"Ahem, any objective reasons for that? You seemed a bit impulsive but smart and level-headed," I forced myself to calm down and asked the question that interested me. I still reinforced my spatial barrier even more, though.
"Fu-fu-fu, no need for such formality. I acknowledge your skills, and we're not far apart in age—just call me by name," she smiled slyly.
"As for your question, it's pretty banal. Gender swap is punishment and motivation for my students' development—for being very bad boys before meeting me," she said, her smile a bit forced this time.
"In what sense?"
What the hell did they do? Gu Daiyu rolled her eyes and facepalmed at my question.
"Oh, come on, don't act like a kid. Don't make me doubt your intellect, which I've already gauged and don't want to revise so soon," she rolled her eyes again.
"It's not for nothing I have such prejudice against poison element mages. There are serious reasons. Besides societal condemnation pressuring them, their element partly shapes their character—especially if it's the first to awaken. Together, it creates bitter individuals with insidious attack methods against enemies. Especially compared to elemental ones," Gu Daiyu explained.
"Where a fire element mage starts a direct quarrel and fights for revenge, a poison mage might swallow the insult, bide their time, and poison the whole enemy family. Often not just one—to cover tracks. They think they're 'smart' enough for a 'perfect' plan no one suspects. Yeah, right—no one suspects the only poison mage in the district," she rolled her eyes yet again in this talk.
"Anyway, I travel and gather such people under my wing. Some I find myself, others my government contacts send—ones who don't want to waste promising talent but fear backlash if they intervene personally. To control this crowd, I developed the gender-swap poison I told you about," she twitched her lip corner, sensing me reinforce my spatial barrier again.
"Why take on teaching such people? With your magic talent, genius mind, and government ties, you could have broken through to High level by now, entrenched among the big shots. Any department would snap you up. And were all your students guys before transformation? No poison girls? Or do they not rampage?" I was genuinely curious about her motives.
"Pff, they don't rampage? Biggest nonsense I've heard. They do—even more. Girls are often craftier and more elaborate in revenge plots against society. Naturally, I don't turn them into men—practice shows it doesn't work well on original girls. I just make them mannish, hairy gorillas but keep their original gender. Want beauty back? Study and behave to earn more knowledge," my new teacher said with outright glee. Man, no sisterhood here.
"As for why I bother with them all..."
The amusement faded from her face, replaced by detached melancholy.
"I'm... let's say, gravely ill. No healing magic can cure me—don't doubt it, I even went to the Parthenon. They all shrug and shake heads. Believe me, I'd gladly ditch this pack of idiots, but they're the future of poison element development. At least after I'm gone. After my training, not all will go straight—some will stray. But the key is my legacy lives on: research continues, poison element isn't discarded as worthless trash. In humanity's current state, such a versatile, potential-rich element can't be forgotten," she looked into my eyes with steely resolve.
I couldn't stop marveling at this woman. Certain of her imminent death, she forces herself to teach ex-criminals for humanity's better future, at the cost of her own happiness. If even one such mage replaced each greedy, self-serving clan, humanity wouldn't need a cheater like me to save it from genocide—it'd manage fine. But alas, our world doesn't allow that "What if?" scenario.
"What exactly are you sick with, Daiyu-ge? You might not guess, but I'm quite versatile, familiar even with the Goddess of Parthenon's methods. At least I can give my opinion on your issue, then we'll see," I offered. I was truly curious what healers from this world's holy land couldn't—or wouldn't—handle.
"Fu-fu-fu, dangerous words. Such high secrets are guarded zealously, if you didn't know. But fine, I'm curious too what you'll say. Reinforce your barrier well—I'm loosening control on my affliction now," After my prep and confirming nod, Gu Daiyu took a deep breath, grimaced, and unleashed a wave of extremely potent poison devouring everything in its path. Enough to drop a weaker Warlord! And it's not tuned to anything specific—just raw power of her innate poison!
Without delay, I engaged my spiritual, spatial, and magical senses to examine her. A couple minutes later, as my spatial barrier hissed dangerously and Gu Daiyu paled from strain, I signaled her to stop. Man, I hadn't expected that, honestly. But I can officially clear Parthenon of blame—even skills from a Goddess like Xin Xia, nearly fully realized, would be powerless here.
At best, she'd ease symptoms daily with top healing magic, giving decent recovery odds long-term. But who hands a promising-yet-suspicious poison mage a whole Goddess for years? Right, no fools.
"Hmm, I get your situation, Daiyu-ge. And I confirm Parthenon couldn't heal you—unless the whole org slaved solely for you for at least five years. But you know that won't happen," I told her the full truth.
"Well, nothing new..." She started hiding crushed hope behind nonchalance, but I cut her off again.
"That said, I didn't say I can't help. Your issue fits right into one of my specialties. Ever heard of 'Magical Calamity'?" A predatory smile spread across my face, eyes gleaming greedily.
Looks like I found my future poison element talent. Oh, thanks to cousin little sister for the lesson. I'll definitely use that knowledge for humanity's benefit... and not forget myself, of course?