"What are you doing if I may ask?" Bas said. He squatted down beside Siderius to observe the seal he was making.

"A barrier you could say. We can't have them attacking us in the middle of the night. They don't need to rest but we do."

Siderius wasted half an hour to finish the seal. It was incredibly complex. The most complex seal he had created in this world and the largest one at that.

Its entire premise circled around the room they were in.

"Now. If you please, stay silent so I can complete this."

Siderius put his two hands together. The sign sequence for Necro Proto-Apulsion contained nine different signs, the longest sequence ever since Siderius entered Snow's body.

There wasn't one seal that could rebel against all kinds of evil species. The term 'evil' was even subjective considering the Kingdom you were in.

Humans might deem the families inside the Kingdom of Monster and Chaos as harmful. But species inside those Kingdoms would argue they simply did what they were designed to do. Their basic instinct.

So to actually grant a seal the property to react, the alchemist must design it to differentiate what it needed to fight against.

First was the ghoul, the prominent threat in this monastery. Aside from their stomach acid, which was the solution of the spirit of salt, Siderius did collect a little bit of the ghoul's blood for research and for similar issues just like this one.

He poured a bit of ghoul's blood into one of the empty circles inside the seal.

Next were the people of this place. To actually guard against them would be difficult as each was a different being. The most effective way was to find each of their belongings and use it as a conductor to detect said human.

Siderius didn't have this. There were pieces of clothing of Nora back in Bas's room but that would be ineffective to only guard against one person.

"I need a bit of your blood." Siderius said.

He poured a bit of Arvenox onto the hunter's knife to disinfect it and wiped it clean. Then he gave the knife to Bas.

"Nothing too fancy. A few drops of blood will suffice."

Bas nodded and he did not hesitate to cut open a tiny wound on the tip of his fingers. His blood filled another circle on the ground.

Siderius could use his blood as a conductor but he was different from the people here. His body might be of this world but his soul wasn't pure. It was made from the fusion of two souls, one from this realm and another wasn't.

Siderius couldn't know for sure what the result would be and soul was a sensitive factor in alchemy. So he used Bas' for guarantee.

Next was the witches. The seal needed a conductor for their species but unfortunately, Siderius didn't have any witch' belongings with him. He did have something similar.

The hunter took out a piece of Fluff's meat. It had been treated before with salt and drying but still had gone spoiled because of the extended period. However, it should have no issue acting as a conductor.

"It's a good thing I'm well-prepared."

With Fluff's meat, the seal might not be able to repulse witches but it should have a reaction toward any being with Dark Aether flowing in their veins. Fluff was a creature of magic after all.

The final piece of the puzzle was the Fire element. Siderius took out a small sprout of the Firevein tree and put it at the center of the seal.

Siderius began the sign sequence.

First sign, Necrosis Skopiois.

Second sign, Necrosis Entopiosis.

Third sign, Necrosis Pyrolysis.

Fourth sign, Genos Parapilysis.

Fifth sign, Genos Katefyosis.

Sixth sign, Genos Entopiosis.

Seventeen sign, Genos Pyrolysis.

Eighth sign, Protosis Proskalyosis.

Ninth sign, Protosis Apolysis.

As the nine signs weaved together into one continuous movement, Siderius' hands turned into a blur. Even Bas was having a hard time keeping up with it.

For the last month, Siderius had been given time to get familiar with his new body. This allowed him to regain some of his previous skill and he was able to use it more effectively on this body.

This wasn't limited to signs but also his movement and combat prowess. Compared to a month ago, Snow was no longer a body with skill but no strength, he became a well-trained warrior.

This was due to the mutation helping his body grow easily and more prone to be modified. The essence of the beast was no ordinary source of power. Combined with Siderius' knowledge and experience, it was only natural that Snow had grown so quickly.

After the ninth sign was completed, Siderius clasped his hands together then pushed both of them onto the ground.

The Firevein plant lit up in orange. Its veins became living channels for fire elements to travel around. Ghoul's blood, Bas' blood and Fluff's meat were burned off in a blink of an eye then turned into pure energy fusing into the plant.

The roots of the plant spurted out from its body and broke into the floor below, anchoring it as the core of the protective barrier.

The seal and sulfur lit up in blue and orange. They turned into tiny illuminated dust and flew off of the ground. A spherical barrier filled the room they were, semi-transparent and glowing in a mix of blue and orange.

"There. We should at least be able to sleep a bit better tonight. If anything approaches, the barrier should alert us immediately." Siderius said.

"But still, we should take turns to rest. God knows what is out there." Bas said.

Siderius nodded. "You want to take the first shift. I need a bit of rest."

"It's all yours, Sid. After all that killing, I would fancy myself a long deep rest as well."

"Then I gladly accepted it. But let's eat a little before that. You want something to eat?"

"Oh man! I'll eat anything right now. That old hag didn't give us anything to eat when we arrived here."

Bas and Siderius sat around the glowing plant. The hunter brought a lot of ration with him. Most of them were hard breads that could be stored for days on end. A common traveller's treat.

Bas happily took the bread in his mouth. They were hard to eat and Bas preferred a more fatty meal for his stomach but beggars couldn't be choosers.

"Thanks man. These really help right now." Bas talked with a mouth full of breath. "But I am curious though. Why do you say we're not eating anything here is good? Is the food here cursed or something?"

Siderius shook his head. "Me and Quinlan discovered the dining hall of this monastery. The people here ate human flesh. It's a grave sin for our kind.

If you participate in the act of cannibalism, you will turn into one of those things we have fought."

Bas widened his eyes. In his hometown, cannibalism was also frowned upon. But poverty was everywhere, and it wasn't rare that people eat their own kind to survive.

Bas' lips trembled a little bit. Not because of fear but out of disgust.

"How much human flesh do you need to eat to turn?" Bas said.

"Not much. A tiny piece of finger will be enough to turn you. But what really changes you isn't the cannibalism, it is the necron energy."

"Necron?"

"Energy of the dead.

You must have seen cannibalism before but they didn't turn into a ghoul, right?

That's because they are still alive. The benevolent energy of life stops them from turning. However, if you eat human flesh then get exposed to necron energy, you will become a ghoul.

This energy is everywhere, especially in those that died recently. That is why we deal with the bodies of the dead. Not only because it is a source for all types of sickness and disease. But because the dead can easily be raised given the right circumstance."

"Shit…. I will make sure to burn any body of my enemies to avoid this."

Siderius shrugged. "Maybe. But you can also turn into a ghoul if you aren't dead. Let's say you stay in a place that has a lot of dead people in the ground. A place that is separated from the outside world. There's a fair chance you will turn after eating human flesh as well."

Bas looked around the room they were in. He understood what Siderius was implying. A place like that, where people lived, died and buried at the same place. A place like a monastery.

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