Mana Soul: Chapter 54 - The Chimaerafication - Markus

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Leading Adam and Holt into the command headquarters earned them all some curious looks from the mercenaries and wary stares from the chimaeras clan coordinators. It had been a deliberate move on Markus’s part, wanting to uncover if the pair had an existing reputation he should be concerned about. Fortunately for the uncle and nephew, the chimaeras’ reactions were rather consistent with how they had treated other strangers, with one exception.

The coordinator from the Shoal Prowlers clan went so far as to bare his teeth in a demonstration of overt aggression.

The gesture was not lost on Adam, who admirably attempted to impose himself between the irate chimaera and his nephew without slowing their progress through the command room.

Already aware of the Shoal Prowlers' opinion on events so far, Markus took it as something of a positive sign that the chimaera had not attempted to express his displeasure more violently. The golems would have stopped him, but it would have demonstrated that there was more to the issue than Markus had already been told.

Leading the pair into a conference room, Markus took a seat on a couch by the window, allowing Aela to sit beside him while the uncle and nephew took seats at the conference table.

“As I am sure you are aware, the Shoal Prowlers do not appreciate Adam’s advances,” Markus commented, pausing briefly as Holt opened his mouth to speak only to be silenced by a withering glare from his uncle. “Harassing Chimaeras within my territory is forbidden. That your actions have been limited to verbal exchanges is part of the reason you have not been handed over to the clan council.” The clan council was technically an unofficial advocacy group that aggregated the chimaeras' concerns and then presented them to Markus and Phillipe to review and resolve. Handing Holt over to them wouldn’t actually do much if the chimaeras obeyed his laws. Although it would give the clans a chance to scare the heck out of the young man.

Adam’s face turned white as a sheet, but he remained silent.

Holt remained silent as well but seemed sullen and resentful.

“You don’t think it is what you deserve?” Aela observed with mild amusement.

“I don’t,” Holt declared with a scowl, visibly hesitating and then stopping himself from saying anything further.

“Majesty, I apologise, he is young and not schooled in courtly manners,” Adam hastily apologised, “Please-”

“I want to know what he was going to say,” Aela interrupted, her focus remaining fixed on Holt.

Holt glanced uncertainly at his uncle.

“Speak,” Aela insisted, the faintest air of a threat now entering her voice as she became more impatient with each passing moment.

“He’s a hypocrite!” Holt exclaimed angrily, glaring daggers at Markus, “You don’t even try to hide it! Everyone knows! But when I speak with Luciele, suddenly I’m a criminal?!”

“Holt!...” Adam looked petrified by his nephew’s outburst, growing paler by the moment and now warily eyeing Hector as the golem ominously began looming over them from behind.

“What?!” Holt demanded, “It’s true! And everyone knows it!”

“Everyone knows what?” Aela asked quietly, her voice now positively radiating violent intent.

“Uh...” A latent sense of self-preservation drove Holt into fearful silence.

“It’s okay,” Aela persisted, her eyes flashing dangerously, “They say we sleep together? Yes? That we are trying to have a child? Yes?”

Holt and Adam both remained perfectly still, sweat beading on their foreheads as fight or flight instincts warred against the unwelcome knowledge that neither option would be possible.

Wondering where Aela was going with her little tirade, Markus was increasingly concerned that he might need to step in and resolve things before they got out of hand.

Perhaps sensing Markus’s concern, Aela relaxed and leaned in closer to wrap her arm around his waist and rest her head on his shoulder. More likely, she knew that such a gesture would make it that much more difficult for him to redirect the conversation.

“Well, it’s true,” Aela continued, “Which is why we have a very unique opportunity for you.” She tightened her grip possessively and trembled faintly in a way that Markus had come to recognise as a sign of emotional vulnerability. Aela was cornering Adam and Holt to make it seem like they didn’t have a choice, and that made Markus profoundly uncomfortable, but he had not stopped her either.

“Opportunity?...” Adam’s expression changed almost immediately, his desperation latching onto Aela’s words like a drowning man to a fistful of straw, “An opportunity for what?”

“An experiment,” Markus replied, making the most of the opportunity Aela had positioned the pair to accept.

What little colour had returned to Adam’s face fled almost immediately.

“Experiment?” Holt muttered quietly, furrowing his brow in confusion.

“Your nephew will have the opportunity to refuse, but that option will last only until the experiment begins,” Markus explained with deliberate slowness, wanting to return a semblance of autonomy to the young man's decision. Because Markus wasn’t exaggerating. Once the experiment begins, they would see it through to the end, one way or the other. “The nature of the experiment will entail infusing Colt’s body with a blend of monster and human mana to achieve a stable transformation into a chimaera. Assuming the experiment is a success, your nephew will very likely find more forthcoming acceptance from the Shoal Prowler clan, amongst others.”

Adam was stunned into a fresh bout of silence, but Markus now had the entirety of Holt’s rapidly intensifying attention.

“I would become one of them?!” Holt asked excitedly.

“If the experiment works,” Markus reiterated, “And only with your con-sent-” Aela had flinched and the creaking in his ribs caused Markus to wheeze and cut his words short.

“I’ll do it!” Holt declared with a passion only teenagers seemed able to manage.

As enthusiastic as his nephew was to participate in the experiment, Adam was the opposite. “Holt! You can’t do this!” He insisted, “Weren’t you listening?! He said ‘IF’ it works! Who even knows what could happen to you?!-”

Markus recalled the mutated rabbits and was forced to admit it wasn’t a possibility. Using chimaera mana instead of pure monster mana would hypothetically allow for a greater degree of control and make the change more gradual. The problem was the adverse effect chimaera mana had on the test rabbits.

The changes had been more subtle than the pure monster mana had been, on the outside at least. Internally, the rabbits had been a mess of vestigial or engorged organs. Human organs, for the most part. Performing the experiment on a human would come with real risks of death or deformity that were not otherwise a factor with Warrior mana.

“-promised your mother-” Adam insisted.

“IT’S MY LIFE!” Holt insisted right back.

“Holt, please, listen to me,” Adam pleaded, “Don’t do this...”

Holt turned away from his uncle and focused on Markus, “When can we start?” He demanded, sounding more defiant than enthusiastic.

“Wait...Please...” Adam cradled his head in his hands and appeared to be on the verge of tears, “I...I’ll do it. Y-” His voice failed for a moment, “-You can experiment on me instead. just please, leave my nephew out of this...”

“Alright,” Markus agreed, feeling incredibly uncomfortable about how the situation had managed to become so unpleasant, “But only if you answer my questions first. Agreed?”

Adam resignedly nodded his head while Holt appeared to be struggling with the sudden shift in circumstances.

“Are you opposed to the potentially dangerous nature of the experiment? The intended outcome? Or both?” Markus asked neutrally. For all he knew, Adam might just be posing as a society member in order to keep an eye on his nephew. He might also be any number of anti-chimaera sentiments while fetishising them, and now was as good a time as any to find out.

“I promised my sister I would look after him,” Adam repeated, a large tear breaking free from the corner of his eye and running down his cheek. “If anything happened to Holt...I’d never forgive myself.”

His uncle’s sincerity only seemed to enrage Holt, “Then let me live my own life!”

“So Holt becoming, in all respects, a chimaera, wouldn’t bother you?” Markus asked, “Assuming there were no risks of note?”

Adam appeared to seriously consider the question, glancing between Markus, Aela and Holt. “Assuming the risks are only minor...And Holt would be able to live safely amongst his own kind? Or in a place that accepts him?” He paused for a few moments and then nodded his head defeatedly.

“Assuming the experiment goes well, and believe me when I say I will be making every effort to make sure it does, I intend to make a refined treatment available to Holt,” Markus explained carefully, making sure that Adam would hear him out, “But only if I can assure the treatment is free of danger and the target of his affections reciprocates those feelings. While I do not doubt that the larger chimaera community will accept a new member amongst their collective ranks, it would be that much harder without someone to vouch for him.”

It was actually a half-truth at best. There was every reason to believe that the chimaeras would accept newly created chimaeras with the same degree of acceptance they extend to others of their kind. If Markus somehow managed to create a naturally fertile, true-breeding chimaera, that individual would be treated like royalty. Assuming Markus was capable of making their hopes a reality.

“I will give you both some time to think on this, talk it over,” Markus reassured Adam, “Assuming one, or both of you, are still willing, we can speak more in a few hours.” Markus gently removed Aela’s arm from his waist and got to his feet before helping her do the same. More of a token gesture given her greater body weight capabilities, but one he hoped would encourage her to remain calm and trust his judgement.

A pair of golems in military uniforms were already posted outside of the door, so Markus led Aela to another meeting room. Her silence lasted until the door closed.

“Why did you do that?” Aela demanded, not so much upset as she was confused by his actions.

“It needs to be their choice,” Markus replied evenly, having known the question was coming, “I won't...experiment on people against their will...” Saying the words aloud brought a flurry of memories to the forefront of his mind that brought on waves of uncontrollable shivering.

For a moment, Markus was hanging in the middle of a mirrored room, his eyes pried open by cruel artifice, forcing him to watch as organs were lifted out of his back and dissected further by eager knives...

“Markus!” Aela’s voice shattered the mirrors and brought the meeting room back into focus.

Markus was lying on the floor and felt incredibly weak, shivering and half soaked in his own sweat.

Kneeling beside him, Aela had tears running down her cheeks and looked profoundly relieved, “You stopped breathing...Then you fell to the floor and started screaming...Hector said you would be fine if I just kept talking to you...But Markus, I was so scared...” Fresh tears began welling in the corners of her eyes.

Markus tried to say something to comfort her, but his throat was bloody and raw. Similarly, his arm was too weak to accomplish much more than depositing his hand on her knee before collapsing from the strain.

With surprising tenderness, Hector leaned down and lifted Markus off the floor. Carefully walking him over to the large couch, the golem gently laid him down on the large cushioned seat. Seeming to hesitate for a moment, Hector's jewelled eyes stared at Markus before the golem quite suddenly backed away to make room for Aela who was already in the process of stripping off her jacket to serve as an improved blanket. “A change of clothes and temporary bedding will arrive shortly,” Hector informed them in a gravelly voice before taking up guard by the door.

In desperate need of rest, Markus succumbed to the primal urge to sleep and recuperate.

Markus opened his eyes and quickly discovered he had already been stripped and changed into fresh clothes. The gesture gave Markus a small measure of comfort as his still aching body began reasserting itself and demanding his immediate attention.

Propping himself up into a sitting position, Markus couldn’t help but grunt and groan from the effort.

His groaning brought the attention of Aela who was standing near the door and speaking quietly with Hector. Her familiarity with the golem was slightly surprising to Markus, although he wasn’t sure why it should be considering how he shadowed them almost every hour of the day.

“Are you feeling better?” Aela asked anxiously, squatting onto her haunches to bring them roughly eye level with one another.

“Not as much as I would like,” Markus admitted with a wry smile, “But I do feel a bit better. Thanks for changing me into fresh clothes.”

Aela gave him a small smile in return, but it began to waver shortly afterwards, “Markus...The experiments...you don’t have to do it if it makes you...if it...” Her voice trailed off and she looked away, “You're enough, Markus. As long as I have you, it's enough...”

Markus wanted to believe her, but he knew Aela too well and could tell she was lying. “I can handle it. I just need to pay more attention. Avoid Obvious triggers...” He lied.

Aela closed her eyes and bowed her head, “You're lying,” she accused quietly.

Markus was surprised. By no means a prolific or even practised liar, it was still surprising for Aela to see through the lie so quickly.

“You don’t need to do this...” Aela insisted weakly, a slight trembling in her voice threatening to break Markus’s heart.

Weakly taking a hold of Aela’s arms, Markus pulled her towards him as best he could manage, guiding her onto his lap and resting her head on his shoulder. “You're wrong,” Markus countered while gently stroking her back in an effort to reassure Aela and provide a sense of comfort, “I do need to do this. Not just for you, but for us.”

Markus was aware of adoption as a viable alternative, but he knew Aela wouldn’t truly accept adoption without every other option being checked off first. This meant enduring more pain, more seizures, and reliving repressed memories. Markus had already accepted it.

“Hector, send a golem to fetch Skien. Let him know that I have another proposition for him,” Markus could sense Aela’s inner turmoil as her wants and needs warred against one another in an attempt to come to a decision.

“It is done,” Hector replied a few moments later, “Should Skien be informed of his contribution before arrival?”

The follow-up question took Markus by surprise. “Only if it can be done discreetly,” he agreed somewhat warily.

It was another reminder that Hector’s behaviour was changing. Still unquestionably obedient, the golem was making a new habit of predicting his needs and dropping lesser commands to more efficiently communicate. Hector was not the only golem either. Most of the golems had dropped the use of qualifying prefixes and suffixes. Instead, the golems had taken to using identifiable inflection as a substitute. Lacking facial features still left a certain degree of ambiguity to their words, but the next wave of golem enchantments would correct the issue.

Markus still believed the progression of the golems' collective intelligence and behaviour was a good thing, provided that they remained obedient and loyal. However, a part of him couldn’t quite silence the thought that there was more to their actions than they were letting on. All the same, the deep delves into randomly selected golem’s enchantments had yet to yield anything that could be considered sinister.

Leaning into the elbow of the couch, and the cushion that had formerly been supporting his head, Markus did his best to rest while waiting for Skien. They didn’t have to wait long, or at least it didn’t seem that long to Markus.

Long thick whiskers twitching in anticipation, Skien was practically vibrating with barely concealed eagerness. Understandable given the context of their previous meeting close to a month or so ago.

“Hello Skien,” Markus welcomed him politely and motioned to a nearby chair, “How is your nephew and his life-mate doing?”

“Very good!” Skien replied happily, “Yiva says the pregnancy is progressing as expected, and the new traders have brought much fish to settle cravings.”

Markus hadn’t considered that as a potential benefit of Peabody’s portal network, but it was a pleasant surprise all the same. “That’s good to hear.”

“Uh, so...” Skien fidgetted nervously and sat down on the seat Markus had indicated, “The golem explained that you need a donor to provide a large amount of Chimaera mana for another experiment?”

Markus nodded, “Assuming the volunteers remain willing, I will attempt to chimaerafy a human by infusing them with chimaera mana. If that fails, I am confident I can achieve a general approximation with monster mana, but I doubt it would have the desired side effects I am hoping for by using chimaera mana.”

“Desired side effects?” Skien’s whiskers twitched, “Do you mean-”

“Yes,” Markus interrupted, confident that he knew what Skien had intended to ask. “I want to try and create a true breeding chimaera. A breed of chimaeras that is not inherently sterile or barren, and whose offspring would share that trait. If possible, I also want to use what I learn from the experiment to develop a treatment for existing chimaeras to develop the same trait.”

Skien remained quite eager, but obviously still had a question he needed to ask. “Is there something wrong with the treatments? Is that why you are doing this?”

Markus sighed and shook his head tiredly, “Not as such. The treatments do the job they were designed and intended for, but that causes problems all its own. One hundred percent fertility means I have to artificially control the supply available to those that need it. Because the alternative would result in dangerously burdening the clan's ability to provide for and protect themselves. It gets worse too. With so many children conceived at one time, Yiva and the other midwives would not be sufficient to attend to even a fraction of the pregnant mothers going into labour, let alone helping raise those children afterwards.” He had thought about it a great deal and was somewhat angry at himself for not looking into a less extreme correction for the problem sooner.

Skien appeared to understand and despite being somewhat shocked by the earlier assertions in Markus’s statement, he was nodding in agreement, “You want us to be more like the humans?” It was as much a statement as a question.

Markus nodded, “If the theoretical treatment works, then the future need for the original treatment might be eliminated entirely, as well as its associated problems,” he explained carefully, “A natural and gradual growth of population that won't rapidly outstrip the community’s ability to support it. Humans have no shortage of children, the alternate treatment will just mean some prospective parents will wait a little longer than others. But everyone will be able to have the treatment as it's made available.”

Skien didn’t seem to follow, “Everyone? All at once? I thought having many children at once was the problem?”

“It is,” Markus agreed, “According to a book I read-” He did his best to avoid blushing, “-It can take as long as a year or even more for a couple actively trying, every day, multiple times a day, for children to result in a pregnancy. So, even assuming every mated pair tries for children, the odds would hold that the births won’t outstrip any given clan’s ability to support them. Better still, the midwives and nurseries won't be suddenly overwhelmed. Understand?” Markus hoped he wouldn’t have to explain his reasoning again.

Skien nodded in understanding, but still seemed concerned, “There will be those who will still want the original treatment. You know that, right?”

Markus sighed and nodded, “I know, but it will be reserved for special cases only.”

“Special cases?” Skien asked uncertainty, his whiskers twitching nervously.

“Replenishing casualties of war,” Markus replied sombrely. Reports from Peabody had made it abundantly clear that his mounting success was generating an equal amount of enmity as capital. It was only a matter of time before someone attempted to seize everything from Markus at swordpoint, the Warrant of Crusade be damned.

“But the burden on the clans would be worse?” Skien pointed out, not quite understanding Markus’s intentions.

“In some respects, it still would be,” Markus agreed, “But the southern kingdom’s military has a contract with its soldiers. A support pension, coins, paid to a dead soldier’s family to help provide for them. It is a policy I have borrowed from them already in order to help support the recruitment of willing and motivated soldiers. But chimaeras hold different values, so a different form of incentive is required.”

“Fertility treatments for their family,” Skien guessed aloud and nodded his approval.

“Exactly,” Markus smiled wryly. “Whether it is for their parents, siblings, cousins, or whomever else they nominate, the treatments would replenish the chimaeras' ranks, in time. Lessening the relatively vulnerable state of the clans to attrition. Of course, replacing the dead won’t be the only use for the treatments. Allowing them to serve as rewards for exemplary service is also part of my planned transition moving forward, even if the new treatment doesn’t work. Perhaps especially so.”

“Well, if all you need is donated mana, I would be more than happy to repay the debt my family still owes you for your generosity,” Skien volunteered.

“Thank you, Skien. Food and beverages will be provided to help you recuperate and restore the mana taken. Which is something else I wanted to try as well,” Markus added, now in a rather relaxed mood. “A new trade good from the east called syrup. It’s said that Eastern Adventurers drink it to restore their mana at a faster rate, but I am curious whether it will do the same for chimaeras. Depending on the results, it might be worth adding to the emergency pregnancy kits.”

“Alright,” Skien agreed enthusiastically, “Where should I go? Or will everything be done here?”

Markus shook his head, “I will be conducting the experiment in the workshop, but the space still needs to be prepared. So it would be best if we returned to the main dining hall. The golems can arrange the mana donation artifice and a meal can be set out to restore your mana while you get to know the potential volunteers.”

Skien nodded in acquiescence and left his chair.

Wanting to stay with Aela a little longer, and still quite weak. Markus sent Skien ahead and had Hector organise an escort for Adam and Holt so the three of them could talk in a more relaxed setting. He hoped that it would help convince Adam to participate more voluntarily rather than as an attempt to shield his nephew.

“It could take years?” Aela asked quietly.

“It might,” Markus admitted, “But it is most likely to only be a matter of months for most. And there is no telling how the existing method will interact with the one I am hoping to create. It might make it easier, or harder, only time will tell.”

Aela made no reply and they just continued sitting there for the better part of a half-hour in relative silence before leaving the command headquarters.

Arriving in the dining room of the main hall, Markus was relieved to find Skien and Adam engaged in a positive if somewhat broken conversation facilitated by a neatly dressed golem.

Deciding to leave them alone for the time being, Markus decided to keep Aela company and follow her up the stairs and towards their room. Passing Hilda and Phillipe’s room on the second floor, Markus pretended not to hear the groans, moans passing through the gap beneath the door.

Markus had taken steps to soundproof the pair’s bedroom as much as possible by using an otherwise excessively powerful absorption enchantment. Unfortunately, the gap beneath the door provided a vulnerability and allowed some of the sounds to escape at a reduced volume. Markus had provided a courtesy curtain to drape over the interior side of the door, bearing the same enchantments as the floor, ceiling, walls, and curtains on the window. However, Markus was beginning to suspect that Hilda was ‘forgetting’ to mount the privacy curtain on purpose.

Settling down in their room, it didn’t take long for Aela to fall asleep. Tucking her beneath the blankets, Markus lay beside Aela for the better part of an hour as he arranged his thoughts in preparation for the experiment. Using his tablet to order the materials and prepare the workspace, Markus spent a while longer in bed with Aela before quietly heading back downstairs.

“Are you still willing?” Markus asked, directing the question towards Adam.

Adam slowly nodded, “I am.”

“Me too!” Holt added eagerly, earning a tired sigh from his uncle in response.

“Are you holding up alright?” Markus used his tablet to make sure Skien hadn’t donated so much mana that it might trigger destabilisation.

Skien rolled his shoulders and gave Markus an uncertain shrug, “I’m not sure,” he admitted, “But that sweet brown stuff you wanted me to try gave me a rush of energy I didn’t know what to do with,” Skien chuckled.

“I’ll take that as a positive sign,” Markus noted with a smile, “Feel free to keep helping yourself. I’ll deactivate the mana drain in a few moments so you can fully recharge. I should have all I need. For now at least,” he amended.

“Alright,” Skien agreed, “You know where to find me if you need another donation for your experiment.”

“Thank you Skien, I appreciate your enthusiasm,” Markus took a fruit loaf off the table and took a few bits to settle the grumbling of his own stomach, “I’ll be sure to hold you to it,” he added with a grin.

In high spirits, Markus led Adam and Holt outside and then into the workshop.

The sheer scale of the manufacturing taking place on the ground floor left Adam and Holt visibly stunned. Markus was already used to it and paid it all very little attention as he continued herding them up the stairs and towards his dedicated workspace.

A pair of four-armed crafting golems had already laid out Markus’s supplies and prepared the workspace.

Recycling the same barrel-like artifice Markus had used earlier on Maud, the crystal panels within had been left undisturbed. Motioning for Hector to place the Mana Storage Crystal containing Skien’s mana, he set about switching the connection of the crystal panels to the new mana source. Some additional fiddling was required in order to lower the rate at which the crystals would release the mana. However, because Markus wasn’t sure what the ideal rate would be, he connected his tablet to the wider connection of internal crystal panes so he could monitor and adjust the levels as needed.

“That’s all I need to do?” Adam asked with a mixture of relief and scepticism.

“That’s all,” Markus agreed, “There is no real way of knowing how long this may take, so feel free to rest your pits on the supports if your legs get tired or your feet get sore.”

Adam had already stripped his boots, tunic and trousers, anticipating that whatever changes he experienced would otherwise ruin his clothes and potentially cause him harm in the process. It was a fairly smart assumption in Markus’s own opinion, but he would have probably opted for wearing a towel instead. Most chimaeras, in fact, almost all chimaeras, had tails that would not be so readily confined without a fight.

“Just make sure to let me know if you begin feeling any pain,” Markus insisted sternly, “This experiment will almost certainly involve at least some small measure of otherwise unavoidable pain, but I have herbs and tinctures that can help manage it if necessary.”

Adam warily nodded, “Alright,” he agreed before growing contemplative. “When you say it will be unavoidable, what do you mean?”

“Growing pains,” Markus replied somewhat distractedly as he performed a third check over all of his materials, “Chimaeras are all rather large or otherwise long-limbed. I suspect that this transformation will involve a small amount of pain as bones grow or otherwise reshape themselves. Probably not much in this particular instance, since Skien and the other otter chimaeras are structurally very similar to humans in regards to their bones.”

“Oh...” Adam became rather subdued.

“Now, a wolf and bear hybrid like Aela’s siblings? That would hurt. I don’t think there is a single bone, skull included, that wouldn’t have to undergo a rather significant change,” Markus shivered as he contemplated the pain that would entail.

Closing the artifice, Markus closed the latch to ensure it would stay shut and avoid opening accidentally.

Starting the emanation level on low, Markus sat down on a chair by the window and studiously watched the readings on his tablet.

Half an hour passed with no signs of the mana taking hold. Tempted to raise the dosage, Markus reluctantly decided to continue waiting a little while longer. Less than a minute later, Skien’s mana took hold in Adam’s right femur and quickly spread through the rest of the bone. A few moments later, the left femur began taking on mana as well. Within ten minutes, it looked like every bone in Adam’s body was in the process of taking in more mana.

Curiously, in contrast to the Knight experiment which continued to build denser levels of Warrior mana, the chimaera mana in Adam’s bones remained quite low. It took Markus a while to realise what was going on.

The change had been gradual enough that he hadn’t noticed until just so happening to compare an older image taken near the beginning of the experiment against the current progress made. Adam’s organs and tissue had begun taking on the mana as well and were beginning to change.

“Are you still alright Adam?” Markus asked, concerned that Adam hadn’t spoken in quite some time.

“Uh, I think so?” Adam replied nervously, “I just feel a little itchy, and a little nervous too I guess.”

“Itchy?” Markus mused aloud and changed the image on his tablet to show him an unaltered image of Adam inside of the artifice. “Ah...Yep, that would do it.”

Adam appeared to be very slowly growing a layer of downy fur down his neck and back. The image also revealed lean highly defined muscles that Adam had not possessed earlier, and his ears had grown somewhat pointed.

With every passing minute, the changes became more pronounced. Initially concerned that Adam might become a copy of Skien, or take on a number of his dominant features, Markus was surprised that it didn’t seem to be the case at all. While Adam was becoming more and more like Skien in a very general sense, he still maintained an appearance that was very much his own.

Besides some minor complaints that Markus had already anticipated, Adam did not seem to experience much pain after his upper and lower mandibles settled into their final forms and his teeth finished realigning themselves.

Close to an hour and a half after beginning the experiment, the last of the mana had been expended and Adam appeared to have completed his transformation into a chimaera. As Markus had anticipated, Adam was incredibly hungry after undergoing so much change, so he opened up the artifice and had the golems set out some food, water and syrup so Adam could regain his strength.

While Adam tore his way through the food, Markus sent one of the golems to fetch some clothes that he could change into afterwards. As Markus had predicted, Adam’s new tail had torn through his underclothes and essentially ruined them. Luckily for Adam, an enterprising tailor had begun specialising in clothes for chimaeras, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to find new clothes.

“Does that mean it’s my turn now?!” Holt asked excitedly, although he was only half paying attention. Holt was quite distracted by the dramatic change in his uncle’s appearance, and especially his physique.

“Not quite yet,” Markus replied, equally distracted but for different reasons. “We still need to give your uncle time to...settle,” there was a possibility that Adam’s transformation was unstable, so he needed to remain under observation for the time being. Markus still had to arrange a meeting to speak with Fluer and Luciele before he would allow Holt to undergo the same experimental transformation.

While initial readings were promising, it would take days before Markus could be certain the experiment hadn’t rendered Adam conditionally sterile like the other chimaera.

“You can both stay here for the time being. The golems will make sleeping arrangements for you and keep Adam under observation,” Markus explained while making his way over to the stairs, “If you need anything, just ask the golems. So long as the request is reasonable, they will provide it.”

Not giving Holt enough time to make a reply or ask any further questions, Markus hurried down the stairs and headed for the clans' encampment on the north side of the town.

“Do you know where Fluer lives?” Markus asked, knowing Hector would always be listening.

“Negative, Creator,” Hector replied almost immediately, “Target has not yet applied for a credit chit or formally registered residence.”

“I guess we need to head to the nursery then,” Markus sighed irritably. Not being able to find people on-demand as he needed them was annoying. He briefly entertained constructing an artifice specifically for tracking individual chimaeras and Adventurers on an as-needed basis. Markus was about to discard the idea as over the top and unnecessarily complicated, but the array of detection enchantments taken from the dungeon cores was theoretically...

Markus stopped abruptly in the middle of the road as his pride in his sudden epiphany warred against his soul-crushing aggravation over the fact that he had not made the connection much sooner.

“Hector, have one of the manufacturing golems prepare a variation on the dungeon core portal targeting enchantment and have them attune it to Cara’s mana signature. Be sure to emphasise the importance of leaving the general targeting section unaltered, I want it to target the largest collection of matching mana signatures,” it wasn’t until he was finished rattling off his request that Markus remembered he should have been far more discreet. He took some small measure of comfort in the fact that Cara’s name wouldn’t mean anything to anyone who had overheard him.

“Preparations are underway, Creator,” Hector replied a few moments later. “Peabody suggests erring on the side of caution when attempting to open the portal. Staging a scouting mission from the dungeon world currently under exploration has been recommended in preference to your claimed territory. As is a substantial reserve of military resources.”

Markus blinked, unsure of what he had just heard. Hector had never spoken so many words consecutively and it made him feel somewhat uncomfortable. “Make the arrangements. There is no real way of knowing what shape her people will be in when we arrive, or if they will be happy to see us. I want all of our forces on standby, just in case.”

“Your command has been relayed to your commanders, Creator,” Hector replied obediently.

Shifting course towards the Blood Hunters clan nursery, Markus did his best to suppress his mounting excitement over the prospect of learning how to create fully subservient monsters. Whether they would replace or supplement existing forces was largely irrelevant. Markus was far more excited by the prospect of learning something new.

Arriving at the nursery, Yiva was only too happy to send one of her children to fetch Fluer and her daughter Luciele, affording Yiva the opportunity to probe Markus for information.

“You seem happy,” Yiva observed shrewdly.

Markus shrugged and nodded, “I guess I am,” he agreed.

Yiva waited for him to elaborate.

“Initial signs are favourable, but I need more time to determine if certain elements will be permanent,” Markus hedged.

“But you can do it?” Yiva pressed, “You can make more chimaeras?”

Markus nodded, “It seems so. But I am not sure how the volunteer’s transformation will compare to...well...’normal’ chimaeras.”

Yiva seemed confused.

“Well, he looks like a chimaera, and has the mana of a chimaera,” Markus explained, “But the other properties won’t be able to be tested until I am certain he is stable and won’t degenerate.”

Yiva winced and nodded, “I think I understand. So if you are still uncertain, why do you wish to speak with Fluer?”

“I don’t have much else to do at the moment besides wait, and even if the chimaerafication works as I hope it will, I won’t change Holt unless I am confident there is a relationship to justify the danger,” Markus explained patiently.

“Oh...” Yiva took a few moments to think and then nodded approvingly, “That would be for the best,” she agreed.

It did not take long for a pair of slim otter-like chimaeras to enter the grounds of the nursery. Lithe and dangerous, the taller of the pair glared at Markus with an intensity that could crack diamonds.

“You must be Fluer?” Markus asked, doing his best to smile in spite of how profoundly uncomfortable she was making him feel.

She remained silent.

The smaller and younger of the pair fidgeted anxiously, “Is he alright?” She asked quietly, causing her companion to curl her lip in disdain.

“Holt?” Markus clarified, earning an intensified scowl from the taller woman and increased attention from the young woman, “He’s fine. He is actually the reason I wanted to talk to both of you.”

Still scowling, Fluer had apparently made up her mind and realised Markus wouldn’t be intimidated into silence. “What do you want?” She demanded, her whiskers quivering in restrained rage.

Markus remained calm, taking comfort in Hector’s presence as he stared right back at Fluer, “I want to know why you are so upset with Holt, and what it would take to resolve the grievance without bloodshed.”

“That knave has been trying to seduce my daughter since we arrived!” Fluer snarled, “Harassing her day and night! Filling her head with nonsense! Ignoring requests to leave us alone!”

“So your anger has nothing to do with the fact that he is human?” Markus probed, keeping a careful rein over his own emotions.

Fluer’s right eye twitched in irritation, “Not at all,” she lied unconvincingly.

“So if the same actions were taken by a chimaera, you would have the same reaction,” Markus pressed, making no effort to conceal his disbelief over her previous answer.

“Of course,” Fluer lied snidely.

“Do you have anything to add?” Markus asked Luciele.

Luciele opened her mouth and was about to speak, but a withering glare from her mother cowed Luciele into silence almost immediately.

Yiva glared balefuly at Fluer in response to the blatant intimidation of her own daughter. However, a small shake of Markus’s head convinced her to remain silent.

Markus was now just about convinced to chimaerafy Holt out of spite. What irked him was that Fluer would still come out a winner with all things considered.

Markus was quite aware that Aela’s family had only tolerated their relationship in the beginning because of how they could exploit Markus for greater gain. It was just unfortunate for Holt that he had no such advantage for leverage.

“Is that all?” Fluer demanded icily.

Markus nodded stiffly, taking care to remember the woman’s name and reserve it for the list of those he would be using to set an example of in the coming days, “I think I have learned everything I wanted to know.”

Fluer gave a condescending sniff and began guiding her daughter away, accidentally flicking a light spray of mud over Markus’s pants and provoking a deep threatening growl from Hector.

That caught Fluer by surprise and seemed to shake her, prompting the pair of chimaeras to quicken their pace.

“A distasteful woman,” Yiva declared with disdain, “That she would put her pride above the good of her clan like that...” She shook her head in disappointment.

“What do you mean?” Markus asked curiously.

Yiva gave him a strange look in return, “Many chimaeras obey your laws, work your jobs, and keep one another in line because everything you have given us can be taken away,” she studied his face in the wake of her revelations and then made another strange expression, “Only...You wouldn’t do that. You aren’t nearly so petty. Not when it matters to so many...”

Markus avoided looking Yiva in the eyes, instead, looking Hector up and down, his attention lingering on the silver ring emblazoned on the golem’s surcoat. Intended to represent a semblance of Markus’s eyes, the image always left him feeling nostalgic in a way that made it glaringly obvious it was related to his amnesia. Markus just had no way of knowing in which way it was meant to be familiar. “Do you think I’m a good person?” He asked quietly.

“What?” Yiva sounded confused by the sudden if somewhat related shift in subject.

“Do you think I am a good person?” Markus repeated, “Just about everything I do has some degree of selfish motivation to it. I don’t think I have ever done anything just because it was the right thing to do...”

Experimenting on Adam, and his plans on experimenting on Holt were just the most recent examples of Markus’s manifested selfishness. Seeking out Cara’s people was even more so.

“I think...” Yiva hesitated and her expression softened, “I think that if you aren’t a good person, then there would be precious few who are. No one lives without some degree of selfishness. What matters is the greater good you bring to others in spite of or alongside it.”

Markus nodded faintly before waving farewell and leaving the nursery.

“Hector, I want a golem transferred into a flawed body in accordance with my safeguard designs. Once that is complete, I want the golem assigned to a dungeon core imprisonment team with strict orders to observe the golem at all times,” Markus ordered quietly, “Also, make sure they are given the golem core ejection artifice and know how to use it.”

“As you command, Creator,” Hector replied obediently, “Preparations are underway.”

“Good. I want the test complete before we attempt opening a portal to Cara’s homeworld. I don’t want to take any chances...” Markus muttered distractedly.

Cara’s own insistence on the dire straits of her home before she had left meant that the situation had almost certainly deteriorated further in her absence. It was even possible that only a handful of her people remained alive. The monsters spawned by the dungeons were relentless hunters. So Markus considered anything short of a massed incursion of his own to be asking for trouble.

“I want as many A`Ws and Tina’s Flying Boats made available as quickly as possible. Temporarily quintuple the wages and materials budgets to make it happen,” Markus ordered, distracting himself in his work. “Make sure to have the P`As outfitted with Tina’s experimental augmentations and set aside enough ammunition for at least a dozen refills.”

“What of the human and chimaera foot soldiers?” Hector asked, surprising Markus again with its uncharacteristic demonstration of initiative.

“Offer the Hazard Pay and Pension initiatives for those who volunteer to participate,” Markus replied somewhat distractedly, more than happy to spend the extra coins if it meant the soldiers would be that much more motivated to follow orders and take risks demanded of them in an unknown land. More importantly, Markus hoped it would reduce his guilt over any lives that were lost following his ambitions.

It wasn’t so long ago that Markus himself had been risking his life for a handful of coins, but he still couldn’t understand how so many men and women could choose the life of a soldier. Markus knew that for some it wasn’t so much a choice as settling for the least horrible option available to them. But Mercenaries were a different breed altogether and seemed to part with their earnings as fast as they could collect them. It was all the more strange considering the mercenaries that had accepted his offer to become full-time soldiers almost seemed to change overnight. Relationships and children materialising seemingly from nowhere, pay being scrimped, saved and even invested in collective enterprises.

In a strange way, it made Markus proud that so many were taking advantage of the opportunities he was working hard to provide for them. It was even more surprising that Peabody’s Cabal was so strictly abiding by the rules and laws of his territory, including the economic initiatives. It was downright strange to have so many merchants unilaterally behaving themselves.

Then again, the fact that Markus was awarding them conditional hereditary land rights and noble titles was most likely responsible for their uncharacteristic shift in behaviour.

Similarly, it was odd that Peabody had provided advice on Markus’s plans to visit Cara’s homeworld. It was quite outside the scope of the golem’s assigned duties. With no new enchantments or artifices presented by Peabody itself, there was no reason for the golem to have provided Markus with its recommendations, particularly since Markus fully intended to indulge his more paranoid self-preservation instincts regardless. And the more Markus considered what they would find on the other side of the portal, the more paranoid he became...