Chapter 89

“Blood Energy, you mean?”

“Yeah, Blood Energy.”

“I don’t recall anything like that, but in the first place, how could I….”

“If someone from our family bites you, you can use it.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered reading something like that before.

A setting where a person bitten by someone from the Balmuth Family became able to use Blood Energy.

Of course, since I hadn’t focused on playing the Balmuth Family route, it wasn’t a setting that had been very important to me.

Just a ‘oh, so that exists’ kind of thing I had glossed over.

“Yeah, our family’s blood naturally flows with the blood of vampires. You know that, right?”

“Yes, I do know.”

“The ancient vampires used to turn others into vampires just by biting them, but almost none of those vampires remain now. The vampires who were hostile to humans are nearly extinct, and only the vampires who chose coexistence remain. Our family’s ancestor was one of the vampires who chose coexistence.”

Just like Lisa said, the vampires we typically imagine—who could create new vampires simply by biting—barely existed anymore.

Well, if one looked hard enough, they might still exist in the outskirts of the continent, but there was no need to deliberately seek out those who lived in hiding.

“But since a vampire is still a vampire, sometimes when we bite someone, a part of our traits transfers to the person bitten.”

“And that trait is Blood Energy?”

“Yeah. A unique power our family created by harnessing the power of vampires. Since you were bitten by me, you might’ve gained the ability to use that power too.”

Saying this, Lisa brought her nose close to my neck again and sniffed.

“Yeah, the scent has definitely changed. There’s that subtle, strange scent—one only vampires can detect—coming from you, very faint but definitely there.”

At Lisa’s words, I thought for a moment.

Judging by how firmly she spoke, something really had changed in my body.

“Has this ever happened before? Aside from me?”

“Yeah. I heard a few people had it happen. Even our great-grandmother gained the ability to use Blood Energy after being bitten.”

“…If this gets stronger, doesn’t that mean my body could be in danger…?”

“That won’t happen, so don’t worry.”

Lisa leaned her head gently against my shoulder.

“You’ll just be able to use Blood Energy. There won’t be any other changes.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried I might start craving other people’s blood like you…”

“That won’t happen, at least as far as I know. And in the first place, I would never allow you to drink someone else’s blood.”

Lisa lightly bit my neck, looking up at me with eyes mixed half-teasing, half-serious.

“If you mixed bodies with someone else… I really don’t think I could stand it.”

“…Lisa, saying things like that is exactly the sort of thing that’ll cause misunderstandings.”

“But it’s true. Well, anyway—what I want to say is, you won’t crave others’ blood like I do. The only change you’ll get is the ability to use Blood Energy.”

“Blood Energy, huh…”

Being able to use Blood Energy because Lisa bit me.

It had been one of the possible scenarios I’d faintly considered, but I hadn’t expected it to actually happen.

“But don’t get your hopes up. The Blood Energy you can use won’t be that strong.”

“Yes, I expected as much.”

“Probably one-tenth of my strength? Maybe even less. Most people who gained Blood Energy after the fact topped out around that level.”

“Even one-tenth of your power is still quite strong, isn’t it?”

“It’s not weak, true. But you won’t be able to use it continuously like I can. Think of it as being able to unleash a momentary burst of strong power—just once.”

“Mm, understood.”

I didn’t have much information on using Blood Energy after acquiring it later in life.

So I engraved every word Lisa said into my mind.

‘It allows me to release strong power momentarily.’

It definitely seemed like an ability that could be very useful in battle.

But before using it, there was something else I needed to think about first.

“Then how do I use this Blood Energy, exactly?”

It was a pretty important question.

It had already been several weeks since Lisa bit me, but I hadn’t even realized this Blood Energy was inside me, much less figured out how to use it.

“Using Blood Energy… that’s a very hard question.”

Lisa touched her chin, looking troubled.

“Hm… it’s hard to explain in words. For us, it just comes naturally as we grow. Feeling the power flowing in our blood, and knowing instinctively that we need to push that blood into our weapon… it’s just something we know.”

“You instinctively come to know it…”

“But don’t rely too much on what I say. You and I are different cases. I’m innate, and you acquired the power after the fact.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

“…Sorry. I feel like I’m not being helpful.”

When Lisa murmured gloomily, I chuckled and leaned closer to her.

“No. Just telling me that I can use Blood Energy at all is already a huge help.”

“Your scent changed a little, so I thought you might be in the same situation as our grandmother.”

“Hm, but Lisa. If you noticed my scent had changed, then from before… did you maybe…?”

Lisa nodded.

“Yeah, you’re thinking the right thing.”

“Oh… yes.”

“I couldn’t help it. When I hold you, I naturally smell you, and your scent is… really nice.”

With those words, Lisa bit my neck again.

This time it wasn’t light.

She bit me a little harder.

Not enough to draw blood, but enough to sting slightly.

“Mm— anyway. Thank you for telling me, and… let’s really study now.”

“Okay. Shall we start with Imperial Law? You said before that studying Imperial Law was difficult for you, right?”

“I’d be grateful for your help.”

So Lisa and I focused on studying in the Disciplinary Committee room until late.

I wasn’t entirely free from thoughts about Blood Energy as we studied, but I decided to think about that later.

Figuring out how to use it came first.

About a week passed.

Recently, Lisa and I had been studying together late and patrolling together late rather often.

Because of that, my body was exhausted in various ways, but I still tried my best to participate in class today.

After barely staying awake during the morning’s lecture classes, I headed to Swordsmanship Class in the afternoon.

“Alright, try a downward strike.”

“Yes.”

“Hm… you’re putting in too much strength. That movement wasn’t Imperial Swordsmanship—it was much closer to the Balmuth Family’s swordsmanship… no, more precisely, much closer to Lisa’s swordsmanship.”

“Yes, I felt that as well.”

“You’ve gotten pretty used to using Lisa’s sword style, huh?”

“Whenever I needed a powerful strike, I used it.”

Since it was a sword style I used in almost every battle, I instinctively used Lisa’s swordsmanship every time I brought my sword down.

So even though I should’ve swung the sword normally just now, the Balmuth Family’s sword style came out as a habit.

“Well, it’s not a bad habit. It’s a bit slower, but the Balmuth Family’s downward strike has much more destructive power than the Imperial standard swordsmanship.”

“Still, I should make sure it doesn’t become a habit. I can’t rely on the same sword style every time.”

“That’s true. So practice while consciously focusing on the standard downward strike. I’ll go check on the other students and come back.”

“Yes, understood.”

After Luke stepped away, I continued swinging my sword.

Lifting the sword above my head and bringing it down—a very textbook sword movement.

‘But I really need to fix this habit.’

Recently, every time I swung the sword widely, I unconsciously used the Balmuth Family’s swordsmanship.

As Luke said, it was a sword style with excellent destructive power, so it wasn’t useless, but letting it become a habit was troublesome.

The Balmuth Family’s swordsmanship was powerful, but the movements were fundamentally large, leaving many openings.

I didn’t want to show openings in battle because of a habit, so if I could fix it, I should.

People from the Balmuth Family compensated for this with their overwhelming physical ability and Blood Energy, but I couldn’t do that.

Thinking about the Balmuth Family’s swordsmanship like this…

‘How do I even use Blood Energy?’

I had been thinking about it for the past week, but no answer came.

I even tried intentionally giving myself small wounds to bleed—did all sorts of strange things—but I couldn’t feel the Blood Energy inside me at all.

‘Was Lisa wrong?’

At this point, I even considered the possibility that Lisa had been mistaken, but my intuition told me she was right.

I had no basis for it, but I somehow felt like I really should be able to use Blood Energy.

I just didn’t know how to draw that power out.

While thinking like that, I continued Luke’s swordsmanship class, and time passed until the end of class.

“Alright, alright! Before everyone leaves, gather up!”

Luke dragged a chalkboard into the gymnasium as he called the students.

A large cloth covered the chalkboard, so I couldn’t see what was written on it.

“As you all know, there’s about a week left until the midterm exam, right? So I’ll explain its structure and content.”

With those words, Luke pulled away the cloth and revealed what was written.

A large tournament bracket was drawn on the board.

“The format is simple. Just fight according to this bracket. See? Easy, right?”

A duel against the other first-year students in Swordsmanship Class.

That was the content of the midterm exam.

I didn’t react since I already knew from the game, but some of the students clearly did.

Well, that aside… the bracket looked…

‘…He set it up so Sara and I meet in the finals.’

Sara’s name and mine were on opposite ends of the bracket.

Meaning we were structured to meet only in the finals, with no chance of meeting earlier.

‘Did he do that on purpose?’

With suspicion, I glanced at Luke.

Luke met my eyes and gave a meaningful smile.

Seeing that, I nodded to myself in certainty.

‘Yeah, he did it on purpose. One hundred percent.’

Well, thanks to that, this midterm exam looked like it would be fun.

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