Chapter 238: Experimental

December 30th, 625

Morning came and General Landon left as expected, taking all his personnel with him. 

Now we had no more immediate plans that demanded my attention. Christmas was helping with that, and I was taking advantage of it. 

A couple hours after the General departed I gathered with everyone. Talexia was taking her daughter and husband along with myself, my squad, and Polly and Jasmine. 

We were all going to the Whetted City. 

It was a cover for me but for them it was an actual trip. They would be spending Christmas there and since no unsavory summoners would be able to watch me there, I’d be slipping out with Umara. 

So we all went to the teleporter to do just that. 

The trip was perceptibly instantaneous, although disorienting. I recovered instantly, as did all the others except Faey. 

We arrived in the Teleporter Nexus and exited to the outside plaza. From there we bypassed the familiar majesty of the surrounding city and its architecture. Large sculptures, art on every structure depicting glory and honor, the distinct Asain inspiration, or perhaps coincidental resemblance. 

The day was bright and sunny, the citizens happy and unworried, and the central palace exuded such an aura of strength and protection that I was almost jealous. 

I was no longer the one being protected. I had to develop myself and my industry so that I could protect others. 

But how nice it would be if I didn’t have to. How nice it would be to be a part of a larger whole that could support me. It felt like I was being forced to carry this burden alone. 

We passed by the five titanic statues in the center of the city, all standing 100 meters tall as I remembered. It felt like so long ago that I had last seen them but they still stuck out. 

The founding Ancestor of the Ravens, his wife, the founding ancestor of the Talerrias, and two Generals who came after them. All of them great figures that all the citizens of this city looked up to. Figures who had cemented the power of this Family through bloodshed. 

Eventually we arrived at the Raven Estate, which was not a mansion but a castle. It was constructed of black crystal bricks gold mortar. It was a castle as impregnable as a fortress but as lavish as the Royal Palace. 

We entered and moved to the greeting hall under the guidance of a butler. There, the Raven Chief was waiting for us, along with his wife, Shadowbane, and a few other Raven family members, some of which I recognized. 

“Talerria! It’s good to see you again. I’m glad you could spend Christmas with us.”

Chief Ironheart spread his arms in greeting. He was just as big of a man as I could remember, with steely hair and hiding unfathomable strength behind his clothes made of expensive hides taken from powerful beasts. 

There was no way he was a mere Authority 11. That man was a Sovereign. 

Talexia shook his hand in greeting. After that he turned to the rest of us. 

His deep green eyes landed on me, and once again I sensed his terrible Aura, a black hole by which all senses and cognition sunk, an abyss of such horrible strength that I hardly wanted to guess how strong the man who wielded it was. 

That he was still only considered a Duke spoke volumes. 

He smiled at me. 

“So, John Cooper. You’ve done a lot since I last saw you. I never thought that young man would grow up to be such a genius.”

“It was only a couple of years ago, sir.”

“And yet you look like you’ve aged a decade. Let me recall what I’ve heard about you since you left my estate back then. You went and won the Magisterium Tournament, faced Anarchy and survived the fall of Purple Sky, went to Stronghold Charlie and collected vital intelligence that created the Treehouse bulwark, joined the Snow Doves, collected more intelligence that reinforced the Treehouse with another hundred thousand soldiers, created a counterespionage division, invented flight, turned down a noble title from the King, and then went on to survive the fall of the Treehouse and Stronghold Charlie and manage to make it back alive intact.”

His grin widened, and I suddenly noticed him right in front of me. 

“I can hardly fathom how a single man can go through so much and manage to come out on top like you have. And yet you’re only getting started. I know you’ve got some powerful projects going on over at Wonderland. I try not to pry but it’s difficult not to sense the explosions of power over there. Sometimes they send faint shockwaves across my city.”

“Our enchanters would be thrilled to hear such praise.”

“But of course!”

He backed off, chuckling before composing himself. 

“I feel privileged to personally know such a great man. And I look forward to what you will do in the future. I’m sure that we will continue to maintain a beneficial partnership.”

“Yes, I’m sure we will. In fact, there are things I will need to discuss with you. Not now, but sometimes within the next month.”

“Oh? Another business proposal?”

“Yes, but on a different kind of scale. I will explain the details later but I can tell you now that in the long term, it will multiply the riches you are able to acquire from your mining and resource processing operations. Should my plans be properly implemented, of course.”

“Those are bold words, Cooper. I like it.”

He pat my shoulder, my mind barely keeping track of his movements. He wasn’t restraining his Aura, not that it was being projected, but I was still barely preventing myself from getting sucked in. I could also see Umara getting stressed out, though she hid it well.

Yeah, that was the kind of level I needed to reach. 

For now I activated my Aura and formed a barrier for my senses that rationalized the absurdity of his strength so that I at least wouldn’t get disoriented. That alleviated the problem, and Umara seemed to figure something out for herself as well. 

Though, Tana seemed to struggle, and after some time the Chief restrained himself for her sake. 

We moved into the estate and were given rooms, but naturally I wasn’t planning on wasting time with pleasantries. I was here for a reason and soon I informed the Chief about my departure. 

He knew I was using his city as a cover for secrecy. By it simply existing I was able to evade the eyes of the Third Claw. The Kingdom had no power here. 

So I went and found my helicopter that Boris brought in advance and parked in the Whetted City’s airfield. Umara joined me and the two of us left the city. 

We spent some hours flying to the Holy See, which was actually relatively close to the Whetted City. 

Having expected my arrival, I was given clearance to land on top of the 7th Tower of the Franks Peerage. All the towers had built helipads, making arrivals convenient for those who could afford personal helicopters. 

I recognized the two people who were waiting for me before I even landed. 

Terrace Gold, and Anderson. 

I quickly shut down the helicopter with reflexive motions before stepping out with Umara. She linked arms with me as we walked down the helipad and stepped up to the two. 

I nodded to them. 

“Sirs.”

“Little Cooper,” Anderson smiled wide, baring white teeth, “Should I be honored to be in the presence of he who invented flight?”

“There’s no need for that, sir.”

“Hehe, and why don’t I see the heretic? I had hoped he would show himself once more.”

“He had no interest in coming, told me I could handle things myself.”

“That you can. Heretic he may be, I could never call him stupid.”

Terrace sighed, still short and hunched over like I remembered him. I could see that his wear had only grown more lavish over the years as well. 

“I apologize, Cooper. This big brute insisted on being here. It was my fault for thinking I could have peace.”

“You’re not the only one who has business with the kid, Gold.”

“But my business comes first! You can have him after we’re done, so go away!”

“Not a chance. Not every day that you get to see materials like this.”

Anderson chuckled, obviously knowing what I was in possession of. 

After a few more words we moved into the Tower, heading down some floors to arrive at Terrace’s lab. There were already piles of materials sitting on metal tables, as well as a free table with devices along its sides. 

“Alright, go ahead and put the corpse there.”

“Sure.”

I went over and brought out the King Blood’s corpse, its Aura instantly washing over the room as I laid it out on the table. 

Terrace walked over and activated the devices, the Aura and lingering power within its body being suppressed and muted. 

“Amazing… I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of these as intact as this. Merely the head is crushed but since most of its power lies in the rest of its body, that hardly matters. How did you manage to acquire this?”

“It was paid for with the life of my friend. He initiated his advancement and took an Overkill pill to kill it and save us.”

“I see… You have my condolences. It at least explains the wounds along its armor.”

Terrace started analyzing it, spending a few minutes silently going over it from head to toe. It was still coated in its armor so he stripped it and revealed the superficially wounded body. 

Its skin was gunmetal grey with white blood vessels across its body. It was still humanoid, looking more human than Scourge, with normal hands and feet instead of animalistic claws. 

The most outstanding characteristic was the fact that its blood vessels actually seemed to draw out some kind of enchanted array. Its very body was a spell formation. 

Terrace pointed at a cluster of vessels that looked like circuitry. 

“The bloodline of Unholy Light turns them into living weapons. Their masteries over mana are written into their very biology. Your friend must have overpowered it extremely quickly, because given any time these things will bombard entire regions with spellfire and turn any living things around them into its minions.”

“It didn’t bombard the region, at least not completely, but it turned all the nearby Scourge monsters into fleshbugs. Then they conglomerated into one being, exploding when it was about to die and killing a third of us.”

“Yes, they enjoy that tactic. It is why knowledge is most important when facing these monsters. Know their tricks and you at least won’t die unexpectedly.”

Terrace scanned the corpse a bit more before looking at Umara with sharp eyes. 

“You’re the one to receive this Crown?”

She nodded, “Yes sir.”

“You’re lucky. Your mother is rich, so do you happen to have a good Foci?”

“Mm.”

She brought up her hand, the Foci manifesting above the bracer on her forearm. 

Terrace nodded, walking over and activating a device, scanning it. 

“Mm, indeed, this is a good one. Not the best since it affords no amplification. But the buffer is massive. Why did you forsake the amplification for more buffer?”

“My Aura is able to pull in a massive amount of information which I have to decipher for what I need. The buffer helps with that and allows me to spellcast far faster. The amplification simply isn’t worth decreasing the buffer size for me.”

“I see. So you’re already adept at handling complexity. That’s good. Perfect even. You see, this Crown will turn you into a living Foci, the perfect conduit for spellcasting by modifying your body and making it similar to this King Blood’s. I’ve done operations like this before and none of those warlocks ever need to wield a Foci again. However, we do not forsake their original Foci. Instead it is integrated into their body, almost always as a pure buffer. So this will work well, so long as you’re okay with consuming the Foci for this operation.”

“Yes, I am. It’s mine and I’m fine with it furthering my growth.”

“Good, good. Then there’s only one more concern that I need to discuss with both of you.”

Terrace looked between us both. 

“Normally this would be rather set in stone. After all, a procedure as invasive as this doesn’t leave much room for negotiation. However, I want you to know that recently we’ve developed another kind of magic that could negate this problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

I asked with scrutiny, already feeling like I knew the answer. Terrace scratched his head and said what I expected him to. 

“Under normal circumstances, a procedure as massive as this would sterilize the patient.”

I felt Umara flinch, her anxiety skyrocketing. But she remained silent as I questioned. 

“But you said you could negate that issue. Can I assume the new magic is Invocations?”

“You know about them?”

“One of the girls you guys brought over for the project is a friend of mine, so yes, I know about them. Now, I won’t pretend like I know anything about much of this, but I want to know how certain you are about being able to avoid sterilization.”

“Well, that’s the issue. I can’t be wholly certain.”

He sighed, “We’ve made the Invocations work. We know roughly how they operate, and they’re incredibly similar to Crowns, except much less invasive. No, I shouldn’t say that. It’s more like they’re a superficial Crown. Crowns modify the body, and Invocations are placed upon the body. One is inside, one is outside. And turns out, they can fit together. Their methods of installation are similar enough to tie them to each other. However, we’ve naturally had very little experience tying them together, and we’ve had no experience doing it with powerful Crowns such as what this corpse will make.”

“So this is experimental territory for you all.”

“Yes, and no. We have the highest level Invocations in our possession and the highest level Crowns. I will admit that this will be the first time to ever carry out a procedure like this in history, but in theory, I have everything necessary to make it work without side effects.”

We were silent, Umara and I looking at each other as he continued. 

“I won’t lie and say that there aren’t any risks. I can get the Crown and the Invocation installed, that much I can guarantee. She will survive and become an extraordinarily powerful warlock as was expected. But whether the reproductive system will remain fully effective is something I can’t provide full certainty of. I have a full detail right here on what I plan to do and will prioritize keeping everything protected and effective. But you must know the risks, and no decisions can be made until you accept them.”

He handed over a stack of papers. I took them, scanning them quickly and quickly understanding his plan. 

He was going to use body strengthening and resilience Invocations to protect and enhance her reproductive system so that even if her body did become more hostile to it, it would still remain effective enough to do its job. 

There was even a full detail on the entire process for installing the Crown, as well as how he would take measures to avoid the reproductive systems to accommodate the effects of the Crown. 

But regardless, as he said, there was no guarantee. In theory it would all work out but there was still a chance it wouldn’t, and Umara would be sterilized. 

If it went wrong, she would have no children. 

After getting through every page in a handful of seconds I nodded. 

“Thank you for the warning and details. This is something we must discuss and sleep on.”

“I understand. I will let you go and continue preparing, but before then I’d like a blood sample for testing.”

I looked at Umara, who nodded absentmindedly. 

We brought her to a chair and did the tap quickly, Terrace taking a vial of her blood and storing it away. 

“Thank you. Since I have the corpse now, that is all I need from you until you make the decision. If it’s a yes, we will move forward. If not, then I will return the corpse. Willow has prepared a room for you at their peerage, so you can take your time to decide there.”

“Will do.”

Umara linked arms with me once more. Then when I turned to Anderson, standing in a corner, he waved at me. 

“Eh, I’ll come find you later.”

He said that and walked out. We decided to do the same, bidding goodbye to Terrace and leaving the Franks Peerage. 

We found our way over to the Verga Peerage where Willow came out to greet us. I kept our greetings succinct, which Willow seemed to understand, and moved on to our room for the night. 

Once inside we were silent for a while. I went back over the papers, not because I didn’t already have every detail memorized perfectly, but because I wanted to look like I was doing something. 

Eventually I handed it to Umara, who took a glance and set it down on the nearby table. 

We both found ourselves in chairs, staring at the papers until I finally broke the silence. 

“I want to have kids with you.”

She looked up at me, “You do?”

“Of course. I want four, two boys and two girls, and if we manage to make some more then I’ll take as many as you want to give. We’ll have a big family so we can fill a big house.”

She smiled, laying her head on her arms. 

“That sounds nice. But that means I can’t get this operation.”

“No, it means that the operation has a chance to take that away. But you understand the tradeoff.”

“Power, or children.”

“And ultimately this decision is yours.”

I moved my chair next to hers, facing her and leaning against the table as she continued resting her head. 

“But I must let you know that I think you should go through with it.”

“…Why?”

“Because I get worried, Umara. Not just for you either. I worry that if we don’t get powerful enough, we won’t be able to preserve this world for any children we might’ve wanted to have. Our dreamy life with our families won’t be possible if there isn’t a world to bring them into. So pure logic dictates that, as cheesy as it is, saving the world comes before anything else. And unfortunately we don’t have the privilege of relying on anyone else. At least, I don’t think we do.”

“I just…”

She stared off into space, taking a breath and exposing a sniffle. 

“I just don’t know what kind of wife I would be if I couldn’t even give my husband children.”

I stared at her for a couple seconds before reaching and taking her hand. 

“Umara, this is about what’s important to you, not what you think should be important. I want children but that want is outweighed by the need to ensure that the Scourge doesn’t desiccate this world. It doesn’t matter what decision you make and it doesn’t matter what may happen. I won’t be with anyone else and I will love you until the day we die fiery deaths at the end of our genocidal crusade against the monsters.”

“Heh, don’t make me laugh.”

I got a small chuckle out of her. Still, she cried, and I hated that this was a decision she had to make. 

I rubbed her hand, scanning and sizing her smooth fingers. 

“We live in a different time, Umara. We know that this war will turn in such a way that nobody in this long lived Kingdom has ever known before. Unfortunately, we happen to be the ones who have to deal with it. Now, you could get by without the Crown, perhaps take a much smaller one. But question is, do you want that?”

She started crying a bit more, gripping my hand harder. 

At some point I pulled her in and hugged her. 

“Don’t make any decisions tonight. Sleep on it, think about it more, take however long you need to ponder. A few days, a few weeks, the corpse isn’t going anywhere. We can go back to the Whetted City if you wish. Just make sure that the decision you make is the one you’ve truly set yourself on.”

She nodded softly, and I just gave as much comfort as I could provide. 

Even though I knew that her tears already gave the answer. 

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