High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2715 - 936: Unwillingness

"Most people’s first impression of this painting is ’fragmentation.’This feeling stems from that vertical line in the painting; it decisively cuts through the entire piece, presenting opposing forces on either side of the artwork, like the Yin and Yang Fish, full of duality within its wholeness, from light to darkness, from survival to death... This is also the author’s intended expression, aiming to evoke a sense of inherent contradiction rooted in everyone’s heart..."

Thomas was fervently analyzing ’The Swan.’

Zheng Qing let out a heavy yawn.

He didn’t have much of an artistic inclination, especially toward abstract art. Moreover, the painting’s author was a mystic he deeply revered as taboo—it’s no exaggeration to say that the only reason Zheng Qing was here at this moment was that he had been tied up.

"Why don’t you just tell me, Gan Ning and the others, why they joined the Ravens?" The young experimental subject couldn’t help but interrupt the lab owner’s ramble.

He had never known that Thomas had such an interest.

Or perhaps Thomas was simply trying to show off like a peacock in front of Nikita.

The wizard in a white robe cast a reproachful glance at the person tied to the platform, put away the second full blood bag, and finally, mercifully, sped up the process slightly.

Including both the experimental and conversational progress.

"Like last time, I will take a small piece of flesh from your arm. In addition, I will take a piece of skin from the inside of your thigh and your appendix."

The cold scalpel accompanied the sudden shift in conversation, sending a shiver through Zheng Qing.

The good news was that the extent of the incision sounded much lighter than Zheng Qing had anticipated.

The bad news was he lacked the power to refuse.

"Won’t we take a break?"

As an experimental subject, Zheng Qing’s sense of awareness was much stronger than many monkeys or lab mice. He earnestly gave Thomas a glance: "I was just drained of seven or eight hundred milliliters of plasma, wasn’t I? Wouldn’t it be better to let me rest a little? Aren’t you worried I might suddenly die on the experiment table?"

Thomas pressed his fingertips against Zheng Qing’s body.

"Don’t worry, your regeneration ability is better than I expected."

He calmly refused the boy’s request and added: "Also, we are limited on time... If possible, I’d like this evening’s mishap to end quietly... Don’t worry about my skills. Students from Starry Sky Academy always have a better grasp of human anatomy than those from other academies, and coincidentally, I’ve won the school’s anatomy skills competition gold prize."

Zheng Qing tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He felt no comfort.

"...We can continue the earlier topic, as your focus on the principles I am describing can easily overlook other ’disturbances’ from the outside."

The lab owner thoughtfully gave the reclining boy a small suggestion, and before he could respond, continued the previous topic: "—Mentioning just now the contradictory expression in ’The Swan,’ or rather the concept of unity and opposition, is a problem the wizard has been exploring since its inception. Classical wizard ethics have materialized this concept, believing that a wizard’s research can be divided into two schools: either like struggling to survive in the forest or like eking out a living in a pet garden. The former is the research method of the fallen wizard from the Land of Desolation, while the latter is the school’s teaching method.

Few people realize the relationship of unity and opposition between the two—the Ravens achieved this—and likewise, few recognize how much wisdom and courage are needed to forge a new path for a group of people with nowhere else to turn."

Hiss!

Zheng Qing took a small breath.

It wasn’t that he was struck by Thomas’ profound thoughts—this contrived binary theory he’d known since middle school politics class—but because the cold knife had just gouged into his arm.

Just as Thomas had said.

His skills were excellent, crisp and clean, in almost less than a second, a jujube-sized piece of flesh was removed from Zheng Qing’s arm. So quick that Zheng Qing’s nerves hadn’t yet transmitted the pain signal to his brain.

Yet no matter how good the skills, they cannot cover the sensation without anesthesia.

Accompanying the intense pain was a touch of coolness. As the flesh was gouged out, Thomas had already smeared a large amount of Whitening Ointment into Zheng Qing’s wound. Working with his body’s self-regeneration ability, the itch of cellular regrowth interwoven with the sharp pain of flesh gouging made Zheng Qing inexplicably long for those days of mere headaches.

He subconsciously struggled.

But could not move.

"Who is the professor?" He gritted his teeth, asking the question he cared about most, perhaps at this moment the answer could truly distract his attention.

Thomas quietly and swiftly processed the fresh red wound without even raising his head, continuing his rhythm: "—Have you ever had such a moment, when one morning you woke up from a dream, suddenly realizing your talent ’ends here,’ that you cannot progress further on the path of magic... Then, a strong sense of reluctance surges in from all directions, like a bowl of strong acid, burning the dazed you completely awake."

"No." The young cost student bluntly denied.

This answer choked the one wielding the knife.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot."

For once, a rare smile appeared on Thomas’ face: "You’ve been a cost student since entering the school and became a teaching assistant in the second year. This kind of talent naturally hasn’t reached the stage of feeling ’reluctance’ yet... But for most wizards in this world, life is not a subjective question but an objective one. Birth decides the future. Few questions have errors, requiring the answerer to write their own answers."

Zheng Qing had no mind to ponder the subtle expressions Mr. Thomas spoke.

By now, his forehead was already covered in cold sweat, slowly gathering and flowing toward his eye sockets.

"You!"

He interrupted Thomas’ voice, turning his head to shout at the little female demon not far away: "Come and wipe my sweat!"

The little female demon gave him a fierce glare.

Then, under the lab owner’s gesture, obediently brought a towel over to wipe Zheng Qing’s sweat.

"Just like you mentioned Gan Ning, your magical zoology teacher,"

Thomas continued the previous content: "He once lamented to me that if he hadn’t entered the First University, he might have lived a smooth and stable life. But it was precisely because he entered the First University that there was so much discontent. Really. Some people in this world are just born for magic. They have infinite inspiration in their minds, they have abundant magic power in their bodies, and they manage to find the simplest and most direct ways for inspiration and magic to gush forth, like a never-drying spring... Self-doubt, self-exploration, self-conclusion. Continuously absorbing theory, techniques, magic power... finally becoming monsters. Um, when I say this type of monster, I don’t mean the common type. I mean, to some degree, you are this type of monster."