Bad Born Blood - Chapter 5



Only Noblemtl

005

Force users have left a lot of changes for me.

My back, which had been caught in the explosion, was a total mess. My pelvis and hip joints, damaged by the high-speed maneuver, were black and necrotic.

For a poor lower class, it was a serious injury. Artificial skin made of synthetic fibers, medical alloys that could replace bones… … These alone were not cheap. If I had not been a guard cadet, I doubt I would be able to pay it back even if I worked my whole life. For an injury of this magnitude, a lower class family would give up on treatment and ask for euthanasia.

Fortunately, as an orphan, I had the strong support of the guards instead of a lower-class family. By the time I woke up three or four times under anesthesia, the surgery was over.

“hmm.”

I turned around and looked in the mirror. The artificial skin was neatly attached to my back. Only the seams looked like a crooked map.

‘The doctor said that once the implantation is complete, the stitches will no longer be visible.’

It was obvious that they had put a lot of effort into making it look this clean, even though it wasn’t necessary.

Creak.

I reached out to the table and brought up a holographic map of my body. The joints and bones, replaced with metal, glowed blue. It looked like it could last a hundred years.

‘Anyway… I’m going to throw this away.’

In a few years, I will have a complete body. The biological body that I was born with is like a baby. I can use it appropriately and then throw it away. If I have used it worthily like this, it is the best.

‘Anyway, I saved my life.’

I sat up in bed with a small sigh, the Force user’s fate playing out over and over in my head.

‘The Force user struck last. He didn’t kill me.’

No matter how many times I thought about it, the conclusion was the same. The Force user saved me. He looked at my face closely, smiled bitterly, and took his hand away.

‘I also tried to save the Corin boy, but that was because he was a non-combatant who couldn’t kill me.’

It was hard to forget the last words the Force user uttered. He called me young.

‘I am already a warrior and a soldier. If you saved my life because I am young… … you are a fool.’

I was annoyed. If only there was a way to revive him and fight him again.

‘I was saved thanks to Coraine’s pitiful mercy.’

I didn’t want to admit it. But like it or not, it’s the truth. The unchanging truth.

I don’t believe in the afterlife, but if there is one, I hope it’s watching me.

‘I will kill more Corinthians in the future. You will regret it even in the afterlife when you see your compatriots dying by my hand.’

That was my revenge on him. I won’t make the same mistake he did.

* * *

I spent a whole month running and walking in a water tank filled with microcurrent healing liquid. Even though I felt completely better, the doctor did not give me a certificate of recovery.

Another month has passed like that. The healing liquid in the water tank is blue. A depressingly pale blue at that!

What’s more, the texture was unpleasantly sticky. Walking and running in it for several hours a day seemed like driving me crazy.

I thought I’d rather be stabbed and shot. I’ve been a rat on a wheel for the past two months.

“You need psychiatric counseling.”

I said, looking at the captain of the guard beyond the holographic screen. He looked puzzled.

-Do you have any trauma from the injury? I don’t think you’re that type of person… … .

“No. It’s not because of the battle.”

I shook my head quickly. I shouldn’t be contacting the captain of the guard about something like this, when I’m just a cadet. But I was that desperate.

“If you stay here one more day… … I think I’ll grab the doctor’s head and throw it in the water tank. I’m not joking.”

As soon as he heard what I said, the captain of the guard burst into laughter. After laughing for a while, he said to me.

-I guess you don’t need psychiatric counseling. You’re completely normal.

The next day, a guard came out to meet me. The doctor in charge of my rehabilitation looked dissatisfied, but signed the paperwork the guard handed me.

From the guard’s uniform, it was obvious from a distance that he was a guard. The overcoat, made of black outer fabric and red inner lining, swayed heavily as if dragging on the floor. On the chest was a golden embroidery of a sword design.

Towering.

The guard who had left the hospital stopped walking. He looked down at me. I saw his shoulders and arms moving.

What was coming has come.

puck!

The guard’s heavy fist slammed into my stomach. I arched my back and groaned. My insides felt like they were being twisted.

“You know why I was right, right?”

The guard’s pupils glowed red.

“I did something presumptuous.”

I could barely get the words out. The shock was so intense that I couldn’t breathe.

“I’m glad you know. If you said you didn’t know, I would have beaten you up and sent you back to the hospital.”

A mere cadet asked the captain of the guard for a personal favor. I made no excuses. In fact, there was nothing to make excuses for. It was something I thought was right.

“……thank you.”

I placed my hands behind my back and stood upright, defenseless. I was going to get hit more if I got hit.

The guard who saw my attitude smiled with the corners of his mouth twitching.

“You should definitely become a guard, Luca. You’d be fun to train.”

The guard put his hand on my shoulder and said,

* * *

It’s been two days since I returned to the training camp. I started to feel better after moving my body around.

“How do you feel about going to the afterlife?”

Ilay said, holding a 100-kilogram dumbbell in one hand. Many cadets gathered at the gym during their free time.

“You’re talking about someone else. You almost died too.”

I answered while doing push-ups while standing upside down. I had been caught in the Illido Force blast and was seriously injured.

I jumped on my arms, maintaining my precarious balance. I landed lightly after spinning in the air. Fortunately, my athletic ability hadn’t rusted even after a couple of months of rest. I was able to return to training right away.

Even in cybernetic bodies with fixed output, training was important. It was not about muscle development, but about the development and coordination of the nervous system.

If an untrained civilian were to use a full-body combat suit, they would not only fail to perform well, but would also be unable to control their bodies properly. They would not even be able to defeat me in my bare body. If their minds cannot handle it, their bodies will simply run wild.

In particular, we chemically treated our nervous systems to prepare for the future Legion of Armored Soldiers, and we even repeated high-intensity training every single day.

“… … The captain must have known there was a force user there. He was testing us without telling us.”

Ilay said. He extended his fist while holding the dumbbell. His arm gradually became faster and he punched the hundred-kilogram dumbbell. The motor sound from his cybernetic prosthetic arm was loud.

“Since there were no casualties, that’s fine. Come up, Ilay.”

I said calmly and went up to the fighting platform.

“Luka, my arm was completely destroyed this time, so I had to replace it with a better one. Can you handle it?”

“Oh, you talk too much. Didn’t you change your tongue instead of your arm?”

I provoked Ilay by snapping my index finger. Ilay threw the dumbbell away and lightly climbed onto the fighting platform.

“Luka, don’t you think it’s a little strange that there are no deaths?”

Ilay said, taking a fighting stance in front of me.

“It sounds like you want there to be deaths?”

I responded with a light fist. Ilay easily avoided it by tilting her head back.

Whoosh!

We extended our fists and feet one after another. We were slow enough to avoid each other. Slow is a relative concept, of course. If we hit properly, it would be with enough force and speed to break bones.

“That’s not it. That Force user could have killed me. He intentionally created the Force blast from a distance. That’s why I survived. And so did the other cadets who were hit by the blast.”

As soon as I heard Ilay’s words, I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. How much of a pushover was that Force user? He didn’t want to kill us, he just wanted to subdue us.

‘So it’s in my hands!’

I increased the speed of my fist, filled with anger. Ilay also reacted quickly and knocked my fist aside.

“Hey, are you planning on smashing my face?”

Ilay grumbled at the sudden acceleration.

“I’ve always wanted to crush that show-off face.”

“I raised a tiger cub.”

There was composure in Ilay’s faint smile.

“Oh my, who raised whom? It’s time to go for real, Illei.”

I stopped moving and took a deep breath. I visualized the bandwidth of my nervous system increasing. Electrical signals and chemicals raced along the expanded nervous system. My brain and body were actively exchanging signals.

My pupils could even see Ilay’s pores. I could even hear his heartbeat in my ears. My sense of smell was so sensitive that I thought I could even guess what Ilay ate that morning.

Illei had also completed her physical activation. His eyes, which held a soft light, seemed to penetrate even my stomach.

The sound of the gym stopped. The other cadets also came out to watch Ilay and I’s match.

My hands and feet moved quickly. I used my senses to dodge and strike Ilay’s attacks. Ilay did the same. The offense and defense were switched so quickly that I couldn’t even tell who was in control.

Kkieeee-.

A sound that only I could hear echoed from my limbs. As I began the high-speed battle, my body was quickly reaching its limits. My movements were subtly slowing down. At this point, I had to either stop or decide the outcome.

‘I see you replaced your arm with a better one, Iley.’

Ilay’s arm was still maintaining its speed. I unfurled my outstretched fist and tried to grab Ilay’s arm.

Kick!

My fingertips caught Ilay’s arm. I pulled Ilay’s arm, knocking the guy off balance.

It’s a success. Ilay was shaken. The gap was only for a moment, but it was a time of abundance for me.

Bam!

I kicked Ilay’s feet and escaped sideways.

thud!

Ilay looked at me as she fell over. I waved my hand, which was starting to smoke.

There were low gasps and exclamations of admiration from the cadets watching. Everyone knew that I had turned the unfavorable situation around with my wit.

“I thought I would win this time… … .”

Ilay laughed breathlessly. I always had the upper hand in martial arts.

“If we can easily become stronger by putting on better parts, why would we go through all this trouble?”

I said, reaching out to the fallen Ilay.

Ilay, who had been holding my hand, stood up and stared at me intently. His steady smile faltered slightly.

Ilay opened her mouth cautiously.

“Luka, at that time you… … .”

Illei felt the gaze of the other cadets and trailed off. I felt like I knew what was going on without even hearing the rest. Instead, I wondered why he was asking now.

‘You must be wondering why I tried to pass over that Corin boy without killing him…’

Thanks to Ilay, I was able to cover up my mistake. Instead of my sword, Ilay’s bullet pierced the head of the boy Corin. I still remember that moment clearly.

“It was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

I answered quickly.

After hearing what I said, Ilay narrowed her eyes and smiled fakely. After becoming close to him, I felt like I could understand his emotions to some extent.

… … Perhaps Ilay didn’t want to hear such a stereotypical answer. He was still an inscrutable guy.