Chapter 27: Conscious Abyss Syndrome
Shani didn’t mind that tonight’s resonance session had been canceled. It gave her time to finish the assignments from the two courses that were due tomorrow.
After sending Jeryon a message saying they could continue the resonance tomorrow morning, Shani walked over to her desk and opened the tablet built into the study desk to work on her assignments.
In the middle of her concentration, Jeryon’s reply interrupted her.
"Sorry, Shani. I have to return to the palace tonight. I’m not sure I’ll be able to come back early tomorrow."
Although she found it a bit strange that Jeryon was the one who suggested it only to back out, Shani didn’t dwell on it too much. Urgent matters could happen at any moment.
She simply replied, "Ok." Then she returned to the assignments in front of her.
Shani finished everything at nine o’clock. After uploading her work, she lay down on her bed, exhausted.
’I wonder why Jeryon had to go back to the palace. He’ll come back tomorrow, right?’ Shani thought with a hint of concern.
Her gaze shifted to the preservation vault. She had already put the bottle of milk mixed with the Energy Potions back inside.
Fortunately, the system had said the Energy Potions would remain effective for one week after being taken out of their vials.
Suddenly, Shani remembered the syndrome Jeryon suffered from. "Conscious Abyss Syndrome?"
She opened her smartwatch and searched for information about it. Her brows knitted together. She couldn’t find anything online.
She tried searching by describing its symptoms instead. "A disease that requires energy to fill the energy pool."
Once again, nothing came up.
"Does nobody even know this syndrome exists? But surely Jeryon can’t be the only one who has it."
She then searched for beastmen who absorbed other beastmen’s energy.
Jeryon’s name appeared in almost every article.
One article mentioned that similar cases had happened in several other kingdoms and had once caused quite a stir.
However, since those beastmen were only ordinary people, they had simply been ostracized. Some were even imprisoned, and afterward, no one knew what became of them.
"They didn’t do anything wrong. Why were they treated like that... Then again, even Jeryon, who’s a prince, ended up being isolated." Shani’s expression turned gloomy.
"At least the system can cure Jeryon." She smiled in relief.
A few seconds later, her eyes widened as another thought struck her.
"The scientists on this continent still haven’t figured out what’s wrong with Jeryon. So how does the system know the syndrome’s name... and even know how to cure it? System, explain this syndrome to me!"
Shani stared seriously at the ceiling.
Just when she had given up on getting an answer, the familiar mechanical voice echoed inside her head.
[Host can read information about this syndrome in the e-book Beastman Consciousness Diagnosis and Cure Vol. I for 2,500 Credits.]
Shani couldn’t help calling the system stingy.
If she were still as broke as before, there was no way she’d buy a book that expensive. But now that she had over 100,000 Credits, she purchased it without hesitation.
Using her smartwatch, she opened the e-book and immediately searched for Conscious Abyss Syndrome.
Surprisingly, the information appeared near the beginning of the book. Shani read it carefully.
"This condition occurs when a beastman’s body is too weak to contain an excessive amount of energy, causing the energy pool to remain partially filled at birth."
"Since an energy pool with an enormous capacity can awaken consciousness, the incomplete energy pool instinctively goes berserk and absorbs any nearby energy in an attempt to fill itself."
Shani nodded. "No wonder the system said Jeryon could be cured with Energy Potions."
"But, wait... Jeryon is an A-Rank. His energy pool should already contain at least 3,000 energy."
"The five Energy Potions I’m planning to give him contain a total of 10,000 energy. Doesn’t that mean his energy pool can hold up to 13,000 energy?!"
Shani wasn’t comparing that enormous number to her own pitiful 20 energy.
She was comparing it to the highest rank currently known on the continent, S-Rank.
According to her academy e-book, S-Rank beastmen possessed around 6,000 to 9,999 energy.
"Jeryon’s energy... it’s higher than an S-Rank’s?" she mumbled, completely dumbfounded.
Her question was answered as she continued reading the e-book.
"Only energy pools of SS-Rank or higher possess enough capacity to awaken consciousness..."
Shani reflexively covered her mouth in disbelief. "SS-Rank exists?"
She immediately searched the internet for SS-Rank.
Aside from fictional novels and movies, there wasn’t a single official source mentioning any rank above S-Rank.
Shani couldn’t believe she had become the partner of a beastman who might possess the highest rank on the entire continent.
Eventually, she fell asleep while reading about the other diseases in the e-book she had just bought.
...
The next morning, Shani headed to the sixth floor with Kiran for another compulsory course, Beasthyology.
She didn’t see Jeryon in class. Even so, her eyes kept drifting toward the door, hoping her partner would appear.
Throughout the lecture, the instructor never once mentioned that an energy pool could awaken consciousness.
’Maybe no beastman has ever reached such a high rank, so no awakened energy pool has ever been discovered,’ she guessed.
In the end, Shani stopped thinking about it. After all, she wasn’t a scientist.
Meanwhile, Jeryon arrived at the academy around lunchtime.
He intended to meet Shani, but his steps halted when he received a call from the headmaster.
"What is it now? I just got back from the palace." Jeryon ran a hand through his golden hair and let out a long, weary sigh.
Despite his complaint, he still headed toward the headmaster’s office.
Every upperclassman he passed turned to look at him.
Whether it was because they recognized the second prince or because they thought a first-year student had broken the rules, he didn’t care.
When he entered the headmaster’s office, he found a female student already sitting on the sofa, smiling at him.
Jeryon’s eyes narrowed. He then turned toward his uncle. "Why did you call me here, Headmaster?"
...