This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Kain's heart began to beat furiously and all the surrounding sounds seemed to fade as he immediately became immersed in a feeling of panic.

'What did she just say?'

'How could she possibly know about that? Or is she bluffing?'

Kain used all of his energy to restrain his facial muscles and not give anything away.

"I wasn't completely sure before, but based on your reaction now I can be. Aric was hardly famous. If you had nothing to do with his death wouldn't the natural thing be to look confused and ask about who I'm talking about?" Serena continued while looking at the Kain's left brow that was unconsciously twitching furiously.

'Damnit!' Kain could now confirm that he had absolutely zero talent as an actor.

"Anyways I'm not going to tell anyone…I only brought it up because I suspect that whatever is affecting Bridge and the other students is similar to whatever you are contracted to."

Concerned at this revelation, Kain turned toward his brother. Maybe Eve will have an effect since she increased the resistance of the Vespirae to Bea?

Kain immediately summoned Queen, and after sensing his intentions, a green light of Light-attribute energy from her abdomen shot out and straight into Bridge.

His condition did improve momentarily, but quickly worsened again. Unlike Queen who is a host for Eve, and the guards who were modified by Eve before they were even born, there is only so much that Eve can do for an unrelated individual. Also Eve doesn't seem capable of taking a human as a host.

Even if she were to leave Queen, another suitable host would likely be the queen of a similar insect-type species.
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Bea can readily take Bridge on as a host, but doesn't have the abilities to fight off an infection. She's more of a destroyer than a healer.

"Is it contagious?" Kain asked Serena, concerned about the possibility of an epidemic starting in the college.

"I'm not sure… I managed to bring him here without getting sick myself, but others in our group gradually began to fall ill as we made our way out of the relic. It's hard to know if they caught whatever this is from another person or if they breathed in any of that gas the initial flower sprayed out." Kain nodded before rolling Bridge into the observation area just to be safe.

It's set up to prevent the spread of even poisonous gases from escaping so it should be effective at preventing Bridge from infecting others.

However, Kain knew that although someone may not have any symptoms they could still be a carrier and looked at Serena suspiciously. 'Should I lock her in there too?'

Likely sensing the intent behind Kain's gaze, her eyes staring back at him grew even colder.

"I said that I am not infected. This family heirloom should have protected me." She said while pulling out an ancient looking enchanted necklace from underneath the collar of her shirt. It had dozens of sigils carved into the surprisingly delicate and thin chain. There were also several stones carved with sigils dangling from necklace like charms.

One of the stones, a mix of green and yellow was slightly glowing.

The appearance of the necklace on Serena reconfirmed Kain's belief that long ago there must have been the presence of spiritual creatures that were microorganisms. Otherwise, why would a family as old and powerful as the Storm family have bothered to add protective sigils against them unless they knew that they existed.

Kain couldn't help but stare concernedly at Bridge.

When Bridge was next to him, he'd attempted to insert his spiritual power to see if there was anything he could contract with. Although there was a faint pull, he knew that there was nothing contractable. Similar to the dead egg that had initially drawn him to the eastern region. Could whatever have infected that egg also have escaped from this relic earlier?

He suspected that whatever was infecting Bridge and had infected that egg were just splits, similar to Bea's splits. Which was why, although Kain could feel a faint pull, he was unable to form a contract.

Likely Kain would need to enter the relic for himself and control the original body behind this infection in order to heal Bridge and the others.

Kain shared his theory with Serena.

"Hmmm… since the danger in the relic is clearly higher than predicted, they won't let students re-enter the relic easily. However, they can't risk having whatever is causing the sickness escaping. Not to mention that this relic re-appearing is likely what had been draining the life from the surrounding vegetation in the wilderness.

For whatever reason, the sigils concealing the relic seem to be weakening and so to refuel it was probably sucking energy from wherever it could. Therefore, whether it is to reduce the things from within from escaping or causing further harm to the wilderness, the college will probably send an expedition in to control the relic…

"Although many of the professors may not know what's within it, the college has a long history and access to a wealth of information. By now those at the level of the Dean and above have probably already gotten artifacts from the warehouse that can prevent infection to equip the next batch of entrants.

They'll probably be more strict with who they let enter now, but they are limited in who they can send since most professors are too powerful to enter. If you can prove that you're immune they may let you join the second expedition despite being a first-year.

"For now, all we can do is wait for the next notification that they are recruiting entrants to help control the relic."

Kain nodded in understanding while continuing to stare at Bridge through the glass wall in concern. He had never felt so helpless in this lifetime. Despite having an affinity that should be able to help Bridge, none of them were specialized in healing infections.

Considering most microorganisms outside of the relic aren't even dangerous, Kain had never even tried to find a contract with such a purpose.

'Don't worry brother. I swear that I'll make sure that you get better…'