Ta-Da! Super Regeneration
It was truly a shame, but I didn't get the money. Both Gloria and Chronos said they had no cash on hand. Because of that, they kept emphasizing they would pay me later and that they would never break their promise. They seemed worried I might spread their secret. Since I didn't want to lose such excellent sponsors, I pretended to understand and let it slide. They would probably give it to me on the day of autonomous training.
"Luna, do you know how Sivar spends his money?"
"He probably doesn't. He's never bought anything by himself before."
"Hmm... Then please hold onto the money for him, Luna. It's unlikely to happen inside the academy, but someone might try to take advantage of Sivar. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
Instead of giving the money directly to me, they decided to route it through Luna. I wanted to complain, but Gloria's reasoning was completely sound. Throwing a fit here would only make me look like a spoiled child. Of course, if Luna ever embezzled it or stopped me from buying what I wanted, I would put my foot down. After all, that was my money.
"Then we'll be going. When do you two plan to come see me?"
"The academy has autonomous training every Wednesday, so we'll visit then. We'll make sure it doesn't look suspicious."
"··· ···"
At the words make sure it doesn't look suspicious, Luna's face gradually turned red. She must have remembered the kiss the two of them had shared earlier. If she reacted like that already, it was going to be a problem. From now on, even if they didn't go as far as kissing, I would have to watch all sorts of lovey-dovey behavior in real time.
"······Goodbye. We'll take our leave now."
"Take care. And keep the secret, no matter what."
"We'll be counting on you from now on."
After exchanging farewells in very different styles, Luna and I left the forest. Just before stepping out, I turned my head toward where Gloria and Chronos were standing.
Rustle.
The moment I looked back, they smoothly unlinked their arms. Their expressions suggested nothing had happened. Once we were gone, they would probably have a quick spar before moving on to more intimate conversation. Not that I had any intention of watching.
In the game, it naturally switched to the training ground.
Besides, class would be starting soon. The diligent Luna would never skip.
"Sivar."
"?"
When we had almost left the forest, Luna called my name. I looked at her with a puzzled face. She looked like she had a lot to say—so much that she didn't know where to begin. That made sense. A lot had happened in a short time. I could understand.
"You asked those two for money earlier, right? It's a good thing they're kind, but you can't do that with other people. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"And it's fine to buy candy with the money they give you. Just don't spend it recklessly. Understand?"
That much was easy. It seemed she was worried my sense of money might take a strange turn. I had thought she would follow Lord's instructions to the letter, but apparently she wasn't that rigid.
"Yeah."
"And······"
Luna, who had been about to say something else, stopped. She stared straight at my face. Normally she looked people in the eyes, but right now her gaze was strange. It was lower than my eyes. At the same time, her pale cheeks slowly flushed. Her skin was so white that even the slightest blush stood out.
Eventually she kept glancing up and down before stuttering out a warning.
"Y-you can't just copy what those two did earlier. Especially not with girls. Got it?"
"Ah."
So that's what she was talking about. She really was pure in that regard. I nodded to show I understood and asked.
"Kiss?"
"Y-yeah. Th-that..."
"Peck?"
"··· ···"
My blunt wording made Luna's face burn bright red. She really had zero immunity to this kind of thing.
*****
After discovering Gloria and Chronos's secret relationship, we headed straight to the training ground. Last week the afternoon had been filled with autonomous training because of the sparring matches, but classes would resume today. The lessons mostly consisted of professors sharing various tips and know-how. Magic was included as well.
"A little late, aren't you?"
"······We had something to take care of."
Luna and I arrived right on the edge of the start time. Kara was already changed and waiting for us. Most afternoon classes involved practice, so whether you changed clothes like Kara or not didn't really matter. Many students had changed, but quite a few still wore their uniforms.
That woman really stands out.
Someone like Grace, for example. She was a mage, but I knew she insisted on wearing her uniform from beginning to end. Her personality was full of pride; she probably thought clothes only hid her true self. Honestly, no matter what she wore on that face, she would still radiate elegance.
"It looks like everyone's here. Then I'll begin the class."
An elegant appearance that leaned toward Eastern features. A beauty mark beneath her left eye. One of the people I had met when I first arrived at the academy—Yeonhwa—clapped her hands and started the lesson.
"What we'll learn today is basic first aid. You will experience various real battles in the future, and with them comes a high chance of sustaining many injuries."
Yeonhwa, a professor from the Hwan Empire, was skilled in combat, but her true specialty was medicine. One might ask why a medical specialist was teaching combat courses instead of staying in a non-combat role. The answer was simple. It was like teaching CPR and other emergency procedures in the military. If you thought of her as a medic officer, it made sense. Never doubt her skill.
"There are many types of injuries. Bleeding, bruises, fractures, frostbite, electrocution, poisoning, and so on. Among these, the injury you all need to be most wary of is bleeding. I assume everyone knows what bleeding is?"
"There are people who wouldn't bleed even if you stabbed them, though?"
Someone cracked a joke. When I turned my head, Antonio was chuckling. The students either smirked or let out small laughs. Even Yeonhwa seemed to find it amusing and gave a soft laugh. By the way, that joke wasn't aimed at me. It was most likely directed at another professor—Sara. The one who had been with Yeonhwa before. Sara's cold and icy personality made such jokes inevitable.
It's a joke that only works because she's not here.
If Sara, who never took jokes as jokes, had heard it, she would have dragged him off with a curt you, spar with me and humiliated him in front of everyone. Two weeks ago when I wasn't around, Antonio had probably suffered exactly that. At least, that's what I remembered.
"I don't know who it was, but I'll let it slide with a laugh. Anyway, while some bleeding stops naturally if left alone, beyond a certain point it won't. In those cases, surgery is usually required for a full recovery."
The human body is both strong and fragile. Sometimes people survive mortal wounds, and other times they die from the smallest injuries. Bleeding was the same. There were many situations that caused it, and it could never be ignored. The memory of being bitten by a wolf and bleeding right after I first fell into the forest was still vivid.
I'm fine now, though.
Fortunately, the current me regenerated injuries almost instantly, so first aid was practically meaningless. Even on the verge of death, splashing a potion on me brought me back like a cockroach. Growing new teeth was just a bonus.
Therefore, what I wanted was to learn how to give first aid to others. The problem was that my Red Mana was extremely violent. I had no idea what side effects it might cause, so I couldn't even attempt it. First I needed to understand exactly what Red Mana was.
"However, surgery is impossible during combat. In other words, you must learn how to stop bleeding on your own. Even if that moment is in the middle of battle."
"Does that mean we have to use mana?"
A student raised her hand and asked. It was Grace. Yeonhwa nodded at the question.
"Of course. In urgent situations you won't even have time to use a potion, so you must rely on mana."
"Hmm. I don't quite understand. Doesn't using mana consume a lot of stamina? Wouldn't that just create a vicious cycle?"
Grace crossed her arms and countered, sounding genuinely puzzled. Despite her appearance and tone, she was asking out of real curiosity. Yeonhwa was the type of person who focused on the meaning behind a student's question rather than their attitude.
She explained in a kind voice.
"You're right. It might feel like a vicious cycle. But if you leave the bleeding untreated, you'll lose too much blood and suffer various aftereffects. The most common one is dizziness. What comes after dizziness?"
"Um······ I don't know."
"Death."
"··· ···"
At the word death, Grace flinched in surprise. The other students did the same. In the suddenly quiet atmosphere, Yeonhwa smiled and continued.
"People can live without mana. But without blood in their bodies, they die. It's a simple principle."
In the game, when bleeding occurred, the rate at which health drained increased dramatically. First aid could help counter that. Of course, that would mean mana would drain away like crazy instead. Using mana always led to severe stamina depletion. More precisely, it should be called stamina rather than health. The game had probably lumped it under health due to system limitations. As Yeonhwa said, being exhausted was far better than dying from blood loss.
It was about choosing the lesser evil to increase your chances of survival.
"The most dangerous situation is when an artery is severed. In those cases, swift first aid is essential. Otherwise you'll lose consciousness in ten seconds and become a cold corpse."
She explained with a smile, yet the content was utterly brutal. Still, every word was valuable knowledge. I had once nearly died when Porori bit my throat. If I hadn't clamped down on the wound, I really would have died. If there was one thing I was wary of, it was attacks to vital points. No matter how tough I was, if my head flew off, I was dead.
"Today we'll practice pressing on blood vessels with mana. Would you all look here?"
Yeonhwa rolled up her sleeve and showed her slender arm to the students. Though it looked delicate, you could sense considerable strength in it.
"Mana flows along the blood vessels. So if you concentrate mana on a specific spot······"
Thump.
A small bump rose in the center of Yeonhwa's arm. It looked more like it was protruding than rising. She had pressed down on one of the blood vessels with mana, making the vein stand out. Normally that would require using the other hand.
"Did you see? This is the self-hemostasis technique you'll be learning today. It's not hard to learn, but applying it is difficult, so please practice steadily."
Self-hemostasis was relatively easy to learn. However, bleeding didn't only happen on the arms. That was why application was difficult. You had to identify the bleeding area and stop it with mana.
"Ah, just in case—please don't think about making yourself bleed on purpose. Your bodies are precious, you know?"
With those words, practice began. The goal was to make veins pop out on your arm just as Yeonhwa had done.
"Is this how you do it?"
"I'm not sure. I can't quite get the feel."
"What exactly am I supposed to do?"
But once they actually started practicing, everyone looked lost. It was their first time, so that was natural. Once you got the hang of it, hemostasis was fairly easy. The hardest was electrocution.
If I master first aid, will I get Regeneration?
Regeneration was an ability I had raised to nearly the highest rank. It could only be obtained after completely mastering all the first aid techniques Yeonhwa was teaching. I had gained it literally to survive. Fighting Porori or hunting meant collecting all kinds of injury sets. Each time I had fought desperately, preserving my stamina at all costs even if it drained my mana. The result was what I had now.
That's why I sat there doing nothing.
"Ugh······ Kara, sis."
"Yeah?"
"Aren't you going to practice?"
"I already know all of this?"
Kara, who had far more real combat experience than the other students, had mastered first aid long ago. I believed Hector had taught her that as well. If there was one area where there was still much to learn from him, it was combat.
"Sivar, aren't you participating?"
When I was sitting still and staring blankly, Yeonhwa approached me. It seemed strange to her that I wasn't doing anything, even if Kara was exempt. I remained seated and simply looked up at her. Dressed in Eastern-style clothing, she gave off an air of mystery.
"Yeah. Not doing it."
Aside from that, there was no need for me to do it anyway.
"Hmm? Ah, that's right—you can speak now, can't you?"
Yeonhwa was startled for a moment at my answer, but she soon nodded in understanding. News about me was regularly reported to Godin, and Godin in turn informed the professors. Since Godin always explained things objectively, he was trustworthy.
"Why aren't you doing it? If you're not diligent, the professor has the discretion to deduct points."
"Um... Professor?"
"Yes?"
When Yeonhwa was issuing her warning, Luna called out to her. Luna looked quite troubled. She glanced at me once, then turned her gaze back to Yeonhwa and spoke.
"Sivar doesn't need to learn first aid separately. His basic regenerative ability is extremely strong."
"What do you mean? Strong regenerative ability?"
Yeonhwa asked in a rather dumbfounded voice. It was understandable that she would find it hard to believe. Luna also looked unsure how to explain it. Putting it into words would require revealing complicated circumstances. She might have to talk about the situations where I had suffered major injuries, and Yeonhwa might grow suspicious.
So I reached out and tapped Yeonhwa's body. She looked at me again.
Swoosh.
First I showed her my hand. My hand, covered in small scars and thick calluses. Yeonhwa tilted her head in confusion when I showed it to her.
If I couldn't explain with words, I would show her with actions. I slowly brought my hand—no, my wrist—to my mouth.
Crunch!
I bit down hard near the wrist.
Crack!
Like a beast, I tore off a chunk of flesh.
"Wh-what, what are you—! What the hell are you doing!!"
Blood gushed from my wrist like a broken faucet. Yeonhwa stared in horror. The students who had been focused on practice turned at the sound of her scream.
"Wh-what the hell? Why is he doing that?"
"D-doctor. Shouldn't we call a doctor and a priest?"
They saw the blood pouring out like a waterfall and reacted with the same shock as Yeonhwa. Meanwhile, Yeonhwa reached out in a panic to administer first aid.
Grab.
"What are you doing?! Let go of your wrist right now!"
But my other hand moved faster to cover the wound. Yeonhwa furiously tried to pull it away, but her strength was nowhere near enough to overpower me. Last time it had taken three people to barely restrain me. I decided this was enough and slowly removed my hand from the wrist. My palm was already drenched in blood.
"What on earth······ Huh?"
Yeonhwa, who had checked the state of my wrist, made a blank face. It was only natural. The wound on my wrist had healed completely. It wasn't that I hadn't been injured—both my wrist and the hand that had covered it were covered in blood. But in that short time, it had regenerated cleanly. This level of injury didn't even count as damage to me.
With everyone staring, I raised both hands and said with an expressionless face.
"Ta-da."
"What do you mean, ta-da! You nearly gave everyone a heart attack!"
Kara immediately scolded me.
"And you didn't have to go that far! You could've just scratched it with your fingernail!"
"Ah."
So there was that method. I really was an idiot. While I was sighing at my belated realization, Kara pointed at the blood-soaked floor and said.
"You're cleaning all of this up today. If you don't, you're in trouble with me. Got it?"
"··· ···"
"Answer me."
"Yeah."
How do you clean blood properly? I have no idea.