Chapter XCIX (99) - Hebijikan

Kizu practiced the piano like a mad man. Unlike his more spell-based classes, Anata’s blood couldn’t be used as a shortcut for the skill, so had to take time out of his day to actually sit down and practice. Thankfully, over the last few months, he had gotten to the point where he could allow his mind to wander as his fingers played. Granted, he only had a few songs down to that point and he wouldn’t be winning any contests anytime soon. Still, it felt almost therapeutic now, the music relaxing him while he sorted through his thoughts.

Basil had recovered after their discussion a few days previous. In fact, more than that. Basil acted like a load had been lifted from his shoulders. Surprisingly, the changeling had reused the same body for the last couple days, something Kizu had never seen him do before.

When questioned about the bloodspawn seal, Basil explained little more than Kizu already knew. However, he did mention more than once how his seal had consumed his thoughts after his discovery of it. It kept compelling him to it until he eventually destroyed the seal.

Based on that knowledge and what he had seen in the Polar Glacier, Kizu held a strong suspicion of where Anata’s seal might be. While it stressed him out, he put it in the back of his mind, as she couldn’t gain access to it for now.

“You’ve improved.”

The sudden interruption caused Kizu’s hand to slip, playing an off-key sharp. He stopped and looked over at Professor Ignis who stood behind him with a clipboard. The professor had set up a sound bubble around them, but Kizu hadn’t noticed with the sound-eating slugs in his ears.

“Thank you,” Kizu said. Ignis was the professor he’d interacted with the least over the semester. The fiery haired man barely taught lessons, only going over the most basic points of musical theory in a couple classes throughout the semester and setting them loose with sheet music to practice. Most days he looked pained by the classes.

“The headmaster asked me to keep an eye on your performance. He mentioned that he wants me to evaluate your progress throughout next semester as well.”

That made sense. Kizu hadn’t considered how he’d move through the music rankings without having a music class.

“But then I took a better look at your transcript. It seems you’ll be in one of my advanced illusion classes next semester. Gizrim must see something special in you.” Ignis sighed loudly and looked around the classroom at the other students playing instruments poorly. “I’ll be honest, I’m not very good at teaching low level musicians. The majority of these students here don’t care about the art. They treat it like a joke. And their dismissal makes me furious.” He glanced over Kizu’s shoulder, a fire lighting in his eyes as he examined a student goofing off and playing a shamisen with her toes. Then he took a deep breath, visibly forcing himself to relax, and refocused on Kizu. “I often want to write the entire class off altogether and stop showing up. But I’ve always been of the opinion that in regard to something distasteful, it’s better to be completely apathetic, than care too much. So, I’ve been purposefully ignoring the students here. You’re one of the few that takes improvement seriously and I apologize it took an outside influence for me to actually notice.”

Kizu didn’t know how to respond to the apology. It came from out of nowhere. He bowed his head in acknowledgement.

“I’m updating your rank to show your current merit. You’d fit easily into my D class at this point. You are almost skilled enough to start incorporating spells into your music. If you keep at it, I will give you a few private lessons next semester to boost you in the rankings for next year’s music class. With proper dedication, you may reach as high as the B class by that time.”

“Thank you!” Kizu had only heard Harvey’s music infused with spellwork and it had been months since then. But what had been on display had been powerful. He wanted the ability to tap into that magic. The prospect of starting another branch of spellcraft excited him.

With a final reminder to study for the final, Ignis left. It wasn’t long after that the bell rang and dismissed them from Music F.

When he arrived in Brewing S, he settled into his seat, ready for one of their final lectures. He was going to miss this class next semester. Knoff was meant to teach Numerology F, so he’d still get to see the professor and he would still have access to the brewing supplies for his personal experimentations, but he wouldn’t have the lessons anymore. Even if he knew most of the material, it felt good to review the knowledge and there was new information sprinkled in throughout the lessons. Professor Knoff knew far more than he taught. This was just the appropriate level for his peers.

“One last brew!” Professor Knoff said as a greeting. He was his eccentric persona today. Kizu noticed a long spoon stuck in his white puffball of hair. “Before you all descend into the madness of finals. There is one last brew to teach you. Special, just for all of you, my sweet S classers. Today, we mold time itself!”

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“But temporal spellcraft is forbidden,” one student said, glancing at his peers.

“Bah! This is only the most surface level of temporal brews. Only one or two of you could handle anything more. If you’re scared, go whine elsewhere. No time for that!”

Kizu perked up. This was something new. He glanced over at Sene. She held a quill in a death-grip, ready to start her notes. She hungered for the knowledge, perhaps even more than Kizu.

The rest of the student body shuffled nervously.

Knoff snapped his fingers, causing a cauldron to snap into existence, clattering to the floor in front of him with a clang. He rapidly started listing ingredients. The majority of what he listed wasn’t in the normal cabinets. Instead, he spoke about things found deep in the World Dungeon, like subterranean cacti and winged serpents called hebijikans. Kizu blinked at the name and description of the snake. That was the thing he’d hunted with Ione. Knoff said the serpents could eat time itself and appear in the future. Their bite could preserve a moment. He then called them all over to different cauldrons.

Kizu spread his small portion of the dead snake-monster at the bottom of his caudron. He then had to massage the creature’s corpse, to get it to secrete a grayish liquid from between its scales.

“Elbow grease!” Knoff shouted at them unhelpfully. “Put your back into it! Arclight not running you all hard enough? More effort!”

After half an hour, Kizu had a slimy coating across the bottom of his cauldron and all over his hands. As they started into the next steps, Knoff finally began to explain exactly what they were creating.

“Stasis, is the most bare bones of anything temporal. There are spells that can be learned. But those take months of training to efficiently use. One of these potions, however, can freeze someone in time for an hour when consumed orally. They won’t age, they won’t think, they won’t hunger. External forces can still affect them, but their bodies are perfectly preserved from the ever-oppressive decay of life.”

As if on cue, one of the students in the class froze in place, her mouth agape as she stared down at her hands.

Knoff leaped over a cauldron, giddy about the example. He snatched Sene’s quill off of her desk and started to draw on the face of the student trapped in stasis. The professor’s drawing skills were somehow even worse than Kizu’s. His best guess was maybe he was attempting to draw for a lumpy flower.

A minute later the student started moving again, looking a little confused. She touched her face, her fingertips coming back ink stained.

“Why did she only freeze for a minute?” one student asked.

Knoff laughed maniacally, then called on Sene to answer the question.

“First, the potion is incomplete,” she said. “Second, Professor Knoff literally just mentioned that the potion needs to be taken orally.”

Something clicked in Kizu’s mind. Obviously, the body could absorb things through its pores like he’d just seen, but most potions worked best when taken orally. Which made him wonder about Anata’s blood, which he had been absorbing through his skin for the last few months. The idea of drinking it was macabre and disgusting, but he frequently used other creatures’ blood in potions. What exactly could be made from Anata’s? Suddenly, he was very happy he kept her blood a secret. If someone like the crone discovered it, she would be in extreme danger.

“Correct! Correct!” Knoff said. “Touching the right mixture will result in body stasis. Occasionally, only a partial stasis, which can cause all sorts of bodily issues, so be careful! And don’t forget to wash your hands when you’re finished!”

“Why would anyone purposefully drink something like this?”

Kizu answered this time, already understanding its value. “To move forward in time. If you don’t age, you could skip ahead months or even years without altering your body. But you would need a lot. And someone you trust to watch over you. You’d be completely vulnerable.”

“Correct! I’ve been commissioned six different times to mass produce this particular mixture. The wealthy elite love the idea of leaving everyone else behind for a better time. Mostly, it’s used during the time of a scandal to skip ahead to when people have moved on and forgotten.”

“How much does it cost?” the student with ink all over his face asked.

“Oh, roughly 16,000,000 yennies a day for the ingredients.”

Sene gasped. “That means we each have over 660,000 yennies worth of materials in our cauldron.”

“Correct! My number 1 numerology student strikes again! But don’t go selling it after class!”

“We have to return the potions when we’re finished?” another student guessed.

“Incorrect!”

That settled it for Kizu. He focused entirely on the next instructions. Unless he planned to hunt another hebijikan himself, he likely would never get another opportunity to use the ingredient. Knoff frequently broke away from his instructions on random tangents, but Kizu knew from his years living with the crone how to withtract the useful information from the lecture.

By the end of class, he was pleased to have a new potion in his repertoire. And judging by Knoff’s examination, he easily had the most potent version in the class. He resolved to save the valuable potion for when he needed it the most.

A doomsday device designed for the worst of Krimpit’s lectures.