Chapter 3896: Priceless Lesson (Part 1)

"Rank 1 human?" Tista said. "How is that possible? When did it happen? More importantly, how did no one notice?"

"Because we are all idiots." Lith replied. "Big Sis told us her story. She gave up on her Dragon nature, and she was a human back when she became an Abomination. Somehow, becoming an Eldritch restored her Dragon bloodline, but her base form was still human."

"You are right!" Solus said. "Zoreth told us that she knew about human evolution when we went to Verendi with her, and that her four eyes were proof that our theory was correct."

Everyone turned to Bytra, who just shrugged.

"I don’t see how this is relevant. Zoreth’s eyes have no powers, and her human side has never been of much help to her. Why are you making such a fuss?"

"Because this changes things a lot." Tista paced the room. "We always considered Zoreth like a Dragon-Eldritch-troll hybrid. If we want to find a cure, we need to take her human side into account as well. When did she evolve?"

"She was already like that when she found me." Bytra replied. "According to her, however, she developed the two extra eyes only after consuming her troll clone."

"This doesn’t make sense." Faluel bit her lower lip. "Odi and humans are two different species, and trolls are evolved Odi. How could gaining a troll life force affect Zoreth’s human half?

"On top of that, we don’t have the time to research how the Odi’s evolution is supposed to work and what their life forces are supposed to look like at their various development stages. We need an expert, or we’ll never make it in six days."

’Doesn’t this make Kigan an evolved human, too?’ Bytra thought. ’He’s a Phoenix- Balor hybrid and- Who cares! This can wait.’

"I agree with you and Tista, Faluel." Lith nodded. "To heal Zoreth, we need to take into account her human side, but we also need a specialist in troll life forces. How much does the Master know about them?"

"Enough to breed them and mix their life forces with a little amount of Chaos with his Harmonizer spell, but that’s it." Bytra replied. "You know how the Master’s technique works, Lith. He never had a reason to work on Fallen life forces.

"His goal has never been to revert monsters to their natural state. He needs our monster half to stay Fallen, so that it can withstand our Eldritch side and merge with it to form something no different from a normal life force."

Vastor’s Harmonizer spell worked on a simple principle. He would transplant a small fragment of Eldritch life force into a test subject until it gained a resistance to Chaos. Once that happened, the final transplant would take root and be left to grow.

Eldritch tissues had high vitality and could sustain themselves on any form of life force. Left to their own device, the fragments would grow over time, finding a balance with the host life force.

Most of the time, the test subject died consumed by the Chaos, but monsters reproduced quickly and their offspring carried the Chaos fragment as well, developing a natural immunity.

It was only a matter of time before a monster with perfect compatibility with the Eldritch was born. When that happened, the resulting clone would possess a stable hybrid life force ready to merge with the original Eldritch’s.

Lith had watched the Master using the Harmonizer spell on Theseus and knew that it would be useless on Zoreth. Raum had separated part of her life forces long enough to revert them to their original state.

They were not compatible anymore, and a successful transplant would lead to two new life forces, not restore them to their previous condition.

"Quylla?" Lith asked.

"I’m sorry, Lith, but I know about trolls a little more than any Professor of the White Griffon." She shook her head. "I’ve learned what the artificially unfallen life forces of the trolls and Traughen of Zelex look like, but I’m no expert.

"I haven’t started to work on a cure for them, yet."

"That’s all we need." Lith replied. "You heard Bytra. We are not trying to undo the fall of Zoreth’s troll side, only to put her back together. Please, show them to us."

"Right away." Quylla nodded. "This is an unfallen troll’s life force."

The hologram took the shape of an oval zircon-like gemstone with hundreds of facets. Yet instead of splitting the light into its components, it shone with an inner light that painted half of its surface white and the other half black.

"This is a Traughen." The life force still looked like a gemstone, but it was more polished and had thousands of facets.

Moreover, its inner light produced a prismatic effect that covered the gemstone with the six colors of the elements instead of just black and white, further accentuating the differences with the troll life force.

"And this is their fallen life force." The third hologram depicted a brilliant star that emitted a blinding light. "There is no Traughen fallen life force because they are an artificial species.

"Away from a mana geyser, a Traughen reverts into a stable troll first and then into their fallen state."

"Interesting." Lith studied the three holograms for a while. "This is what Zor’s life forces looked like the last time I examined her."

A wave of his hand conjured the images of the Abomination side resembling a black hole standing near the white hole of the troll. One never stopped sucking in the energy and matter that the other produced.

Proximity allowed the white hole to syphon part of the energy and matter gained by the black hole before they were completely destroyed, restoring their strength and starting the cycle anew.

"I’m sorry, but even with Dragon Eyes, I don’t see how this brings you any closer to a solution." Zoreth spasmed in pain, releasing wild surges of Chaos and Decay that respectively blackened and muddied the violet liquid around her.

It spared Solus from more pain, but the Infirmary flashed red as it tried to stabilize the patient.

"Can you mix the Red Dragon with the life support fluid?" Quylla asked.

"Sure." Menadion took a bottle of alcohol and poured it down a funnel that came out of the floor beside the crystal tank.

The violet liquid turned red like the liquor, and even though Zoreth’s condition didn’t improve, her vitals stabilized.

"From now on, the Red Dragon will be delivered into her bloodstream along with the nutrients and healing potions." Menadion said. "It doesn’t buy us time, but at least the Infirmary can manage Zoreth’s pain on its own."

"What’s our next move?" Bytra asked.

"I’m sorry, but I have no clue." Lith said. "There are too many things we don’t know. Like how Zoreth’s human side evolved, or how her troll side went from this to that."

He pointed to the brilliant star and the white hole.

"Then what?" Bytra snarled. "Are you going to give up? Are you telling me that I’m going to spend the next week of my life watching my wife die?"

"Not at all." Lith replied, turning her anger into confusion.

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