For Sale. Fallen Lady. Never Used.

“First, shall I give a simple explanation?”

“…What?”

I tilted my head at Iona’s first words upon arriving at the training hall.

Iona… was going to give an explanation?

I wasn’t the only one surprised; Carla and Elisha, who had been watching Iona’s class, also widened their eyes and began whispering.

“My goodness… it’s a theory class, Elisha! A theory class!”

“Yes. And it’s a theory class from Professor Iona… How difficult is she planning to make it?”

It was loud enough for me to hear, so naturally, Iona could hear it, too.

Iona pointed at them with her loose sleeve and shouted.

“Hey! Didn’t we have theory classes in the classroom last time?! Why can’t you remember that? Yandel, Yandel, do you also think it’s strange for Professor Iona to start with theory?”

“Well…”

“That’s so unfair! So unfair! You need to know the principles and methods first before we start sparring… If we start sparring right away, it’s just bullying!”

“Oh, so it’s bullying, after all.”

I roughly understood. She’d explain the theory, and when she thinks I have a good understanding, we’ll soon start sparring?

If you don’t like it, strengthen your body—roughly that kind of feeling. I understand now.

Nodding with a somewhat relieved heart, Iona saw my expression and sighed deeply.

“Hoo… Anyway, anyway. It’s okay if I start the explanation again, right, Yandel?”

“Oh. Yes.”

“Good, good. So where should I start…? Right! You know how to use basic body enhancement magic, right?”

“Of course. Usually, we use potions that last longer, but we also know how to use magic.”

Strength and Haste.

These were the alpha and omega of body enhancement magic.

There were more difficult and complex, yet more effective spells, however, they were essentially applications of Strength and Haste.

“Then you should roughly understand! Enhancing the body with magic is far inferior to aura or holy arts!”

“Structurally, it can’t be helped.”

Aura activates and strengthens the body itself. Holy arts feel like wearing a powered suit that assists every movement.

But Strength and Haste are different.

Strength is a magic spell that not only supports the inside and outside of the body but also allows the brain to surpass its subconscious limits.

Haste is a magic spell that sharpens the nerves to enable agile reactions.

Both were magic spells that temporarily surpass limits. In other words, they were magic that moderately strained the body.

That’s why I collapsed as soon as the buff effect ended last time.

Excessive use could melt muscles and grind bones. No matter how many buffs you’d receive, you’d be overworking your body too much…

On the other hand, aura enhances the body’s basic performance itself, raising the limit, and holy arts result in better outcomes relative to the effort put in.

Therefore, unless you overexert yourself using aura, there is no backlash.

Enhancement through holy arts does not have any backlash at all, regardless of what you do. However, the enhancement limit is set according to the priest’s level.

Healing arts are somewhat similar.

Magic artificially activates, aura strengthens regeneration itself, and holy arts restore the body to its original state.

Because of this, healing magic is accompanied by tremendous pain, and if overused, tumors could develop.

Aura could also shorten one’s lifespan if forced recovery is attempted, but otherwise, it has no major side effects.

Recovery through holy arts has no side effects at all. As a bonus, it could expel foreign substances from the wound.

That’s why magicians usually drink potions or receive healing from priests.

Potions are refined several times through alchemy to minimize side effects, and as long as you have money, you can obtain healing effects beyond your capabilities.

The same goes for buffs.

Support magic can’t match the basic efficiency or side effect management of holy power, so if a priest is available, receiving buffs from them is the standard.

“But! But! I basically fought alone! So it was hard to get a priest’s support!”

“You have vampire regeneration and potions.”

“Using regeneration to recover from fatigue and casting another spell could kill more cultists. Besides, back then, space magic wasn’t as developed as it is now, so individuals couldn’t carry subspace pockets around.”

Indeed. The distribution and performance improvement of spatial artifacts happened after summoning magic was banned.

Before summoners were no longer in demand, subspace pockets must have been extremely rare.

No matter how skilled Iona was, it would have been much more efficient to use it for military supply rather than giving it to an individual.

…But saying she’d rather kill one more enemy using regeneration—is that for real?

It was scarier because she said it so nonchalantly.

“Anyway, anyway! This is why I developed the Iona-style enhancement magic! Yandel, who fights similarly to me, could definitely make good use of it!”

“Oh…!”

“The method is simple! You just imbue strength into your blood and spread that strength throughout your body!”

“Are you using blood vessels instead of mana circuits?”

“No? No? That’s dangerous! You dissolve the magic created by mana circuits into your blood!”

“???”

As I blinked blankly, Iona grabbed my hand.

Then she pulled it straight to her chest.

Molkang.¹

Feeling the heavy softness in my palm, I instinctively tried to squeeze it.

With a sly smile, Iona quickly adjusted the position of my hand.

“Oops! Oops! This isn’t it!”

“Tsk.”

Unfortunately, my hand landed on her upper chest, where there wasn’t much to squeeze.

Feeling her cool body temperature through the thin clothes, I opened my mouth.

“So? What is this all of a sudden, Professor?”

“From now on! From now on! I’ll let you experience it directly! With your current skills, Yandel, you should be able to get a rough idea!”

“I feel like that’s impossible no matter what…”

Thump.

A slow heartbeat resonated from my palm.

I don’t know what she did, but suddenly, I could feel Iona’s blood circulating through her veins from her heart.

“I’ve dissolved magic into my blood. How is it? Can you feel it?”

“Yes. It’s fascinating.”

Seeing me nod, Iona continued her explanation.

“The basic image is simple. In this state, magic becomes strength, and that strength blends into the entire body along with the blood!”

“Hmm… I think I get it.”

“Right? Right? The difficult part comes next, so stay focused, okay? Let’s see…”

Iona started writing something in the air with one hand. Following her fingertip, light extended and turned the air into a large blackboard.

Unrecognizable shapes, equations, and incredibly long annotations appeared.

The only thing I could recognize was the simple anatomical diagram. I saw a lot of those in my previous life…

After writing for a long time, Iona finished with a light dot.

With a twirl of her finger, everything that had been written in reverse, according to Iona’s perspective, turned readable.

Of course, understanding it just because I could read it was a different matter.

“First of all, memorize while listening!”

“Yes…”

Thanks to my excellent memory trait, I already memorized it, but if I said so, sparring would start immediately.

I nodded obediently, and Iona continued her explanation.

“Since it’s magic that operates within the body, unconscious protection will activate! So don’t worry too much, and it’s okay to fail! The problem is when you succeed!”

“When I succeed?”

“Yes, yes. If you succeed even clumsily, from that moment on, your blood will become fuel to move your body. Even if you just breathe, a minimum amount of blood will be consumed, and using great strength will cause even more blood to evaporate.”

“…That sounds extremely dangerous.”

“That’s right. It is indeed dangerous. If Yandel tries to use more strength than he can handle, he might collapse right away! In that case, the cause would be excessive bleeding without any wounds.”

Iona laughed as if she had told a funny joke. But since I didn’t laugh, she quickly reverted to a serious expression.

“Of course, once Yandel becomes proficient, there won’t be any danger. So, until you master it completely, never practice it alone. Only train when Professor Iona is around. Okay? Can you promise me that?”

“Of course. It’s for my safety, so I’ll keep that in mind.”

Once I succeeded, it would be registered in the system and receive corrections, so there was no need to worry.

“By the way, Professor, how is this magic different from other enhancement spells?”

“Oh! Oh! I haven’t told you that part yet! I mentioned it earlier, right? The blood becomes the fuel.”

“Yes.”

“Blood is the essence of life itself. So, it can enhance the body in a way similar to aura. Since it’s blood magic, its effects are several times better than other enhancement spells! Moreover, like how Blood Shift allows the caster to take on the damage meant for others, Yandel’s blood will take the backlash that Yandel should receive! This can even apply to ordinary injuries!”

“That would consume a lot of blood, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s why, unless you’re someone like Yandel now, only vampires can use this technique. Oh, and the name is Blood Force.”

“Huh…”

Just attaching “Blood” to any blood magic doesn’t make it legit.

Although I sighed at Iona’s catastrophic naming sense, it was true that it was much more efficient than conventional enhancement spells.

In addition to mimicking aura with magic, it seemed that you could absorb shocks by consuming blood in emergencies.

But the problem, as always, was regeneration. It’s impossible with mediocre regeneration.

The blessing of the Sun God enhances my regeneration the most. But it only grants a regeneration bonus while the sun is up.

So, even if I learned it, I could only use it during the day… No, as long as there’s blood, it should work, right?

Maybe I could ask Faye later to create a potion that focuses on blood recovery… like a blood tonic, so I could use it at night too?

While I was contemplating various alternatives, Iona suddenly leaned in close.

“Huh? Huh? You’ve been staring into space! Have you memorized it all already?”

“Ah.”

“You memorized faster than I thought! Eyy!”

She pushed me away lightly and swung her arm. Then, a red light emerged from Iona’s body.

The familiar glow of Blood Shift intertwined with Iona’s body.

This meant the sparring was about to begin.

“I’ll attack with the intensity that Yandel can counter if he succeeds in enhancing his body with Blood Force!”

“Wait, wait a minute! At least give me time to cast the spell! I need to chant, right?”

“Did you know, Yandel?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I feel like I don’t want to know.”

“Blood magic uses both mana and life force simultaneously. That’s why it’s so efficient.”

“That… makes sense?”

“Since you already know how to use mana, you just need to learn how to use life force, and it’ll be quick!”

“Ahhh! You don’t need to say any more!”

Covering my ears in dread and shaking my head like a child, I couldn’t stop Iona from speaking.

“And the best way to awaken life force is to experience a life-threatening situation!”

“I knew it!”

As I tried to recite an impromptu spell while widening the distance, Iona was slightly faster.

“It’s okay! It’s okay! You won’t die because I cast Blood Shift on you!”

Whoosh.

The distance closed in an instant, and Iona’s leg whipped like a lash.

As the crude image and mana heated my body, Iona’s foot hit my temple.

Whack!

With a sharp pain, my vision spun.

Lying on the ground, the sky I looked up at was dazzlingly blue.

It was the second day of summer vacation.

1. Translator's Note: "Molkang" is an onomatopoeic expression for something soft and squishy. ️

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