“Please, no. Not again.” Nalrond whined. “These are not the last words I want to hear. I never wanted to hear them even the first time.”
“You see, Tyrants have redundant vital organs to ensure their survival. It’s the reason I have two hearts, brains, livers, and three lungs and kidneys. Then why in the gods’ names don’t we have at least two d-”
The slamming of the door spared the Rezar from the rest of the rant.
Feeling the need to cleanse his eyes, ears, and soul, he went to Friya’s room.
“Hi, babe. Big day today. How are you feeling?” He asked.
“That should be my question. “She replied with a wry smile. “Seriously, how do you feel?”
“Anxious, excited, and terrified.” Nalrond sat on her bed, holding his churning stomach. “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”
“You and me both.” She sighed, sitting beside him.
“Also, I’m grateful for you not asking me to stop. It’s already hard as it is. I don’t know if I could go on without your support.” He took her hand into his.
“I would never do that to you.” Friya actually wanted to but she knew how much the procedure meant to him. “I’m grateful for having a friend like Lith, instead. I would never be able to operate on family or a dear friend.
“Lith instead treated Tista, Phloria, and Zinya. The guy has a heart made of ice, if he even has one.”
“I’m pretty sure he does.” The conversation died after that, neither of them knowing how to say what was running through their minds without making the other feel much worse.
They spent the rest of the time in silence until Quylla called them on the contact amulet.
Nalrond opened a Warp Steps to the keep of the Verhen Mansion and Friya shut it down with Domination, putting herself in front of him.
“Promise me you won’t die.”
“I promise.” Nalrond wrapped his arms around her, focusing on the warmth of her body and the smell of her hair to carve into his being the reason he was fighting for.
Then he stepped away and took control of the Steps back.
“No kiss?” She asked.
“No goodbye kisses, miss. I’m not allowed to die.” He said with what he hoped was his best confident smile. “We’ll resume this after the procedure.”
“Good boy.” She stood up on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair.
The rest of the team waited for them on the other side of the dimensional door.
The location was the Heart of the tower, the center of its array system. Solus had already depowered all the other floors but the Library, the Arsenal, and the Firing Range to keep most of the energy from the mana geyser at the ready.
The room was empty aside from a single operating bed placed in its center and the Immortal Body array already coursing through the floor.
“Are you ready?” Lith was one set of scrubs away from looking like a magic surgeon.
He wore the Hands instead of surgical gloves, the Mouth instead of a mask, and his head was covered by the Voidwalker armor. He had no idea how Nalrond’s body would change and he didn’t want to risk a stray hair mixing with the Rezar’s flesh and disrupting the process.
“Almost.” Nalrond took the two wooden figurines and the piece of wood out of his pocket and placed them below the feet, the head, and the center of the bed as silent guardians. “Okay, ready.”
“Please, lay down.” Quylla was wearing the same artifacts as Lith plus the Apprentice Eyes.
The results of the scans were going to be shared with the Master Eyes and sifted through by Solus. Then, she would write down the relevant information with water magic and store it in the Library, giving everyone instant access to it.
The gold-rimmed pince-nez had no mind link with its owner and Quylla wouldn’t have the time to read the information.
She wore the Apprentice Eyes only because she needed the artifact to point out to her any anomaly that she would have to treat off the top of her head until Solus provided her with a solution.
Nalrond did as instructed, finding comfort in the many contingency measures. Faluel wore one monocle of Menadion, sharing its burden with her seven heads, while Tista wore the other.
That plus the tower core gave the artifact the brain power of nine mages. The Sage Staff stored in the Armory enhanced everyone’s clarity and mental focus, while the Firing Range would allow Solus to cast any spell she needed at a moment’s notice.
“Shapeshift when I ask you to.” Quylla said while she and Lith activated their respective breathing techniques and versions of the Body Sculpting spell, Chisel.
If not for the Hands, they would have found it difficult to use their breathing technique without physical contact for a prolonged time. Yet they had no choice since Scanner wouldn’t perceive the mana cores and they were a vital part of the problem.
“Relax and don’t resist. I’m siphoning your human vitality first.” Quylla used her personal Body Sculpting spell, Lifestock.
It used darkness magic to drain the patient’s energy and light magic to keep it stable until the Healer needed to inject it back. It was akin to drawing a rare blood type from a patient before a procedure.
‘To think that I could have done this from the beginning instead of cutting myself open like a fish.’ Nalrond inwardly whined.
Instead of feeling a burning pain, the affected areas just became numb.
“Go Rezar now, please.” Six glowing spheres floated behind her, one from each limb plus the torso to weaken them at the same time and in the same proportion.
She repeated the process for the second life force, making Nalrond feel like a barbarian in comparison. There was no blood nor waste. Were he to decide to back off, his vitality would be returned to him with no need of being healed and rest.
“Human again.” Quylla drew a lesser amount, making sure to weaken the life forces while also leaving them the strength to survive the transformation.
She also checked Nalrond’s lucidity from time to time with random questions. Quylla needed to be sure that if something went wrong, he would notice and help them fix it with his willpower.
“Take down the wall but warn us before the first crack opens.” She said after Nalrond assured her that his life forces were weak enough to compromise the stability of the barrier separating them.
“Now.” Nalrond’s voice was a whisper, his full focus on harmonizing the Rezar and the human half while also doing his best to suppress the mana cores.
Lith and Quylla focused on the breaches in the Forbidden Magic, using Chisel and threads of mana to connect the pieces of the life forces on both sides before they came into direct contact.
This way, the blazing fire of the Emperor Beast’s star and the red threads of the human side were allowed to share part of their essence and meet on neutral ground.
The Chisels created temporary buffer zones between the life forces, giving them the time to adapt and increase their compatibility.
