Mark of the Fool

Chapter 699: Unnatural Power in the Most Natural Way

So, the thing about mana regeneration at the highest levels is ValRok began.

Wait, professor, theres something important I need to ask you first, Alex said, easing into a chair and placing his hands on Professor ValRoks desk.

The lizardfolk wizard was just getting comfortable behind his desk, and paused. What is it?

Youve lost weight, havent you? He said, eyeing the professor. I remember the last time I saw you, you were on a diet. Looks like it worked.

Ah, thank you! ValRok beamed, licking one of his eyes in delight. He lifted his arms, showing off his now trimmer frame. Yes, the diet has been going quite well. Ive thrown in a little more exercise too, hoping to get toned up. Is it really noticeable?

Alex grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Your hard works paying off, professor. Its definitely showing.

The lizardman made a happy little hiss. I knew there was a reason I liked you so much. Ah, if I could blush youd have me glowing. But, never mind my slimming journey for now, lets focus on horrifyingly unnatural magic instead.

He sank into his chair, rubbing his hands together. So! I know youve had plenty of practise running currents of mana through your mana pool to stimulate its fibres. The truth is, thats about as far as you can go relying on your natural mana pool; but, there are other techniques that can give you a more rapid mana regeneration rate, unfortunately

The lizardfolk raised a scaly hand, tilting it back and forth. They can only help you so much. The next technique youd naturally learn would be how to vibrate all of your mana fibres at once to create a form of resonance that draws more power from them. But even that would only increase your mana regeneration rate by about ten percent. And thats about as good as it gets when you rely on what youre born with.

He clapped his hands, grinning and rubbing them together like a greedy fly. But if you modifyyour mana pool with certain ethereal constructions, then youll achieve far greater yields when it comes to your regeneration. And, that also expands your mana pool. Does that sound good?

Alex was nearly salivating at the thought. It sounds too good to be true, if Im being honest, professor.

Well, thats because it almost is, ValRok said. The Manamorphic Augmentation Construct is a very dangerous process. It requires a steady hand, a steadier mind, a mastery of alchemy at a high level, and a mastery of mana manipulation of the mostprodigious calibre. A loose understanding of blood magic is also helpful.

Sounds like it was made for me, the young wizard said. What are the risks?

In the very worst cases, complete destruction of ones mana pool, the professor confessed, bluntly. Or, failing complete destruction, damage to ones mana flow that could take decades to heal. Its very risky, to be honest, and very few people even attempt it.

Have you? Alex asked.

The lizard gave him a withering look. Of course I have! Ive succeeded tooafter three earlier failures. Reptilian lips pulled back from sharp teeth in a grimace. And Ill be even more honest, the last failure was bad. Quite badIncredibly bad, as a matter of fact. As in, I wasnt sure if Id be able to continue being a wizard any longer kind of bad. But after about a decade, I healed, tried again andwell, lets just say that I have more mana to call on than any three or four of my colleagues.

He grinned. It was well worth it. And judging by your skill leveland your previous augmentationI think you could achieve it without a single failure. Or maybe one. Two at most.

Well, you certainly know how to fill someone with confidence, professor, Alex said sourly.

Its not my job to fill you with confidence, its my job to fill you with knowledge. Awful, awful knowledge.

So far, you havent filled me with any knowledge, professor! Alex countered. Youve only told me about how I could rip my mana to shreds and ruin my entire life if I fail at this.

You wont, ValRok said. But I suppose I should tell you how it actually works. First though, I have a question for you: what is a mana pool?

Its a form of an ethereal organ that both stores and generates mana in mortals, Alex said. Some monsters store and generate mana differently, butfor the most partif youre mortal and wield magic, you have a mana pool.

Excellent, and where is the mana pool located in the body? What is it made of? ValRok asked.

Now it was Alexs turn to give his professor a withering look. Im not some drooling first-year who skipped half his magic lore courses, youre going to have to try harder than that to trick me. Mana pools arent located in the body, theyre located between the body and the soul; thats why one can still call on their mana if theyve shed their physical form, like how some dead wizards ghosts can still call on their spells. As for what its made of? Mana fibres, which are themselves made of a composite of mana, ectoplasm and pure soul stuff.

Correct! Professor ValRok clapped. Now, then, how many arms does Professor Ram have?

Alex winced. Umtwoif you count his force arm.

Precisely, said the lizardfolk wizard. Our dear, grumpy Professor Ram would only have one arm if he didnt create a force construct prosthesis. Now, how many mana pools do we each have?

One, Alex said.

Why? Professor ValRok folded one hand over the other on his desk.

Thats what were born with, the young wizard said slowly before trailing off. ...but what if we each had more than one?

Precisely. ValRok grinned. In the end, a mana pool will always be that. A mana pool. Manamorphic Augmentation Construction is the act of forging an artificial mana pool then carefully attaching it to one's natural mana pool through a form of ethereal surgery, as it were. Creating one is incredibly painful, incredibly difficult, and very prone to rejection.

What do you mean, rejection? Alex asked.

When one has something foreign in their body, what happens? ValRok asked. Well, the body expels it, doesnt it? If you have a splinter in your finger then the splinter will eventually work its way out. The soul is no different. Ones soul usually fights tooth and nail to reject and expel any artificially attached mana pools. But if one has a mindset that would accept something of that nature

Then the souls less likely to reject it. Alex tapped his shoulder. And Im used to having something grafted to my soul.

Exactly. ValRok reached down, unlocking his bottom drawer then pulling out a book and a bottle filled with a strange, cloudy substance. Heres the book of notes I made on how I built my artificial mana pools, and this bottle contains a small sample of ectoplasm. When combined with mana, youll find only one substance more suitableand thats the very stuff that souls are made of.

And Im not going to be getting my hands on any of that any time soon, Alex shuddered.

Yes you will, ValRok said.

Wait, what now? the young wizard started dopily patting his clothing like he expected to find a vial or pouch of soul he didnt know was there.

No, you silly man, ValRok leaned over his desk, pressing a finger to Alexs chest. Right there. From your own soul.

Waitwhat? The Thameish wizard stared at him, remembering Hannahs story of Keldas death; how the young woman had obliterated her own soul. You want me to sacrifice my soul to

No. The professor shook his head. Of course not. Thats not what I did. Tell me, what happens when you get a cut somewhere on your body?

I bleed, Alex said.

And after you bleed? Then what?

A clot forms, then a scab, and then I heal.

ValRok looked at him expectantly.

Waitare you saying that if Icut my soul Alex paused. Or cut off small pieces of it, itll heal?

Thats precisely what Im saying. The lizardfolk touched his tail. If I were to cut my tail off, it would eventually regrow. It would be a terrible, painful process, but it would regenerate. Souls can do the same; if they are damagedmildlythen they will heal, as good as new, as long as the wound is not severe. You regrow clipped nails and cut hair, right? If I scraped some skin from your body, youd certainly regenerate it; its the same with the soul. If you surgically separate very small pieces of itand I do mean very smallat different times, you could save those pieces, wait for your soul to heal, then do it again. Its a slow process, a very slow process, but you could use it to generate the purest material you could ask for when it comes to forging artificial mana pools. The material offers the most efficiency while being legal to obtain in Generasisince youre only tampering with your own souland its the least likely substance to be rejected, for the simple reason that it came from you.

Alex swallowed. Soundspainful.

It is, ValRok said gravely. But I think you have the mindset for it and the will to see it through. Am I wrong?

The young wizard thought carefully.

Something about tampering with my own soul sends chills through me, he thought. Even if I use a relatively safe way of doing it. Maybe I dont have to do something as drastic and should ask the professor for a technique thats a bit safer

Then Alexs mind paused on one word.

On one name.

Kelda.

Hannahs friend had destroyed her very soul trying to rid herself of the Mark of the Fool. He was now on the same path as shed been and was looking for her sanctum so he could find her research and try to refine her process.

If Im going to revert the Mark of the Fool to the Mark of the GeneralIm going to have to alter my soul, he thought, throwing a glance at his shoulder. Im going to be interfering with a gods Mark on my spirit; so like it or not, I wont havea choice but to interfere with my own soul anyway.

His hands balled into fists. And better I should get some real practice first.

Alright, professor, Alex took the bottle and book. Tell me how I can start carving up my own soul for spare parts?

The lizard wizard let out a very loudand very madlaugh. This is why I love teaching you! Here, you can borrow this.

ValRok sprang from his chair and opened a cabinet in the back of his office. Inside was a sealed, steel box.

He unlocked it with care, removing a strange-looking knifeextremely thin, fine, and nearly transparent. Its edges shimmered as though Alex was observing them through a haze.

It was unnerving, and it felt wrong.

What is that? the young wizard asked.

A soul-scalpel, ValRok said, his mirth fading. He looked at it grimly. Dont ask me what its made of, but if you pour enough mana into it, you can use it to do what we were just discussing; perform surgery on your very soul.

Thatd make a terrifying weapon, Alex murmured.

The lizardman shook his head. Its mostly useless as a weapon; to get it to even work, you have to channel both mana and life energy into it to empower it, using a process thats quite finicky and takes about ten minutes to set up. The soul then needs to be in a state of complete relaxation; it must be calm, collected and at peace, or therell be too much turbulence for the blade to handle. A turbulent soul could shatter a blade as delicate as this one. Another thing is; it must contact bare skin, and you must handle it gently. The material is fragile.

Whats it called? Alex asked.

Bane, Mr. Roth; a very fitting name in my opinion. Its very, very rare in the material world. I am putting a lot of trust in you by letting you borrow this blade, the professor said.

I wont let you down, professorbut, wait. You say the material is fragile, but what about using it for assassinations? Alex asked. Couldnt you use it to slit someones soul when theyre sleeping? Their soul would be at rest, right, so youre not risking breaking the blade on clothing or something harder, like armour.

The lizardman paused. Are you going to make me regret giving this to you? Youre asking me some rather unnerving questions, even by my standards.

No, no, Im not going to use it for any homicides. I promise. Im justcurious, thats all, Alex said.

Well, you would be correct, the older wizard said. If onealbeit gentlystabs just the right spot on a sleeping or unconscious individual, then one could damage the soul to a point beyond its ability to heal. In some ancient societies, assassinations were committed with daggers similar to this in the ultimate taboo; destroying the soul of a target. But, enough talk of such dark things; be sure to use this blade well, use it with care.

He placed it in Alexs waiting hands gently. The young wizard shuddered as it touched his skin. It wascold, in a way he couldnt quite put into words.

Something within him recoiled.