Magic Academy Mayhem: A Class Full of Maniacs - Chapter 44

The longer Cynthia thought about it, the more certain she became that this was the problem.

Griffin had put them through body-tempering exercises over the past few days, but those focused on physical strength. They had not yet touched on marrow cleansing.

Perhaps an excess of toxins had blocked the circulation of her magic, eventually creating a bottleneck she could not break.

The realization was illuminating.

However… to purge this body of toxins and impurities completely, she would need a high-grade marrow-cleansing potion.

The problem was that, among the mountain of potions in her spatial ring, not one had anything to do with marrow cleansing.

At her current level, successfully brewing a high-grade potion in the near future was the stuff of dreams.

Buying one from a potion shop in the commercial district would be prohibitively expensive. With her meager stock of points, she could not afford half a bottle, much less a full one.

A low-grade marrow-cleansing solution would have little effect. Drinking it would accomplish nothing.

Cynthia listed every obstacle, then decided to formulate a medicinal bath herself.

It certainly would not work as well as a potion, but there was at least a chance she could produce one now.

As for its effectiveness… if once was not enough, she could always do it several times.

*

The original Cynthia had been an expert in poisons. Not only had she studied all kinds of plants in depth, but her knowledge of potions was considerable.

Cynthia went into the bathroom. Following a potion formula from those memories, she crushed the high-grade spirit plants gathered on the deserted island into liquid with magic, then blended them one by one into the bathwater.

After she heated it with fire magic, the clear water turned into a cloudy, bubbling mass of viscous green.

Beneath the green, streaks of molten crimson glowed like magma.

Scalding white mist filled the bathroom. An exceptionally pungent, bloody stench spread through the air.

Cynthia added the final ingredient, a Phoenix-Fire Twin-Leaf Flower.

The instant it touched the surface, the bath swallowed it whole. Not so much as a scrap remained.

Cynthia fell silent.

Was this correct?

Truthfully, it looked less like a marrow-cleansing bath than a vat of poison capable of dissolving flesh…

After checking the formula repeatedly, Cynthia chose to trust herself.

As usual, You Xia tactfully left the dorm to give her privacy.

—

Once he was gone, Cynthia removed her clothes and stepped into the tub.

The instant her body entered the medicinal bath, blistering heat swept through her. The sticky liquid burned her flesh like open flame. Cynthia nearly leaped straight back out.

Only after silently coaxing herself for quite some time did she suppress the impulse.

The first sensation was heat—heat beyond endurance.

Mottled cracks appeared across her body in an instant. Blood surged through the fissures in her flesh like magma before disappearing into the bath.

Cynthia had a powerful premonition that this would not be pleasant.

Controlling her trembling hand, she opened her Light Screen and warned her teammates to take painkillers immediately.

She had barely sent the message when a tearing sensation that pierced her very soul struck without warning.

Cynthia lost consciousness at once and slipped helplessly into darkness.

Within minutes, the agony dragged her awake again.

It felt as if blades were slicing through her meridians one by one, while something gnawed at her flesh and organs.

It itched and hurt with an intensity sufficient to drive anyone mad.

“Cough… cough…”

Her throat felt dry and raw. After two coughs, blood poured from her mouth.

A dense rash abruptly spread over her body. Cynthia scratched by reflex, but the slightest touch tore away a piece of skin.

“…”

Bloody flesh met her eyes. Even Cynthia felt a chill crawl over her scalp.

If the blood seeping from her body had not been black-red with poison, she might have suspected she had prepared a death bath instead.

The water grew hotter. Every inch of her felt as though bone-eating ants were devouring it, the itching and pain equally unbearable.

Having learned her lesson, Cynthia no longer dared touch herself. All she could do was endure.

*

“Tick… tock…”

The bathroom was exceptionally quiet—so quiet that Cynthia could hear the clock in the sitting room.

She had no idea how much time passed. The green, viscous bath eventually turned dark red with blood.

Cracks covered Cynthia from head to toe, and blood had long since hidden her pale skin. At some point, parasitic insects had crawled over her exposed flesh. They wriggled slowly in every direction, an eerie sight.

Cynthia had expected the first cleansing to be difficult. Far too many toxins and impurities had accumulated inside her.

This was still more extreme than she had imagined.

Afraid she might actually die, she used the last of her magic to take a Saint-level healing potion from her spatial ring and drank it.

The collision of the two forces nearly knocked her unconscious again. A muffled sound of pain escaped her throat despite her efforts.

She clutched the side of the tub and forced herself to remain awake.

The only fortunate development was that, after initially repelling one another, the Saint-level potion and medicinal bath began to merge.

However… Cynthia soon found her relief rather laughable.

Their fusion did not make the experience any better.

One destroyed. The other repaired.

The pain became even worse than before.

If *a fate worse than death* was normally a figure of speech, Cynthia felt it had temporarily become an activity.

Such was her miserable lot.

—

Every minute crawled.

Over the course of seven short hours, Cynthia lost consciousness more than ten times.

Exactly how many, she could no longer remember. She knew only that she kept fainting, then waking in agony.

Not until night gave way to day and light slipped through the window to fall across her face did Cynthia realize an entire night had passed.

At some point, the drilling pain had faded.

Cynthia rose from the tub and stepped beneath the magic shower, rinsing away the blood and filth.

The cracks covering her body had completely disappeared. Perhaps because some of the toxins and impurities had been purged, her skin was smoother than before.

Cynthia pinched her cheek.

Mm. Quite soft.

Excessive pain also consumed physical strength. After washing, Cynthia threw on a nightgown, dried her wet hair, and drifted toward the bed like a ghost.

The moment her body met the cloud-soft mattress, the string that had remained taut all night finally snapped.

Cynthia fell asleep instantly.

At present, she had no desire to think. She only wanted to obey her instincts and give herself room to breathe.

*

That afternoon, Cynthia’s muddled mind finally returned to normal.

She had just brushed her teeth and washed her face when You Xia floated back from outside.

Sensing the condition of her body, he praised her sincerely. “Not bad. You finished the first step that quickly. With your ability to act, you’ll succeed at anything you attempt.”

“I hope so.” Cynthia sat on the sofa and carefully examined herself with detection magic.

The bottleneck had indeed broken. She had successfully reached six stars.

Perhaps because the toxins and impurities no longer interfered, magic from the outside world began flowing into her body automatically, even without any deliberate effort to absorb it.

The amount was minute, but it represented a qualitative change.

Not bad. The suffering had not been wasted.

As long as the reward equaled the price, Cynthia could accept anything.

She stretched, then remembered something and opened her Light Screen.

Unread messages nearly filled it.

Richter (Delicate Thing) ↓

*[My dear captain, are you facing heavenly tribulation in your dorm…?]*

*[It hurts!!!]*

*[Are you cleansing your marrow?]*

*(…12 messages omitted…)*

The final message read:

*[If you’re still alive, remember to reply.]*

Cynthia scrolled down.

Vernel: *[…What happened?]*

Eli: *[Captain, are you—? (indescribable reaction image)]*

*[Are you all right?]*

Even Sangmo, rarely one to send messages, had written:

*[Captain… should I call a healer for you?]*

After seven hours of torment, Cynthia remembered that yesterday she had only managed to warn them to take painkillers.

Feeling slightly apologetic, she replied to each of them and explained.

She also submitted yet another request in the group chat for Griffin to remove Resonance.

As expected, he ignored it.

Griffin apparently had no intention of issuing any assignments, either. Ever since the Team Competition began, he had vanished like a phantom.

He had not posted a single message in the group chat. Mysterious as ever.

Cynthia decided to ignore him in return and asked her four teammates:

*[Are you free right now?]*

All four answered.

*[Yes.]*

*[Mm.]*

Cynthia compiled a list of ingredients for the marrow-cleansing bath and sent it to the group, suggesting that they try it when they had time.

Most competitions held during the school year were team events. Individual strength was important, but they could not entirely neglect the team’s average level.

She had given them the method. Whether they accepted it was their choice.

*

As it turned out, her teammates were highly cooperative.

From that evening until the following afternoon, Cynthia once again gained a profound understanding of what it meant to share pain through Resonance…