Bear School Astartes

”More noble, more akin to the essence of the higher beings’ blood! And what can be derived from this discovery!”

”A new Caryll Rune! A new Arcane!”

”We are so close, Gremman! Just a little more, and we can elevate humanity to join the ranks of the higher beings! We cannot miss this opportunity!”

As Lawrence spoke further, his tone became not more intense, but rather calm.

Yet that calmness did not mean he was not persistent; on the contrary... it meant he had made up his mind, with no possibility of wavering.

By now, these words were decisions, not discussions.

Suddenly, Lawrence looked at the Old Hunter sitting on the bench below the podium and smiled slightly.

”You never thought of telling your student the truth, did you?”

Gremman slightly raised his head, the shadow cast by the brim of his hat receded, revealing his thin face covered with a mess of stubble, and his slightly curled lips.

”Maria will understand... she will...”

”After all, as you said, we are indeed just one step away.”

”And I’ve kept things from her multiple times already, one more won’t matter.”

Lawrence instinctively frowned.

’Multiple times’? What does that mean?

Lawrence always felt that his old friend’s words today were strange.

Because as far as he knew, the mentor-student relationship between Gremman and Maria was very good; Maria respected and admired Gremman.

This First Hunter also devoted wholeheartedly to caring for and teaching that Blood Noble from Cainhurst, free from nostalgia and exaggeration, without all sorts of annoying faults.

Lawrence even vaguely sensed that, when Gremman looked at Maria, there was a deeply hidden, intense, almost obsessive emotion.

Now, he said he had kept things from Maria multiple times?

What exactly...

But before he could think deeply, a wave of pain surged through all of Lawrence’s body.

It made his whole body tense, and he had to bow his head to breathe deeply to not cry out in pain.

When he raised his head again, he saw the now-aged First Hunter, somewhat hobbling out of the Great Cathedral.

He was indeed old, and as the founder of this profession of hunters, he had sustained many serious injuries.

One leg was missing from the calf down, now replaced by a wooden prosthetic.

Lawrence did not further watch the slightly hobbling steps and back of the Old Hunter, nor did he think further about the Old Hunter’s strange behavior today.

He merely covered the upper part of his face and looked up behind him.

Behind the podium, where regular religious settings would place a statue of a god, the Healing Church worshipped no specific deity.

The stone carving there depicted a headless female angel, holding a jug pouring downwards, as if to use divine liquid to aid the world.

Lawrence felt as if his brain was about to rage with heat.

He knew exactly how it appeared under his palm, flames roiling in his pupils, as if not blood, but lava flowed in the veins of his forehead.

This was a physical mutation due to delving too deeply into the studies of Caryll Runes, Arcane, and the beast plague.

Some knowledge.

Some profound and exotic knowledge, yet filled with great wisdom, by merely studying and understanding could cause reactions in oneself.

Lawrence knew his condition well, but he could not say or show it.

If even the archbishop of the Healing Church seemed on the verge of not maintaining a human form, then what would become of this church?

The beast plague has nothing to do with [Blood Healing]! It’s unrelated to the Holy Blood!

Lawrence spoke firmly in his heart, uncertain if this was his true belief, or... if he was deceiving himself.

But he knew one thing clearly: he needed [Blood Healing]! Higher quality! More powerful [Blood Healing]!

As long as he had Holy Blood surpassing his current level of knowledge, he could use [Blood Healing] to elevate the ’position’ of his blood and body to align with this knowledge.

If the body and knowledge matched, there would be no issues; it could be endured!

By using [Blood Healing] to elevate the ’position’ of one’s blood, humanity could step by step reach the domain of the higher beings.

This was the foundational theory behind Lawrence’s lifelong research.

Therefore, whether for the evolution of humanity or to save his own body... he had to acquire the body of that Divine Child!

And the blood inside!

-----------------

Plague.

Lann walked through the streets of this era’s Yan City, under a hooded cloak in the sunlight.

Here truly showed the aspects of a plague-stricken scene.

Having seen many towns plagued during his journeys across the world, Lann was not unfamiliar with such sights.

The ’future’ Yan City, Athens during the Ancient Greek Era...

Contagious diseases, the enemy to large biological groups, have always played a terrifying role.

Even now with the great sunlight, there were only a few people on the main street, and even these few remained in a constant state of panic and caution.

Thanks to the generally somber and heavy aura of the Yan Nan people, Lann’s hooded cloak did not stand out here.

Many would wrap themselves up until only a line of their eyes showed, such attire was very normal.

And Lann’s physique was not particularly noticeable here.

”Thud, thud, thud.”

Heavy, steady footsteps came from the alley ahead, and with his head lowered, Lann stepped aside in advance to give way.

A giant figure, taller than he was by a head and nearly three meters tall, slowly emerged from the alley.

Although he was only a head taller than Lann, he was considerably bulkier in both girth and frame.

His whole body looked like that of a burly and overweight laborer.

His attire indeed resembled that of a laborer from an old movie.

The Victorian Era worker’s cotton vest paired with large and baggy overalls, which on him were soiled and dust-covered beyond recognition, taking on a gray or dark yellow hue.

The stains were so deep, they seemed almost glossy and dark.

The overalls were supposed to have two straps each on the shoulders, but one side’s strap had broken.

As a result, the entire pair of pants hung messily on him, held in place by a single, precarious strap.

The sleeves of the undershirt were rolled up to the elbows, exposing his grayish-white skin, resembling that of a corpse. The skin on his face was the same.

This was an idiotic giant with some Sumeru ancestry, usually serving in Yan’an as a servant, laborer, or guard.

Doing simple tasks that require strength rather than intellect.

”Th-Thank you.”

The mental deficiency of these little giants was somewhat akin to ’Tang Family disease,’ causing their speech to be stuttered and muffled.

When passing by the accommodating Lann, he hesitated and stammeringly said thank you.

The Demon Hunter said nothing, merely nodded at him, the hood bobbing gently.

The idiotic giant continued to walk forward with heavy, deliberate steps.

But behind him, there was a lingering sound of ’hissing, dragging’ friction.

Lann stood still and watched as the idiotic giant dragged something that slowly passed in front of him.

It was several corpses placed on a broken door plank.

Judging by the clothing, they were all civilians from Yan City.

Some were wearing hats, while others were in just pajamas, each different.

But, without exception.

”The bodies are oddly emaciated, and... is that blood?”

After the idiotic giant dragged off at least seven or eight corpses, Lann glanced at his retreating figure, murmuring softly.

”Is this the gray blood disease?”

An unusual liquid seeped from the mouths and noses of the corpses, its texture reminding Lann of sesame paste freshly stirred.

Thick, lifeless.

If this was indeed the result of death by gray blood disease, then the name truly was fitting.

”This certainly isn’t the beastly ailment.”

Lann resumed his steps, mentally comparing the differences between beastly afflicted people and the corpses on the door plank with Mentos.

The biochemical brain retrieved two photographs at the corner of Lann’s retina, highlighting them with striking colors one by one.

Although beastly afflicted people also become emaciated during the onset, it’s mainly due to the elongation and deformity of their bodies.

However, the corpses of the gray blood patients were simply thin, without a drastic change in height.

Moreover, beastly ailment causes coarse, dense black beastly hair to grow all over the body.

The hair can even sprout from exposed bones.

Yet the gray blood patients seemed smooth-skinned and hairless, not only without hair growth, but Lann even suspected that their original hair had fallen out.

”What’s more vital is: the blood, sir.”

Mentos clarified in his mind.

The Demon Hunter, having just stepped on and snapped a wild grass by the roadside, flared his nostrils wordlessly in agreement.

The blood of the beastly afflicted was pungently foul-smelling, as if refined and polluted human blood had turned into a substance akin to crude oil.

While the aforementioned gray blood did not carry such acridness.

At this point, Lann preliminarily determined gray blood disease and beastly ailment were not the same disease.

Earlier, he had his doubts about it.

For instance, he knew that in the ’future’ Yan’an, its horror was due to numerous Ancient Gods using Yan’an as a battleground.

They all longed to birth a divine child but didn’t wish for other Ancient Gods to succeed either.

Thus, they attacked and hindered each other while looking for opportunities to execute their plans, creating a situation both terrifying and chaotic.

The beastly ailment was a curse, and a curse might manifest in different forms.

This was Lann’s professional opinion as a Demon Hunter.

However, upon field investigation, he initially overturned his original hypothesis.

Lann walked into the alley from which the idiotic giant had just emerged.

The lighting here was poor, the layers of towering Gothic architecture mercilessly blocked the light.

It’s imaginable the residents here were not wealthy.

On the alley’s side, with a Yan’an-style, there were many sculpted tombstones, wrapped with chains as if fearing theft.

Lann walked calmly into the shadow, noticing the trail left by the idiotic giant’s dragging.

It left a lot of gray blood.

This demeanor made the once Ancient Greece-era controller of pandemics, Lann, furrow his brow.

He lifted the cloak’s hem and squatted down, his fingers seeming as if to touch the gray blood left on the ground.

But just as he was about to touch it...

”How strange.” The Demon Hunter remained still, only his hooded head turned towards the deepest part of the alley. ”We’re merely seven or eight meters apart, yet I only noticed your presence when you had a mental fluctuation.”