CHAPTER 124: VIRELASS’ TALENT

"Lyra," Asher called out calmly.

Instantly, Lyra, who was always stationed near the door, stepped into the room with silent grace.

"Take away these barrels. I’ll be in the training chamber. If anything important comes up, relay it to me there," Asher instructed, then turned around and walked off without waiting for a response.

Lyra bowed in acknowledgment and complied without hesitation. With a fluid wave of her hand, her Astra pulsed outward, lifting the barrels into the air as if they moved on their own accord.

This was an advanced application of Astra manipulation, it granted telekinetic-like control. Of course, its limitations were vast. If not, people like Azeron could easily lift the entire Zarethorne Empire using sheer Astra control and quantity alone.

Although Asher had previously stated he wouldn’t be training today, that wasn’t entirely untrue. He didn’t intend to engage in any strenuous activity, he merely wanted to test a few theories he had been formulating regarding Virelass.

Stepping into the Astra-rich chamber, Asher took a seat on the floor, while Virelass floated silently beside him, suspended in the air like a sentinel.

Through persistent contemplation, experimentation, and light training, Asher had discovered that Virelass could store blood and still heal injuries during battle without tapping into her main reserves by using those available on the battlefield. It was a remarkable feat, one neither mentioned by the system nor by Virelass herself.

But this time, Asher wanted to test something else, an extension of her blood storage ability.

’These abilities weren’t even disclosed by the system or Virelass. If I wasn’t sharp enough to figure this out on my own, I would’ve been using her only for immediate healing during battles where blood was already present,’ Asher thought, giving himself a small mental pat on the back.

He exhaled deeply and decided to let go of that line of thought, choosing instead to focus on the task ahead.

He wanted to determine if Virelass could separate the blood in her storage, categorize it by quality. Could she, for example, select which type of blood to use for specific wounds?

Asher didn’t want a minor scratch, something a mere Whisper-class monster’s blood could easily heal, being treated with the rare and potent blood of a Myth-class monster.

That would be the epitome of wastefulness. Even if Myth-class monsters were limitless in number in Crymora, conservation was still a wise path.

With that thought, he focused. He wasn’t training himself, he was training Virelass.

Over the past five months, the amount of blood Virelass had consumed was staggering. Every single day, without fail, Asher ensured she absorbed blood. Even earlier that morning, Lyra had brought him a monster. Asher had slain it, and Virelass had drained it clean.

With those memories drifting through his mind, he began to communicate with Virelass, transmitting his intentions and instructions silently. Although Virelass often acted like a child, she always understood Asher’s thoughts without requiring him to speak aloud.

She had held her own against assassins during the True Awakening without Asher issuing a single vocal command on numerous occasions. Just a flicker of intent, a simple mental suggestion, and she had transformed into a reaper, merciless and precise. It was almost as if she shared Asher’s intellect... his intuition... his talent.

Asher inhaled deeply, then exhaled. For this experiment to work, he needed to injure himself, just a little.

He wasn’t a masochist by any stretch, but if Virelass could heal other people, he would’ve used someone else as a test subject. Unfortunately, he was the only available lab rat in his own lab.

With a resigned sigh, Asher reached into his system storage space and pulled out a throwing needle, a senbon once used by the assassins during the True Awakening. Naturally, he had collected and stored several of them, anticipating that they might prove useful later during the True Awakening.

Steeling his resolve, Asher prepared to wound himself. He frowned, not from fear of pain, but from the mere thought of damaging his own skin.

With a swift motion, he stabbed himself. His skin split open, and blood rushed forth. The pain was minor, but his expression darkened, more annoyed than hurt.

Virelass immediately sprang into action, instinctively reacting to the instructions Asher had passed along earlier.

The wound closed almost instantaneously, leaving nothing but smeared blood on Asher’s hand. His gaze shifted to Virelass, silently asking her which blood she had used.

Virelass hummed softly, her tone slightly sheepish. She admitted she hadn’t been able to control which blood reserve she used, not on the first attempt.

Asher sighed and nodded. It was understandable.

With no other option, he resumed his self-experimentation. Although it felt unpleasant, it had to be done. Fortunately, by the third attempt, something remarkable occurred, Virelass succeeded.

She was now able to separate the stored blood by quality and select accordingly.

Asher’s eyes lit up with a mix of surprise and pride. He understood what she had done. She had created compartments within herself, distinct divisions for different types of blood. Now, she could choose which one to use based on the severity of the injury.

He couldn’t hide how impressed he was. He had only wanted Virelass to be able to pick the most suitable blood for healing, yet she had gone above and beyond his expectations, even outpacing his own foresight.

Still, he couldn’t stop there. He had to test the limits.

He gradually increased the severity of his wounds, instructing Virelass to use various blood types to analyze regeneration speed relative to blood potency and injury magnitude.

When he reached the point of testing the Myth-class blood, however, he paused.

He couldn’t stab himself in the vital organs, his lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, or eyes. That was going too far. Just because he had been injuring himself to train Virelass didn’t mean he had suddenly developed masochistic tendencies.

With a heavy sigh, Asher rose from his seated position. There was only so much he could do on his own. He would have to wait until a real battle presented him with a more severe injury. Not that he was going to seek damage intentionally, but he wasn’t arrogant enough to think himself invincible.

With that thought, he stepped out of the training chamber.

’I guess training resumes tomorrow. By then, I’ll see those three again,’ Asher mused as he returned to his room.

He collapsed onto his bed once more, resuming the stillness he had maintained earlier.

And once again... he did absolutely nothing.