Chapter 295: A Death Beyond Resurrection
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 295: A Death Beyond Resurrection
Several days passed in a blur.
During this time, whenever there was a Rune course I needed, I would pester Sister Bai to go with me. In terms of studying Runology, it was a process of mutual improvement.
Runology can be considered the cornerstone of transcendence. "Runes" are simply the names given to the components of a ritual after it has been deconstructed to drive transcendent power. They have many other names, but "Rune" is the term most widely circulated throughout the Void.
It’s safe to say that anyone studying transcendent arts at the academy will encounter Rune knowledge to some degree, yet few people go out of their way to master it.
For Sister Bai, Runes also represented the foundation for mastering Real Editing after becoming a Transcendent Witch.
While mastering Real Editing technology isn't a strict requirement for becoming a Transcendent Witch, most of them learn at least a bit of it. Those who can't perform Real Editing are usually those who feel they lack the talent or simply couldn't grasp it after trying, rather than those who chose to ignore it entirely.
In reality, most witches only have a superficial grasp of Real Editing. They can manage to create a Small Spellbook or barely scrape by copying a standard one, but anything higher is beyond them.
However, one must remember that this is the Witch Academy. There is a significant group of Transcendent Witches here who claim they can create Great Spellbooks, and every one of them is supremely confident in their technical skills.
Such Transcendent Witches often take on students, and the students they produce are naturally exceptional...
Sister Bai’s mentor seemed to be one of those. From what Sister Bai told me, her mentor rarely taught any actual courses, which suggested she was likely that type of specialist. Although Sister Bai was no longer being directly supervised, her connection with her mentor hadn't been severed; the mentor had simply adopted a more hands-off approach.
I spent the rest of my time in the laboratory with Senior Sister Betty, mooching off Witch Lola’s alchemy lessons. Even though I’d only been studying there for a few days, the knowledge I gained was no less than what I learned in the Rune classes I actually had to pay for.
I also gained a deeper understanding of alchemy. It is a wondrous field that uses any means necessary to achieve an end—whether those means are spells, refining rituals, or something else entirely. As long as it follows the philosophy of alchemy, it is alchemy. That is the essence of the alchemical art.
By this logic, spells are also a type of art—an art of utilizing transcendent energy. Alchemy naturally has its own methods for utilizing energy, known as energy synthesis. So, can the methods of energy alchemy be equated with spells?
Theoretically, yes, because a Grand Unified Theory exists in principle. However, this theory has yet to be fully realized, so in practice, they are distinct. Alchemy and spells are arts shaped by two different philosophies; their similarities are merely overlaps and collisions between different disciplines.
Such is the nature of learning. Especially when starting something new, questions abound. One often becomes confused while studying, eventually leading to a sense of aimlessness. This requires finding a distraction to shift that focus, or perhaps diving deeper until the purpose of the study becomes clear.
During these days, the Nightmare Incident finally exploded across the Witch Academy.
At first, people didn't take it seriously. They thought they were just having bad dreams or had been hit by a nightmare curse as a prank. After all, curse spells aren't exactly rare at the academy.
But the scale grew larger and larger, and a phenomenon of contagion appeared. Finally, people began to panic.
By now, many cases had appeared in the academy where students had fallen into a deep slumber, their consciousnesses dragged into a dreamscape.
The teachers were at their wits' end over the matter—at least, that was the image they projected to the public.
When news arrived from senior sisters outside the academy that many other Transcendent Academies were experiencing the same situation, the matter was finally given full attention. This meant the anomaly was no longer internal to the Witch Academy.
Even the Academy Dean made another appearance to "reassure" everyone. Knowing the inside story, I couldn't help but marvel at what fine actors the teachers were.
The Transcendent Witches employed by the academy naturally understood a great deal. Many of them realized this Nightmare Incident was a progression of the Script. After all, the scent of Luck was something a Transcendent Witch could detect easily if they put their mind to it.
However, very few witches knew that this entire affair was orchestrated by Dean Mei Lind.
After all, it involved a Great Spellbook, the schemes of the Fool's Dream race, and so on.
Speaking of the Great Spellbook, it was currently inside my body, though the Dean had sealed it to prevent other Transcendent Witches from sensing it.
According to the Dean, if I were a Transcendent Witch, others might not try to steal it from me. But since I wasn't one yet, they definitely would.
The Witch race has a very high degree of solidarity, and they are forbidden from killing one another. However, even though I was a "preparatory witch" on the verge of becoming a Transcendent Witch, I still wasn't technically a witch yet. They would steal it if they could.
Similarly, I hadn't yet given the Dean the [Unparsed Transcendent Knowledge] I had obtained from my talent awakening. According to the exchange contract for the trial mission, I was indeed supposed to provide her with a piece of [Transcendent Knowledge].
The piece I currently held was clearly the best choice. My current abilities weren't enough to protect a Great Spellbook, and I certainly couldn't protect [Transcendent Knowledge] if it were discovered.
Furthermore, the Dean had made an extra promise: when I truly possessed the capability to research [Transcendent Knowledge], if she hadn't yet turned it into a Great Spellbook, she would allow me to participate in its creation and share all her research data with me. Even if she succeeded before then, she would still give me the data, including the information on the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art.
Though it felt like I was being gifted my own wool, the research data for a Great Spellbook was still incredibly precious.
For now, in the absence of absolute strength, I had to comfort myself with that...
To a powerhouse who wasn't a research scholar, such data was worthless. Without [Transcendent Knowledge], there was no way to even replicate the same Great Spellbook.
But unfortunately for them, I wasn't a brute. I could see its value. Sometimes, the data is more precious than the finished product.
It was at this moment that the Dean finally contacted me again.
"Is it time... to start severing the Ley Line Shackles? I wonder what form it will take this time..." I shook my head at the message on my phone. The Dean still loved playing the Riddler.
She didn't reveal any more information, nor did she demand that I enter the dreamscape. It seemed she wanted me to let things take their natural course.
However, as the Class Monitor of Class 14, I felt I should visit the classmates who had been affected.
Just like now, as I handed the visiting gifts to the nurse senior sister on duty, I felt I had done my part.
If it weren't for the fact that Mingyun had been caught in the nightmare because her talent forced her to sleep, I wouldn't have felt a shred of sympathy for those who got hit while napping during the day, let alone visited them.
Mingyun’s talent was lethargy, which had manifested during her awakening. However, while she was lethargic, she could rapidly recover from negative states—fatigue, heavy injuries, poisoning, and so on.
If utilized well, it was a god-tier skill. But because it appeared right at the start, it robbed her of the chance to even work hard. For an ordinary person, resisting talent-level lethargy was far too difficult. It was like trying to force yourself to study at three or four in the morning after pulling an all-nighter; the information just wouldn't go in.
The lethargy effect had actually become a massive obstacle to her mastering her own talent.
Just as I turned to leave, I bumped into someone at the door.
"Yang Yuehan? What are you doing here?"
"Um... I should be asking you that, Lucianne." I looked at the girl before me. It was Lucianne. Thinking back to when she was Lucien Politt of the Wizard Academy, she was a completely different person now.
She had adapted so quickly... and even made friends. I was almost envious.
"I'm here to see my friend. Is that reason enough? As for you, you're the Class Monitor of Class 14 in name only. Something happens to your class, and you wait until today to show up with this sanctimonious visit..."
"I suggest you don't take that tone with me. I don't owe you anything, nor do I owe anyone in this class anything. Don't project your unrelated emotions onto others; it makes you look like a clown." I looked at Lucianne with a smile.
Compared to a genius like Tan Han, who was a true Child of Destiny, I felt that if this Script had to have a protagonist, Lucianne was the one who most resembled a puppet that Luck could manipulate at will.
"You..." Lucianne took a few deep breaths and calmed down. Perhaps my words had actually hit home.
"Fine. Are you done? If you're done, you can leave."
"Yeah, I'm leaving." I nodded and waved at her as I brushed past.
I respected her friendship with Mingyun, but I found her inexplicable hostility strange. It wasn't as if I had been too cruel to her during the exchange competition. Did she just find me unpleasant during the Witch Secret Realm?
If she was unhappy, that was a problem with her own ability. If she blamed that on others, it just meant she was a petty person.
Then there was her bizarre habit of worrying about others, which I had experienced back in the Fool's Village Secret Realm.
Another possibility was that because I possessed Luck at the time, she felt an extra sense of targeting toward me that she couldn't explain. But now that I had transferred my Luck, she didn't bother me as much. That theory, or rather guess, seemed to hold water.
But in the end, why should I live as the "Class Monitor" others expected me to be?
I should find an opportunity to resign from the position. Come to think of it, I’d forgotten why I even became the monitor. I think Teacher Ji Niang appointed me. Looking at it now, the role was... complicated, to say the least.
If I had fought against it back then and refused to be the monitor, would things have turned out the same?
If I hadn't been the monitor, there would have been no Freshman Competition, and I wouldn't have been forced into the Exchange Competition...
There would have been no stage to show myself, and I wouldn't have the resources I possess now.
Of course, there would have been far fewer troubles, and life would have been as plain as water. I wouldn't have had any interaction with my ex-girlfriend, and she certainly wouldn't have recognized me...
All in all, it was a trade-off.
But my own value was still worth affirming. At the very least, as long as Teacher Ji Niang valued me, my development wouldn't have been too bad.
Just as I was about to check how far the major incident at the Witch Academy had escalated, a call came directly to my phone.
"Sister Bai?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise but answered anyway.
"Hello~ Sister Bai? Why are you calling at this hour?"
"Xiao Han, have you seen the latest news on the academy network? Where are you? Whatever you do, don't go near the people who have fallen into the dreamscape! I'm coming to find you."
"Did something happen?" Hearing Sister Bai’s panicked voice, I felt a prickle of unease. When was the last time she had called me with such urgency? I couldn't even remember.
"It happened... the first case of death by consciousness entrapment in a dream has appeared at the Holy Angel Academy! Don't investigate this, just get away! Didn't you say you were going to visit your classmate who fell into the dream? Don't go! Be good, Xiao Han, leave that place as fast as you can!"
On the other end of the line, Bai Yu’s voice was practically a roar. Her urgency practically leaked through the screen.
I didn't dare delay. I turned and left the infirmary without looking back, my mind racing with what Sister Bai had just said. Death!
I was so preoccupied that I forgot whatever else Sister Bai had hurriedly told me.
"Hello... Xiao Han? Xiao Han, are you still there?"
"Huh? Yes, Sister Bai. Is there anything else?" I said quickly.
"Xiao Han, have you left?"
"Yes, I've left. Thanks for the warning, Sister Bai."
"Good. Listen to me, Xiao Han, it's best if you don't get involved in this. I heard that some teachers from the Witch Academy have already gone to investigate that death. We don't know the specifics yet, but they're supposedly testing if resurrection spells can bring them back. The chances are slim, though. You know every academy has its own resurrection methods; there's no need to specifically seek out the Witch Academy, and they wouldn't normally let our witches over there. So, Xiao Han, please don't do anything foolish."
"I understand." I nodded. I was naturally very cautious about the concept of death. After learning about deaths that even resurrection spells couldn't fix, and the nature of life essence, I had no intention of pushing the boundaries of mortality.
As for why they specifically sought out the Witch Academy, it was likely because of the Soul Truth Witch. They probably thought the Witch Academy possessed resurrection spells that worked on a soul level...
After chatting with Sister Bai for a few more moments, I hung up.
I was still deeply confused. The Dean had told me personally that the nightmares couldn't kill anyone, and that those affected were merely being taught a lesson. It shouldn't have resulted in actual death.
Death is a grave topic at any time. I had the fleeting feeling that the Dean had lied to me, but I didn't think my status as someone she "valued" was enough to confront her and demand to know why.
Besides, I had no obligation to ask on behalf of others.
The best course of action was to wait and see. I couldn't forget that the Dean had promised to help me escape the Script, but so far, I hadn't escaped anything.
I had only shed my Luck. Without Luck, I was indeed nothing more than a literal piece of cannon fodder in the Script.
But the timing of this was far too coincidental. It was hard not to suspect that this was another one of the Dean's calculations.
Just a short while ago, the Dean told me we could begin severing the Ley Line Shackles. Then, I went to visit the affected classmates, and immediately received Sister Bai’s warning.
Clearly, once this news spread, the nature of the situation within the academy would change completely. This was death!
No one is unafraid of death.
Now... we were likely entering a period of universal panic.
Was this the burden of knowing too much? Many things couldn't be made public. It seemed like I could do a lot, yet I was still forced to just watch.
As I was lost in thought, I bumped into another figure head-on.
"Sorry, sorry..." I apologized as I looked up, only to meet a pair of smiling eyes. "De... Dean?"
"Come," Mei Lind said softly. "Walk with me. I imagine you have many questions."