Long story shorter, there were two ways in which the liquid called elixir of Magma Marrow could be used. The first one was the same as the one in which most elixirs were consumed. Just swallow it in concoction with something else, namely Healing potions. One part elixir of Magma Marrow, three parts Moderate Healing potions, or two parts elixir of Magma Marrow and one part Greater Healing potion.

That way the harmful side effects of the elixir would mostly be negated. This would impact the elixir’s potency, but at least the person consuming the burning liquid would survive drinking something that is most definitely not drinkable. If ingested in such a way, Magma Marrow would only cause some discomfort over the course of a month, which was how long it took for the body to absorb the medicine.

Upon completely digesting the concoction the user’s blood would be invigorated. Their muscle fibers would become denser and even their skeleton would toughen up a bit as it started absorbing various minerals. These would naturally result in a great increase of a person’s physique and raw physical strength. The consumer of this concoction would very likely double the power of their body for a long period of time.

Unfortunately the effect on blood and muscles would slowly dissipate. Every decade the effect would weaken by twenty percent until it completely wore off half a century after consumption. The drawback was that the change to the skeleton was permanent. It would keep integrating various minerals into itself. Once the power boost expired the only thing left behind were the… side effects. Due to deposits that pile up within the skeleton, the bones would keep getting heavier and heavier. This would eventually cause a sharp dip in mobility, outweighing the strength boost.

The correct way of using the elixir of Magma Marrow was a lot more brutal. The first thing to do was to cut open one’s flesh so as to expose the bones that have bone marrow. After exposing the bone, bone marrow also needed to be exposed, meaning bones had to be broken. Then three to ten drops of Magma Marrow had to be introduced onto one’s own bone marrow. The exact amount depended on the nature of the bone. Once introduced Magma Marrow would burn away the existing bone marrow and take its place.

Once the Magma Marrow was administered and started replacing the old bone marrow, healing potions were administered to knit broken bones and heal the wounds. Otherwise the risk of infection and even death would be non-negligible. The procedure itself could take as long as the user wanted and could be taken in several phases. To maximize the effect, it was highly recommended that the procedure should be finished in as little time as possible, preferably within a single day.

Just like the way of applying the elixir was different, so too was the effect. The only immediate change was that the user's bone marrow would be permanently replaced during the procedure. However, thanks to the fact that the bone marrow was replaced, the blood would also be replaced within half a year to a year. The improved blood would then nourish the muscles. Over a period of ten years the user’s strength would permanently increase by a factor of three.

Bones would for the most part remain unaffected. Since Magma Marrow was contained inside them, they would even be weaker than when using the first method. Another thing of note was that this correct approach was also the first step of the legendary Star Body body refining art. If this art was followed through to the end one would have a virtually indestructible body without anatomical weaknesses. Allegedly one would even be capable of devouring stars.

Wolf had no idea what most of those words meant. The artifact spirit’s speech was even worse than his father’s. Especially when it described the second method. Wolf committed all of those words to memory, so that he could later ask Archibald what they meant. What the boy did understand though was that the first method was painless and temporary, while the second method hurt, but was permanent.

“Artifact spirit sir, I think I want the second one. I just don’t know how to do the things you said. Can you help me?” Wolf made his choice with barely any consideration. He had learned from his father that if you want to do things you either do them right or don’t bother with them at all.

As for what incision and clean fracture were… Who cares about things like that…

As soon as Wolf spoke the words he realized he had made a mistake. “Can you help me right now do the things you said I have to do?”

Several moments passed in silence after Wolf had asked for help. Then he could hear dull thuds echoing from the hallway. Following those heavy footsteps the familiar metallic voice spoke.

“Personal Disciple, Honored Master knew that very few could perform the second procedure by themselves. Thus, Honored Master had made sure that a Personal Disciple of Honored Master would have an assistant.”

“The assistant can perform the whole procedure all by itself. Personal Disciple just has to endure the procedure. If at any point Personal Disciple cannot withstand the pain, Personal Disciple can just shout STOP and the assistant will stop the procedure. However, Personal Disciple that cannot complete the procedure in turn cannot become Honored Master’s Legacy Disciple. They are considered to have forfeited the remaining challenges. The same goes for those that were weak of will and chose the first option.”

By the time the explanation was completed a six armed golem made out of rock walked into the room. The giant was well over two meters tall and had to bend a bit to pass through the door. The faceless automaton looked very strange. The thing had three pairs of arms, stacked one above another.

The uppermost pair of its arms were rather thick and looked stronger than the arms of the burliest of men. The middle pair looked like those of a regular human, while the third pair was slender like a cross between the gentle arms of a small woman and those of a child. All three sets of arms were way too long and looked kind of misshapen.

The creepy golem stopped in front of Wolf. Then it reached out with the two regular-looking arms and held them in front of Wolf like a beggar, palm side up.

“The procedure will require three potions of Cure Moderate Wounds and a vial of elixir of Magma Marrow. Personal Disciple is to hand them over to the medical golem.”

Wolf followed the instructions and provided the items needed, only then did the emotionless voice continue.

“Personal Disciple should first strip. Then they should do their best to relax. Do not obstruct the medical golem while it performs the procedure. If the pain becomes unbearable at any point in time Personal Disciple should remember to shout STOP.” After waiting for Wolf to strip the metallic voice continued.

“Medical golem may begin the procedure.”

Golem’s thick arms shot forward with inhuman speed. The hulking sculpture made of rock didn’t make the slightest sound. Before Wolf could figure out what was going on, two burly hands firmly held his tiny arms. The golem maneuvered the boy like a piece of meat. It positioned Wolf so that his back was turned towards the golem, with his arms outstretched. The golem held Wolf’s arms securely, while doing its best not to cause any pain or harm.

Almost as soon as he was properly positioned, Wolf felt a cold touch as an incredibly sharp blade slashed at his shoulder blade. Despite the inhuman speed, the medical golem was so precise that it didn’t leave a nick on the bone, even though it had cut all the way down to it.

The pain came suddenly. Wolf was about to scream in agony, but before he could even open his mouth, the stone room echoed with the sound of a bone cracking. The golem had cleanly snapped Wolf’s shoulder blade with surgical precision. This new wave of pain completely drowned the pain from tearing of his flesh that Wolf felt a moment ago. A simple cut, when compared with this agony was nothing. Yet again, almost before Wolf’s brain managed to fully react to this shock an even more horrible pain washed over him. An unbearable inferno lit up inside Wolf’s body. It felt as if his shoulder blade had magma coursing inside of it.

“Aaaaaargh!”

This kind of excruciating pain is impossible to describe to a person that hasn't experienced it. Wolf was about to faint and escape the suffering when an unknown memory suddenly flashed through his mind.

Under no circumstance should you faint from pain. Ever! Even when you’re unconscious you will still feel it, but you won’t be able to act. Not only that, the mental trauma you suffer, along with the cowardice you have shown could ruin your future as a warrior.

With that advice from an unknown person echoing in his mind, Wolf fought hard to stay awake. He didn’t even notice that the golem had applied the healing potion to knit the bone and close the wound. Even though he was healed, the bone marrow inside Wolf’s shoulder blade still felt like it was boiling. Magma Marrow was burning it away as it took its place with excruciating slowness.

Not just that, the golem had already started with the second bone. Wolf had actually failed to notice that the golem had made a second incision. The pain of snapping his other shoulder blade was completely drowned out by the agony he was still feeling from the fIrst bone blazing. Despite stoically taking those two wounds, Wolf very much felt it when the golem applied the second dose of Magma Marrow.

The pain increased, but oddly enough it wasn’t by that much. The agony was already so unbearable that having two sources of it made little difference. Wolf’s throat was sore from screaming, his face was wet from tears and snot, while the floor beneath him was utterly soiled with blood, urine and excrement. However this was just the second bone and no more than ten seconds had passed since the golem began the procedure.

Time dragged on seemingly with schadenfreude. The only thing that changed was that the torture had somehow become even worse. At first Wolf tried to fight back against the rock golem and squirm his way out of its grip. A futile effort and an utterly ridiculous notion in and of itself. After an unknown amount of years had passed, Wolf became unable to howl in pain. He could only whimper as drool, snot and tears ran freely. He wanted to yell stop thousands of times, but the pain was so unbearable that he couldn’t even form a single coherent word.

Wolf’s body was spasming as if he was having a seizure. He hadn’t noticed when the golem cleaned him up and laid him down on a clean section of the floor. The damned thing even left the room, causing a god awful racket, but it couldn’t grab Wolf’s attention even if it grabbed and shook him. The pain was assailing Wolf from all over at that point. Even the air around him hurt, let alone some part of his body. The boy had utterly lost the concept of outer world and shut himself into his Mind Hall. He could feel waves of fire and lightning going berserk in the mist, seeking to crush the columns, his throne and even his very being.

Wolf’s Mental Aspect was convulsing and thrashing about in the Mind Hall. At some point, the boy accidentally touched the first column, the one that looked like a pillar of all living beings trying to ascend to the heavens. As soon as he made contact with the bony surface Wolf could feel a cool, calming sensation reinforcing his soul. While this influx of Soul Force failed to reduce the tempest raging in the mist it did provide Wolf with a benefit. He could feel that the pressure exerted by the mist had drastically decreased.

No, that’s not right. It didn’t decrease at all.

Wolf realized that it was he that had grown stronger and not the tempest that had weakened. With this sudden surge of power he was certain he could hang on to his sanity and life. Well, assuming his body didn’t fall apart and his heart didn’t implode from beating as fast as it did.

Archibald's lessons:

The currency of the Empire of Human is divided into copper, silver, gold and platinum coins. One platinum coin can be exchanged for one hundred gold coins, ten thousand silver coins or one million copper coins. Another common currency that is used in parallel with coins are Rings of Holding.