AThousandCurses

Expedition to Isekai

It didn't come to her surprise that some rejected her idea. It was risky as Asahi said, which Shun could not deny. There were others like Maki who seemed on board with the idea, maybe too on board as she seemed rather intent on taking vengeance. Shun would need to keep an eye on Maki before she did something rash. The only reason why she threw the idea out in the first place to see how receptive would people be on the idea. She'd like to half and half, but they didn't stay too long on the subject to give it further thought.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to decide who'll stay up." Shun said casually. "I had last night's watch, so I'm a little tuckered out." The implications left things pretty clear. While there would be more people than just her on watch, Shun still needed to recharge her motivation. The faint guilt was still heavy on her heart.

"Oh that sounds fun," A smile graced her face, the thought of being launched into the air by a crude mechancism sounded entertaining. "If there is a civilization, are you sure it's a good idea to seek them out? They might not even be human, nor would they be friendly." Shun had read enough fantasy manga to tell her about racial tensions between races. If the equivalent of an 'elf' was here, Shun couldn't find her herself imagining that they would find themselves happy to see them.

The minute that Ayana, or rather Oros, spoke up was when Shun clammed up. She was saying some weird stuff again, but it was enough to freak everyone out. Describing a classmate's future death was morbid, but Shun couldn't bring herself to refute Ayana. What if this was a manifestion of her ability? If so, not only did it made her mentally insane, but granted her future sight. The rock in her pocket felt a lot more heavier for some odd reason.

Iris Ascendis

So it was all determined by Principal Raja's preference? How vexing. It would also mean Gulliver was personally handpicked by Principal Raja, seeing that she was the one with the authority to do so. Chunji could guess why Principal Raja would be interested in Emelie. His peer's demonic leg would make a good case study, so perhaps Principal Raja was interested in demons? An odd choice of interest that Chunji didn't want to involve himself in.

"I will take note of that." It was about time to leave. There was no need to prevent the librarian from doing her duties; he had no purpose in the library. However, as he left, Chunji couldn't help but feel upset. If Chunji could label it as such, Nepotism seemed to run in the blood of the academy. It shouldn't surprise him, but Chunji felt that this gave the students unequal opportunities, with himself lacking.

When he reached the dorm room, he spotted Rio sleeping on his head. Setting aside his belongings on his side of the room, Chunji loomed over his roommate. His eyes observed the young man's body. Rio seemed to have more or less recovered. It was a little shame that he couldn't study the effects of Ethos Rebound, but it wasn't Chunji couldn't live without. On the other hand, maybe he could convince Rio to drink a potion. Chunji would be looking forward to it.

After everything thing had been done, Chunji lay on his bed and immediately fell half asleep. It was a habit installed to him when he was younger, and it was a habit he would have to maintain in the future.

Iris Ascendis

I can probably get a post out tomorrow, but you can skip out on me if necessary. I don't think I'll add anything too important before the scene shift.

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."