I Became the Academy Chapter 89

Chapter 89

“Blood Energy, you an?”

“Yeah, Blood Energy.”

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

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

“Ah, is that so?”

Co to think of it, I vaguely rembered reading sothing like that before.

A setting where a person bitten by soone from the Balmuth Family beca 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 .

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, sotis when we bite soone, 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 , 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 mont.

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

“Has this ever happened before? Aside from ?”

“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 an 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 soone else’s blood.”

Lisa lightly bit my neck, looking up at

with eyes mixed half-teasing, half-serious.

“If you mixed bodies with soone 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 .

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 montary 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

to release strong power montarily.’

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

But before using it, there was sothing 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 , but I hadn’t even realized this Blood Energy was inside , 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 cos 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 sothing we know.”

“You instinctively co 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

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 sa 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 sll you, and your scent is… really nice.”

With those words, Lisa bit my neck again.

This ti it wasn’t light.

She bit

a little harder.

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

“Mm— anyway. Thank you for telling , 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 ca 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 movent 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 ti I brought my sword down.

So even though I should’ve swung the sword normally just now, the Balmuth Family’s sword style ca 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 beco a habit. I can’t rely on the sa sword style every ti.”

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

‘But I really need to fix this habit.’

Recently, every ti 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 beco a habit was troubleso.

The Balmuth Family’s swordsmanship was powerful, but the movents were fundantally 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 ca.

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

at all.

‘Was Lisa wrong?’

At this point, I even considered the possibility that Lisa had been mistaken, but my intuition told

she was right.

I had no basis for it, but I sohow 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 ti 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 tournant 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 ga, but so of the students clearly did.

Well, that aside… the bracket looked…

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

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

aning we were structured to et only in the finals, with no chance of eting earlier.

‘Did he do that on purpose?’

With suspicion, I glanced at Luke.

Luke t my eyes and gave a aningful 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.