Chapter 45

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any money. It turns out both Gloria and Kronos are broke as a joke.

Maybe that’s why they insisted they’d pay me later, emphasizing they wouldn’t go back on their word. They were probably worried I’d spill the beans.

I pretended to understand since I didn’t want to lose such excellent sponsors. I guess they’ll give me the money on the day of autonomous training.

“Luna, do you know how Sivar spends money?”

“I have no idea. He’s never bought anything for himself.”

“Hmm… Then please take care of the money, Luna. It might not happen here in the academy, but there might be people who’d want to take advantage of Sivar. You understand what I’m saying, right?”

“Yep.”

However, they decided not to give the money to me directly but to hand it over through Luna.

I wanted to protest, but Gloria had a point. Sticking to my guns here would just be childish.

Of course, I’d have to throw a fit if Luna tries to embezzle or won’t let me buy what I want. After all, it’s my money.

“Well, we’ll be on our way. When do you two plan on visiting me?”

“The academy has autonomous training every Wednesday, so I think we’ll drop by then. I’ll make sure we blend in to avoid suspicion.”

“··· ···”

As soon as they mentioned blending in, Luna’s face started turning a shade of red. I guess the kiss they shared earlier came to her mind.

If she’s blushing this early, that’ll be a problem. I’ll have to witness everything from tiny flirtations to full-on make-out sessions in real time.

“······Goodbye. We’re leaving now.”

“Take care. Keep the secret, no matter what.”

“Thank you for your cooperation in advance.”

After bidding farewell in our different styles, Luna and I left the forest.

Just before stepping out, I turned my head toward the direction where Gloria and Kronos were.

Shh-

As soon as I glanced back, I saw them uncross their arms which had been linked affectionately. They wore expressions that seemed to ask what had happened.

They’d probably engage in a little sparring followed by some private conversation once we left. Of course, I had no intention of sticking around to watch.

‘In the game, it naturally turned into a training hall.’

Besides, classes are about to start soon. Luna, being the diligent student she is, wouldn’t skip class.

“Sivar.”

“Yeah?”

Just as we were almost out of the forest, Luna called my name. I looked at her with a puzzled expression.

Her face looked like it had a hundred things to say. It was the kind of expression that screamed, “I don’t know where to begin!”

Well, considering all that happened in such a short span, it made sense. I could understand her distress.

“Remember when I asked those two for money? It’s a good thing they were nice, but you should never do that with other people. Got it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And it’s fine to buy candy with the money they give you. But don’t splurge too much. Understand?”

That much was easy. I could see she was worried my economic sense would go off the rails.

I thought she’d blindly follow Rod’s orders, but it seems like she’s not that rigid.

“Right.”

“And…”

Just as she was about to say something else, Luna suddenly stopped and stared at my face.

Usually, people look into each other’s eyes, but her gaze seemed oddly directed lower.

At the same time, her pale cheeks were slowly turning a shade of crimson. Her skin was so fair that even the slightest blush was noticeable.

Eventually, she kept glancing up and down before stammering out a warning.

“Uh, um, what those two did earlier—don’t just copy it at random. Especially not with girls. Got it?”

“Ah.”

I wondered what she was getting at, and then it clicked. She really is innocent in this aspect.

I nodded, pretending to understand, and asked, “A kiss?”

“Uh, yeah. That… that thing…”

“A peck?”

“··· ···”

At my bluntness, Luna’s face flushed even deeper.

She’s totally clueless about such stuff.

*****

After returning from my little adventure of snooping on Gloria and Kronos’s secret romance, I headed straight to the training hall.

Last week, we had a spar, so the afternoon was filled with autonomous training, but starting today, classes were back on.

To put it simply, classes here involve professors dishing out various tips. Including lessons on magic.

“Running a bit late, huh?”

“Uh… I had something to do.”

Luna and I barely made it to class on time. Kara was already done getting ready and was waiting for us.

Afternoon classes mostly revolve around practice, so whether Kara had changed or not was irrelevant.

That said, many students came in changing clothes, but there were quite a few who stuck to their uniforms.

‘That girl is really noticeable, isn’t she?’

Like Grace, for example. Being a magician, she insists on keeping her school uniform on from start to finish.

She seems to have a strong sense of pride, claiming clothes only hide who you really are. Honestly, regardless of what she wears, she’ll exude elegance.

“Looks like everybody is here. Let’s get this lesson underway.”

With a refined appearance leaning toward the Eastern aesthetic and a beauty mark below her left eye.

Yunhwa, one of the notable people I met when I first arrived at the academy, clapped her hands to start the lesson.

“Today’s lesson is all about first aid. You’re all going to face various real-life situations and, as a result, you’re likely to sustain numerous injuries along the way.”

Yunhwa, a professor from the Hwan Empire, specializes not just in martial arts but also in medicine.

You might wonder why someone specialized in medicine would teach a combat position. But this is quite reasonable.

It’s like how military personnel teach CPR and various first-aid techniques.

In terms of military branches, she’d be akin to a medical officer. Never doubt her skills.

“There are many types of injuries. Bleeding, contusions, fractures, frostbite, electrocution, poisoning, and so on. Of these, the injury you must focus on is bleeding. I take it no one here needs a definition of bleeding, right?”

“I’ve seen some people who wouldn’t bleed even if they got stabbed, though?”

Someone jokingly tossed that line out. I turned to see Antonio chuckling.

The class let out a few chuckles or snickers at the quip. Even Yunhwa seemed to think it was a good one and laughed lightly.

For reference, that wasn’t aimed at me but was likely a jab at another professor, namely Sara, who was with Yunhwa before.

Sara’s naturally cold and aloof demeanor lends itself to remarks like that.

‘That joke wouldn’t work if Sara was present.’

If she caught wind of it, she’d drag them off saying something like, “You want to spar?” and proceed to humiliate them in front of everyone.

While I couldn’t witness it two weeks ago, Antonio must have faced that humiliation himself. That’s what my memory serves, anyway.

“I don’t know who it was, but I’ll just laugh it off. That said, while some bleeding can stop by itself, there comes a point where it won’t. In those cases, surgery is necessary for proper healing.”

The human body is remarkably resilient and frail at the same time. Sometimes you can survive life-threatening injuries, yet die from the smallest scratch.

Bleeding is no different. Various situations can lead to it, and it should never be dismissed.

I still vividly remember falling into the forest getting bitten by a wolf and bleeding out.

‘Now it’s no biggie, though.’

Luckily, my current self can recover from injuries in a snap, so the need for first aid is almost pointless.

Even on the brink of death, a potion would bring me back to life in a manner akin to a cockroach. My broken teeth would regrow as a bonus!

Thus, what I seek is the first aid I can provide to others. The catch is that my Red Magic tends to be quite volatile.

Who knows what side effects it might have? I can’t even perform first aid! First, I need to understand what Red Magic entails.

“But in combat, surgery is a no-go. In other words, you need to learn how to stop bleeding by yourselves, even in the heat of battle.”

“Do we need to utilize magic for that?”

A student raised their hand to ask. It was Grace.

Yunhwa nodded in response to Grace’s question.

“Absolutely. In dire situations, there won’t be time to use even potions, so you must utilize magic.”

“Hmm. I don’t quite get it. Using magic consumes stamina, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t that just lead to a vicious cycle?”

Grace crossed her arms skeptically, somewhat indicating she thought it didn’t compute, but really, she was earnest in her question.

And Yunhwa, rather than focusing on Grace’s demeanor, concentrated on the essence of the inquiry, addressing her with a gentle voice.

“That’s a valid point, student. It may seem like a vicious cycle. However, if you leave bleeding untreated, you’ll end up short on blood, which will lead to various aftereffects. Dizziness, for instance. What comes after dizziness?”

“Um… I’m not sure.”

“You die.”

“··· ···”

The revelation that one could die made Grace flinch, her eyes wide with surprise. The other students reacted similarly.

Yunhwa cheerfully revealed a morbid fact in the now-quiet room, her smile undeterred.

“Humans can live without magic. But without blood, you die. Simple as that.”

In the game, blood loss increased the rate at which health decreased. With proper first aid, you could prevent that.

Of course, if that happens, your magic would deplete at an alarming rate. Using magic will inevitably lead to extreme exhaustion.

Well, it’s more about stamina than pure health when you consider it. In the game, they likely had to boil it down to health due to system limitations.

As Yunhwa said, dying from a lack of blood is far worse than the rate at which you tire out.

It’s about choosing the lesser of two evils to increase your chances of survival.

“Especially, what’s most dangerous is when you’re cut at an artery. In such cases, prompt first aid is critical. Otherwise, you could lose consciousness within 10 seconds and become a cold corpse.”

While she delivered that with a smile, she still dropped deadly serious information. But each detail was beneficial to hear.

I once almost died after being bitten in the neck by Porori. Honestly, if I hadn’t blocked my neck, I would have been a goner.

I’m always on guard against lethal hits. No matter what, I’d die if I lose my head.

“Today, we’re going to practice using magic to apply pressure to blood vessels. Let’s take a look here.”

Yunhwa rolled up her sleeve and showed her slender arm to the students. She looked delicate at first but you could sense undeniable strength within.

“As you can see, magic often flows through the blood vessels. So, if you concentrate magic on a specific area…”

Tap-

A little something popped up at the center of Yunhwa’s arm. It wasn’t so much “popped” as it was “bulged out.”

She concentrated magic on one of her blood vessels, causing it to swell. Normally, you’d need another hand to even achieve that.

“See? This is what you’ll learn today: self-hemostasis. It’s not hard to learn, but applying it can be tricky, so practice regularly.”

Self-hemostasis is generally easy to learn. However, bleeding doesn’t always happen in the arms.

The difficulty comes from the need to check where the bleeding occurs and then apply magic to that area.

“Ah. Just in case, I should mention that you shouldn’t think about spilling blood from your own body. Your body is precious, you know?”

With that said, practice began. Just like Yunhwa had demonstrated, we needed to make our veins bulge.

“Is it supposed to go like this?”

“Maybe? I’m not quite getting it.”

“What exactly are we supposed to do?”

But once we began the practice, it was clear everyone was struggling. Naturally, it’s expected for a first-time lesson.

As long as you could grasp the feel of it, self-hemostasis would usually be easier. The most challenging part is applying to stop bleeding caused by electrocution.

‘If I master first aid, I get regeneration, right?’

It’s an ability I’ve maxed out almost to its peak, regeneration. I can only acquire it after comprehensively learning all the first aid techniques Yunhwa teaches.

I literally earned it to ‘stay alive.’ Battling Porori or while hunting, I was bound to pick up various injuries.

Time and again, I fought for my life, trying to preserve as much stamina as possible despite exhausting my magic.

That’s the result I’m facing now. So, I chose to just sit there and do nothing.

“Ugh… Kara, do you not want to give it a shot?”

“Huh?”

“Are you not participating?”

“I already know all this stuff.”

Kara, who presumably had a ton of practical experience, had clearly mastered first aid ages ago.

I thought she likely learned all this from Hector. When it comes to fighting, there’s always something to learn.

“Sivar, are you not participating?”

While I just sat around blankly, Yunhwa came up to me.

While it was fine that Kara wasn’t joining, my lack of involvement seemed to put her off.

All I did was look up to meet her gaze. She was wearing an Eastern-style outfit that lent her an air of mystery.

“Me? No.”

That aside, I didn’t need to. I was just—

“Huh? Oh, you do talk?”

Yunhwa was momentarily taken aback by my response but eventually nodded in understanding.

News about me often gets relayed to Godin, and he’d notify the professors about my situation.

Godin is one of those people who always explains with objective reasoning, so he’s reliable.

“Why not? If you aren’t diligent, the professor could dock points at their discretion.”

“Um… Professor?”

“Yes?”

While Yunhwa was giving me a warning, Luna called her name. She looked pretty troubled.

Then she glanced at me before refocusing her gaze on Yunhwa and spoke up.

“Sivar doesn’t need to learn first aid separately. His regenerative abilities are incredibly strong.”

“What do you mean? Incredibly strong regenerative abilities?”

Yunhwa asked in disbelief. It was something that would make no sense to her.

Luna looked lost about how to explain it. Describing it would involve delving into some complicated circumstances.

I might have to explain the situations where I sustained major injuries, and Yunhwa might develop suspicion.

So, I decided to poke Yunhwa gently on her shoulder. That made her glance back at me.

Swipe-

First, I showed her my hands, riddled with scars and calluses.

Once she glanced at my hands, Yunhwa’s head tilted in confusion.

If I couldn’t explain with words, I’d show her directly with actions.

I slowly brought my hand—specifically, my wrist—up to my mouth.

Crunch!

Then I bit down hard on my wrist.

**SQUELCH!**

Like a beast, I savagely tore the flesh from my arm, ripping strips of it off.

“Wha, wha, what are you doing?! What in the world is this?!!”

Blood rushed like a fountain from my wrist. Yunhwa gasped in shock at the sight.

The students, deep in their own practice, turned at the sound of Yunhwa’s dramatic reaction.

“Wh-what the heck? What’s wrong with him?”

“Shouldn’t we call a doctor or a priest?”

Seeing blood gushing from my wrist, they too started panicking.

Meanwhile, Yunhwa looked horrified while reaching out to administer first aid.

Thump-

“What are you doing?! Let go of your hand!”

But quicker than her hand reached my wrist, I had already covered the bleeding with my other hand. Yunhwa’s face scrunched up in fury as she tried to pry it away.

Of course, she’d never be strong enough to overpower me. Remember last time when three people had to hold me down just to stop me?

I figured I was good now and slowly lifted the hand covering my wrist. My palm was already caked in blood.

“What the…?!”

As Yunhwa checked my wrist, her expression changed to one of complete bewilderment. It was no wonder: the wound had completely healed.

I wasn’t unscathed, obviously. My wrist and covering hand were both soaked in blood.

But in that brief moment, it restored itself. This level of injury was barely even a concern for me.

With everyone’s eyes on me, I raised both my hands and said blankly, “Ta-da!”

“What do you mean ‘ta-da’?! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

Kara blasted me right away.

“And there was no need to go that far! You could’ve just scratched it with your nail!”

“Ah.”

I didn’t even consider that method. How dense can I be?

While I was embarrassedly realizing that, Kara pointed to the blood-soaked floor.

“You’re cleaning this all up. If you don’t, I’m gonna get mad. Got it?”

“······”

“Answer me.”

“Yeah.”

How do I even clean up blood properly? This is quite the dilemma!

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