Judgment

A judgment was underway in the passage between the treatment room and the public rest room.

The other Healers looked at the slightly shorter [222], their eyes behind their Raven Masks filled with complicated emotions.

None of them questioned the charge that [176] had "stolen a Spell Formula." They even found it entirely reasonable.

A healing Spell Formula was not merely a set of procedures; it was also a method of learning a Miracle.

Unlike Combat Arcanists, Healing Arcanists and Creation Arcanists did not need PVP, so they could reduce the difficulty of a Miracle by extending its casting time. Combat Arcanists could not—enemies would simply blow them apart while they were chanting.

Thus, Healing Arcanists and Creation Arcanists broke Miracles down into countless steps. A sequence of such steps formed a Miracle.

Those steps were Spell Formulas.

Therefore, once one had learned the Spell Formulas, mastering the Miracle was only a matter of time.

Spell Formulas were naturally regarded as important intellectual property. A Spellcaster who created a new Spell Formula, no matter how narrow its application or how impossible it was to commercialize, could earn enough in licensing fees from other Spellcasters studying it to order a fifty-year life-extension package from one of the Four Great Institutes.

That was also why Ash always found only one Healer in the treatment room whenever he woke up—Healers were not allowed to be observed while treating someone, lest others steal their healing Spell Formulas.

The Healer looked at [201]. "Were you sent by Teacher?"

"I am a graduate student studying under your senior. She is my boss."

[201] chose his words carefully and did not reveal any names. "The Broken Lake Warden is friends with my boss... However, my boss instructed me not to disturb you under normal circumstances. If this scum had not gone too far and actually stolen Institute property, I would not have appeared."

The Healer asked, "Now that my identity has been exposed, do I need to leave?"

[201] smiled. "Miss, you must be joking. Of those who come to Broken Lake Prison for the Blood Embrace Ritual, who is not a prospective Blood Descendant from an institution under the Four Great Institutes? How could we betray you? How would we dare betray you?"

The other Healers all bent at the waist in a bow, displaying their respect.

They had no choice but to lower their heads. There were thirty-six institutes in the Blood Moon Country: twenty-four small institutes, eight medium institutes, and four great institutes.

Most of them were merely "prospective Blood Descendants" from small institutes, while this Miss before them was a new Blood Descendant of Blood Tears, one of the Four Great Institutes. The difference in their status was as vast as heaven and earth.

Frankly speaking, after completing the Blood Embrace and leaving Prison, their best possible outcome would be becoming Golden Bloodkin, gaining two hundred years of life, with Two-Winged being the limit of their lives.

Yet the new Blood Descendants of the Four Great Institutes were almost all Saint Domain Bloodkin with five-hundred-year lifespans, or even Legendary Bloodkin with thousand-year lifespans!

Three-Winged Saint Domain was the starting point they had to reach. Four-Winged Legendary was nothing unusual, and they might even touch the realm of Divine Spirits, becoming Demigod Saints above all beings in the Blood Moon Country!

"Miss, how should this scum be dealt with?" [201] asked.

The Healer fell silent for a moment and looked at [176].

"Do you have anything to say?"

[176] raised his fish head and glanced at the Healer. His huge eyes revealed the scarlet radiance she knew best.

"Insolence!"

[201] snorted and crushed a Vein Bubble.

[176] shuddered all over. His already pale fish face turned as white as paper.

"I refuse to accept this."

"What do you refuse to accept?"

"I refuse to accept that you can become a new Blood Descendant of the Blood Tears Research Institute while I have to claw and scramble in a small institute."

[176] nearly crushed his sharp teeth. "I am clearly one of the Fishmen's chosen geniuses. I could clearly become a supreme Blood Descendant too, so why is the gap in our resources so enormous?"

"I refuse to accept that I had to exhaust every scheme to gain a chance at the Blood Embrace, while you can get it so casually. I refuse to accept that the Spell Formulas I desperately crave are merely knowledge within your reach. I refuse to accept that all the best prisoner materials pass through your hands, while I can only receive scraps too tasteless to eat..."

"What I refuse to accept most is that your talent is so good too!"

[176] grew increasingly hysterical. "I cannot just watch you surpass me... I cannot!"

"What scum, without the slightest remorse."

[201] popped another Vein Bubble. This time, [176] nearly passed out.

"There is no need to listen to any more of his trash talk... Miss, how do you wish to deal with him?"

[201] paused. "Ordinarily, he would be executed on the spot."

The Healer silently watched [176], who was nearly collapsing to the floor, and pondered for a long time.

"He has not disgusted me enough for me to want him dead, but if he dies, I would not care much either."

"So you mean..."

"Find a soft rod shaped like a geoduck and whip him until his scales are covered in wounds. Do not treat him. Then drive him out. Oh, he is a Blue Scale Fishman, isn't he? Finger Sharks should not kill him. Throw him into the sea tonight and let him swim back on his own."

[201] froze for a moment. "But, Miss—"

"This is my decision." The Healer looked at [201]. "If you disagree, then do it your way. I do not mind."

"I did not mean that." [201] lowered his head deeply. "Your will shall be carried out."

"Then I am going back to rest."

The Healer hurried away through the crowd, seemingly eager to escape the suffocating atmosphere. But soon, a slow, heavy set of footsteps quickly caught up with her.

The Healer stopped in front of her Dormitory door and looked at [201], who had caught up.

"Is there anything else?"

"Since I have already disturbed you, I thought I might as well take this chance to say a few... reminders." [201] weighed his words. "Just a few reminders."

"Go ahead."

"I noticed that the time you spend with prisoners in the treatment room is slightly... outside the rules. Of course, that is completely fine. I guarantee no one will offend you with that rule, and I am not here to warn you."

"If it were not to avoid trouble from the Human Rights Association and the Racial Rights Association, we would not need to pretend to be Healers in order to conduct the Ritual here. Those rules only reduce the likelihood of us encountering trouble, but Miss, you need not worry about encountering any trouble."

Every sentence from [201] emphasized his humility.

"I am merely worried that while Miss is playing, you may have developed unnecessary feelings for those materials and delayed the Blood Embrace Ritual. If there is a problem with Miss's Blood Embrace progress, my boss will hold me accountable."

The Healer shook her head. "I have not forgotten the Blood Embrace Ritual. Do not worry."

She paused. "Every prisoner I have treated has already been implanted with a Blood Embrace Seed. Once they die in Judgment, the Blood Embrace Seeds will naturally gather their knowledge and Spell Power, converting it all into my Source Blood."

The Healer entered her Dormitory and reached up to remove her Raven Mask, revealing a pair of incomparably violent scarlet eyes. She stared at [201] like a predator, sending a chill down his spine.

"We of the Blood Saint Clan have never developed feelings for bread."