Steel and Mana

Chapter 135 – Enslaved (1)

It turned out to be a long winter, longer than any previous one since I reincarnated in this world. Luckily, no more behemoths came through, but the smaller wildlife did attack us multiple times, even in the daytime. It held us back from going out and trying to recover more from the corpse, knowing that we could be attacked anytime now. It just wasn't worth the risk.

Well, I can't complain much, as our meat reserves were piling up, so much so that by my calculations, we were bound to have more than we could handle. So I sent a letter to my uncle. Besides the constantly manufactured tractors, he would get meat so that he could start feeding his soldiers first, giving them an edge.

This returned my thoughts to the fact that simply eating the beasts' meat, even after cooking it, still carries some magical elements within itself. So, thinking about that, I was also considering trying to have an experiment: making something drink beast blood. I was not going to test it on a human, of course, but I got some animals to try it on. Ultimately, I gathered a few chickens and force-fed them, melting monster blood from the big one's ice and waiting until it cooled down enough to not hurt them. When we came checking on them...

"Well... Now, I don't know if we should try eating that one's meat." I told my Father, watching the grizzly picture that greeted us the following day.

"We can still test it. Maybe if it is a well-done steak, it won't have a similar effect." He argued, but his countenance wasn't so sure about the idea anymore.

We had four chickens and made them swallow a drop, not more than a teaspoon worth of blood... All of them died. Not only were they dead, but their bodies seemingly exploded, covering the pen with gore, guts, feathers, and frozen blood. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.

"It seems that there is a limit to what the bodies can endure without enough preparation. I don't know how a human would react to it... Or what about mage... Brrr."

"You don't think about testing it out, do you?" Father asked, looking at me with one eye.

"Well... I would. Of course, not on my people, but if we ever get some prisoners or bastards who would be sent on the Walk, I would make them do it to see what happens."

"As long as it is not on our people, it's fine." He added with a shrug, patting my shoulder before beginning to clean up the mess before us.

"It isn't fine, but it is the sure way to learn more..." I sighed within my mind, chasing the thoughts away and beginning to help him out.

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"I got it! I got it!"

"Huh?" I flinched, looking up from behind my drawing table. I was simply doodling about, trying to further clarify my mech plans, as I wanted to start building them the moment the weather began to clear up.

The sudden intrusion from Merlin surprised me as he ran in, slamming my doors wide open, shouting... no, squealing from happiness. I knew he was back and arrived this morning, but I didn't expect him to come and see me at once.

"Slow down! What did you get? Explain it slowly, so I understand! Did you bed your new lover?"

"Huh?" He stopped, looking at me confused, shaking his head. "No! But she made me realize that she does have a good head on her shoulders!"

"She gave you head? It's a start."

"Huh?" He stopped again, blinking his eyes.

"Nothing." I shrugged, standing up, looking at him and his messy hair and black bags under his eyes. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Three days ago? Not important! I have been working on it since Elena said something that sparked an idea in my head!"

It had to be something truly important, huh? Looking at him, he was barely able to stand still, bobbing up and down, full of energy, yet his face looked like a crack addict's. Lucky me, there are no developed drugs here, or he may get hooked on amphetamine to stay awake for even longer periods. I don't want to invent the panzerschokolade.

"I'm listening, but try to explain it from the beginning." Indicating towards the chair opposite my workstation while I poured tea for him. After seeing he was still not calmed down, I simply took a cookie that Luna made for me and began munching on it, waiting for him to start. 

"We were looking for CC within the mines, designing survey groups, and establishing rotation in which they will go into old, abandoned shafts, thoroughly surveying the mountain, looking for more CC. There is nothing to report here yet, Sovereign!" He hurriedly added, returning to the main topic right after, "As we did, we talked about how CC reacts to different stimuli and what I know of it. Then we began hypothesizing what other possible qualities they may have or what kind of influence they could possess that we are unaware of... Then it hit me!"

"I can see that it is still ringing in your ears. So? What was it?" I asked, finishing my cookie and watching him. Unable to remain seated, he stood up and went in circles around the chair while answering me.

"Mikan's issue! The way I dispelled the monster! All of it came together! If Elyzien Morningstar is nothing but magic, reincarnated through her spell, then I can hijack her whole being! Her personality! I have been working hard to mix our mind-altering spell and the trojan one. I think I got Sovereign!"

"You mean you are going to take over Mikki-2?" I asked, my face serious, thinking his idea through.

 "Yes. If she is truly nothing but magic now, we can force her to obey our commands, no matter what. Our spell would overwrite her own will, force ours on her. This would not just solve the problem of Mikan having to live with a shadow hiding within her but also make it so she can take over what should be rightfully hers! This could give us a third witch, Leon!"

"If she can withstand it..." I murmured, making his excitement subside a little. "And if Elyzien truly nothing but magic by now..."

"True enough, but this is a risk Lady Mikan would be willing to take, I am sure of it. She has a strong mind, even if she wouldn't admit it. If not, why wouldn't her ancestor take over her already? I won't believe that she couldn't if Mikan wasn't strong enough!"

"Probably... I also thought about that, which is why I suspect Mikki-2 is weaker than she wants to show. Tell you what! Go home, rest, and I mean rest! Then, plan it out and present us with the formation so we can review it together. When everything is ready, we will bring Mikan in and introduce her to the findings. Ultimately... this is up to her."

"Yes, sir!" He shouted, saluting, leaving my room while I remained there, leaning against my table, reaching for another cookie. 

"A third witch... huh...? Was this an admission, my dear Merlin, that you wear girls' clothes when we ain't looking?"

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Merlin wasn't joking; he really got it. After sleeping through the following day, he was waiting for me in the dining room the second morning, going on about it while we were eating. I could see that his side of the table had a rolled-up parchment as thick as Oleg's forearm, probably the prototype formation he drew while we all slept, sitting amongst the remains of his early breakfast.

"Kiddo, you are talking so much that you put the kids back to sleep." Yuri chuckled, holding Arthur while Luna nodded in agreement, gently rocking Leyla in her arms. True enough, both of them were asleep, probably bored to death, listening to Merlin describing the runes and the theory behind his new invention. Sasha and I were the only ones present who were paying attention; I was sure of it.

As for how much she understood, it was hard to tell, but from my perspective, Merlin was making a lot of sense, and I could follow it. It was a well-thought-out combination, merging two spells in a way that, on paper, could work. If he was right, by disabling the magic and through it disabling Mikki-2's thoughts, we could permanently inject a spell into her consciousness that turns her into a Yes-man. A Yes-woman, in her case. From then on, it should give Mikan the power to impose her will on Mikki-2 and, in turn, make her mana her own.

"Did you work out how to make sure only Mikan can order her powers to obey? It would be awkward if anybody told her something she couldn't refuse and began obeying everybody." I asked, making Sasha nod her head rapidly.

"That is important, Merlin!"

"I did!" he answered proudly before pursing his lips. "Elena joked about the same idea..."

"Kinky girl. I like how she thinks!" Yuri grinned before raising an eyebrow, "You didn't tell her about what we did to her father, yes?"

"What? No!" he protested loudly, sounding hurt that Yuri would even think about something like that. "She doesn't even know a spell like that exists; we were simply arguing about theoretical things after dinner!"

"Instead of going to bed?" Luna asked, rolling her eyes, "Nerds."

"Pft!" We laughed in unison, making Merlin pout and crossing his arms.

"Hmph! Whatever! The main thing is that it should work, and because it would be imprinted into her, she would be able to control it—and only she!"

"How would we imprint it onto her?" Sasha questioned, tilting her head.

"Well, we could use a type of branding somewhere on her body... or a tattoo. It must be on her body like the beasts have runes on their bones. It won't work like the bracelets; that is simply not good enough."

"Well..." I whispered, wiping my mouth, "Let that be the last issue to solve. For now, I want to see your formation."

"Yes!" He yelled, standing up happily to roll out the parchment that soon took over the whole dining table.

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Since Merlin came up with his solution to Mikan's problem, we have been working exclusively on it the following week, ensuring that everything was working perfectly, even if only in theory. How would we test it? It was a question none of us had any answers for. Nobody here had a second persona locked away inside us besides poor Mikki-1... We also couldn't just kidnap someone and use it on them because this would only work on mages anyway. No matter how many times we went over it at the end, we didn't find anything we would change. It was finished... What remained was using it.

Looking at Merlin and Sasha, I felt we did what we could. While standing over the ninth revision of the first iteration of the new spell, I felt excited and also worried for all of us. Looking at it, it was incredibly complex, maybe the one with the most runes we have ever devised. Counting, it had a hundred and eleven runes arranged in three concentric circles, and it would require three mages to cast it.

Yes... three. The first circle would fall onto Sasha to activate. It would be what hones onto Elyzien's spirit and 'hacks' into it. The second would be Merlin's responsibility, injecting the mind-altering spell, forcing Mikki-2 to comply, no matter what. Then, the last circle was waiting for Mikan. She would have to imprint her will onto Mikki-2, and there is no other way around it. If any of these fail, it could be catastrophic, resulting in her mind being broken, dying, or something worse, becoming a mindless automaton.

"I think it is time we notify Mikan about it." I exclaimed softly, rubbing my face. "We will tell her the pros and cons, leaving no possible dangers hidden, and let her choose. If she wants to go through it, we will prepare and do it!"

"There is no point in waiting..." Sasha whispered, her fists balling up, "I will do my best!"

"Same!" Merlin shouted, saluting, the only one amongst us who had no misgivings nor any doubt about it. Damn, he was a confident little bastard, ahaha! I think he never questioned himself while coming up with the solution, being sure it would just work fine. After creating multiple revisions, his confidence strengthened every time... I just hope he is right; I don't want to lose Mikan.

"Okay!" I sighed, slapping my face, "Wait here, I will call her over."