Jack had greatly underestimated just how painful the compounds would be. Each stroke of the brush increased the agony he felt as every bit of material increased his bodies sensitivity to mana which in turn caused the caustic mana within the chemicals feel more potent as they burned deeper into his flesh. His jaw clenched tight enough that his teeth began to sheer through the leather stuffed inside his mouth.

As Jack’s body shuddered in agony, Yorik paused his painting to check with him. “Are you okay? Do you want me to stop?”

Tears streaming down his face Jack breathed in heavily and forced himself to nod and then shake his head.

“Right, I’ll keep going then.” Yorik confirmed and dipped his brush once more.

During the short break of Yorik checking on him, Jack took the time to focus on dealing with the pain. It was far worse than he had anticipated. But his whole life he had been dealing with similar things. Jack chuckled darkly in his mind as he thought that the constantly increasing pain the procedure was causing did lend more credence to his private theory that his lack of aptitudes had indeed lessened the pain that he went through compared to other magical jacks when using magic.

The brush touched Jack once more but this time he was better prepared for just how bad it would be. Closing his eyes, he focused all of his mind of simply meditating and watching the changes of the mana within his body. Disregarding the pain that was trying to hold his attention.

Jack sunk deeper and deeper within himself soon he no longer perceived the pain at all. Instead, he marveled at the changes occurring inside his body. He had been careful to not say anything about it but every line that needed to be painted corresponded to one of his mana passages, internal and external. Every stroke of the brush forced his partially atrophied passages wider and wider. Making them far larger than they had ever been before. He couldn’t help but wonder as he stared at the swirling mana within him if this would cause a permanent change or if they would reduce back down to the size that they had been before over time.

Eventually, Jack was awoken from his mediation. Looking around he was surprised to find himself standing in the middle of the room rather than sitting on the stool. Apparently, at some point Yorick had shaken him and asked him to stand up so that his legs could be done properly and Jack had managed to do so without breaking his trance.

Looking at himself in the mirror Jack couldn’t help but to let out a low groan as he attempted to shift in order to see his back and sides. All of the pain that he had been ignoring hadn’t gone anywhere and as his body moved every bit of it came back into sharp focus. Taking a couple shallow steadying breaths Jack forced himself to move through the discomfort. He still had much to do and likely not much time to do it in.

As he turned his body this way and that, eyes scanning his reflection intently he spoke in a quiet whisper. “How long did that take? What time is it now?”

When there was no immediate reply Jack spun around fully at look at Yorik and see just why he hadn’t responded. The man was standing there silently starting off into space as if contemplating a mystery of the universe. Taking another breath Jack tried again this time slightly louder, “Hey, Yorik. What time is it? Do you know how long all of this took?”

“Hmmm? Oh, sorry sir. I was just thinking about something. What was that? I am afraid I did not catch it.” Yorik’s eyes focused as he realized that Jack was attempting to get his attention.

Jack struggled to hold back a sigh of irritation, not wanting to move his body any more than what was absolutely necessary. “I was curious if you knew what time it was and how long that took. It’s looking pretty good from what I saw so far.”

“Thank you sir. I did try my best.” Yorik nodded with a slight smile at the compliment before humming in thought. “You know, I am unsure. It didn’t feel that long but I was rather involved in my task. One moment let me check.”

Reaching into one of the inside pockets to his vest Yorik pulled out a gorgeous ornate watch. It was made out of a combination of some type of intricately carved crystal or glass and embossed with small bits of metal to accent the design. “Let’s see here… It looks like it is now eleven thirty. Which means that the painting and carving took approximately four and a half hours. Seeing as I arrived here at just after six this morning and you returned about an hour after that.”

Speaking once more in a quiet whisper Jack mumbled to himself, “Eleven thirty. Okay. Okay. I can work with that… I can work with that. I just need to make my way over into the other room here. Come on Jackie-boy you can do this. Just put one foot in front of the other. Nothing else too it. Pain is nothing but a fact of life after all, if you can’t get through something as small as this then what’s the point in everything else you’ve gone through huh?”

With an awkward sliding motion Jack’s left leg moved forward along the floor, seemingly unable to actually lift itself from the ground. Jack stopped and took a few more forcibly slow breaths and then mumbled again. “Good start, good start, now the next. Come on. Move leg. You can move you piece of crap, I know you can.”

Bit by bit, his right leg made a similar slow drag over the stone tiles of the floor until it reached and then passed where his left leg had stopped. Yorik stood there and stared as Jack continued this pattern of taking a few breaths, mumbling to himself a mix of encouragements and disparagements, and then dragging one of his feet ever closer to the ritual room.

It took five minutes for Jack to move the small distance from where he started over to the doorway connecting the antechamber to the ritual room. When he got there, he paused and stared at the scene in front of him. With the lines covering the ground he could not move in the same manner that he had been. He needed to be able to lift his feet off of the floor.

Taking another set of shallow breaths Jack contemplated just what he had to do. With a hissing sigh he closed his eyes and concentrated. His body twitched a few times and after almost an entire minute his right foot began to rise. Getting it up a couple inches he paused and set it back down in place with a groan of pain. He then repeated the same thing with his left foot. Then his right again, then his left. Over and over again he did this for another five minutes until he was able to move that small amount without needing to groan from the agony.

Opening his eyes once more Jack began to move forward into the ritual room. Careful step after careful step. He took every effort to keep his body moving without stopping as he feared that if he stopped, he might well collapse, ruining hours of work and months of preparation.

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At the glacial pace he was able to move, it took Jack another ten minutes to reach the center of the ritual room. There were a few close calls, but he managed to make it there without damaging any of the lines.

Jack glanced over and realized that he had forgotten to close the door behind him. With a small shudder of dread, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his old mantra. “Absorb, purify, use.” Reciting it over and over again in his head he pulled mana into himself from the world and set about turning it into a wind spell to pull the door closed.

The mana slammed into him like a boulder. Flooding into his body hundreds of times faster then it ever had before. Even as Jack began to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of power, he couldn’t help but to think how odd it was that the reason he was being forced to take these drastic measures was also the reason that the power flooding his body, was not simply outright killing him. He had adapted thanks to that parasite to be able to absorb any type of mana and now thanks to that he could withstand this massive temporary increase in his absorption rate. On the other hand, as the mana passed into his forcibly expanded passages the pain was significantly more then it ever had been before, not as bad as what he had felt with the expansion itself but still far worse than casting a spell ever had.

Being able to withstand such an increase and being able to control it well however are two very different things. The spell that Jack had prepared and put all the concentration he could spare into erupted from him like a shot out of a cannon. Slamming the door shut so quickly that the sound was deafening within the room.

Jack collapsed onto his knees as the noise hit him. The sudden movement forcing him to let loose a scream of pain as his whole body suddenly reminded him about what had just been done to it in excruciating detail. Heaving deeply Jack centered himself and slowly forced himself back upright.

As soon as he was standing once more, he looked around to make sure that nothing was displaced by the wind created from his overpowered spell. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw that nothing was moved.

Jack made sure that he was exactly in the center of the room and closed his eyes. It was time for him to begin the ritual itself. Taking three deep slow breaths Jack went through his mantra and opened his eyes. Once more he pulled mana from the world into his body. This time instead of crafting a spell he sent it down and into the ritual circle surrounding him. Starting from his feet light spread around the room along the patterns and marks made all over the floor, then onto the walls where it climbed upwards and finally up to everything on the ceiling.

Once the last bit of the room was finished lighting up Jack began to chant. His chant served multiple functions for the ritual. Some parts of what he was chanting were simply for himself, to help him better focus on just what needed to be accomplished and in what order. During other sections, he would be calling upon various Agier whose legends involved the mind or healing asking them to grant their boons in return for a gift and a fraction of the energy created by the ritual being dedicated to them.

“I call upon the ancestors of Surdyl. Those who came before and accomplished the impossible. I ask of you for your boons to help this lowly one.

Xuiveria who resides in the east, lady of the healing home, I ask of you to guide my hands to be sure and true, to bring healing rather than harm as I work to repair my mind.

Dercors lord of history, I ask of you to help me remember clearly. Not just the hurts and sins within my soul, but the joys and virtues as well.

Noctuver lady of the night and shadows, I ask of you to help me forget. Let my mind cloud the memories when they are not needed so that I may be free to do what needs to be done.

Vitaeramus lord of the revitalizing breath, I ask of you to keep me from death. Let me accomplish what I have set out to do without burning out my broken vessel.

Bertrand, lord of the frozen hunt, I ask of you to bless me with luck. Let me who shares your name not just live but grow from this experience.

I ask of you, oh ancestors, to bless me, and in return I will give to you each this offering and a portion of the mana brought forth here today.”

Near the center of the ritual in a pentagram formation there were five marks each designating one of the Agier alongside a specific material that was said to be associated with them. A crystal needle for Xuiveria, a book bound in high quality leather for Dercors, a meteorite for Noctuver, the leaf and bark of a mana rich willow tree for Vitaeramus, and the horn of an ice elk for Betrand. As Jack chanted and called out each supplication the associated material vanished and the ritual circle grew brighter until at the end it was almost too bright to look at. Even so, Jack did not close his eyes.

Up next was the truly difficult part of what he was doing. Unlike the first and last parts of the ritual where he was calling upon and thanking greater beings, the middle section was entirely up to him. If he failed to channel the mana properly then no matter how much help was being given, he would destroy himself from the inside out, quite likely exploding or boiling his brain in the process.

Taking a deep breath, Jack moved on to the next portion of his chant, moving the mana that he had been steadily absorbing and purifying the entire time.

“From the world into myself I draw mana, for only with mana can I truly make myself whole. To be whole I cannot neglect any aspect of who I am. So today I channel through both inside and out not neglecting one for the other. No matter the pain, the fears or strain.

Internal to strengthen the body so I may withstand what comes, external to enact the changes so that I may survive and thrive. The world is harsh and cruel as I have learned before. My life filled with horrors and tragedy. But I know that is not all. My enemy may have wished to break me with the nightmares I have survived. But through those I have seen the beauty around us. I do not wish to forget my bloody past, nor lose what has made me me. But I know as well that I cannot and will not forget the good of the world that surrounds us too.”

As Jack called out his desires he closed his eyes, his attention going from making sure the circle was operating correctly to the mana within his control. Even as he began to move the energy through his body, he could feel a difference. For the first time ever in his life, it did not hurt. Sure, there were times in the past where some spells would hurt less to do, but never once since he had embarked on his foolish path of being a jack had he used mana and felt no pain.

Jack had to force himself to ignore that fact, no matter how wonderful it felt. If he allowed himself to be distracted and revel in it, then he would fail his task and be doomed. Instead, he doubled down and pushed himself harder. Filling his expanded passageways to the brim.

As he concentrated on that he discovered a second surprise. He could clearly see mana other than his own moving alongside his. Seemingly with its own purpose. For a moment he feared that there was some remnant of the system that had been hidden inside of him all this time and was now taking the chance to break free and claim his body once more. Before he could wind himself up too much, he felt an almost soothing reassurance come from one of the manas and realized that there were five distinct types. Two that looked soothing and calm, one, a beautiful watery blue that shimmered like the surface of a pond, and the other a light green that fluttered like leaves in a spring breeze. A third was a dry and musty brown almost like the pages of an old tome. The fourth mana was hard to see, dark shadows that were sometimes there and sometimes not, almost as they were an illusion, or a trick of his tired mind. The final one was a cold blue tinged with white, not like the white of his own core that was like that of light, made up of every color, but rather it was the white of packed snow and ice, harsh and uncaring.

Jack realized that these bits of mana swirling within his body were those of the Agier that he had called upon. It surprised him just how similar their presence within his body was to how the parasite had entrenched itself. It was not to the same extent, but he had the feeling that if the beings behind the mana wished to, they could likely take over someone’s body in much the same way. Shaking his head slightly to keep himself from getting distracted by just what higher beings were and could do Jack focused himself again upon his task.