"Lord Romulus!"
After finishing his patrol through the compartnts of the Dawn, Romulus returned to the shrine the Sacred Rose had constructed aboard the battleship. Before he could even step through the doors, he spotted a young girl waiting quietly outside.
Her expression carried a hint of nervousness and anticipation. Her hands were unconsciously wrung together, as if she were desperately trying to calm her racing heart.
This was Yulia, a relative of the young psyker nad Erika. Her father, Price, had fought valiantly during the defense of Pierred as a bodyguard to a Cadian Commissar. He had ultimately succumbed to organ failure caused by a massive overdose of combat stimulants. Now, he lay in a coffin, joining the countless martyrs honored in morial.
Following the conclusion of the ceremony, this sixteen-year-old girl had been conscripted into the Cadian reserves and brought aboard the Dawn.
"Hello, Yulia."
Information about her rapidly flashed through Romulus's mind as he offered a gentle nod.
Clearly not expecting Romulus to initiate the greeting, Yulia was instantly flustered. Her lips moved, but she could not find the right words, leaving her paralyzed in an awkward state of panic.
"When is your augntation surgery scheduled?"
Seeing her distress, Romulus took the lead and asked the question, hoping to ease her nerves.
"Ah, we are still having our genetics recorded and our physical conditions adjusted."
Yulia hastily reported, her tone laced with a hint of panic.
"The Tech-Priest told to wait until my organs have fully recovered before undergoing the procedure."
The Astra Militarum also utilized augntation surgeries, though such procedures were far from widespread. Generally, they were only perford on officers and recruits hailing from the Schola Progenium.
However, the Transmigrators possessed vast resources. Providing enough enhancent serums was hardly a difficult task for them. The only drawback was that the local Genetors and Tech-Priests would be subjected to a much heavier workload, though none of them voiced any complaints.
After all, a Magos Biologis could not advance their rank without accumulating vast amounts of surgical data. Now, with a massive influx of test subjects and raw materials placed right in front of them, all they had to do was invest a little surgical ti to harvest countless streams of precious data. For the Tech-Priests, this was undoubtedly an incredibly lucrative exchange.
Naturally, these Tech-Priests had privately speculated about exactly where the lords had procured such massive quantities of raw augntation serum. However, questions that carried the obvious risk of causing a mysterious Warp accident were strictly outside their purview. They only needed to focus entirely on the work at hand.
"Well, I look forward to the day you continue fighting for humanity."
Romulus encouraged her with a faint smile, even though part of him really just wanted to shove this sixteen-year-old girl straight into a Schola.
"Yes, my lord!"
Yulia nodded excitedly, her face flushed with a healthy color that betrayed absolutely no sign of her organs still being in a state of recovery.
The baseline human physique in the 41st Millennium was truly absurd. A dose of stimulants that would have sent soone in the 2nd Millennium straight to a steroid-fueled early grave only took a few days for their bodies to completely tabolize the side effects.
"Big sister Yulia!"
A crisp, cheerful voice rang out.
Clang!
Romulus could feel the distinct sensation of soone crashing right into his leg armor.
"Erika!"
Yulia's composed expression completely shattered once more.
Romulus, however, acted as if nothing had happened. He simply scooped the little girl up and placed her gently into Yulia's arms.
"Thank you for your rcy, my lord."
Yulia reached out to secure the little girl. Seeing those bright silver eyes blinking innocently up at her, she could not resist lightly pinching the child's nose.
"You cannot do things like this anymore."
"I am sorry."
Erika obediently nodded her head without arguing. In truth, she simply had not seen Lord Romulus standing there.
"Oh, right! Big sister Yulia, let introduce you to my new friend."
Saying this, she struggled and hopped down from Yulia's arms, pulling forward a girl who had been standing to the side, looking almost invisible.
"This is Silin, a friend I made at the militant convent."
"Hello there."
Yulia crouched down and gently patted Silin on the head.
"You two have to get along well, okay?"
"Lady Arabella said I have a chance to beco a Battle Sister."
The simply dressed girl gripped Erika's hand tightly.
"I will protect Erika, just like my father used to protect ."
"My lord, I shall take my leave now."
Warmly scooping up the two little ones, Yulia quickly excused herself to Romulus.
She had already delayed far too long; she needed to hurry and return these two to their guardians.
"Go on."
Romulus watched their retreating figures.
One was a speck of sand who was supposed to have perished on the planet Pierred.
The other was a mote of dust destined to be buried in the sunless, miserable depths of the lower decks.
But now, they were both alive and well here, receiving an education without having to desperately claw for survival.
Heh, wasn't this exactly the kind of thing Transmigrators wanted to see when they crossed over?
Romulus waited until the trio was out of sight before finally entering the Schola, heading straight into the Psykana monastery.
This facility was where the Librarians among the Stormcasts were tasked with teaching psychic knowledge. Once the new generation was properly trained, they could establish a stable structural foundation.
After physically holding Rases by the head and forcing him to work, his companion had finally compiled the "Prir on Warp Knowledge". It included foundational lessons on how to perform basic psychic techniques, how to properly perceive the Warp, and how to protect oneself without relying on psychic powers. According to Rases, the text was so simple that even a six-year-old could understand it.
As for the rest of the teaching materials, Rases had told him to fill in the gaps as he saw fit.
"Is the knowledge manual proving useful?"
Romulus approached one of the Librarians.
The Librarian seed completely engrossed in his reading, not even noticing Romulus stepping up beside him.
"Ah? Lord Romulus."
It was only when Romulus repeated his question that the Librarian jolted out of his deep concentration. He finally realized that Romulus had bypassed his multiple layers of psychic early-warnings to stand right beside him.
"This manual is incredibly useful! It can easily be considered the perfect introductory textbook for guiding a new psyker. Many of the elents within would normally require risking one's life to discover, and they are incredibly prone to being twisted by the vile entities of the Warp. Yet, this textbook takes all of..."
The Librarian rambled on passionately for quite so ti before excitedly asking Romulus, "Please, would it be possible for to et Lord Rases again? If this manual had been available ten thousand years ago, Lord Guilliman might never have supported the censorship and banning of psychic research."
"...You will have to communicate with him about that yourself."
The Librarian's zealous attitude left Romulus inwardly muttering to himself. He genuinely failed to see what was so remarkable about a preschool-level education booklet.
Ultimately unable to withstand the Librarian's relentless barrage of questions, Romulus briefly coordinated various administrative matters with Arabella before hastily fleeing the Schola.
'I suppose I should go see what Rases is up to next.'
Romulus made his way toward the secret base that only the four of them were authorized to enter.
Recently, Rases had been honestly writing teaching materials without causing any chaotic trouble, and Arthur seed to have found a new hobby as well.
Well, these were all good things. Romulus had actually been quite worried about his childhood friend. Arthur had been tense all day, as if a fierce tiger was constantly hunting him from behind. He had grown increasingly withdrawn, doing nothing but fighting and monitoring everyone around him. Having a hobby now was a welco change.
"Strike it! Put so muscle into it, use your strength!"
Having just bypassed several layers of traps and sensory arrays, Romulus heard his companion's loud shouting.
?
He slowed his footsteps and leaned in closer to listen.
From inside the room ca the harsh revving of a chainsaw, accompanied by the wet tearing of flesh being sliced open and the sickening squelch of foreign contents being hamred inside.
???
"Make the cut! Brother, bring out that sa energy you use when hacking people to pieces! This is a person, and this is a surgery! Your gentle little thods aren't going to kill him!"
Another loud shout rang out, followed closely by the visceral crunch of a bone saw biting deep into its target.
Romulus's face tightened as he took a few steps back, before launching a flying kick that violently smashed the door open.
"Rases!"
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