There is a lot to go through in the files Cassandra brought and Rose and I are both eager to learn as much as we can as quickly as possible. We kept the body of one of the imps that died in the last attack so we could dissect it before Rose left for her next mission, but we also waited in hopes of receiving information like this from the humans, because having something to compare to, even if it is not exactly the same, will make it easier to understand what we’re looking at, rather than going into it blind.

It is currently stored in the bathroom, lying in the small bathtub, if you could call it that. I doubt an adult human would ever be able to relax comfortably in such a small tub. It would be great for my imps though if we actually had running water. We are currently relying on whatever effect keeps things from decaying at a normal rate within the dungeon to keep it intact until we are ready. Perhaps that is something else I could ask the humans about, see if they can offer an explanation for why that happens. But even if things decay slower here, it is not going to last forever, though we did try to drain the blood from the body in hopes that that would help it keep for a little longer.

The other imps were confused when they were told they could not eat it, but Rose managed to convince them that we had something far more important planned for it, something that would greatly benefit the pack; plus, they can still eat it once we are done anyway.

It has been four days since the attack and now the body has become a little discoloured, taking on a more pallid hue with some mottled darker patches in some places. I do not know if it is starting to smell, given my lack of an olfactory sense, but I have not heard anyone complaining yet, though given their general willingness to eat rotting meat, it’s possible they simply would not care even if it did smell. I would like to get to it today if we can. Rose and I have spent most of our time studying the information we were given and I even continued reading when she eventually had to sleep.

William will be returning in two days and after that Rose will be leaving for an unknown length of time. We definitely cannot keep it here waiting for her to come back, so we might as well get it over with. We were never going to be able to become experts in this field in such a short time anyway and as much as I am loath to admit it, there will likely be more opportunities to do this in the future.

In preparation for this, Rose had previously asked the other imps to keep an eye out for any stones that looked like they would be good for sharpening knives since we are going to need them to be as sharp as we can get them for this. We will primarily be using the blade that Violet extracted from the folding knife she destroyed previously. She never managed to find an effective means of attaching it to her tail, but it will be quite useful for this situation, with its smaller size offering a lot more precision than any of the other knives my imps have collected. It is still not ideal, but we have to work with what we have got.

Rose and Violet head to the bathroom where the imp’s body is waiting. I asked Violet to accompany us in case we need some extra strength. Rose has the small knife blade and one larger knife, while Violet is carrying the files on the vak and the brutes that Cassandra provided so we can refer to them as we go. The sucubirus file did not contain anything useful for the task at hand, unfortunately, so there is no need to bring it along as well. I will be the one handling the documents once we start, to avoid soiling them with bodily fluids of a dead imp.

In the bathroom, as we prepare to begin, I offer a silent prayer to the imp whose body we are about to dissect, a male who was named Aspen, thanking him for his sacrifice. He gave his life defending his home and his pack. Even now, he will continue to aid us by furthering our understanding of imp anatomy. I wonder if it would have pleased him to know that after his death, he would be helping his pack in ways no other imp ever has before.

Rose makes the first incision down the center of the chest and abdomen and carefully peels back the surface tissue. The process is messy due to her lack of experience and a blade not suited for the task, but eventually the ribs and sternum are revealed. We take a moment to examine their design and structure before moving on.

This is a part where Violet’s assistance is necessary. We do not have any tools suitable for cutting through the ribs, unless we just try breaking them with a hammer, but that would risk damaging the organs beneath which we are trying to study, so we have to rely on Violet’s strength. It is not easy, but working together, they do manage to pry the ribs apart without damaging anything else.

This is my first time actually taking a close look at the internal anatomy of an imp and I feel a little conflicted about it. I know that it is necessary and we will benefit from it, but it feels a little uncomfortable due to my personal connection to the subject. Maybe it would be easier if we were dissecting a specimen that I had never met, but this is an imp that I knew and cared for.

Rose and Violet have no such reservations, not that I would expect them to, given how imps normally deal with their dead. This one will end the same way too, just with a few extra steps before getting there.

Each organ is closely examined, observing its shape, size and how it is connected to everything else around it, before being carefully cut away and placed to the side, while I flip through pages of the vak and brute files to compare things.

Some things are easily identified, such as the heart, lungs, stomach and intestines, but after that, things get less obvious and more complicated. In the files, both vak and brutes have a pale coloured, vaguely triangular-shaped organ near the stomach that the information states serves a similar function to the liver in humans. I think we have found the same thing here, a pale, triangle-ish organ near the stomach, except this imp has two of them, one on either side of the stomach, whereas the vak and brutes only have one.

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Is it possible that imps have two of these demonic liver equivalents? Or have I just misidentified what we are seeing? But that is not all, there is another small organ that the imp appears to have four of, two on either side of the abdomen. They are all the same size, with the same ovoid shape and dark red colouring, so I think they are all the same. But looking at the data on the vak and brutes, neither of them have four of anything, so I am not sure what I am looking at.

Even with all the information we got from Cassandra, we are not able to definitively identify much else. I have some theories, but with much of what remains having different shapes, colours and/or placement than what is in the files, I cannot be sure. We spend a few hours meticulously examining each of the organs. Even if we cannot figure out the function of many of them, we can at least see how they connect and fit together.

After the internal organs, there is still a lot more to see. By examining the imp’s skeletal structure, how the bones fit together and how the joints connect, Rose will hopefully be better prepared for healing broken bones when such injuries occur.

But getting to the bones in many places means getting through the muscles first, though that is hardly a problem as we need to study those as well. Learning about their structure, texture and distribution is also an important step, in addition to seeing all the tendons and ligaments that hold everything together.

The work takes most of the day and even continues into the night. As it starts getting dark, Violet is the first to suggest bringing in mana stones. They do emit light when fully charged and even though it is not enough to completely illuminate the room, imps can see quite well in the dark, as can I, so it is bright enough to allow us to continue without much interruption.

Eventually we reach a point where I feel that we have learned all we can from this and the body is left in a state where it is hardly recognisable as an imp anymore. Perhaps we could have figured out more if we had a greater baseline knowledge to begin with, but even if we had that, there is only so much you can learn from dissecting a single corpse, but I have already resigned myself to the fact that this is only the first and there will surely be others in the future.

Violet runs off to let everyone know that they can finally eat the body and I once again thank Aspen for his sacrifice and the knowledge we have gained from it.

Do you feel like this has been helpful? I ask Rose.

“Maybe. We’ll see if it has any impact next time I need to heal someone, but I think there’s still a lot I need to learn,” she replies.

Indeed, but this was a good start.

She pinches the bottom hem of her shirt and holds it out to inspect its condition.

“I’m going to need to go out for a wash after this, Violet too probably. Unsurprisingly, that was quite messy,” she complains.

Violet soon returns, leading all the other imps into the room. Even though imps are not very big, neither is the room and it ends up being a little bit too crowded. Rose shoos them out and directs them to form a single file line so they can each come in to take a piece one at a time. It takes a bit of effort to get them all to understand the instructions, especially for the two new teleporting imps, who are dealing with not only a language barrier, but are also adjusting to a very different way of doing things than they are used to.

Eventually they are all lined up and filing in to take a piece while Rose supervises the whole process to ensure no one takes an unreasonably large portion. Each imp quickly rejoins the back of the line as soon as they finish what they were given. It is a mildly amusing sight as long as I do not think about what they are actually eating.

Calla tries to offer her first piece to Noctis, but is quickly rebuked by her parents. Noctis had followed her into the core room, but thankfully did not try to squeeze into the bathroom with all the imps earlier.

“Not for Noctis! It's for you to eat and get stronger,” Lily says.

“Make Noctis stronger,” Calla counters.

“Noctis already strong. You need it more. You eat,” Calyx insists.

Calla carefully considers their words for a moment before shoving the piece of meat into her mouth and the three imps rejoin the line, hoping to get more.

Once the meat is gone, the room fills with the sound of crunching as they are all now munching on bones until soon there is nothing left of the imp who was known as Aspen.

Afterwards, Rose and Violet head out to go bathe at the river and few others choose to follow them, excited at the prospect of going to play in the water.

I urge them to be careful and keep an eye out for anything that may be lurking in the water, hidden by the darkness, and Rose promises that they will. Perhaps I am worrying too much, this is hardly the first time they have gone to the river at night, but it is better to be safe than sorry.

I go back to reading the files, this time focusing on the sections about circulatory systems. We did not pay much attention to that at all this time and I think it would require better, more precise tools to properly explore it. Perhaps I could talk to William about getting a proper set of surgical tools in the future. He will probably want to know why we want something like that, but I am sure he will understand if we explain it to them.

It could also be possible to conjure appropriate tools out of mana, then they could be as sharp as necessary in whatever shape we need them to be; at least in theory. In practice, I am sure it would not be that easy. Apart from the mana required to sustain something like that, it would also need intense focus and concentration over a long period of time, even more so when using it for such delicate and detailed work such as investigating a creature's circulatory system without completely butchering it. I do not think that would be feasible for me or Rose at the moment, but maybe something we could work on in the future.

At least we would not have to wait for an imp to die to study such systems. We could have the imps bring back animals to dissect. Even if they are quite different from imps and not even originating from the same world, as long as they have blood that is red, with a heart to pump it and veins to carry it, I am sure there is still something to be learned from studying them.