Academy’s Genius Swordmaster - Chapter 20

20. Blood and Eggs (3)

#20

Ronan’s eyes widened after witnessing a strange phenomenon. The blood that was still on the soil was slithering and moving somewhere.

“What is this again?”

It was like a blood vessel breaking through the skin. Looking closely, I could see numerous veins of blood crawling through the ground. Although grotesque, it was a curious sight.

Ronan walked along the bloody procession as if possessed. Thousands of veins were all crawling in one direction. Before long, what he was looking for caught his eye.

Standing still, Ronan swears.

“I’ll turn, really.”

All the blood was gathering into a dark red pool. The lineage that Ronan followed was the same.

Marfez’s egg was floating in the middle of the puddle.

The water level in the pool was getting lower and lower. Ronan, who grasped the situation, frowned. That monstrous egg was absorbing blood.

Asher, who followed Ronan, shouted.

“What is that?!”

“I don’t know man. ”

Ronan strode closer and picked up the egg. The blood that had pooled in the puddle began to bulge upwards. It was as if he was protesting to return the eggs.

“Isn’t that what you did?”

“It’s all natural.”

Ronan looked at Al with a shocked expression. It’s not enough mana, so now it’s blood?

What kind of creature influenced you to give birth to something like that?

– Took.

At that moment, the egg moved slightly. Ronan shouted as he nearly jumped up from his spot.

“Ooh it moved!”

“really?!”

“That’s right man! It’s time to wake up soon!”

Asher came running. As Ronan said, the egg was shaking little by little. The two excited boys clenched their fists.

– Tok. Knock knock.

“I’m not the only one hearing this, is it?”

“Yeah, I can hear you too…!”

A knocking sound came from inside the egg. As the intervals got shorter and shorter, it seemed certain that something was about to come out. Ronan knocked on an eggshell.

“Don’t tantalize me and come out and look at me, man, what kind of monster are you doing?”

Knock knock! The knock returned as if in reply. But even after waiting a few minutes, there was no progress. Asher, who was pondering something, opened his mouth.

“Could it be that I’m not getting enough nutrients?”

“hmm?”

“It’s still absorbing a lot of mana.”

It was visible in Asher’s eyes. Al was still gorging on the mana around him. It seemed that even his own mana would be taken away if he was careless.

“Even people need to eat to get energy. This egg might also need more blood or mana to break out of its shell.”

Ronan nodded. It was definitely a plausible statement. Ronan dipped the egg into the puddle again. The puddle quickly dried up.

“As expected, I am a wizard, so I have a good head. Then you will have to give me more blood.”

“right. I think it was before…”

Asher was about to say something. A slight vibration was felt at Ronan’s feet.

-Koo-gu-gu-gu…

Asher didn’t notice. Sensing an unusual energy, Ronan raised his head.

“what?”

“What’s wrong Ronan?”

“No…what sound do you hear?”

“okay? I didn’t hear…Anyways, there were dead animals in the clearing earlier. Go there once…eup!”

“Wait, Asher. It’s kind of strange.”

Ronan covered Asher’s mouth. The vibrations were getting closer. He opened his eyes and looked around. The sound of water was muddy and the sound of wind was sticky.

“That one?”

Then, in the distance, something red came into Ronan’s field of vision. It didn’t take long to realize the identity of it swaying above the tall bush.

“…Asher.”

“huh?”

“How would it feel to take a bath in blood?”

“Why are you asking such a thing all of a sudden?”

Asher blinked his big eyes. Ronan wordlessly extended his finger and pointed in the direction of the clearing. Now it was so close that Asher could see it.

– Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

A torrent of blood was approaching at high speed, crushing the brush.

“Kiaaaaaagh!”

Asher screamed like a girl startled by thunder. The dark red water was wriggling as if it had an ego. The blood of all the animals that had died in the clearing earlier was pouring in.

“This Invisible Hand!!”

Asher’s cane hit the floor urgently. The bodies of the two jumped into the air.

“Oooh…!”

Asher was disgusted. Because the egg was stealing mana in real time, the magic continued to become unstable. He focused desperately to maintain altitude.

– Kwa-kwa-kwa!

The swirling blood flow eventually formed a spiral shape and began gushing toward the egg. Asher saw that the mana flowing from the egg was pulling the blood.

– Tuk tuk tuk.

“This bastard isn’t crazy either.”

The egg was shaking more violently than ever. Ronan laughed in amazement. It was way too loud for something an unborn guy was doing.

“Okay, try it once.”

He stared at the egg in his hand and dropped it into the middle of his bloodstream. The egg made a fondant sound and disappeared into the blood. The shape of the spiral cone collapsed and absorption began.

“Nimi, did you really drink all of that?”

Ronan and Asher enjoyed the wonderful moment while floating in the air. The blood flow, which had been slowly changing, was now rotating under the boys’ feet in the shape of a giant sphere.

It took less than 5 minutes for the increasingly smaller sphere to disappear. After confirming that all the blood was gone, the two landed on the floor.

“Are you done?”

“I guess so.”

Even after drinking that much blood, there was no change in Al’s appearance. Ronan picked up an egg lying on the floor. A curse came out of his mouth.

“What is the plague?”

What Ronan picked up was an empty shell. A large hole appeared on the surface of the egg, as if something had gone through it. Shells that Schlieffen could not even scratch were scattered like fragments.

“Where did the kernel go?”

It was the moment when Ronan narrowed his eyes and turned his head.

right! An object that flew from somewhere hit Ronan in the back of the head.

“Fuck!”

Ronan sat down with the back of his head wrapped around him. It was like a punch to the brain. Asher, startled, came running holding a staff.

“Roronan…Are you okay?”

“no!!”

“What did you hit?”

Asher was in the middle of looking around. right! Something flew back and hit Asher’s head.

“Ah!”

Asher let out a scream. He rolled his eyes and fainted just like that. Standing up, Ronan drew his sword.

“Damn it! What a bastard…!”

Ronan cut off his words and instinctively turned his head. Wedge! Something so fast that you couldn’t see it brushed his cheek. It was incomparable to the arrows used by the poachers of Caribolo.

“shit.”

Blood flowed from the scratched spot. The composure disappeared from Ronan’s face. I felt like I could die if I really got hit.

– Shiiik!

Seeing the erratic presence, it looked like a creature, not a projectile. I couldn’t catch it just by looking at it.

“Really like a beggar… ha…”

Ronan sighed and concentrated. The field of vision narrowed and the time elongated. The unidentified creature was flying and tearing the sound. Ronan swung his arm.

widely! He grabbed something soft in his hand.

“You bastard! got it!”

Ronan, who fixed the knife in reverse, aimed at the object in his hand. It was the moment I was about to drop the knife.

“Payat!”

“Eh?”

Ronan’s eyes widened. A creature the size of an apple tilted its head in its grasp. It was a very different look from what I had imagined.

“Are you the one who came out here?”

“Did you get it?”

Ronan looked at the eggshell in his hand and at the unidentified animal. He instinctively realized that this beast had emerged from an egg.

It was because it looked so strange that it was impossible to believe that it was an animal that originally existed.

“…what did you eat like this?”

The feathers had grown, but the skeleton was not a bird’s. I think I’ve seen something similar somewhere, but I can’t remember. Then Asher woke up rubbing his hair.

“Uh…uh…what was that…?”

Asher’s head had a convex hump. Ronan said nothing and pushed the monster in his hand. Asher freaked out and backed away.

“D..Dragon?!”

“Kip!”

“Dragon?”

Only then did Ronan recall the image of a phantom species in his mind. Hatchling, the body of a dragon. I had never seen it myself, but it was very similar to what I saw in the picture book.

“Looking at it, I think it looks alike. The only resemblance to their parents is their feathers.”

Its four strong legs stood erect even though it was just born. The two pairs of drooping wings were unusually long compared to the body.

However, if there was a difference from hatchlings, it was that feathers grew where scales should have been. Except for the face. Its fluffy feathers, uniquely Marpez-like, were black as dark as night.

“But, first of all… should I play it as a dream?”

It made a purring sound when its neck was scratched. Ronan, who was touching the dream bird, murmured softly.

“…Your face looks smooth.”

It wiggled its vine-like tail and gazed into Ronan’s eyes. Ronan’s face shook in the eyes of a cat.

“But this isn’t it, you son of a bitch, you almost died.”

“Did you get it?”

Ronan turned his head to show the scar on his cheek. The Dream Bird, which had been quiet all along, suddenly started struggling. When Ronan relaxed his hand, a dream bird came up on Ronan’s shoulder.

“what? what to do?”

The dream bird was looking at Ronan’s wounds. Asher’s eyes widened as he watched. A small magic circle appeared in front of the dream bird’s eyes, and Ronan’s bleeding wounds began to heal.

“Ro Ronan! The wound is healed!”

“what?”

Ronan, who wiped his cheek, laughed. I couldn’t feel anything on my smooth cheeks. After confirming that the wound was gone, the dream bird rubbed its face against Ronan’s cheek.

“It kills me.”

“Your ears are cute… I think Ronan likes you.”

There was no other living potion. At that time, the dream bird’s wings slowly unfolded. As soon as the four wings reminiscent of a crow fully spread, nearby mana began to gather.

“uh…?”

It wasn’t just mana. The blood that was still around him rose into the air and seeped into the fluffy feathers. The blood stains on Asher and Ronan’s clothes gathered in one place and came out in the form of drops.

“What kind of magic is this, Asher?”

“I don’t know either…”

Asher shook his head from side to side. Not only mana, but also magic that uses blood as a medium. It was unheard of and unseen.

It was bizarre and, in some ways, even sinister. But that didn’t really matter. Ronan was quite fond of this strange creature.

Ronan held out his arm. The dream bird folded its wings and climbed into his palm.

Ronan said while facing the dream bird.

“Do you want to come with me?”

“Damn it!”

The dream bird cried briefly. It just seemed like an answer. Ronan swung his arms around as a test, but the dream bird, which grabbed his fingers with its claws, did not intend to move.

“Okay, then let’s agree.”

Ronan reached out and picked up the Dream Bird. It was quite cute to see her blinking her eyes without any resistance.

“I should give it a name. What’s good…”

Ronan struggled as he touched his chin. It was hard to hatch, but I didn’t want to build it roughly. Suddenly remembering the past, Ronan nodded and said.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

“Knack!”

Sheeta cried in response. It seemed like he understood what he was saying. It was the moment he reached out to stroke his hair once. Suddenly, Sheeta flew into the air.

“Aww!”

The traumatized Asher screamed and clutched his head. However, Sheeta did not aim for the boys’ heads.

– Wedge juice!

Sheeta, which had been shot out like a spring, disappeared among the trees in the distance. A few seconds later, along with the sound of a collision, a scream that seemed to stop breathing rang out.

“Quaaaaaagh!”

Ronan and Asher faced each other and ran in the direction of the sound.

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