The demon rambled to himself as he led Eleanor deeper into the fortress. Finally, they arrived at their apparent destination. It was a large room that smelled absolutely horrific. It did not take a genius to figure out that the stench came from the dozens of corpses piled up in several heaps throughout the room. In the middle stood a row of chairs, to which some of these creatures were strapped. Dozens of tubes had been inserted into their flesh, through which the blood of the monsters was being drained. This blood flowed through several containers on which strange symbols were visible, or in which strange stones were placed. In some of them were golden flowers that had been dyed red by all the blood. A faint glow came from them. All of these tubes from all the creatures gathered in the center at a particularly unpleasant chair, on which a human was chained.
He was pale. Blood flowed from all openings of his face, yet he still seemed to be breathing.
"Just ignore the corpses," Ester said. "Only part of them died from the procedure. You have to imagine, normally we have to create an entirely new organ, but in your case, we only have to activate it." He pulled the heavily breathing man from the chair and simply threw him onto the pile of corpses. Then he grabbed Eleanor by the wrist. Before he could react, he was strapped to the chair.
Ester violently drove the tubes into precise points of his body. Eleanor flinched in pain each time, but this was only the beginning. He rolled up the sleeve of his coat and revealed the pale skin underneath. Then he stabbed a tube into his own vein, through which thick blood immediately began to flow. "Are you ready to become a mage?" he asked Eleanor, who was groaning in pain. He could clearly feel the needle of every single tube inside him, but still managed to give a weak nod. Ester slightly raised his hand, then paused for a moment. "This will sting just a little, human."
Before Eleanor could say anything, Ester activated the construct. The bound creatures on the other chairs awoke one after another. They began to struggle violently in their restraints as their blood was pumped out of them. Countless symbols lit up. The blood flowed from container to container until it finally reached Eleanor's veins.
The pain that followed was so unbearable that Eleanor immediately lost consciousness, but he was instantly dragged back into awareness by the same pain. He screamed as everything in front of his eyes blurred into white and black spots. Like boiling lava, the blood flowed through his veins, forcing its way toward his heart. Blood burst from all his pores. Screaming, he lost consciousness again, only to wake up immediately. In his entire life, he had never felt anything worse.
These torments repeated themselves for many hours, but to Eleanor it felt much longer. His screams echoed through the halls of the fortress, rising from the deep underground chambers. After some time, his voice finally gave out, and only a weak rasping sound remained.
Then, at last, it ended. Ester pulled the tube out of his arm and immediately rushed to Eleanor, who had collapsed weakly in the chair. His clothes were completely soaked with sweat and blood. The golden flowers in the containers had withered, and the bound Polykenas had all died.
"Amazing…" Ester muttered as he observed this. Eleanor had already lost consciousness, but he was still alive, which was a good sign.
Ester pressed several symbols that were engraved on a small table. While he waited, he freed Eleanor from the restraints and examined him. He had lost an enormous amount of blood, yet his vitality was remarkable. His entire body seemed to have undergone a transformation. His skin had become clearer, every scar and old injury had healed, his hair had grown fuller, wrinkles had disappeared, and he seemed almost a decade younger.
In his right chest, the magical heart beat strongly, but on his left side, where a normal being would have a mortal heart, everything was still.
"So he still has only one heart… truly remarkable."
There were, of course, beings that had only one heart. In general, these were creatures that possessed no magic. But Eleanor had been born with a magical heart. Nero had noticed something when he watched his execution. Eleanor had possessed a strange aura that he had never felt before, and when Ester had examined him for the first time, he had sensed only a single heart in his right chest, where the magical heart was located.
Ester's examination was interrupted when three figures entered through the door. One of them was Nero, followed by Shire, who walked directly behind his master like a loyal guard dog. The last one was Ramor. Ramor immediately went to Eleanor. Kneeling in front of him, he drew several symbols onto his skin that were meant to keep him alive for the time being.
"How is he?" Nero asked Ester.
"He is strong. His vital values have increased; he has even reversed his aging. But I cannot say much about his mental state. Human minds are unfortunately very fragile."
Nero observed Eleanor. "I can feel an enormous aura coming from him."
Indeed, Eleanor's aura had changed. It had grown from barely noticeable to dominant. It seemed weaker than that of Nero or his generals, but it was still impressive.
"Bring Xersies," Nero then ordered Ramor. He did not know the state of Eleanor's mind. He could lose control at any moment. They waited briefly until Xersies and Ramor appeared in a flash of light. Then Nero ordered that Eleanor be awakened.
Shire stepped forward. He activated his magic and focused it entirely on defense. Immediately, his muscles doubled in size, and his skin became harder than steel. He took a small stone and pressed it against Eleanor's chest. A symbol lit up before the stone turned to dust. A small surge of energy ran through Eleanor's body, forcing his mind awake instantly.
In a single moment, Eleanor regained consciousness. Immediately, he screamed at the top of his lungs, his magic seemed to overflow. Nero and his generals instantly stepped back. They activated their magic. Shields of light, shadow, and blood spread out and overlapped. Only Shire was not fast enough to move away before a bright explosion in a strange prismarine color erupted from Eleanor. It threw Shire backward, only his magic saved him from immediate death. When the force of the explosion struck the overlapping shields, it was stopped, but Nero could feel the immense power within it. It crashed against the walls of the laboratory, where dozens of symbols lit up. These symbols had been engraved by Ramor's patron specifically to protect the walls in case of explosions, which were not uncommon here. But this time they held only for a few seconds before they burned out. The walls and ceiling cracked and shattered, the entire room trembled, and then it finally ended.
The energy pulled back, returning into Eleanor's body. A twitch ran through him, then he collapsed into the crater that had formed, where he lay still. Slowly, he opened his eyes, which were no longer light brown but two ice blue crystals.
Nero walked toward Eleanor, while Xersies disappeared in a flash of light. When he returned, he was dragging a small Polykenas with him. He ordered it to go to Shire, who had been thrown through the wall.
Eleanor took a deep breath. He felt different… no, better. Every pain he had ever felt in his body was gone, replaced by an overwhelming power. When he looked at Nero, he no longer saw just the pale man, but an immense, suffocating force that erupted from him like a massive flame. The more he focused on it, the more he understood, yet the more it confused him. The flame had no fixed form. It consisted of countless small parts that constantly changed their form, size, and even their nature. He tried to look deeper, but suddenly the darkness seemed to attack him. Immediately, Eleanor broke eye contact and turned his gaze to Ester. His aura was like a massive beating heart that constantly pumped blood around him.
Xersies' aura appeared to him like a sun that continuously rotated around itself. From time to time, waves of light burst out, only to be drawn back into the sun.
The aura of the old demon with the many symbols, Ramor, seemed to be the combination of countless symbols and signs of every conceivable form.
Eleanor turned his gaze to two more demons who crawled through a hole in the wall. One of them was a true giant, whose aura did not extend outward like the others, but seemed to be contained entirely within him, trapped inside his own body.
Next to him walked a smaller demon whose aura was a soft green light, within which fish like beings moved. It radiated warmth, the feeling of life, yet in its center there was a decaying black area that gave off a rotting sensation.
Eleanor looked upward to observe his own aura. Above him was a small prismarine star. It seemed insignificant, yet indescribable. It gave Eleanor a feeling of power.
He could not help it.
Eleanor laughed.
It was a genuine laugh.
So this was magic.