Tragedy of a Lowlife

Fifteen minutes later, Guricha had brought Leylin to his dorm.

Leylin looked at the room number, '1913'. It was quite a distance from his own dorm, so it was no wonder as to why they did not see each other much.

"Let's go in. *cough* But please, don't be too shocked..." -Guricha said preemptively as he fidgeted with his hands.

'Judging from this stench, I can already guess what's inside. This will be amusing.' -Leylin reflected.

Leylin placed his left hand into his satchel before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

Once he entered, the disgusting stench that had infiltrated his nose from the hallway got ten times stronger. It was rather similar to a mix of sewerage and the smell of a rotten corpse, but after experiencing that incident at the carriage with Shitty Pants, this was nothing.

Shrugging the revolting odor off, Leylin examined Guricha's room with tranquillity. Its layout was similar to his, but what caught his eye was a girl sitting on the bed. Next to her was a figure wrapped in a black robe. The stench was coming out of the cloaked figure's body.

"Hello, Dodoria. I suppose that cloaked individual would be none other than Nyssa, correct?" -Leylin recognized them. They were also part of the group that came to the academy with him. Both of their aptitudes were even worse than Guricha's, being only first grades. They barely qualified as a level 1 acolyte even now.

"Hello, Leylin. Yes, it is us." -Dodoria forced a smile, but both her eyes were red and puffy as if she had just cried.

[Doctor, that girl's body is surging with mana radiation, and her Spiritual Force readings are fluctuating in a way that makes it seem like she's jumping back and forth from a level 1 to a level 2 acolyte. You are safe from any harm though. Your level is more than enough to deflect the radiation she emits.] -Aralis dutifully informed her Master.

"I am here to help, ladies. What exactly is happening?" -Leylin said in fake trepidation, as he even put his hand on Nyssa's shoulder trying to comfort her.

"I… This is..." -Nyssa's figure was huge and swollen like an extremely fat person, and even gave off a disgusting aura. It was very difficult for Leylin to associate this figure with the petite and pleasant girl from the past.

"Nyssa, you can take off your cloak. Leylin is not an outsider. Besides, you still need his help, remember?" -Guricha said.

"He's right. He's one of Professor Kroft's apprentices. If anyone knows how to remedy your situation, it's him!" -Dodoria encouraged, sitting by her side.

After listening to her friends' arguments, the black-robed Nyssa hesitated for a while before she gradually took off her cloak as she stood up.

Leylin covered his mouth, his eyes wide. He seemed extremely shocked. He was a good actor.

Scars littered Nyssa's face, and there were even signs of stitches. She had the snout of a pig, her head was bald, she was missing an ear, and had coarsely spaced teeth. A thick, repulsive yellow fluid continuously leaked out of her mouth and face. Her facial features looked like they had been messed up by someone and then put back together.

Looking at her appearance, Leylin reminisced about how he used to stitch up the people he experimented with. He never did it with care or surgical techniques, and most of his victims died of complications after he dumped them while they still breathed. He smiled whenever the newscast announced that they had found yet another mangled corpse on the sidewalk of one of his country's cities. His methods of killing were quite diverse though, and the police believed that there was a serial-killer epidemic going on. Little did they know it was all the handy job of one man. Furthermore, at the time of his death, he had only been indicted with less than 5% of his total victims.

'As I expected. This pathetic lump of flesh and bone has gotten herself fucked up by an experiment. Looks like I came right on time for them to entertain me with her suffering.' -Leylin thought with a mental grin.

"By the Heavens, Nyssa! What is going on exactly?!" -Leylin's face darkened.

"Do you still remember that when we were choosing our mentors, some of them had additional conditions? This is the result of that horrendous trap!" -Guricha pronounced with a somber expression.

"You mean to say, aiding in experiments?" -Leylin had a dismayed look. By the reactions he got from the teens, they had bought it.

"That's right... We didn't have any magic crystals, so the choice of our mentors was random. Nyssa was allocated to a professor who specializes in Transfiguration." -Dodoria elaborated.

"He treated Nyssa well at first. Not only did he impart her with a lot of knowledge, he even promised her 10 magic crystals a month if she participated in his experiments..." -She continued while wiping off the tears in her eyes with a handkerchief from time to time.

"Three days ago, Nyssa was poisoned by the mana radiation of a potent spell, and she has been like this ever since." -Guricha explained gloomily.

'Ah, human experimentation. My favorite part of science. I wonder when I'll be able to start my own lab...' -Leylin was enjoying the trip down memory lane brought to him by these acolytes.

"Although there are many Knights he could have experimented on, acolytes are more convenient as test subjects because they possess the highest resistance to magic spells. That is why my professor offered me to assist him in his work." -Nyssa finally opened her mouth. Her voice was hoarse with apparent old age and even carried a metallic ring to it.

[Damn, she got done good.] -Aralis pointed out with a sardonic tone.

'Her mentor is a smart man. The better the guinea pig, the better the results. That man has my respect.' -Leylin concluded.

Guricha continued: "I too have been aiding my professor in many of his experiments. *cough cough* Although there are no irreversible changes yet, a few residual effects are beginning to appear..."

'Hahaha! These poor bastards! They are all part of the same batch of disposable meatbags. Such is the tragedy of being a lowlife. This is as far as you can hope to get. To become a stepping stone for someone else with more value, or at least more grey matter.' -Leylin was trying hard not to chuckle at Guricha's revelation.

'Aralis bring a scan of that idiot's body to my holo screen.' -Leylin ordered in a cold manner which contrasted with his previous joyful attitude.

[Surely.] -The A.I. responded.

Three seconds later, an in-depth model of Guricha was projected on the corner of Leylin's line of sight. He immediately noticed some pathological symptoms in some of his organs; the lungs in particular.

'Level 1 acolytes are already capable of resisting mana radiation to some degree, so how strong would the spell need to be for an acolyte to be unable to withstand its secondary effects? Those Professors must be doing some serious testing on these fools.'

"Moreover, given that Nyssa had signed a pact with her mentor before the experiments, the academy is not willing to fund her treatment! They charge her for just setting foot inside the infirmary!" -Dodoria exclaimed as she wept.

Leylin was silent, but not because he was distraught. Rather, he confirmed that these kids were truly deserving of their fates. Believing that the academy would care for some no-name scum? That level of stupidity was bordering on craziness.

Many low-grade acolytes with no magic crystals could only be assigned to different professors randomly. If their luck was good, they would meet professors like Kroft. If their luck was bad and they were to meet with professors who liked to experiment on humans, then they could only blame themselves for being unfortunate.

Additionally, many of the acolytes could not resist the promises and temptations from their mentors and would cooperate with them for experiments, so even outcomes like death were a possibility. A few acolytes would die from experiments in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy each year. In comparison, Nyssa who was able to keep her life was significantly luckier than those who had died.

"Then, why did you seek my aid? If you want me to cure her, then I'm afraid I can't be of any help. Most I could do is give you some medication for the pain." -Leylin said honestly. The damage was done, and only a full-fledged Magus would have a real chance to do something about it.

"We don't have such intentions. We just need you to take a close look at her. To determine if there is still hope for Nyssa to recover her original appearance." -Dodoria hurriedly shook her hands.

"It is well within my power to do so, but it will cost you." -Leylin nodded his head. After all, he already knew the answer. Still, he was willing to play the role of a professional alchemist and pretend to examine the abomination formerly known as a girl.

"S-Sure, we can pay you! As long as it is not too expensive..." -Guricha told with a worried expression.

"Please! We are friends, are we not? Let's talk about money later. First things first." -Leylin flashed them a reassuring smile as he approached Nyssa.

"Do you mind if I have a look?" -Leylin asked the afflicted teen.

"Go ahead..." -Nyssa's voice was extremely soft, almost inaudible.

Leylin picked up Nyssa's palm. Every finger was thicker than a carrot, looked purple, and there were disgusting rings of folded skin. What used to be the dainty white fingers of a lady, had turned into this. Under his mask, Leylin considered that she ought to be done with it and just commit suicide.

Leylin pressed the back of Nyssa's hands: "Do you feel anything?"

"No..."

Leylin silently appraised her tissue, taking out a surgical knife from his trusty satchel.

The tip of the gleaming knife was placed on the surface of her palm and pushed into the skin lightly, but it didn't manage to cut through the skin.

Leylin's brows furrowed and he applied more pressure on his hands, using all of his strength as a Knight to push down the tip of the blade. The surgical knife finally pierced Nyssa's skin, and a drop of yellow material flowed out.

Leylin hurriedly took out a test tube and stored that drop of pus.

After dabbing a pink liquid on it, the wound on Nyssa's hand rapidly healed. Then he washed her entire body with it, regardless of her robes. 10 seconds later, there wasn't a single scar to be seen and the swelling had diminished considerably, much to Nyssa's and her friends' relief.

"Qiadarmo – Xurado" -With the incantation, a gust of wind suddenly swept into the room and formed a small whirlwind.

A black mist rose unceasingly as it consolidated into a vague, humanoid shadow in front of Leylin.

Guricha and Dodoria were startled, and even Nyssa retreated several steps back.

'I never thought that he would already be at this level after only 1 year or so. Could there really be no way to remedy the difference between aptitudes?' -Guricha looked at Leylin with a complex expression while he was casting the spell.

Leylin did not pay attention to Guricha's reaction in the slightest. Right now, his thoughts were all on the summon that was right in front of him.

"For you." -Leylin spoke in the Byron language and handed over the test tube containing the yellow fluid from Nyssa over to the shadow.

The shadow's eyes glowed red. As it did not have any hands, it directly bit the test tube with its mouth. The test tube broke and the black shadow swallowed the yellow liquid into its stomach.

When the yellow fluid entered its body, the black shadow seemed to destabilize. It roared loudly, and a bit of sweat formed on Leylin's forehead.

"Krin – Sidamoersi!" -As Leylin continued to chant, he took several dark-green rocks from his pouch and tossed them towards the shadow.

After about 3 to 4 minutes, the black shadow stopped rampaging and spoke to Leylin in several obscure words.

Guricha and the others listened closely, but this language was very unfamiliar to them. It was definitely not the Byron language.

Ever since ancient times, many Magi organizations had invented their own unique language for incantations and spells after centuries of research, so to learn them all was just a pipe-dream.

The black shadow continued to howl and then disappeared after one final roar.

Looking at the disappearing black shadow, Leylin could not help but heave a sigh of fake comfort.

"How was it? Is there any hope left?" -Nyssa asked. As it was her own problem, she was the most concerned about it.

"I am sorry to say this, but your constitution has already been completely transformed. There is a huge amount of polluted energy circulating in your body. If not for the fact that you were an acolyte, you would have died long ago..." -Leylin shook his head.

After listening to Leylin's assessment, Nyssa's eyes dimmed and she retreated several steps and sat down on the bed again.

"However, it's not like there are no solutions at all." -Leylin continued, bringing his pitch slightly higher to deliver the impression that he had the solution to her problem.

"What means are there? No matter what the conditions are, I will definitely do my best for Nyssa!"-Dodoria clenched her fists.

"Yes, we can think of a way together. Then we'll be able to remedy it eventually!" -Guricha cheered on, rendering Leylin somewhat speechless.

'It is fitting that such worthless lowlifes stick together. Perhaps in their own company, they may feel better about themselves and not cause too much trouble.'

"The first method is for Nyssa to advance to an official Magus. Magi can use the constant mana radiation they emit as well as their Spiritual Force to change the way they look. As long as she gets there, she will definitely be able to revert back into her original appearance." -Leylin said slowly for them to digest his words.

This kind of remodeling of the physique through mana radiation required fine-tuning of oneself. There was no room for other Magi to help; there would be a huge backlash if they tried.

"An official Magus? But I am only a level 1 acolyte right now!" -Nyssa's eyes flashed for a brief instant, but it dulled almost immediately.

"That is too difficult... What other methods are there?" -Dodoria bid in anguish.

"There is only one more method I can think of, which is to use the Harmonious Aqua Regia Potion. It can cleanse Nyssa's body of the pollutants, after which it would be much easier to remodel her appearance." -Leylin introduced the second method.

"Harmonious Aqua Regia Potion? Heavens! Isn't that a potion used by Magi? One potion is worth at least 1000 magic crystals!" -Guricha's eyes almost popped out from his sockets.

"That's right. The pollutant in Nyssa's body is rather severe. Only a Magus-level potion that can remove mana radiation will be capable of healing her condition." -Leylin said definitively.

"These are the only two methods that I can think of, but I will inform you if I find anything else." -Leylin said with a warm smile. In fact, Leylin believed that even Kroft would not be able to come up with a better idea.

"An official Magus? 1000 magic crystals? I will get through this, no matter what!" -Nyssa's eyes filled with resolve as she clenched her fists.

'I'd like to see you try, pathetic wretch. Although, it is in my best interest that you do. I am the one who helped you after all...' -Leylin smirked darkly under his mask.

"My sincere apologies for not being able to do anything else for you, Nyssa. Please accept these potions, they are like the one I used on you before. They will reduce the pain and prevent that pus from leaking out your pores and mouth. Now you can at least go out of your room." -Leylin gave a small bow and took out three more potions from his satchel.

"Leylin! I... I don't know how to repay you! You've done so much for me!" -Nyssa exclaimed, as she jumped from the bed in excitement. Thanks to Leylin, she had recovered both mentally and physically.

"As I mentioned earlier, private consultations and my special-brewed potions have a cost. With that said, I am willing to let you pay me over time. Would 5 magic crystals a week for two months be reasonable for you?" -Leylin offered with a smile.

"You are truly generous! I can see why everyone on Death Beach Camp spoke highly of you, brother Leylin! Please, accept these as part of the payment." -Guricha said with tears in his eyes, as he took out a brown sack containing about 10 crystals.

"Don't mind if I do. Please, take care. And if you need any more potions, don't hesitate to look for me in my dorm. I am available for any consultation 24 hours a day. I will be off then, good night." -Leylin did one of his trademark nobleman bows as he went outside, leaving behind a group of smiling teens.

'HAHA! The look on their faces! It is so gratifying to sucker magic crystals out of the miserable and less fortunate... The more that monster uses my potion, the quicker the effect will pass since her mutated tissue adapts too fast to any medicine. I will be showered by their magic crystals before I know it...'

[Plus you have their absolute trust and devotion now.] -Aralis commented.

'All in all, it was a profitable and fun detour. Now, let's go.' -Leylin said, as he calmly walked the halls of Abyssal Bone Forest.