AThousandCurses

Expedition to Isekai

Shun sat way apart from Ayana. The regret was now settling inside Shun. Dive bombing her classmate wasn't the best idea, and while it was fun, it only caused severe injuries. The only thing she got out of it was the destructive force of the attack and giving Ayana a third personality. Speaking of Ayana, Shun was concerned for her well-being. Perhaps she wasn't qualified, but Shun found relief in seeing Ayane care for Ayana. It was preferable that way.

Aside from that behind, everyone was talking about plans. Shun looked at Masato, and suffice to say, he seemed rather displeased about the implication of Hiroshi's words.

Shun looked away as Masato proposed his idea. Something like a safety plan, rendezvous point, and more. It was nice that Masato took charge, so Shun took slight comfort in that. However, she should still contribute as well. "...What if we try hunting them? The monsters." It was an abrupt idea, but Shun thought it was good to say it out loud. While they didn't know how many monsters were inside this otherworld, hunting the few would make the area around them safer.

"Wouldn't it be a good idea to clear potential threats?" The unawakened would be left back at the base. The only ones who could fight were Rin, Asahi, Masato, Ayana, Duncan, and herself. Ayana was injured, and Asahi's ability wasn't effective in combat. That left them with four awakened. Shun was self-assured that she could at least take down one monster by herself. They needed materials from the monsters to fight more efficiently against them, and monster meat may taste good. Shun was slightly curious about the latter.

"I also think it'd be good to have more than one person on night watch." Having her arm sliced by a razor-sharp tail wasn't the most ideal experience. If someone smarter had been there with her to fight against the monsters, then everybody would have escaped with their lives intact. The brief thought on Endo and Higasa passed her mind, but she remained firm.

Iris Ascendis

It was getting noisy, much to Chunji's displeasure. For a place of silence, it was slowly becoming an area of entertainment. Maybe, he should have left Chloe alone, so that he could have the library all to himself. Closing the book, Chunji packed them up. It was about time anyways. He came and he acquired. He'd study later at the dorms if need be.

As he walked passed Emelie, he stopped. There was one more thing, he wanted to ask. Turning to face the Librarin-in-Charge, he was briefly distracted by her antics. "Ms. Emelie, if I may inquire, how did you become librarian?" He hadn't asked before because he had wanted to acquire knowledge before anything else. Now that he had acquired it, a mindless inquiry left his mouth.

A percuilar circumstance, that had happened twice. Once with Gulliver and this time with Emelie. Did Iris Ascsendis have a habit of shoving their responsibilities onto students? If so, there was nothing wrong with it. The Academy had its own way of operating, even if Chunji had disagreed with it on a certain level.

Iris Ascendis

Chunji was entranced by the book. His eyes absorbing every text that came across its sight. Alchemy was a definite way to solve his weakness in healing. Rather than use the internal essences, using external essences allowed him to heal people without any drawback. That was idealistic, but Chunji was willing to ignore it for the time being. Aside from the cons being the acquisition of rarer materials, which would cost money, Chunji felt stumpt on how to experiment with said potions.

The idea allowing unknown foreign substances sounded rather unappealing. Healing magic, from before, was an entirely different case. When using magic, he had enough knowledge to know what essences were being used in it. Alchemy on the other hand? It required multiple test trials and may prove harmful if something went wrong. There were recipes for potions, but Chunji wanted to delve into the more advance practices when he had enough knowledge.

It was something to note, "Potions..." He would need to inquire about a possible workshop or lab within the Academy. After that, he would need to acquire an alchemy set, find a few ingredients, a willing subject, and he'd be good to go. The library had no end to knowledge, so progess shouldn't stagnate.

"An important composition is necessary. If one of the essences overpower the other, or there were an excess of variety, then the potion's effects may be diminished." Was there a greenhouse at the Academy? Perhaps he could receive some botanical ingredients from there. There were so many things to do and plenty of time to survey the academy as well.

Then an idea came into his mind. "Spirits." That's right, he could summon a spirit. Yi bloodline was heavily involved with spirits, proclaiming they were descendents of the Snake God. If he summoned one, then maybe it would bequeath him with some knowledge in alchemy. The problem was that, like demons, spirits often asked for something in return. Another problem was if he was allowed to summon a spirit within the academy. Chunji took more notes as he decided his next course of action.

Iris Ascendis

How to get your roommate request denied speedrun.

Iris Ascendis

Short post.

@Nanaya

Since Chunji arrived to his room at one point, he'd probably seen who he was paired up with. Is there anyone you were going to assign?

Iris Ascendis

Chunji stared silently and nodded at Emelie. Emelie's concern had unnecessarily caused her to spill out her character. That was fine. It allowed him to understand his peers better. However, there was a problem with this. She is projecting an entirely different scenario onto him. While he knew his understanding of societal norms was lacking, he didn't understand how Emelie attributed his practice to self-harm. Did he say something that sent her off? Regardless, Emelie seemed to understand the situation far better than he and backed off. This was good; they were strangers and should be kept that way.

His gaze lingered back to the pile of knowledge in front of him. Cleaning off the scalpel from his blood, Chunji decided it was time to return to studying. Unfortunately, he would have to find a different place to learn healing, though it wasn't like coming to the library would be fruitless.

Alchemical remedies. Unlike the practice of healing, alchemy operates on a different level. While it was considered a branch of magic, alchemy involved physical objects imbued with essence to be mixed and create a potion. Or, that's at least how he understood it. There was a lot more than potion that alchemy had to do. He'd need an alchemical set and a few ingredients, but that could wait until.

A new branch of medicine would be open to him. Opening the tome, Chunji studied the contents within. First, familiarize him with the fundamentals. It was essential to understand how the processes work before engaging with the practicals.

Iris Ascendis

Before he could make another incision, "My apologies; due to the lack of occupants around the area, I assumed this place would be fitting for practice." Emelie seemed so absorbed in her video-watching that Chunji assumed she wouldn't have noticed. Unfortunately, she did. Chunji didn't feel guilty for his actions, seeing that the one in pain was himself.

"You are correct on the former. This is my first time casting Heal." Looking at his hand, he was quite impressed by it. Usually, when he practiced new spells, his hand would become disabled or be inflicted with more lacerations. Heal was an impressive spell. "Though you are wrong about the latter. I've been practicing the arts of healing for at most eight years." It wasn't his first, nor would it be his last time healing this way.

His eyes narrowed at Emelie's statement, and Chunji looked genuinely perplexed. "Why? Aren't animals and humans both living beings? Is there any difference between performing healing on an animal in comparison to a human?" Biologically, they were different, yes. However, animals could feel pain as a human would. Since they could not consent, Chunji felt it was unfair to subjugate them to his healing arts. "Additionally, I have consented to the practice of my healing arts. This is more efficient since I can practice the magic art wherever, and have fewer problems from outside parties." The thought of dealing with someone other than the patient felt incredibly time-consuming.

Chunji listened and nodded at Emelie's commentary. "I am aware of the flaws of my spell." His eyes lingered back to the spellbook. "I thought I could use the motive of 'self-love' to fuel the spell. Having compassion for oneself is the same as compassion for another." He saw no real difference in that instance. "Though it seems misjudged the parameters. Regardless, this is an improvement compared to my experiences with other spells."

There was something that Emelie had struck Chunji earlier in the conversation. "Aren't all interactions transactional to begin with?" Closing the book, he looked at Emelie without turning his head. To someone else, it looked like he was glaring at her. "People talk to one another. In exchange for their time, they are given entertainment in idle conversation. People gather and adventure together. In exchange for split resources, they earn companionship and protection in numbers. Even now..."

He turned to look at Emelie. "In exchange for your concern for me, you try to trade with it a sense of relief, comfort that I will stop. I am grateful for your concern, but you're overstepping the boundaries between strangers." With a straight face, Chunji presented his side as if it were a presentable argument in a court of law. There was a pause before Chunji gave up on more examples in his thinking. "Heroes are no different. They slay beasts and save the world. In return, they are given praise and recognition. A reward of a sound mind knowing that they positively impacted the world."

Iris Ascendis

"Compassion. Regret. Desperation." The three key values involved the spell 'heal.' Chunji could already tell what the problems were even before casting the spell itself. Compassion and Regret were words that Chunji did not resonate with. It was honesty that made clear that the word 'compassion' was not a word to describe Chunji. Logically, efficiently, and cold. There is nothing warm about him that could be labeled as 'compassion.' Regret was something he was unfamiliar with, either. He gave it his all in his training, his procedures, his everything. There was not a time that he regretted failure.

Desperation.

That word was the only thing that made sense to Chunji. He had seen it in the eyes of his parents. Their desire to free themselves from the poor lives and live in more comfort. He had felt it. The eyes of his parents made him train him to his limit. There were times when he wanted to cry but held it in to press onward. Those tears were never seen again. Even back at the auditorium, he felt desperation at his stolen seat. Chunji still resented the shadow witch for taking the seat. He was not a good person by definition.

Still, it did not deter him. Failure was inevitable, but how to overcome it was important. Taking out a scalpel from his pouch, Chunji proceeded to slit the palm of his hand. A perfect incision, a habitual repetition that Chunji couldn't even feel the pain of it. Blood began dripping out of the new wound. Chunji dug his thumb into it, festering it in the process.

"Heal." Compassion for himself. That at the end of the tunnel, there was a reward of light. Regret about failure. Even if it was shallow, there was still a negative pool that dragged him down. Desperation for everything. The desire for glory, the desire for family, the desire to find the answer.

A sharp pain crunched his hand. It was nothing that he had ever felt before. Compassion was self-pity. He was only in it for himself. Selfish, arrogant, and idiotic. Regret was melancholy. Laziness, ineptitude, and disconnect. The only thing that went right was desperation. Desperation. Desperation. Desperation.

His flesh regrew, his bones realigned themselves, and the feel of touch reassembled. It was the 'perfect' heal. Perfect in the way that it cared nothing about the process but only for the end goal.

When Chunji looked down at his hand, it was perfectly normal. It was also insufficient. The amount of pain he went through could send someone into shock if they were heavily injured. He needed to readjust the parameters. The practice was made perfect, and this healing spell would be the same.

Grabbing his scalpel, he went through the same process again. He would do it as many times as possible until he got the spell correct.

Iris Ascendis

So, the most advanced arts were located somewhere else? How disappointing. There wasn't anything Chunji could do about that, so he'd needed to find a way to access those tomes later in the year. For now, the provided books would suffice. "Thank you," Chunji bowed in gratitude. It wouldn't hurt to revise the foundations of his magic. Not to mention, the 'Heal' spell would be beneficial to learn. It was good to have a spell that was consistent, if anything else. Learning the spell shouldn't take too much time since it was a lot less complex than the Yi's healing spells.

Alchemy was also a study that Chunji was interested in. He had dabbled in it a few times before, but there were a variety of problems. The first was the equipment. There was only so much that could be done with the bare minimum, and refining was even harder. The second was the lack of materials. While there were a few herbs and wildflowers, there wasn't much that Chunji could utilize. The third was the lack of information. His parents weren't experts in that regard, so the little that Chunji did was self-taught.

Everything else was something he would read throughout his days at the academy. Putting the books away and the sticky note, he looked back at Emelie. "I understand as much. I'll have to inquire about the requirements to access them from a teacher or Principal Raja." To achieve his goals, gaining access to the tower was essential to his family's goal. Not only would he gain a fountain of knowledge but a reputation as well.

With that said and done, it was now time to move on. Since there wasn't much going on for the later course of the day, Chunji would have liked to spend it studying the books he had received. Tomorrow, he'd go to the library again and search for more books once the library had been properly organized.

"I'll leave you to your..." Chunji looked at the screen projecting Adapa. "Light reading." With that, he turned and headed to the nearest table to study to settle down. Bringing out the Heal book, he began to promptly read intensively into it.

Iris Ascendis

To think that the demon leg girl, now known as Emilie, was the librarian. How was she a librarian and an applicant at the same time? Was there some sort of application process that he wasn't aware of? What would have happened if she had failed the orientation? Would she still be the librarian? This academy had grown to become more and more confusing by the second, but nonetheless, he was here for a reason. If she was the librarian, then there were no more questions to ask.

"Chunji." That was sufficient for an introduction. A glance at the screen told everything that he needed to know what Emilie was doing. Watching a battle royale in an environment that was meant to be quiet was quite contrary to expectations. Deciding he need not comment on her peculiar taste in interests, Chunji blinked at the girl's flirtations.

He looked her up.

He looked her down.

Then he looked her straight in the eye. "I'm here to check out books regarding healing techniques, along with textbooks that are helpful for coursework. Both magical and medical. In addition, I want to request a detailed explanation of the organization of the library. This is so that I may find the books myself if you're occupied with something else." It was up to Emilie to think that he was talking about the video she was watching, but he really meant that she was busy helping someone else.

He considered asking her about occult textbooks but decided against it. If she got a wind that he knew about her leg, it would be akin to a boiling pot of water being poured all over his body. In other words, it is troublesome. There was also a problem with Wingram Academy's social standards. There were some places in the world where the occult was scrutinized for associating themselves with otherworldly beings and demons. With Vaalin Union being one of the more critical of Umbralism, he wouldn't be surprised if they scrutinized the occult as well.