"You—"
"This is the trick, Professor Snape!"
Thorn moved almost the instant the other spoke, pressing Snape back into his chair with a clean, decisive motion.
Then, he grabbed Snape's other hand and pressed it without hesitation into the container holding the soul.
"Come on, do as I just said. Take a deep breath." Thorn's tone was urgent yet certain. "It won't hurt much longer!"
Listening to this extremely unreliable comfort, Snape for a moment couldn't tell if the other was teaching him a technique or trying to make him die peacefully.
He gave Thorn a fierce glare, but ultimately closed his eyes.
Recalling the sensation from just now.
Imagine... being a piece of crystal.
No, this time seemed completely different from before.
Snape didn't feel like a complete, transparent crystal, but more like a stone covered in cracks.
Light from the outside was projecting into his interior bit by bit along those cracks.
At first, the sense of emptiness and weakness brought by the continuous loss of blood still existed, as if his body was being hollowed out bit by bit.
But as that light seeped in, those voids actually began to be slowly filled.
Slowly.
Bit by bit.
The pain disappeared.
Not only that, Snape could even clearly feel his body becoming stronger, as if some kind of power was returning to his system.
It wasn't until a strange sensation similar to'satiety' emerged that he instinctively stopped this visualization.
Snape slowly opened his eyes.
Thorn was standing to the side, staring at him with a face full of excitement.
Snape hesitantly looked down at the spot on his abdomen where he had originally been impaled.
It had completely healed; not even a scar remained.
He glanced sideways at the soul container; the'stuff' inside did indeed seem to have decreased slightly.
Snape murmured softly, "...Does this count as a success?"
"A huge success!"
Thorn immediately interjected, his tone full of pride. "Didn't I say this trick would let you quickly master the Condensing method? I was right!"
As he spoke, he stood up.
"It seems I should still suggest to Professor McGonagall that students use this trick to master this ability..."
Before he could finish his sentence.
"Professor Thorn, wait a moment, I have something to say."
Snape suddenly spoke up to stop him.
Thorn turned around, his smile gentle and natural. "No need for thanks, Professor Snape, it's what I should do."
The corners of Snape's mouth slowly curled up, revealing a fake smile.
"Yes," he said softly, "this of yours is indeed a very good technique."
The next moment.
Snape suddenly whipped out his wand.
"Sectumsempra!"
A moment later.
"Agh!!!!"
Thorn let out a miserable cry, staggering back to the wall and sliding down to sit against it.
His body was now covered in large and small lacerations, his robes slashed to ribbons. Blood gushed from the wounds almost instantly, pooling into a small patch of dark red blood beneath him.
"Oh, damn..."
Thorn bared his teeth, enduring the pain as he looked up at the 'Giant Bat' in front of him, his tone carrying a hint of innocence.
"We are both mammals of the same world, why so eager to fry each other..."
"And this robe was very expensive! I bought it on credit from the Principal."
Snape bared his teeth coldly, his tone dark and biting.
"The fact that I didn't use the Cruciatus Curse on you is already a considerably kind reaction."
As he spoke, he had already stepped forward, his wand giving a slight twirl in his hand, clearly preparing to cast the counter-curse for Sectumsempra for Thorn.
After all, that was an extremely powerful Dark Arts spell.
If not countered in time, even an experienced professional healer like Madam Pomfrey might be at a loss.
Venting his anger was one thing; he didn't want the other to end up with a permanent disability or something.
However, the moment Snape drew near.
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Those wounds on Thorn's body were now shrouded in a layer of soft white light, and the flesh was healing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The split skin closed back up, the bleeding stopped, and even the scars were quickly fading away.
Snape's pupils suddenly constricted.
"...Is this, Condensing?"
To actually be able to recover from wounds caused by a curse he himself had cast.
His heart chilled as he instantly realized he had clearly underestimated the role of the 'soul' in this system.
If this power could be used stably, it might even be used in the future to create Potions that could cure all Dark Arts influences.
This truly was a field of infinite potential!
And the person before him was also a talent of infinite potential... even if his way of doing things was a bit eccentric.
Snape watched the rapidly disappearing wounds on Thorn's body and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Then, he turned around, picked up the knife Thorn had set down earlier from the table, and looked down to examine it closely, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Ouch, this spell is quite something. It's even faster than the Mantis Lords' blades, just slightly weaker in power."
Thorn muttered, having just recovered from his physical injuries. Looking up and seeing Snape's expression, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Almost reflexively, he scrambled up and quickly backed against the door, saying warily:
"Professor, we're even now."
"If you want to add eight more stabs, I—I won't be polite!"
Snape gave a cold snort and was just about to say something.
Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open.
A giant mosquito stood at the door.
"Professor Thorn, hurry up, I need more spir—"
Professor McGonagall was holding a booklet, but she stopped halfway through her sentence.
She frowned, looking at the scene before her, her expression undergoing a strange transformation.
From serious to confused, then to eerie, and then quickly turning to shock.
She saw two men standing in the room, covered in blood, their clothes in tatters, with bloodstains that hadn't yet dried on the floor. This... was comparable to a murder scene!
"You two..." Professor McGonagall looked at them in disbelief, "What are you doing?"
Thorn scratched the bridge of his nose, his gaze shifting slightly.
"Uh, this..." He gave a dry laugh, "It's an academic exchange."
"An academic exchange... that requires being covered in knife wounds?!"
"Professor McGonagall, you don't understand. We mammals are all like this; if there's no life-threatening danger, the discussion just can't go on."