My Cell Prison - Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Chapter 55 – Arrangement

“What sort of ability is this?!?”

Han Dong’s awe toward Mr. Black and White was brought up to another whole level after he saw how the crow had changed into the outfit that plague doctors wore.

Especially since this was all just from a crow’s feather that he had spat out from his mouth that first transmogrified itself into an intelligent crow, and was later able to change itself once more into an entire outfit.

At the same time, Han Dong pulled out his Plague Doctor’s Shortsword to complete the look, looking like a real medieval doctor of death.

He had taken out his Fate Weapon because he wanted to test and see if there were any special effects if he used it in such a unique setting.

“What?!”

When Han Dong lightly waved his shortsword, he discovered that the fungal spores in the air actually gathered toward it automatically, coating the blade in such a way that his next attack with the sword would increase the damage dealt.

Furthermore, it might be because Han Dong was holding a special shortsword, or it was due to the special plague doctor attire that he was wearing, but every living creature in the Old Sewers was doing all they could to avoid Han Dong.

He followed the signs that were covered in mushrooms as he was guided deeper into the sewers.

Going around in the complex sewer system, Han Dong crossed a bacteria pool that bubbled and emitted foul poisonous gas as huge spotted mushrooms grew in corners.

He continued along until he came across a metal door with a door plate that stated [Fungi and Mushroom Research Lab (Pasha Bhatt)].

Han Dong had to utilize 100% of his Ghoul arm’s strength in order to turn the hydraulic handwheel, pushing the metal door open.

After making his way through an isolation corridor and was sprayed down with a large amount of disinfectant to remove the bacteria and spores that covered the surface of his outfit, Han Dong finally made it to the office of his Lead Tutor.

It was spartan and clean. All he saw was a single desk that had various documents and pharmaceutical products on it, as well as a wooden bookcase by the wall that was filled with plenty of books and tomes related to Plague studies neatly arranged on the shelves. There were also strange spell sigils as well as drawings related to the human anatomy posted on the wall, and a wooden bed in the corner of the room.

For the moment, he had yet to spot any experimental apparatus that would be used for fungal research… Come to think of it, a laboratory should be separate from the office.

Instructor Pasha was wearing a pair of brass glasses and was presently writing something down on the wooden desk. The woman did not even turn her head over to look at Han Dong when he entered the room, merely asking with a voice of indifference, “Why did Mr. Black and White ask you to stay behind and have a one on one conversation with him?”

Han Dong gave a simple explanation of what happened. Instructor Pasha’s pen came to an abrupt stop when he mentioned the 2 week time limit that he was given, furrowing her brows as she finally turned to face him.

“What?! Two weeks?! Is he sending you to your death?” From Pasha’s personal experience, entering the Space of Destiny in the truest sense would at least take half a semester of preparation, much less a mere two weeks of education!

Instructor Pasha collected herself before continuing to speak, “I’m sure Mr. Black and White has his reasons if this is all part of his arrangement as well. We do not have much time, so let’s begin your Plague Studies today. You won’t be returning to the dormitories these two weeks, so you can stay here in my office!”

Pasha gestured over to the wooden bed in the corner.

“But… What about you, instructor?”

“I’ll sleep together with you.”

Han Dong froze, his thoughts wandering at that moment.

Pasha quickly corrected herself, “I mean I’ll be sleeping in the lounge next door while you take the bed here.”

“I see… Instructor Pasha, do you have any other apprentices under your wing?”

When asked about this, Pasha immediately coughed twice in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.

“Ahem… I have quite high demands when it comes to the apprentice I take, and quite a lot of trainees aren’t able to get used to the harsh environment of the Old Sewers. Even if they have a certain amount of talent in Plague Studies, they were unwilling to study here underground, preferring to remain within the Darkmoon Spire and stick with the other professors.”

Actually, she could have summarized everything in a simple sentence: Poor qualifications, bad environment, and high requirements… How would she be able to take in apprentices with all these factors going against her?

At this rate, Han Dong could be considered to be Pasha Bhatt’s first student, the first member in her ‘research group’.

It was around this time when Pasha caught a glimpse of the shortsword that Han Dong held in his right hand, and when she saw how the surface of the blade was covered in a layer of green energy, she revealed a look of surprise, “A Fate Weapon with the Plague attribute… Where did you get that?”

“I hope Instructor Pasha can keep this a secret for me as I have not revealed its origin and existence when I first entered the Academy… This Plague Doctor’s Shortsword is a reward from a hidden event that I completed during my first Space of Destiny.”

Pasha was well aware of what a hidden event was.

The Space of Destiny phenomenon was already fraught with danger by itself, so to discover and find the time to complete a hidden event in a dangerous setting like that would test the individual strength of anyone to the extreme. Pasha had yet to meet anyone that managed to obtain a Fate Weapon through the Novice Scenario.

“… Not too shabby.”

Pasha did her best to suppress the surprise that she was feeling inside. She had never once heard of a Trainee Knight that had been able to successfully complete a hidden event during the Novice event.

At the same time, she was beginning to understand why Mr. Black and White was paying so much attention to Han Dong.

Just like that, the two began chatting for a while, exchanging some basic details about themselves to gain a better understanding of one another.

When the discussion came to Han Dong’s understanding toward Plague Studies, Han Dong regurgitated what he knew of pathology (The study of diseases) as well as mycology (The study of fungi biology) from his previous life.

Frankly speaking, in terms of understanding the basic scientific knowledge behind single cell proteins like fungi and bacteria, Han Dong most definitely had Instructor Pasha beat… But what Han Dong wanted to learn was not the basic knowledge, but how to utilize the power known as ‘Plague’.

As such, while stating what he understood of the subject, he made sure to hold back some of the information, merely touching on some of what he knew on a superficial level.

“Mmm… You do at least know a bit, so that would save quite a bit of time,” Pasha admitted.

This continued on for a while, and just as Han Dong was about to explain the situation with his ghoul arm, the outfit he was wearing had transmogrified back into a crow and it opened its beak to emit out Mr. Black and White’s voice, who proceeded to help Han Dong explain his situation to Pasha, utilizing his position as the department head to swear Pasha to secrecy.

This also helped save Han Dong the trouble of explaining things as well.

“Okay, Mr. Black and White… But you’re only giving him two weeks’ time though?”

“That’s right. Within two weeks, ensure that Nicholas is familiar with utilizing his ghoul arm. At the same time, inculcate in him the ability to fully bring to bear the true strength of his Fate Weapon… Additionally, be sure to teach him a basic Plague Control technique as well.”

“Understood.”

After it was done speaking to Pasha, the crow turned its beady black eyes toward Han Dong.

“After some consideration, I’ve decided to leave this crow to become your protective goggles. After it’s soulbound to you, the crow’s link with me will be completely severed, so you can then gain control of it and switch between its physical crow body and the beak mask form at your prerogative.”

“Thank you, Mr. Black and White.”

The moment this exchange ended, the crow flew to rest on Han Dong’s wrist and with a shrill caw, it pricked Han Dong’s fingertip and drank the drop of blood that seeped out, establishing a permanent contact with him.

At the same time, a black feather imprint appeared on the back of Han Dong’s palm, and he was now able to control this special crow with his thoughts.

This meant that the crow had become Han Dong’s Familiar, and was no longer linked with Mr. Black and White.

It was at that moment when the somber atmosphere in the office changed all of a sudden.

Instructor Pasha, who had been sitting upright and maintaining a slight smile, suddenly revealed a strange laugh and intentionally mussed up her hair.

She retrieved a bottle of white wine from the bottom drawer of her office desk, as well as two clean wine glasses.

Casually slipping off the stilettos that she had been wearing, she then propped her feet up on the office table.

It was as if she had resumed her skiving ways now that her boss was no longer supervising their every move.

Her tongue moistened her lips, clearly eager to taste the fine wine that she had in her hand. Gone was the polite and dignified image of an instructor that she had put on earlier that complemented Pasha’s exquisite looks and svelte body, an appearance of someone who exuded huge amounts of sex appeal.

Pouring an ample glass of wine, she lifted it to Han Dong.

“Do you drink? Alcohol is the lifesaver that enabled me to live down here in the Old Sewers. I have no faith in religion, but I have faith in spirits…”