NOVEL NEXT 135 - Ethical Concerns Dismissed
Div followed Emerios outside. They crossed the army camp under the pale light of the moon and soon reached the entrance to one of the countless underground facilities that hollowed the hill under Trabine.
Nodding shortly to the two soldiers standing guard, Emerios watched his men salute and open the door for them. He stepped inside, knowing that Div had no choice but to follow.
The interior was cold and moist. It smelled like sweat, grime, and blood.
It was a prison.
Emerios didn't hesitate and entered one of the cells. Completely hermetic to the outside world, it was shut by a heavy metallic door and surrounded by hard rock otherwise. It was dark, silent, and two people lay listless on the ground.
With a flick of his wrist, Emerios closed the door behind them and lit the room with a miniature sun that he made flicker on the ceiling.
Div's gaze turned to the two prisoners and froze. He recognized them; they were the two soldiers who had attacked Lepin. He looked at Emerios.
"What? Did you think I wouldn't discipline troublemakers in my ranks? While I don't particularly care about the boy they beat up, I can't let my men disregard my orders."
Div hid a wry smile. He was glad to see them face justice for what they did, but he thought Emerios' remark about Lepin was unnecessary. At least, the elder was honest. Honestly uncaring for the lives of those he considered below him.
"Well," Emerios said, pointing at the two men. "Do your thing. I'll watch."
Div paused. He should have expected Emerios to give him live test-subjects. Considering they were stuck inside the oppidum and that the region was devoid of beasts because of the curse, humans were the only option.
To be fair, Div wasn't even certain that Emerios would have gotten a monster to perform his tests on if he could.
Still, as far as humans went, those two were not the worst to be subjected to his skill. Furthermore, aside from their bloodline changing, it would just heal them.
Div thought it was acceptable.
"I'm not sure it's going to work," he warned. The only two people he had worked his magic on were Dana and Lepin. He couldn't be sure the target's bloodline would change every time. He wasn't even certain that Lepin's had been changed. For all he knew, he could have simply triggered his awakening without modifying his intended bloodline.
Div kneeled next to the first man. Time in jail hadn't been kind to him. His beard had grown. His muscles shrank. He was dirty, and just being in the same room reminded Div of the cellar where he'd processed rotting fish into paste.
"Elder, please," the man pleaded.
"Stay still," Emerios ordered, his voice flat and unfeeling. "Diven, you can get started."
Putting his hand on the man's shoulder, Div closed his eyes and launched himself into the rotting trance characteristic of his healing skill.
His world turned murky, a pungent smell of decay reaching his nostrils and pervading his lungs.
Div frowned. The connection wasn't there. When he'd performed Chorus of Renewal on Dana and Lepin, he had felt the pull of their soul. He had reached out to them and touched their inner world with the melody of his skill.
This time, it wasn't happening.
He opened his eyes.
"Well?" Emerios asked.
"It didn't work."
"Make it, then."
The elder's tone didn't invite more discussion, so Div focused his attention on what he was doing wrong. The main difference between the soldier, Dana, and Lepin was that he didn't feel anything for the soldier. He had desperately wanted to save the other two, but his current target wasn't that hurt, and he didn't particularly care about him.
Div conveyed his observations to Emerios, who frowned. "It makes sense for a skill like that to have limitations. Especially since it's only at the Evolved Rank. Well, I can't make you love him, but…"
Emerios snapped his fingers, and the soldier cried in pain. There was no flame, but his skin was melting, and bodily fluids soaked the ground.
The other prisoner, still sitting, slowly crawled away, making himself as small as he could.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"This injury should be enough," Emerios stated, stopping his spell.
Div gulped. It was more than enough. Perhaps too much. The man's ragged breathing hissed through the room. Div tried again.
Rot enveloped him.
Nothing.
He shook his head. "It's not working."
Emerios stroked his chin and started pacing. "So the injury isn't the limiting factor. Then, it has to be your emotions toward this man. Let's see… if you can't love him, maybe you can try having pity for him. His transgressions weren't so large that he deserved death."
Div blinked.
"He's going to die if you can't heal him, you know?" Emerios asked, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was the one who had hurt the prisoner. "That would be a shame, one less defender for this place. Sure, he wouldn't amount to much on his own, but with all the other Basic Ranks fodders, it adds up."
Div clenched his jaw. He hated how Emerios could twist any situation to serve his ends, and how easily he dismissed human suffering as a tactical cost. But he couldn't deny that he had a point. If pity could bridge the gap, he had to try.
He returned his hand to the man's shoulder. The skin was blistered, raw, trembling beneath his touch. The soldier's breathing was shallow now, rasping like torn cloth. Div didn't care about him—not truly—but he let himself think about the pain. About the helplessness in the man's eyes.
Yes, he'd done wrongs in the past, but he didn't deserve this.
Pity settled in his heart. He let it root. Let it grow, even though part of him resisted the softness. It was dangerous, this kind of empathy.
The rot returned. But this time, it wasn't empty.
There was a tug, faint, hesitant, as if the man's soul didn't know whether to recoil or reach out. Div pressed forward, channeling the skill through the thread of connection, letting it sing its low, mournful song. The Chorus of Renewal wasn't bright or glorious, but it worked.
The man's breath caught. His body jerked once, twice. Slowly, impossibly, the charred skin began to knit itself back together. The pustules dried, the burns faded. The stench of seared flesh gave way to sweat and blood. It was working.
Div stayed with it until the magic ebbed, until the pull faded and the rot receded.
He opened his eyes.
The soldier was unconscious but alive. Breathing steadily. His chest rose and fell with something close to peace.
Emerios clapped. "Fascinating, you did change his bloodline. Nothing too fancy, but even the smallest change is impressive."
Div resisted the urge to slap himself. He hadn't inspected the soldier before using Chorus of Renewal. Now, he could see that his bloodline was Rusty Bones, but he didn't know what it had been before.
"Do you have control over the result?" Emerios asked.
Div shook his head. "I have no idea what really happens when I use this skill."
Emerios grimaced. "That's too bad. It truly limits the uses you can make of it."
Div could only agree. Even healing someone with Chorus of Renewal was a risk because of that.
Emerios gestured to the second prisoner without ceremony. The man flinched, curled up against the wall, his back pressed so tightly to the cold stone that it seemed he wanted to vanish into it. Unlike the first, he hadn't spoken a word since they entered. His eyes were wide, glassy with terror, and he trembled in a way that betrayed a complete lack of composure. Div doubted he'd last long under pressure.
"That one still has all his skin," Emerios noted. "We'll have to fix that."
"No," Div said, voice flat. "Don't."
Emerios raised an eyebrow. "Is that pity again, or just a desire to get cleaner results?"
"Don't you want to know if I can get it done without injuring the target?"
Emerios smiled. "Sure. Why not? Go ahead."
He approached the second prisoner and crouched down. This one smelled even worse than the first. A mix of stale urine, fear, and hopelessness. His clothes were soaked, torn in places, the fabric matted with grime and sweat. Div didn't speak to him. He didn't want to start some pathetic dialogue that would only lead to more discomfort. He reached out and placed a hand on the man's chest.
There was no warmth. No defiance. Nothing but an empty vessel.
He closed his eyes and let the rot take him.
Immediately, the world dulled. The scent of decay flooded his mind again, but this time, the tug came faster. Pity didn't need to be summoned, it was already present, laced into the moment. Div let it carry him into the prisoner's soul.
The link was weak, but there. Hesitant, trembling.
Sturdy Feet. That was the man's bloodline.
The man groaned, low and guttural, and began to seize. His limbs flailed once before locking stiff. Under Div's palm, his heartbeat became erratic. Div ignored the reaction. He was watching something else, something deeper.
This time, he tried to observe. To feel what changed. He couldn't control the result, but perhaps he could understand it.
It was difficult. The transformation happened beneath layers of perception he couldn't yet reach. Something fundamental shifted, twisted, and reformed. When the Chorus ended, the prisoner lay limp. Breathing. Alive.
But not unchanged.
Skill leveled up: Chorus of Renewal Lv3 -> Lv4
Div inspected him. The bloodline had altered, barely, subtly. From Sturdy Feet to Blue Feet. Whatever that meant.
Emerios looked just as puzzled. "Blue Feet? Weird. What do you think?"
Div sighed. "I don't know. It was easier, but the link was weaker."
"Do you think the intensity of your emotions affects the result?"
"Yes, I believe it does," Div answered. "Not just their intensity, but their nature too."
The elder nodded thoughtfully. "We'll need to test that. With a wider range of subjects. Emotional variety. And perhaps…" He looked at Div. "You'll have to start caring about more people."
Div didn't respond. He stared down at the unconscious man and wondered what he'd just done. Healing, yes. But the cost? Unclear. The consequences? Unknown.
But if working for Emerios could spare Dana, he would do it.