Chapter 7: Experiment Xenerus 3

Zephyrine looks out the window watching the sun rise and set, with each day Hearthorns will walk in to observe any changes on him. Three days passed since his blood was mixed with the liquidized fiend, he is still looking for a chance to escape but still tightly strapped to the surgery table, he is unable to do anything. Eventually Hearthorns walks in with a huge smile on his face.

"Congratulations! You have survived the death period of five days. Now we just have to see if you have partly become a fiend yet."

"What are you going to do?"

"Nothing much," Hearthorns says as he picks up a morning star and bash Zephyrine's right arm. He screams upon feeling the impact of the morning star, yet he did not feel his bone shattering. 

"So is your bone alright?"

"How am I supposed to know!"

"Then I'll check for you," Hearthons says, dropping the morning star and picking up a scalpel. He cut open Zephyrine's leg until he could see his bone. Hearthorns smiles, saying "Look at that, it worked. Your body is now stronger than most knights in the empire. Bring in the cores."

No. 1 walks into the room, holding a tray with five white cores, three dark blue cores, and one black core. The white cores are from fiends that closely resemble humans in structure, strength, and ability, but lack intelligence. Blue cores are from fiends that have forms of larger creatures with much greater strength compared to that of the white cores. And the black cores belong to the fiends that present the greatest danger to the empire, its forms and abilities can vary.

"You should really be grateful. You'll be the first human to have a black core implanted into their brain." Hearthorns say as he held up a scalpel in his hands looking at its since in the light. 

"And should I be grateful that you locked me up in this room and turned me into the thing that I despise the most?"

"You should. I'm not just turning you into a fiend. I'm turning you into something that can easily rip the fiends apart. If you can survive that is."

"Then can you close up my leg now."

"Oh? Have you finally given in?"

"On getting out? No. On ripping you to shreds? No"

Hearthorns laughs while covering his mouth, "Do you really think you can do that after today? Let me tell you, after today, you'll be nothing more than a mindless beast waiting to be tamed."

Zephyrine tightens his fist and asks "Is this what the empire sees as a solution to dealing with the fiends?"

"The empire's? Hahahahahaha! Do you really think the empire will be this smart to think of such an idea? NO! I presented this idea in front of the king, queen, princes, princesses, dukes, Marquess, and other nobles, but that foolish king rejected my idea."

"What would happen if they found out?"

"Find out?! No they won't find out!"

"What if they do?"

"What would they do?! What would they do! Destroy my lab and research. Strip me of my title. But so what? They won't find out. They'll neve find out."

"... You really are mad."

"Me? Mad? No no no, I'm just saving this empire from falling. Knock him out and start the experiment."

No. 2 forces down a potion causing Zephyrine to fall asleep. Heathorns walk around the table to where Zephyrine's head is. He lifted his scalpel and cut open Zephyrine's head revealing his skull. Applying a small amount of mana to his scalpel, sharpening it, makes cutting the skull to get to the brain easier. 

"We will start with the white cores."

"Sir, how are we going to merge the core into his brain? Do we have to cut a part of the brain off?" No. 4 asks.

"No. I have never cut apart a human brain before. We already wasted a lot of material by merging his blood with the liquefied fiends. We just have to insert the core into the inside of the brain."

Hearthorns slowly cut open the brain and place in the core. No. 4 walks over and begins healing Zephyrine's opened brain and slowly closing it. 

"If he is still sane then we'll just have to test a stronger core. Now close his head and let's wait until he wakes up."

They exit the room, then No. 1 realizes that they forgot the remaining cores in the room. 

"No. 3 go retrieve the remaining cores from the room."

No. 3 returns back into the lab, instead of grabbing the core, he takes out a bottle form his coat and pours it down zephyrine's mouth.

Zephyrine shoots back awake coughing.

"Stop coughing, I don't have much time. The white core that is currently in your head is too weak to take over your mind."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to help me get rid of Hearthorns."

"And why should I help you?"

"You don't have any options, if he comes back and finds you still normal then a blue core will almost guarantee that you lose your mind."

"Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"All you have to do is act like a fiend. I'm assuming that you have seen how they act, since they are the reason you are here in the first place."

"If I have to then I'll act like one."

"Good. When we come back tomorrow, stay asleep until I start talking." he says as he grabs the tray of cores and walks out of the room.

"No. 3 what took you so long?" No. 1 asks him standing outside the door.

"It was just a small rat in the room." No. 3 says as he walks by him.

"Should I remind you what happened to No. 5."

"No. You don't have to" No. 3 says, continue walking towards the marquess' room. As he walks he remembers No. 5, who was experimented on after stopping the marquess from killing a maid. Hearthorns forced them to watch as he experimented with his potions on No. 5. With each experiment, he screamed from the effects of each potion, eventually he died from a potion that burned his organ. Leaving Veral a hatred towards Hearthorns for killing his best friend, but it was almost impossible for him to send in a report to the royal guards. Hearthorns have ways to quickly hide the evidence and completely destroy them if they have to. Those who know of his crime are unable to speak of it or they will pierce through heart, due to contract magic on them. Well Veral, is not No. 3 nor was No. 5 the original No. 5.