Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 142 - 137: The Second Lock, Sculptor
"Flesh, sever, crush, squeeze, flatten, pile up, bubble, fester, swell..."
Nia swayed her tentacles as if she were a child sitting in the sandbox, humming a strange nursery rhyme and building her sand castle. Her tentacles became hard and sharp as they sliced through flesh, reducing it to minced meat. Nia, with a mindset similar to playing house, was actually undertaking an intricate remodeling project in Spirit Summoning Studies, hand in hand with Lyle.
Lyle’s consciousness was not disturbed by the dark chant coming from Nia’s mouth; he was completely immersed in the Magic Network Model. In the world of magic, the Nia actively next to him was but a blur. Lyle sketched with the scholar-taught Mana Lines on Nia’s body, using the resulting image as a template to extend from the Flesh of Deception, which was undergoing tremendous torment, to its surroundings.
Nia looked at the Magic Network Model that appeared in front of her and followed the Giant Dragon’s teachings to attach flesh to the Mana Lines like a skeleton, fitting together the flesh piece by piece, as if playing with a puzzle. Nia indeed had enough talent for flesh sculpting, and her manipulation of flesh was exquisite. To any onlooker, those pieces of flesh would seem like the clusters of a young umbrella fungus, growing at an incredible rate, elongating. Black tentacles rapidly took shape, swaying slightly in the air, as though they were alive, which might be an inappropriate term to use because the state of existence of those pieces of flesh was never determined from the start. If life is uncertain, then death is irrelevant.
The Giant Dragon nodded at Lyle’s Advanced Remodeling, "The Plague Doctor is indeed a genius in Spirit Summoning Studies. Look at the vasculature he’s woven, those muscle patterns. Although my appreciation for flesh may not be on par with Arnold, I do feel the beauty of flesh remodeling. He’s about to succeed, I can attest to that."
The scholar listened to the Giant Dragon’s affirmation, but his eyes remained fixed on the Mutant that was taking shape. "Giant Dragon, our requirement was to create a replica of Nia, right?"
"Why... does that Mutant..."
"Look nothing like Nia."
Black equilateral tentacles grew in clusters from one side of the lump of flesh, forming a furry ball, while the other side began to harden like fruit taking shape. Within the thicket of tentacles, emaciated limbs with swollen nodules grew out, resembling wrongly developed dry branches. The bare spherical side cracked, and the fruit with many tentacle-like roots burst open, its outer segments drooping down like a blooming flower. In the center of the flower, the head of the Mutant emerged. Out of the filthy and stinking mound of flesh, a white bony mask with two spiral horns grew on either side. Black voids occupied most of the bony mask. Coincidentally, the hollows of that mask directly faced the scholar’s chilling face.
"Do you see? My old friend, the Plague Doctor is amazing! Don’t worry too much; genius students always have their unique ideas. Although the Plague Doctor altered the structure of the Mutant on the fly, my dear Giant Dragon, he exceeded my expectations. Did you see the head of the Mutant? It actually consists of bone; the Plague Doctor turned flesh into bone, Blood-Bone Transformation is advanced knowledge, indeed. And those limb-like branches, I’m sure that’s something beyond flesh or bone, did he transform animal corpses into plants? I’ve truly taught a perfect student!"
Mr. Scholar’s movements were much more decisive. Silver chains climbed up the legs of the experiment table and onto the surface, with Mana Spikes starting to solidify at their tips and pointing at the face of the Mutant from four angles. His voice was hollow and eerie.
"Yes, the changes have indeed exceeded my expectations, but is this outstanding piece really created by my student?"
The scholar remembered the appearance of this creation, and he could even say he was familiar with it; when Nia became individuated, the only difference between Lyle and this being lying on the experiment table was a bony mask.
Facing the approaching sharp spikes, the Mutant tilted its head, and the horns altered by a small degree.
Lyle’s body was seized by a riot of Magic Power. Like boiling water overflowing from a kettle, it poured out with scalding heat along Lyle’s left arm, splashing into the surrounding air.
The scorching Magic Power tore through the air, significantly raising the temperature inside the Spiritual Tower.
"What is this??" The Giant Dragon summoned a Bone Shield to help the juvenile Mutant block the shockwave.
"The Plague Doctor has advanced." The scholar retracted the chains’ offensive, and four chains hovered around Lyle, wrapping the escaping Magic Power within their range like a mother dragon protecting her eggs. Under the scholar’s pressure, the pale blue boiling Magic Power gradually cooled, eventually condensing into a mist, a sphere of water. Finally, the Magic Power wound around Lyle’s left arm, becoming a chain.
Nia’s body also swelled slightly in this instant, with suckers growing on the black tentacles, which hid small hooks. The black mucus on the surface of Nia dimmed, barely revealing the red flesh layer beneath. Her tentacles became longer, and the main eye as the core of her body shrunk a bit, making her look more like a cross between an octopus and a spider at that moment.
New knowledge emerged from the depths of the mind.
Second lock, Sculptor.
Ability, Flesh Riot.
The onset time for the Plague Messenger’s disease is shortened, allowing for the specification of decaying traits during an outbreak. As the dormant virus breaks out, the ability to use Flesh Riot can be chosen. The victim’s surface skin forms pustules that secrete digestive enzymes, dissolving some of the internal flesh, or, utilizing remodeling knowledge, turning into fragile flesh tentacles. These tentacles hinder the host’s movement or even kill the host.
Derivative power, Corrosive Camouflage.
Nia can separate her own flesh and masquerade as the flesh of a humanoid organism, possessing the normal functions of biological tissue but also having uncontrollable assimilation abilities. Simply put, Nia can repair lost flesh, pretend to be an organ, a piece of lung, a segment of intestine, or even a heart, or she can save a disfigured face. As a consequence, Nia will unconsciously devour their healthy flesh. The longer the disguise goes on, the more flesh is lost. Until all the flesh in the body becomes part of Nia. After Nia detaches, the disguised will be left with nothing but a skeleton, or they will forever merge with Nia.
Feeling an even more powerful sense of self, Lyle opened his eyes. His gaze passed through the scholar and settled on the familiar Mutant he had created. The bone mask’s hollows were facing him, expressionless, but Lyle could feel it—he was smiling. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
A jesting, ghastly smile.
