

Trisha's expression was the worst. She had the most miserable face in the world because she knew what had caused Damian's old scars.

Trisha grabbed Damian's clothes and said, "I'll wash the clothes..."

She quickly fled toward the waterfall before her emotions burst.

Cecil began the potion application work in earnest. Luna reached for Damian's wooden sword.

"Can I borrow this?"

Damian quickly pulled back the wooden sword.

"This is dangerous to touch without mana."

"Ah, okay..."

Luna conversed with the wolf spirit beside her, and suddenly the wolf grabbed her skirt with its mouth and pulled while growling.

After roughly tearing off the hem like that, it used the cloth pieces as a substitute bandage on Damian's arm.

Luna's hands trembled as she tied the ribbon. It was unclear whether from contact with a man's body or from exhaustion.

"..."

Damian felt bad seeing her bright clothes ruined.

And he decided he should treat Luna to a meal after practice ended.

The treatment finished quickly.

Damian drew his wooden sword again and moved toward the corpse of the “wingless dragon”.

"Candy, where are you going?"

"Need to get meat."

Cecil shook her head as if unable to stop him.

"Really one of a kind."

He approached the beast's corpse.

Though it required gruesome work, there was something he had to take.

The heart.

Primitive tribes rooted in the circulatory system had one thing in common.

Heart meat was always for those needing lots of nutrients and energy, like pregnant women and warriors.

They believed circulatory system energy was concentrated in the heart.

Damian unhesitatingly cut open the beast's chest flesh. Then, he stabbed his knife into the still-warm heart.

Fortunately, since the beast's body was turned away from his companions, the gruesome work of processing the heart meat wasn't visible. Since Luna had to eat the same thing, he needed to hide scenes that might upset her as much as possible.

While separating the heart meat, something hard caught his knife tip.

At first, he thought he had hit bone, but continuing to work he felt something strange and split open the heart wide to check.

There was a fist-sized crystal in the heart's center. And nerve-like things were tangled on it like cobwebs.

It was like there was another heart inside the heart.

"This is..."

Damian, with long experience handling gems, sensed this was no ordinary item and quietly pocketed the crystal.

After finishing processing, he washed his hands and sword in the waterfall and rejoined his companions.

Everyone had finished preparing to leave and was waiting for Damian.

Their eyes sparkled looking at him. Having gone through a crisis together, they seemed to have formed something like camaraderie.

Unfortunately, Damian had no interest in those who weren't helpful.

"Let's go."

They hurried on their way again.