Bear School Astartes

Chapter 372: 372. Ancient God’s Blood

”I agree, experience grows stronger through communication, and only then can our skills advance further.”

Lann nodded to Alfred.

The acknowledgement made the blonde Hunter even more enthusiastic.

He pulled out a stack of red sandpaper from his pocket and forcibly shoved it into Lann’s hand.

”Great, great! Take it, let’s use this to celebrate our meeting!”

Lann, a bit at a loss, held the sandpaper. The friendliness of this person was unusual in Yan’an, where people were generally cold and exclusionary.

”It is indeed worth celebrating... but what is this thing?”

”Ah, I forgot you are a beginner.” Alfred slapped his forehead apologetically.

”This is fire paper, a little gadget produced by the Church’s Hunter Workshop. Rub this sandpaper on a weapon, and the surface of the weapon will start burning with flames. It lasts for about half a minute and won’t damage the weapon. After all, hunting beasts should be done with fire.”

Lann curiously looked at the fire paper in his hand. This technology was indeed very convenient for Warriors.

The people of the Magic World have all sorts of weapon enchantments, and the burning effect is not unheard of.

Some even better than this fire paper of Yan’an, which can make enemies ignite spontaneously, rather than relying on the flames on one’s blade to cause mere burn injuries.

But the enchantments in the Magic World have their issues—those enchantments rely on triggers.

After the Magic Runes are installed, not every strike can trigger the enchantment effect.

There was once an unfortunate Noble Knight who customized a hammer with extra impact force at Ban Aide Academy, but during battle, the Magic Runes kept flashing, and the impact effect never triggered even once.

When he went to the academy for a refund, they refused. After all, for others, the efficiency was at least one in three times. You can’t say the academy’s craftsmanship was false.

It’s the person at fault, not the hammer. There’s no reason for compensation or refund.

This fire paper can steadily deliver fire damage and is ready to use, looking quite convenient.

Presumably, the cost should also be much cheaper than rune enchantments.

”Thank you, it’s a great gift.”

Lann stuffed the fire paper into the alchemy pouch at his back waist and thanked Alfred.

”By the way, do you know about the clergy wandering around here? They seem... not very friendly?”

”’Not friendly’? Haha, you’re really being tactful.”

The blonde Hunter laughed indifferently.

”Those are Sumerians that the church brought out from the dungeon labyrinth a long time ago. The church healed their diseases and brought them back to the surface. In return, they became the Gatekeepers of the church.”

”Believe me, Lann. Even if you enter from outside Church Town wearing a full set of church attire now, they will still follow the orders of church agents to hunt you down without mercy.”

A lot of information suddenly emerged, and Lann entrusted Mentos in his mind to record and analyze it.

”Church agents? Who are they? And the dungeon labyrinth?”

The Demon Hunter stood in a casual manner, knowing it wasn’t easy to find someone knowledgeable and willing to talk in Yan’an.

Alfred fit Lann’s impression of him well, enthusiastic and cheerful.

”Of course, of course. People who just come to Yan’an are bound to be curious about everything. I can certainly explain it to you, after all, the night is still long.”

”The church agent is Lady Amelia, ever since Bishop Lawrence died, his student has been the church agent. The order to close Church Town tonight was also issued by her.”

”She’s too weak, actually letting church Hunters hide from the beasts. What’s that about?”

Alfred made no effort to hide his dissatisfaction and certain faith, and obsession with the profession of Hunter.

”As for the dungeon labyrinth? Ah, you’ll certainly have to go there at least once in your Hunter career. Hunters are always supposed to pursue their own [Communion] there.”

”Receiving the blood and flesh of the Ancient God! This act is the foundation of the Healing Church.”

[Communion], Lann had heard of this religious concept.

It’s where the blood of the deity is likened to red wine and the flesh to bread.

By consuming the red wine and bread, it is as if receiving the blessing and love of the deity.

But in Yan’an, the concept of [Communion] seemed different from what Lann had in his mind.

At least regarding the [blood], Lann thought they must use real blood.

However... ’the blood and flesh of the Ancient God’?

’Ancient God’?!

The Demon Hunter keenly grasped the key information in the phrase.

”Alfred, you just said... Ancient God? The Healing Church possesses the blood and flesh of an Ancient God?”

”Exactly.” The blonde Hunter spoke naturally of the blood and flesh of the deity. ”Yanyan’s Blood is the blood of the Ancient God, and the basis of blood healing is to train the Blood Saintesses’ blood quality to approach that of a deity, then share it with the people.”

”Humans are small and shallow, only through the blood of an Ancient God can they bring their existence closer to divinity.”

”The Healing Church ultimately doesn’t pursue healing but rather closeness, even becoming divine.”

”These things are not secret, instead, they’re present in the church’s sermons, but the ordinary public are too obsessed with blood to care about the ’useless’ sermons.”

At this point, Lann was absolutely certain that the source of the beastization disease was the blood healing.

Looking from another angle, the Healing Church is a dark organization exploring human enhancement through religious means.

And they even spread this rough and hazardous human enhancement technology on a large scale! In the name of religion!

Even in the oldest science fiction novel ”Frankenstein,” there was no such crude human modification as direct transfusion!

The Healing Church’s purpose in promoting blood healing was not to treat patients but to obtain more cases, more experimental data!

Medicine, to them, is not a means of treatment but a means of exploration.

The knowledge of divine blood is nowhere more directly observed than in the phenomena on the bodies of the cases.

Lann looked at the enthusiastic blonde Hunter in front of him.

He wore the church’s Hunter attire, wielding weapons for the Healing Church. Yet, his body also contained foreign blood.

And he fought wholeheartedly with faith, unceasingly...

The researchers of the Healing Church were studying not only the ordinary masses but also their own elite Hunters.

Lann had a moment of murderous intent, but then, realizing the church Hunter before him was also part of the experiment, his intent faded away.

Alfred only felt a sudden chill on his neck and then everything went back to normal. He thought it was a strand of cold, damp air slipping into his collar.

”Why would gods allow humans to take their blood and flesh? They are gods after all.”

Lann lowered his eyes, his silver hair falling softly and glowing gently in the moonlight.

Alfred awkwardly turned his face to the side, cleared his throat before continuing.

”Ahem... even gods can’t withstand time. The church discovered the corpse of an Ancient God in the dungeon labyrinth, which marked the beginning of the confirmation of the Ancient God’s existence.”

”Yes, time.” Lann looked up, gazed at the seemingly unchanging phase of the moon, and nodded.

”Even the Ancient Gods can’t withstand time, hmm, that’s right, it makes sense.”