Alec felt a lot of things toward the late Shim Lester. Mostly negative feelings like hate and disgust. But the more he delved into the runes of the Eyes of the Mystic, the more something like gratitude started surfacing.

If Shim had done one good thing with his life, it was that he had unearthed that spell formation and carried it to Alec.

The way it used runes was almost revolutionary, at least compared to what Alec was used to. The only thing that came close to it was the spell formation engraved in the floor of the Bjerion ruin, the Hall of Achievements.

It made Alec tempted to carve the spell formation into his eyes, just like Shim had done. But he managed to stay firm and hold off on that for now.

Instead, he used what he could from the formation to complete his Scan 2, finally dubbing it Mystic Scan.

It was so different from the original Scan that it didn't even look like the same spell anymore. But the purpose and base function were the same. The spell was just a lot more versatile and powerful.

Right now, he didn't even need to use it on a life form. He could use it on whatever he wanted. And, most importantly, it wasn't just the physical structure that was recorded. If he added one extra part to the Frame, he could even sense the mana or Aether of whatever he Scanned.

It was the first step toward investigating Rita.

With Mystic Scan, he could confirm that the glass box was made of a special material, one he couldn't name. It perfectly isolated Rita from the outside world, preventing her body from eroding.

Strangely enough, he did not sense anything inside the box other than Rita.

If Shim had put magic on or inside it, it had long since faded.

'Is it because she literally cannot sense anything that she's immovable?' Milo was mostly unresponsive, even when stimulated, but he still ate and hungered when he didn't.

Assuming Rita was like Milo, and that she had monsterified with a 'goal,' maybe she had also completed it and entered a 'calm' state, allowing her to sleep for decades encased in the coffin.

'Of course, it's just a guess, but it should at least be safe enough to Scan her.'

Alec thought it would be difficult to get his spell through the coffin, but although it did not allow air to pass through, and Aether only very slowly, it did not do much to stop an actual spell.

Alec realized why after a moment.

It was because Shim wanted to be able to cure Rita once he figured out how. For that, he would need to be able to interact with her

Unfortunately for him, he had come face to face with the consequences of his actions and would never see his lover's eyes again. But Alec would.

So, he scanned Rita despite her monstrous magic resistance that forced him to squeeze out most of his mana to get just a glimpse at her internal structure.

It was a good thing Alec had another part of his mind to focus on recovering his mana while the first part could stare at Rita, gobsmacked.

'Amazing…!'

Another realization of the fearsomeness of human monsters had dawned on him.

From what he could tell, Rita should be at the third stage of monsterification. It was the same as the cat.

The cat had to struggle and fight like a madman to break out of his cell. And then, a single foot from monster Milo was enough to stop it dead in its tracks.

Of course, its mutations had made it specialized in hearing and biting, so strength wasn't its forte. But it was still a third-stage monster.

It could not compare to even one of Rita's hands. Her magic resistance alone was proof of how strong she was.

But from what Alec had seen, the strength of her body was on another level. The quality and alignment of her cells and biological building blocks were leagues ahead of the cat.

If she were awake and aggressive, he wouldn't stand a chance. His caution had been warranted.

It was only after thinking about it a little and calming down that he realized something was strange, though.

He double-checked the spell formation.

'Where's her mana?' Alec asked himself.

Rita had been a third-circle mage before she monsterified. Unless she had had her magic circles destroyed, she should still have had mana in her body. Shim could have done something, but Alec doubted it.

Mana erasure was a death sentence for mages in most cases.

Shim would never have done a thing to put Rita at risk, considering the lengths he was willing to go for even the slightest chance of saving her.

'That means…the monsterification did it?'

Alec's mind buzzed with the realization.

Rita had been a third-circle mage before monsterification. Right now, she was a third-stage monster with an incredible physique, far surpassing that of an animal that turned and grew to the third stage.

But she did not have any mana in her body.

As he thought about it, Alec realized that so did none of the monsters he had examined. They didn't appear to have a drop of Aether in their systems.

But that didn't make sense.

How then had his mana grown after eating monsters?

Nausea rose up Alec's torso.

Aether was the key to monsterification.

Aether or mana fused with the monster's cells on a foundational level, mutating them.

That explained the magic resistance.

It was the same as Nilver.

Nilver was a metal that slowly absorbed Aether in Aether-rich areas over long periods of time, eventually becoming a different metal that resisted the influence of Aether and mana.

Monsterification was a similar but faster process that was too harsh on biological lifeforms. Their bodies could handle it, but their brains couldn't.

Mages and Warriors controlled the mana in their body, which was why they didn't all turn into monsters, but that didn't mean they were immune.

Common folk had no way to resist, but they also didn't come in contact with as much Aether or mana.

However, there was one exception for both groups.

Alec was living proof of how it worked.

Aether was trapped in monster meat. When monster meat was broken down, that Aether was released.

Alec's [Gluttony] guided the released Aether into becoming his mana. It didn't just break down whatever he ate. It devoured it and made it his. That was why he had lasted so long.

But others, who didn't have [Gluttony] would take a dose of Aether straight to their insides the moment they digested the monster meat they had eaten.

That was why it could take a few days up to over a week for some to turn. They digested it at different speeds depending on metabolism and the stubbornness of the monster meat.

Alec clasped a hand over his mouth to stop the vomit from spilling out.

That was why Milo had transformed so quickly, far surpassing any other test subject Shim had kidnapped and fed.

Alec had used Reinforced Recovery, speeding up Milo's metabolism.

Alec had reduced Milo's lifespan.

Alec had killed Milo.

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