Chapter 138: Chapter 126: Initial Embrace
“You’re doing this for freedom, for revenge, or maybe… you’re just enjoying the pleasure of being an enemy of the world?”
At that instant, Siflin felt as if she saw a perverse glint in Ash’s jet-black eyes. That kind of look, she had only seen in her teacher’s eyes before—it was a look that longed to see the world burn.
However, Ash quickly put on his familiar teasing smile, which made Siflin doubt whether she had seen it wrongly.
“I just want to be able to pick my ears whenever and wherever.” He shrugged and chuckled. “Not having to make a special trip to the restroom just to pick my ears or pick my nose.”
“Moreover, being exploited and not making any money, this is far beyond the bottom line for a working person. Every time I think about this, I get so depressed that my hormones are imbalanced and my endocrine system fails.”
“Is it worth dying for this kind of thing?” Siflin asked.
...
“It’s not worth it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll die.” Ash smiled. “As long as I leave the Kingdom of Blood Moon, I can naturally start a new life.”
“Leave?” Siflin was stunned. “Where do you want to go? How will you leave?”
“Don’t know yet, got any good recommendations?”
“Of course! I’ve read about many other realms in books. I most want to go to the Monster Kingdom established within the Abyss, followed by the ethereal realm where all souls have eternal life, and then there’s the Star Cluster realm that controls the skies…”
Ash waved his hand, “No, I was actually hoping you could recommend a way to leave Blood Moon.”
“How would I know how to leave Blood Moon… Each realm is a completely closed world, where is there a regular method of travel between two realms? If there was, they would have fought and become one realm long ago.” Siflin was somewhat speechless. “You don’t even know how to leave, and you want to leave Blood Moon? You should stop, Ash. Blood Frenzy Hunters hit very hard.”
“But I am certain I can leave Blood Moon.”
“I’m now very skeptical about what you just said ‘I am the only normal person in the team.’ With no hope in sight, what kind of miracle are you expecting?”
Ash thought for a moment and said, “Although it sounds a bit far-fetched as evidence, I learned from Fate Q&A that I will leave Blood Moon in the future.”
“Fate Q&A? Really?”
“Really.”
“Damn, how could such good fortune fall on you!”
Ash blinked, “[222], I’m breaking out of jail now, not going on a vacation.”
“But I’m still so envious!” Siflin said sourly, “For us… Medical Practitioners, our future lives are determined early on, only allowed to live under the glory of Blood Moon. Everything is regulated, and life is filled with lines you can’t cross.”
She spoke despondently, “Other than Void Realm Exploration and performing surgeries, there’s no passion in my future. It’s like a slowly-stagnating and festering dead pond.”
“Then, do you want to go with me?” Ash smiled. “We’re currently in need of a Medical Practitioner.”
Siflin couldn’t remember how many times Ash’s words had stunned her.
“Are you serious?”
“Of course, I’m not inviting you to go to the restroom together; this is a jailbreak, not something to joke about.”
“Joke? I’m a Medical Practitioner with a bright future… Why would I want to live a fugitive life where I can’t guarantee the next morning?”
“Why are you asking me?” Ash spread his hands. “I’m just giving you a choice as a friend. You should be asking yourself—do you want to abandon your current life and go with me?”
Siflin hurriedly retorted, “What friend… That’s right! All the reasons you gave last time for borrowing my Medical Practitioner uniform, were you planning to use it to break out of jail?”
“Yeah.”
“Then what are you talking about friends for, you’re clearly using me!”
“Being a friend and using you are not conflicting. Although I hope you join my team, I also hope you can live the life you want. Working in a place you like is called living; working in a place you dislike, that’s punishment.”
“It’s inevitable to be selfish, but I am not so selfish as to think that others are selfless, so I won’t tell you the nonsense like ‘trust me’ that even a Swindler would be too lazy to say.”
Ash extended his hand towards Siflin. “I’ll just ask you, ‘Do you want to go with me?'”
Thud.
Her stagnant heart seemed to beat, and the cold blood seemed to warm up. Siflin, born in a top-tier foster home, raised with strict quality education, becoming a member of the Blood Saint Clan before graduating without ever breaking any rules or laws, encountered this kind of radical and audacious invitation for the first time.
It was like a fish living in a pond being asked by a passing bird if it wanted to go along.
“…I don’t want to.”
“What a pity.”
Ash hadn’t expected to lure away a Medical Practitioner with just a few words. He walked over and picked up the ogre mayor. “Then I’ll see you next time, [222].”
Siflin suddenly felt an urge to reveal her true name to him, but she held back. “Will there be a next time? Even if there is, you definitely won’t recognize me.”
“Then you’ll have to remind me.” Ash said with a smile, “Next time, I’ll share with you stories from outside the Kingdom of Blood Moon, look forward to it.”
“Wait.”
Ash stopped and looked at Siflin curiously. Siflin froze; she didn’t know what she wanted to say—was she going to advise him to surrender and confess? To stay and wait for death?
After a moment of silence, she turned away and said in a low voice, “If, if there’s a way for you to wash away your sins, and even leave Shattered Lake to start a new life, living openly in the Kingdom of Blood Moon, would you want that?”
There indeed was a way to exonerate a Cult Leader guilty of heinous crimes.
It was becoming a Blood Saint Moon Shadow.
The crimes of the Blood Moon Clan were not processed through normal judicial procedures but were handled solely by the Church and the research institutions. If a criminal became part of the Blood Saint Clan, they must be handed over to the research institutions, whose most common punishment for their people was house arrest and mandatory labor, usually measured in ‘centuries’—but indeed they would not execute their own kin.
But whether as a Blood Saint or as a Moon Shadow, the process of race transformation was a complicated affair, one that would certainly not suit a death row inmate in prison, unless…
Unless it was done through the most primitive way of reproducing their kind, through an Initial Embrace ritual.
But aside from the strong willingness of the Blood Saint Clan themselves, there were also certain requirements for the one to be embraced, which was that the embraced needed to fall in love—
Suddenly, Siflin realized a problem.
Why did she want to keep Ash around, even willing to perform the Initial Embrace on him? Because she didn’t want Ash to leave, she wanted him to stay.
Fish in a pond wouldn’t follow a bird and leave but would drag the bird into the pond, hoping the bird would also become a fish.
The Initial Embrace ritual, did it really require the embraced to fall in love with a member of the Blood Saint Clan?
In many procedures for technological augmentations on creatures, there were instances where the subject’s personality changed due to the implantation. Mechanical augmentations could reduce physical desires, turning the focus to spiritual satisfaction; Abyssal augmentations heightened the desire for destruction, making one more irritable and aggressive; Eagle implants made the subject develop a taste for insect cuisine…
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Not all members of the Blood Saint Clan were Spirit Mages; how could they possibly know the true feelings of those they embraced?
They only thought that ‘the embraced had fallen in love with them.’
Perhaps that was not a prerequisite for the ritual, but a result of it.
‘The Initial Embrace,’ the name might have simply meant a first hug. The true nature of the Initial Embrace ritual might be even more romantic—and more cruel—than the records suggested.
“I’m not willing.”
Siflin looked at Ash; Ash shrugged, “Although I’m not sure what method you’re talking about, I probably won’t be willing to go through with it.”
“Why?”
“I might not be fair to judge prematurely, but based on what I’ve gathered in prison, I feel that the Kingdom of Blood Moon outside might just be a larger version of Shattered Lake.” Ash sighed, “I don’t think of myself as some freedom-fighting terrorist, but I feel like I’d be suffocating out there.”
“It’s not that Blood Moon can’t accommodate me, it’s that I can’t accommodate Blood Moon.”
“That’s quite the bold statement,” Siflin said with a faint smile. “You’re truly worthy of the title of Cult Leader.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, I suppose. Sorry to disappoint your kindness.”
“It’s fine. I regretted saying it as soon as I did. Lucky you don’t agree.” Siflin waved her hand, “Until next time, Ash Heath.”
At that moment, Ash suddenly remembered something, “Speaking of which, I still don’t know your name.”
“By telling you my name, I would be breaking the rules. You claim not to be a Cult Leader, yet you’re tempting me into crime before you leave?”
“Fair enough, but it feels wrong to part like this, at least let’s shake hands.”
Ash dismissed the ogre to one side and reached out his right hand towards Siflin.
“Although it’s probably insignificant to you,” Ash said earnestly, “I’m very grateful that you’ve pulled me back from death every time. I’ve felt several times as if a crowd of people were commenting on how unimpressive my deaths were…”
“That might be a sign of a developing schizophrenia. I recommend you get a new brain.”
“Each of your remarks refreshes my understanding of biological technology…”
Siflin looked at Ash’s hand and suddenly felt an urge. She walked over and embraced Ash.
In the moment of Ash’s astonishment, she let go and stepped back, murmuring, “It’s not that simple after all… Alright, the parting ceremony is over. You better leave now.”
“Eh? This? [222]Are you really a woman…”
“Got a problem with it? The more you guess, the closer I am to committing a crime.”
“Absolutely no objections. And to keep the memory of that touch, I’ve decided never to bathe again—”
“Get out of here already!”
Watching Ash leave the medical room, holding Fernand, Siflin felt inexplicably downhearted, with a feeling of emptiness in her heart.
She shook her head to dismiss the silly thoughts and turned to go back to the resting lounge.
It was just a trivial interlude in her millennia of existence. She could never accept Ash’s invitation; her lineage, her spirit, her mission didn’t allow it.
For she was Siflin Gwyn, the most talented of her kind in a thousand years.
Just as she was about to turn the doorknob on the side door, she heard a heart beating loudly.
But it wasn’t her own heart.
It was coming from below the prison, from the depths of Shattered Lake, guarded by the shark sentinels around the Black Coffin tomb!
“…Junior… does your… Blood Lock… need help…?”
Siflin didn’t push the door open. She stared at the reflective, near-mirror-like black surface of the door in front of her.
She saw her own blood-red eyes smeared black.
They looked like the eyes of an ordinary person, like the eyes of Ash Heath.
“No need. Continue to sleep.”
The sound of the heartbeat grew softer, gradually disappearing into the waves of Shattered Lake.
Siflin opened the door and returned to the Medical Practitioner’s resting lounge.