The Royal Military Academy's Impostor Owns a Dungeon [BL] novel Chapter 860

Chapter 860: Should Be Fine

"Umm... excuse me, but do we just drink it like this?"

It was probably a shock to many present, but the one who cautiously raised his hand like a student in class was none other than the self-proclaimed cutest mechanic alive, Ollie Mylor.

Yes. That Ollie.

The same blonde who was famously known for swallowing first and asking questions later.

But tonight’s situation was different. Upon learning that this particular "snack" was closer to medicine than food, the experienced glutton who had nearly returned to his maker during a recent breakthrough could be said to have undergone a genuine moment of personal growth.

After clinging to life with everything he had, choosing not to immediately shove something into his mouth was really the bare minimum he could do for his own survival.

He was a person in a relationship now.

He could not possibly just die and leave behind his family, his friends, and his boyfriend, right?

Sure, there was the revive pill he always clutched like a lucky charm. But what if, completely unbeknownst to everyone, it had an expiration date? What if it failed under special circumstances?

That was purely hypothetical, of course.

But what if?

What if he died, and Kyle moved on within fifty years?

The thought alone made Ollie’s face crumple.

Kyle—who was absolutely not allowed to move on until at least one hundred years had passed since Ollie’s purely hypothetical but intensely dramatic demise—noticed immediately. The man narrowed his eyes, already certain that his little star was once again spiraling into some dramatic internal scenario.

Thankfully for everyone involved, Elder Wei chose that moment to respond.

"Yes. Ideally, we should be fine by drinking it like this."

Should be fine.

The words did not exactly inspire confidence.

Given how many "shoulds" they had all graciously skipped since the day Ollie met his good brother, the operative word carried a weight that was anything but comforting.

And for something they were supposedly fine drinking, Ollie couldn’t help but notice how strange the preparations were.

They had been asked to spread out around the clearing, maintaining at least a full wingspan of distance from one another.

Unfortunately, they weren’t even measuring using Princess Nina’s wingspan. No, instead they were being separated by Elder Wei’s long arms.

Sure, he could still see and hear everyone. But as DG’s most persistent barnacle, Ollie was deeply unaccustomed to being this far away from the group.

Ollie was in deep contemplation while conveniently forgetting how he’d always taken his classes alone as the only cadet exclusively enrolled in the Mecha Manufacturing Division.

But none of that was important.

Because in the unique mind of one Ollie Mylor, what if he choked again and couldn’t recover by himself?

Who would pat his back and ensure his definite survival when he was so far (not) from those who cared about him?

Well.

Apparently, he was about to find out.

"Contrary to what you might be thinking," Elder Wei continued calmly, "the flowers we just harvested and steeped into tea aren’t meant to increase the amount of spiritual energy you possess."

That immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Several heads lifted at once, expressions ranging from questioning to confusion.

Because for something that radiated such dense spiritual energy, they were now being told it wouldn’t actually give them more?

For instead of resources, these people had issues with the horrifying condition of everyone’s spiritual energy pathways.

Yes, it was marginally better than when the elders first laid eyes on them but even then, it was still bad comparatively.

Perhaps it was because the people here had no real point of comparison. After all, doing a study likely would show how this was the standard.

But if they had ever seen what truly healthy pathways looked like, they would have been just as horrified.

Compared to proper cultivators, the spiritual pathways of the people here looked narrow, stiff, and constricted. Shriveled, even.

Elder Shen suppressed a sigh.

So of course they would struggle with techniques that should have come naturally.

And of course, breakthroughs would generally feel like climbing a cliff with bare hands even for the lowest possible levels.

It sounded cruel to think of it this way, but their spiritual health was in desperate need of improvement. If they ever hoped to reach higher stages, their vessels needed to be prepared first.

If the vessel itself was not receptive, then no matter how much spiritual energy they forced into it, progress would remain painfully slow.

Worse still, nobody found this strange.

This was simply what they were used to.

Strong-arming their way around commanding their spiritual energy when it should have been something that felt rather instinctive.

Beside the contemplative Shen, Old Feng finished inspecting the layout and finally encouraged everyone to drink up.

"Just be careful, it’s a bit hot."

Then again, maybe instead of the temperature, it would have been nice to get a warning for how ’wide’ was wide.