Lith wasn't new to human experimentation, but he usually did it in secret, using as test subjects only people that had tried to kill him or dared to attack his family, that he would have killed anyway after putting them through excruciating pain.
Hearing his proposal being accepted by a servant of the Kingdom, without even raising an objection, was too much even for him.
- "Is this guy insane? I mean, I don't give a sh*t about people's lives too, but at least I pretend to care, especially in front of witnesses." –
"What do you need?" Varegrave asked.
"An infected from the anti healing parasite, no matter the progress rate of the infestation, at least three competent healers, and a lot of vials.
Successful or not, during the experiment I plan on extracting the toxins the parasites use to control the mana flow and, with a little luck, those produced upon their deaths.
Since both degrade fast without a host, it would be better if the vials are able to replicate the host's lifeforce, or at least slow down the deteriorating process. I know that dimensional items are off limits, but I need something similar, or half the work will be for naught."
"Don't worry, this is not the first time that we use Small World for containing a disease. We are well equipped for all kind of contingencies. When do you want to do it?"
Lith pondered for a while, trying to make it as realistic as possible. He could actually do everything on his own, but the priority was to not make it seem too easy. Last, but not least, by delegating part of the job, he would get the opportunity to better observe the parasites' reaction to his therapy and react accordingly.
"Tomorrow morning would be great. I'm too tired now, I want to be at peak condition for the experiment. By the way, I need to impart one of my personal spells to the healers that will assist me, but I can't take out the scroll from my amulet."
Varegrave gave him a quill and an inkwell, forcing Lith to show his penmanship.
"This is really a bad idea." Lith said while the quill moved clumsily along the sheet, screeching from time to time.
"Since I have learned water magic, I always write with it. Are you sure you can't grant me water magic, or at least let me access my dimensional amulet, even for a second?"
"Sorry." Varegrave shook his head. "I can't do it unless it's absolutely necessary."
After a long and painful quarter of hour, Lith gave him something that looked like an ancient coded language, the spacing between the letters almost random.
The ink was smeared in several points, making Lith's doctor's handwriting even more mysterious and unfathomable.
"Do you think they can learn it by tomorrow?" Lith asked while cleansing the ink from his hands.
"It would be easier for them to recreate it from scratch, rather than deciphering this gibberish. Turn around, please, and be ready to get that scroll."
Lith did as instructed, keeping his right hand behind his back, allowing Solus to spectate whatever Varegrave wanted to keep hidden. The Colonel took a few steps back, positioning himself at the center of the tent.
His left eyes emitted a faint light, revealing numerous rune marks on it, that moved out of the cornea and in the air surrounding him, allowing Varegrave to operate them like a giant holographic keyboard.
Thanks to her mana sense, Solus could see Varegrave connecting himself to the multi-layered array that surrounded the whole region. She already had an idea of the artifact's scope, but only when the link had been established, she was able to understand its breath-taking complexity.
Now that Small World was activated, Solus could see the countless runes of power that enveloped every single millimetre of space. Its magic permeated even the items and bodies of all those under its influence.
An infinite number of shackles, albeit normally invisible, weighted on them.
- "By my maker! This thing is much more complicated that we thought. It's not like a switch, he has to actually rewrite entire strings of runes to make even the slightest change to it." –
"Do it now." Lith could feel the strain in Varegrave's voice, as Solus could see it on his face. He promptly extracted the scroll, raising it over his head, without turning around, for the Colonel to see.
Varegrave silently nodded, reverting the array to his previous status. The runes moved back into the eye, leaving no trace of their powerful magic, except a faint smell of ozone lingering in the air.
"Finally, some human language." Varegrave commented reading the scroll.
"The spell is mine, and I'd like to keep it that way." Lith ignored the remark.
"Don't worry. If it proves to be useful for the cure, you'll be properly compensated. Otherwise, I'll make sure your work does not get plagiarized."
Lith had no idea how Varegrave could be so confident about it. A non-disclosure agreement was just a piece of paper, an ambitious magician would ignore it and claim Lith's detoxifying spell to be of his own creation.
- "Either he plans to employ his most loyal followers or to just kill them to keep the secret, is none of my business. Right now, we have more important things to worry about." –
That evening, Lith dined alone, revising with Solus the procedure he had devised. First, they worked on all its aspects, improving the chances of success. After that, they tried to anticipate everything that could go wrong, preparing contingency plans for all eventualities.
The Moon was high in the sky when they finished. Lith was very tired, so he decided to sleep instead of using Invigoration.
- "Seems all the recent events are taking a toll on me. Compared to yesterday, today was pretty quiet, yet I feel beat up."
"I think it's because of the Small World." Solus pondered, recalling the intricate network of runes that manifested when Varegrave activated the artifact.
"Fake mage's mana is still, so they are not affected by it, unless they try to conjure magic. In our case, mana constantly flows inside our body, even when we do nothing. Being inside the array, is like carrying weights under the clothes.
Also, animating so many zombies at once didn't help. Remember what Kalla said? They feed on your life force." –
Lith had barely the time to agree with her analysis, falling asleep as soon his head met the pillow.
The next day, Lith met his medical team. They were already wearing a full body scrub when he arrived, leaving only the plague mask partially exposed. He could infer their gender and age only by the voice.
Lith explained them what the spell he had imparted would do, and what was their role during the procedure.
"That's it? That's your brilliant idea?" Said with a scoff a female voice.
"This is the most basic plan one could think of. What makes you believe you can pull it off?"
"Mostly the fact that before my arrival, you couldn't distinguish the head of the illness from it's a*s. Not to mention that you dare call it simple only because of my spell." Lith's voice oozed contempt.
"I'm explaining all this only because I need your help, not your permission."
"Indeed." Colonel Varegrave was going to spectate. He wanted to make personally sure that nothing went wrong.
"Feel free to leave, Mage Utika. But beware, because your military rank, noble title and all the funds the Crown granted you will remain here, with or without you."
Utika folded her arms, but said nothing more.
Then, Lith went to the patient, explaining all the risks and making sure she understood the consequences.
She was an old woman, thin as a twig, with unkempt white hair drenched in sweat. Her left arm was asunder, barely kept together by stiches and bandages. Her wrinkly face was stretched from the pain.
"Don't worry for this old bat, kid." Recognizing his young age, she forced herself to smile.
"I've lived my life, had a good husband, good kids and lived long enough to see my grandkids turn into fine adults. I don't want to spend the rest of my days suffering like a dog. If you succeed, I'll be healed. If you fail, this pain will stop. It's a win-win for me."
After putting her to sleep, Lith's experiment began.
Like Mage Utika had previously stated, it wasn't complicated.
By using Lith's detoxifying spell, the three mages were extracting the toxins that made healing impossible, storing them in magic vials that were promptly sent to the alchemic labs.
Lith was following their progress with Invigoration, waiting for the right moment. The creatures were rejuvenated by all that mana, but as he predicted, they could not excrete toxins as fast as they removed them.
When the arm was almost cleansed, Lith sent tendrils of darkness magic, enveloping the worms with surgical precision before crushing them all at once. Alas, in death they released a substance that seeped into the flesh and bone, making the arm rot at a speed visible at the naked eye.
Even the darkness cocoon enveloping the worms was not enough to stop the process. But now the arm was free from the worms and the toxins, allowing Lith to use light magic at his fullest, making it whole and healthy again.
While all the others were celebrating, he angrily took off his scrubs.
"I'm sorry Colonel. It's been an utter failure."