Chapter 18: Acupuncture (2)
In the Medical Technology Club, you could learn skills such as Medicine and Acupuncture or First Aid, which are skills that can be used by people without holy power to heal people, rather than holy magic that uses holy power such as Heal.
Naturally, they are less effective than holy magic.
However, they have the advantage that they can be used even if you don’t have holy power, and they can have a greater effect than magic when the person being treated is in a state where holy power does not work.
Thus, I sought out the infirmary to join the Medical Technology Club.
Yuri, who kindly offered to show me the way to the infirmary herself, headed off to her club, while Aizel disappeared into the distance as soon as the class was over. That’s so Aizel.
I knocked politely on the infirmary door.
“Come in~.”
Permission was granted so I opened the door and entered.
“Are you hurt somewhere……?”
As she said that, she checked my face and trailed off, her eyes turning upward as if she was trying to recall something.
She clapped her hands once, as if remembering, and her face lit up.
“Ah! You’re the blind man, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean, ‘the blind man’?”
I ask as I enter the infirmary.
The infirmary had the feel of an ordinary health center. There were a few beds for patients to lie on, and a desk for the head nurse.
Since it was early in the semester, there were no patients, so it was just me and her in the infirmary.
“I heard about this from Raina. She and I have been drinking buddies for a while. She said one of the new cadets was blind, and he used dispel with his sword.”
“Oh.”
“Your bracelet, that’s her favorite.”
“…I see.”
I knew it was Reina’s favorite bracelet. It’s an Epic rank, so it’s understandable but it still felt strange to borrow it, even as a reward.
She stood up from her chair and ran her fingers across the desk.
“So, our blind man, who knows his way around, doesn’t seem to be in any pain. What’s wrong?”
“I want to join the Medical Technology Club.”
Her eyes widened in surprise at my answer since the Medical Technology Club is not popular.
After a short pause, she speaks.
…I’m Priscilla.”
“And I’m Zetto.”
“I see. It was Zetto… Zetto…”
Priscilla squinted, repeating my name.
“May I ask why you want to join the club?”
“There’s a skill I want to learn.”
“What skill?”
“You teach acupuncture, don’t you?”
“I do teach… Acupuncture, that’s unique. I’ve never had a guy come in to learn acupuncture. Not that we have many people in the first place.”
Priscilla nods and sits back down. Despite her unusual holy powers, Priscilla has knowledge of other medical techniques. That’s why she’s the academy’s medic.
“Interesting. Interesting.”
Priscilla looks at me with her chin twitching.
“As you can see, I am having trouble with my eyes, will it be hard for you to teach me?”
“It won’t be hard, the man who invented acupuncture was a blind man from the East, didn’t you know? By the way, are you from the East, too? Your hair is black.”
“I don’t know where I’m from… My master took me in as a child, but I never asked him where I was from.”
“Heh…Master.”
Priscilla was pleased with me and invited me to sit on the bed next to her desk.
She asked me a lot of questions after that.
How do you walk so well, who taught you swordsmanship, these are questions I’ve been asked countless times before, but as she’s a medic, I’m careful what I say.
She nodded as if she understood my explanation of the feeling.
I was glad it went over well.
As it turned out, Priscilla believed me.
I don’t think she was suspicious in the first place but it was simply her curiosity.
That said, it’s hard to get to the point where others think I can see when I have a blindfold on but there was no reason for that.
She didn’t even get as far as asking me to show her my eyes.
There are so many different reasons for blindness that even if you ask them, people won’t know what it is.
“Hmmm… A blind man wants to learn acupuncture… I suppose it’s good that he’s blind, so there’s no pressure on the patient.”
Priscilla stops her questioning and takes stock of the situation. Then she smiles brightly and says
“I like it.”
With that, she stands up and abruptly locks the door to the infirmary.
“Oh…? What are you doing?”
I asked, taken aback by Priscilla’s sudden behavior.
“I thought you said you were going to learn acupuncture, but you need to learn the points first.”
“Acupuncture points… I heard you lock the door, do you need to lock the door to teach me that, right here and now?”
My questions were directed at Priscilla.
I knew that Priscilla was a good actor, but I questioned her behavior.
“Why, are you busy? You’re blind so you need to feel the points yourself to know where they are, and you can’t put the needles through your clothes, can you?”
With that, Priscilla takes off her clothes. Piece by piece the clothes that had been covering her were off and even her skirt was soon down.
“…”
Her exquisite body, clad only in her underwear, is clearly visible.
Slowly approaching me in her underwear, Priscilla laid down on the bed where I was sitting.
“Can we just go over this once and move on quickly? You said you have a good sensory memory.”
“Yes. One time is enough.”
She took my hand and placed it on her stomach after hearing my answer.
I remember that learning a skill in the game was just a matter of time and a sentence like, “You’ve learned the skill!” and that was it.
Now that I’m learning it myself, I’m not sure I’d skip the process, but I do think this would be the easiest way to teach a blind person acupuncture.
Her hand squeezes mine, and my fingers gently graze her flesh as she moves. Then my hand stops.
“Here’s the point associated with mana, just to the right of your navel, as you are now. Call it the mana point. And a little further up…”
Priscilla’s expression didn’t change, and she was still teaching. Gone was the joking tone from earlier, and in her place was a serious expression.
Even though I’m blind, I’m still a man so I should be a little embarrassed, but she was too professional. She was teaching a life-saving technique, so she didn’t seem like the type to let personal feelings get in the way of important things.
…The problem was that I was completely distracted by the stimulating spectacle.
‘Let’s just get the skill.’
It’s just a matter of mastering it.
Edward’s lessons rewarded me for paying attention, and I hoped that skill acquisition would do the same.
Priscilla’s hand continues to squeeze mine, her fingers moving over her body. The feel of her skin was silky smooth and soft, the result of my overly sensitive senses.
“Zetto, are you concentrating?”
“…Ah, yes.”
“I can’t reach my back very well, so why don’t you move by yourself, and I’ll help you locate it.”
With that, Priscilla laid down on the bed on her back and untied her bra.
“Come on.”
She urges me on, and I place my hands on her back.
“Just a little more up there.”
As she said, my hand traveled up along her back.
“Stop. A little lower. Yeah, there. That’s the point that’s good for people who’ve been paralyzed by poison or other things, the paralysis point.”
Priscilla’s explanation of acupuncture points followed.
Acupuncture was different from what I knew in modern times. I’m not familiar with the acupuncture points, but I’m guessing the location of the points is different as well.
In the game, acupuncture works to remove stuns. In this context, stuns are negative conditions such as fainting, paralysis, etc.
Rather than restoring health, it can be used on an ally who is suffering from a condition to remove the condition.
It doesn’t have the same dramatic effect as Holy Magic, and it takes longer to use in the middle of a battle than you might think, so it was just a handy skill to have.
Beyond that, I’ve gotten to know the blood points, which can remove stun, drain poison and more.
After I had touched almost every part of her body that I could, I was done identifying the points.
Priscilla was putting her clothes back on.
“Did you remember everything?”
I’m sitting on the bed, looking at her getting dressed, and it feels weird.
When I don’t answer, she reaches over and roughly points to a spot on my back.
“Here.”
“…Paralyzing point.”
I’m glad it’s the only place I remember.
She makes a “hmm.” sound, stops testing me, and sits back in her chair.
“That’s it for today. I’ve got to get back to work, too. Tomorrow is the weekend or something, can you come here tomorrow?”
Priscilla asks, twirling her pen.
The weekend is my free time but it’s all for the 500 gold.
“I have time.”
I answered Priscilla and rose from the bed.
I’m still working on my skills and it seems like I’ll have to learn how to handle the needles before my mastery is complete.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning, then. It’ll take a while, but we can have lunch together.”
“Okay. Thank you. Oh, right. What about joining the club?”
“I almost forgot.”
Priscilla rummages through her papers and finds the application form, but when she sees the bandage over my eye, she picks up a pen.
“I’ll write it down. Is that okay?”
“Yes. I’m sorry to bother you in so many ways.”
“Don’t say that. You haven’t done anything wrong, and there’s no need for you to be such a slob.”
I smiled bitterly at Priscilla’s warm words and thanked her before walking out of the infirmary.
***
The next day, I came to the infirmary in the morning to meet with Priscilla and learn how to handle needles.
After explaining the different types of needles, Priscilla handed me a few pieces of fake skin and a bunch of needles.
She told me to practice by placing the needles on this skin because it was similar to human skin.
The needles lose their sharpness after a couple of uses, so they don’t dig into the skin as gently.
I was able to concentrate better than yesterday, so I turned on the status window and kept placing the needles until the skill acquisition appeared in the status window.
And finally.
<Zetto> Lv.16
Current Skills
-Ghost Slayer Technique Lv.8
-Superior Senses Lv.7
-Weakness Detection Lv.MAX – [Blindfold That is Beyond Reason] in effect
-Acupuncture Lv.1
Skill Points remaining: 2
Equipped Items
-Blindfold That is Beyond Reason [Legendary]
– Low-quality Eastern Blade. [Normal]
– Energetic Silver Necklace. [Rare]
-Bracelet of Origin [Epic]
[You have mastered Acupuncture]
As soon as the Acupuncture level appeared in the status bar, the knowledge of acupuncture points and how to place needles penetrated my brain and became second nature.
I was surprised when my head suddenly clicked.
“Oh. You’re getting better at this.”
Priscilla, who was watching me from the side, complimented me.
The first preparation went well.