Chapter 652: Researching Disease - 652
Skymender sat down and began to read deeply, doing his very best to memorize every piece of information. If necessary, he would read it twice or even three times.
As he went deeper into the book, the information got less detailed. Eventually, there would be at most five pieces of information.
Yet, as he got to the back, everything got a little creepy. It would speak of tiny snakes that burrowed into skin and parasitized the human, turning them into a walking, breathing sack of eggs.
There were also snakes said to live on blood, residing under houses within large cities. The book seemed to turn into some sort of mythical keepsake of legendary beasts. Nearing the end, with only a few pages left, there were a few pages with giant snakes.
One was called a titanoboa. It was far bigger than a human, and lived deep in the wild where humans had barely explored.
It was known to have killed even seasoned hunters. Only Sword Masters dared to venture into its territory. It would be a legend, had not a Sword Master from hundreds of years ago brought one's head.
But not all Sword Master's returned, and other than that one, those who did returned with only stories or without finding it at all.
Of course, those Sword Master's who had died were at the lowest level, known as the 4th rank.
But even so, it showcased the incredible power of the titanoboa.
It was unknown if the titanoboa was venomous or simply extremely powerful, but to place importance on its danger, it was placed in the venomous section.
Finally, on the last page, at the very top, the words, Unconfirmed Legend were written in deep, dark ink, as if declaring it a section of its own.
An illustration of a snake lifting its head was on the page. However, on that snake's head was a mountain.
This was the mountain serpent.
Such a snake was nothing more than a myth or a legend, not fit to be in a scientific book. However, there was a single fact that made it necessary to know.
The Sword Master of the Ancient Empire, hailed as the strongest in history, had said that there was a 50% chance that it existed, based on evidence he himself had seen.
And even if it didn't exist, either something similar in size did, or some sort of natural disaster had formed suspiciously logical tracks.
Skymender closed the book.
This was actually not his first time hearing of such a creature. In fantasy books, legends were usually incorporated in some form. This was one of the ones he had seen before. In that book, it was referred to as the ancestor of snakes, but in the end, there was a footnote about the legend of the mountain serpent.
Skymender had memorized a vast portion of the information in the book, and in order to ensure 100% memorization, he read it twice more.
With his talent, he believed that he had memorized it all. Of course, in the Imperial Scholar Camp, everyone had similar memorization talent. It was one of the things that set them above everybody else in the world who was not invited.
Equally important was comprehension, something Skymender incorporated while memorizing the book.
Through his comprehension, everything he memorized was applied to what he already knew. He had seen many venoms that would go well with other poisonous substances.
Skymender put away the book and scrolled around for the next. He eventually found an interesting one about diseases.
It spoke about major disease outbreaks and how their effect was either diminished or removed through the use of science.
As he read through the book, he paid the most attention to a part about how a major disease just a hundred years ago was handled and how a cure was created.
It was not created by a Kingdom or Empire, but by a group of scientists unfunded and unlawful.
Seeing the disease wreak havoc, they decided to do something that would eventually get them killed, but would save millions.
They kidnapped a person infected by the disease. They kept him captured and took samples of his blood throughout the progression of the disease. They took the last sample after his death from the disease.
Afterwards, they kidnapped more and more infected people. They took from all sample subjects, men, women, children, and even animals. They were good people, and it had hurt them, but they had done it for the greater good.
Eventually, through experimentation after experimentation, they created a cure. It was through the deaths of thousands of men, women, and children that this cure was found.
The day they found it and proved its effectiveness, they knelt before their Emperor and asked for death, presenting the cure and stating their crimes.
The Emperor, reluctantly, granted them the release of death for their crimes.
However, they were respected by more than half of the Empire, and a majority of the world. The other half hated them, but even they understood their impact.
Losing a thousand to save a millions was considered a very good outcome.
Of course, what intrigued Skymender was not their actions of sacrificing the few for the many, or their courage in asking for death, but what form they managed to take out the disease in.
After numerous experiments, they managed to take the disease out of a deceased patient, turning it to liquid form. Of course, it was only a fraction of what was in the body, but it led Skymender towards a new possibility.
What if he did not stop at making poisons? Instead, what if he created diseases, plagues, and hereditary defects?
He could cripple the entire Empire of his enemy, or seriously harm his entire bloodline.
But he did not understand how a disease came to be. So, he began to research it.
Since it was related to the curing of a disease, there was a little bit of information on how diseases came to be.
Simply speaking, from what he gathered, diseases formed on the molecular level. Molecules were a theoretical existence, small enough that millions or billions formed a single eye.
This theory was gradually becoming more and more proven. Newer research showed that the molecular level was where diseases were most likely formed.
In other words, to create a disease, he would have to interact with the molecular plane.
Chapter 653: One On One Teaching - 653
In other words, it was impossible for Skymender to even begin to think about creating diseases. Well, diseases designed to his liking, that is. There was already research on how certain actions could affect the molecular plane in a way that affected diseases. Otherwise, how could a cure have ever been created?
Of course, such information could not be found here. If it could, it would have been found in the poison section.
Skymender had been experiencing many setbacks in the Imperial Scholar Camp, and this setback was one that could be solved by time and research. He just would not be able to solve it now.
Skymender moved on from the section about diseases. He continued to look at books that spoke about curing poisons. He gathered a lot of new information. Most importantly, through the books, he realized that there were various methods to cure various poisons. Some methods could only be used on one poison or a certain type of poison, while others could be used with many types of poisons.
More common methods of curing included creating a tonic, or an injection. The most ridiculous one he had seen was a method which was not even 100% fact checked. It said that to cure a certain poison, one needed to poison a cow with the same type of poison, wait until it reached the final stage of that poison, and cut it open, sitting inside of its body until it died and its corpse turned cold. Although it sounded ridiculous, Skymender had to admit that there was indeed some logic behind it.
The cow used was actually a certain type of cow that, for some reason, managed to resist the poison. However, when trying a normal method which scientists usually used for resistant creatures, the poison curing properties somehow lost their potency outside of the cow's body. Therefore, the unorthodox method was tried. Whether or not it was the reason the poisoned individual was cured or not was not 100% known, but there was a fair likelihood it was the case, hence the inclusion within the medical book.
Skymender found that such unusual things, similar to the ideas in fantasy books, managed to broaden his thoughts and open his mind to new, unthought of possibilities.
Skymender traveled around the entire medical section, reading numerous books. The sun fell, but he stayed inside. With class now over, he had no need to care about time. Of course, his meeting tomorrow was an exception. It was invaluable.
Skymender studied intensely, only occasionally looking at the clock on the wall. He was the only one left here as 5 AM rolled around. This was where his advantage began. Others would value sleep and rest, but he could continue on until he passed out. When he woke up, he could instantly continue again. He was merely ten years old, but his experiences eclipsed countless adults.
When the clock above hit 11 AM, Skymender left the library. At the same time, those who left early yesterday were once again entering. They looked at Skymender with surprise. It was impossible to hide his lack of sleep. He had been awake for more than 24 hours, closer to 28. Skymender walked to the Education building. He sat outside the door of an office. He still had a little bit less than an hour before his arranged time, but he had come early for a reason. He leaned against a nearby wall and closed his eyes. In seconds, he was asleep.
He awoke to the sound of an opening door. A student walked out, celery very thankful. The Imperial Scholar came out from behind him.
"I hope you had a good nap. It is your turn."
Skymender, much more refreshed than before, stood up and walked into the office. The Imperial Scholar sat behind a desk.
Skymender took a seat across from him.
"What do you want to discuss?" The Imperial Scholar asked.
"Can you speak about information not in the library?" Skymender asked.
"That would depend on what sort of information and who I was talking to. For example, if you would like to know how to destroy our Empire, I could not tell you. Unless you were the Emperor, that is. Another example, if you want to know how to create a poison that will wipe out an entire Empire. I could not tell you because I am not confident that I know how to create such a poison."
Skymender already knew that the Imperial Scholar knew about his research on poison. In fact, he was most likely keeping tabs on all of the students in the Imperial Scholar Camp.
"I want to know about poison recipes." Skymender said.
The Imperial Scholar leaned back in his chair. "Perhaps for others, I would withhold that information, but for one of the top three in the Imperial Scholar Camp, I suppose I can tell you a few of the nonlethal ones."
The Imperial Scholar took out a piece of paper and a writing utensil from a drawer in his desk.
"Understand that none of this information is to be shared under any circumstances. Even you would not be an exception to severe punishment." The Imperial Scholar warned.
Skymender nodded.
The Imperial Scholar began to write down on the piece of paper. It was a list of ingredients. Most of them, Skymender recognized, but others, he did not.
The Imperial Scholar began to speak. "As the Imperial Scholar, I represent the Empire's intelligence. In other words, if I am lacking in something, then it reflects on the Empire. Therefore, I made it a mission to know at least a bit of everything. Now, my at least a bit is much different from yours or anyone else's at least a bit, but you get the point. You are a genius in the art of poison, but you have yet to surpass me. Not now, at least."
The Imperial Scholar began to write directions down after the ingredients.
"You surpassing of me in poison is inevitable, but for now, there is much to teach you."
He finished writing.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
121 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment