The next person that stepped forward from the Council was a middle-aged woman with blue hair and a steely gaze.
"What are the requirements for the Bloodline Infusion, who can perform it, what is necessary, and how much does it cost?" she asked.
The Dean answered all her questions in detail.
Someone had to be at the Peak Soldier Stage, a couple of people could perform it, it needed a fitting beast and someone to do the procedure, and the cost was based on the time invested and the materials.
The woman's expression didn't change. She still looked with a cold and steely gaze at the Dean.
"Can it be performed on more powerful warriors?" she asked.
"That requires more testing," the Dean answered. "Until now, I could only focus on the Peak Soldier Stage since that is the most optimal spot to transition. However, I estimate the probability of success regarding performing the Bloodline Infusion at General Stage warriors to be above 90% and for warriors at the Commander Stage to be at around 60%."
"What about the True Path Stage?" the woman asked.
"I'm uncertain, but I believe the chances to be very low due to the special properties of the True Path Stage," the Dean answered. "The more powerful a warrior becomes, the more unique and developed their path. It is easy to find a beast for someone weak and young, but it is difficult to find a fitting beast for someone that has created their own True Path."
"Have you done testing regarding the potential increase of power by consumption of living matter filled with Mana?" the woman asked.
The warriors looked away with discomfort.
"Not yet," the Dean answered. "I wanted the first batch to be free of any potential corrupting influences, but I plan on testing that aspect later."
The woman's expression still didn't change, and she looked at the Dean for about two more seconds.
"No more questions," she said as she stepped back.
The group of warriors looked in surprise at her.
They had expected her to also argue against the Dean, but she hadn't said anything negative about the Procedure.
However, Shang, Duke Whirlwind, and the Dean noticed her approach.
While the first person had argued about ethics and philosophy, she had come from an efficiency and profitability standpoint.
She had asked all these questions in hope of finding a target.
If something regarding the Procedure were very costly, difficult to obtain, or difficult to perform, she would have had some leverage to minimize the support.
While the first person had immediately tried to ban the entire thing, her goal had been smaller. She wanted to make it seem as wasteful and useless as possible.
However, the Dean's Procedure was nearly perfect. It was relatively cheap, easy to perform, and didn't take much time.
She had noticed that, but instead of trying to argue without any facts backing her, she decided to stop.
She didn't want to embarrass herself like the first member.
"Next," King Skythunder said.
The third person stepped forward, a rather young man who seemed to be in his late twenties with long grey hair.
"Can the Bloodline Infusion be performed on Apprentices?" he asked.
"It should be possible as long as their bodies have reached the Peak Soldier Stage and as long as their minds are still below the Initial Adept Realm," the Dean said.
"How come?" the man asked.
"The biological matter from the beast has to win the war," the Dean answered. "If the mind is more powerful than the beast, the Procedure will fail."
"Assuming the person has the mind of a Mid Adept and the body of a Peak Soldier Stage warrior, if we were to use a Peak Soldier Stage beast as material, the biological matter of the beast would die. If we were to use a Mid General Stage beast as material, the power of the beast would be too overwhelming, and the body probably wouldn't be able to remain in its human shape."
"Therefore, for a successful Bloodline Infusion, the mind has to be weaker than the Stage of the beast, and the body has to be at the same level as the Stage of the beast," the Dean explained. "As for everything after that, it doesn't matter. As soon as the Bloodline Infusion has worked, the person could focus their entire life on Magic without any issues."
The man frowned and looked to the side for about a second.
He obviously didn't like the answer.
"No more questions," he said as he stepped back.
He also wasn't a fan of the Procedure, but the first two people had already used nearly every argument. There was no point in repeating the same arguments.
He knew how this meeting would go, and he wanted to see if he could make use of the Procedure, at least.
"Next," King Skythunder said.
A young woman with icy blue hair stepped forward, but instead of looking at the Dean, she looked at Duke Whirlwind.
"Jerald, I'm interested in the Bloodline Infusion. Please contact me in the future regarding the specifics. I think we have some use for more powerful warriors," she said with a smile.
The first guy snorted in disgust, but she didn't acknowledge it.
"Of course," Duke Whirlwind. "I don't plan on monopolizing everything."
"Thank you," she said with a smile. "No more questions."
Yes, not every member of the Council was against the Procedure. Only four out of five. Although, that still was 80%.
"Next," King Skythunder said.
Only the Council Head remained.
However, in comparison to the others, she didn't even step forward.
"My opinion makes no difference to the outcome of the discussion," she said coldly.
Silence.
King Skythunder nodded, and his gaze wandered over to the Archduke on the other side of the room. "Anything to add, Miriam?"
Miriam, the white-haired woman, only sighed as she looked at Duke Whirlwind. "You could have simply come to me with this matter," she said helplessly. "You shouldn't have gone around me."
Duke Whirlwind had a guilty expression on his face. "I must apologize. Next time, I will come to you with these things," he said.
Everyone in the room knew that he was lying.
The Archduke only sighed again and stayed quiet.
"Now that everyone has had their chance to offer their opinion," King Skythunder said, "I can finally announce my decision."
None of the Council Members reacted to King Skythunder.
They all knew that this had been a hopeless endeavor from the start.
Even if all five of them went all-in with threats, ultimatums, and arguments, it wouldn't have swayed King Skythunder's decision.
Luckily, even though the most important decision was up to King Skythunder, the finer details were up to them.
"I allow for the Procedure to be performed," King Skythunder announced.
The warriors all let out a collective sigh of relief.
"Thank you, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with a bow.
King Skythunder only smirked. "Jerald, you made the right call by supporting George," he said. "Keep me informed regarding the process of the Bloodline Infusion."
"I will, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with gratitude as the Council frowned.
King Skythunder's comment had made it much more difficult for them to interfere with the Procedure.
"But you shouldn't expect any funding or support," King Skythunder said with a chuckle as he glanced at the Council. "I doubt you will get any."
The Council didn't react.
This was their decision.
King Skythunder had the power to declare things legal or illegal, but he didn't fully control the resources of the Kingdom. Sure, he could take everything he wanted for himself, but he also knew that the Kingdom needed to flourish if he wanted better and more resources in the future.
Because of that, everything regarding the Kingdom's funds was left for the Council to decide.
"I'm fine with that, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said.
Duke Whirlwind had never expected any funding or support from the Council.
If it were up to them, Duke Whirlwind, the Dean, and even the entire Warrior's Academy would have probably been eradicated just to get rid of any trace of the Bloodline Infusion.
While the Council couldn't directly go against Duke Whirlwind with King Skythunder's decree, they could still try to deal with Duke Whirlwind.
As long as Duke Whirlwind lost more and more for the Kingdom, they could slowly redistribute his lands and eventually get rid of his title.
If they wanted to deal with the warriors, they had to get through Duke Whirlwind first.
Without him, they could simply send all the warriors to the war front against the other two Kingdoms.
They wouldn't return.
"The meeting is over. You may all leave," King Skythunder said.
