"Shouldn't you be worried that I might approach the royals for help? Why are you telling me all this?" questioned Abhin. Wouldn't the royals do all the dirty work on his behalf, once he lets them know of Reid's whereabouts?
"Oh, ya cannot." Edgar confidently replied. "Not unless Charles himself wishes for it to happen. And we are anyways planning to change our hiding spot(after Reid is done with you) because the royals too are having their fair share of suspicion over Charles' death. After all, his various sightings have been reported on the web over the past few decades."
"So they are waiting for Mrs. Mayor to die so that they can conduct a full-fledged search over here." The skal concluded.(The mayor is an official of the Jia federation and is thus not under the royals)
Abhin let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed as if there really was nothing he could do, for now.
** **
A few more days passed, which he spent mostly meditating - as suggested by Edgar - to reduce his panic attacks.
Although some (mental) wounds might never heal, he was still faring better than how most humans would, or so he thought. The only new variable now was the sudden upsurge of warmth he would feel within him every now and then. Other than that, the situation was pretty much under control.
And it was only after another week that Reid came back - depressed and angry.
"They(R&D) said to bring out some results with the 'specimen' they gave me, or else they will stop funding my research. Heh, they speak as if they are truly funding my research. They too know that I can't bring results by working with these outdated toys. It's as if they have completely given up on me and are now siding with them damn Royals now." Reid scoffed as he continued his tirade.
"Furthermore, those schmucks have already gathered substantial information from the other 5 Ningens. Although they withheld almost all of the major data from me, I could at least figure out that their bodies had long adapted to mana. And here we are, stuck with a defective rodent." The shura glared at the meditating human, unconsciously shooting out some bloodlust at him. This caused the human to involuntarily shudder and start oozing out blood, which left its dark red trail as it flowed down his eyes, ears, and nose.
'Wait what? Did my bloodlust affect him?' Bloodlust never affects a still-mana being, but the symptoms Abhin showed said otherwise.
Reid was not that surprised though, as he had seen him use that weapon earlier. Although he did lose almost all of his killing intent, which impeded further harm to the human.
Abhin, on the other hand, was forced out of his meditative trance. His legs went limp and his hands started quivering as he fell on his knees under immense pressure. He started gasping for breath as bloody tears dripped down his eyes. The human felt as if his innards were continuously rammed in by a truck, which in turn made him cough out some blood. But soon the pressure he felt elevated, preventing Abhin from suffocating to death. He tried to get a hold of his nerves but it was of no use as he started involuntarily shuddering in fear. However, terror was not the only emotion he felt. He was angry; angry at himself for not even having a bit of self-control; angry that his subconscious fear for Shura had just grown more.
'Enough is enough.' He thought, 'I won't let this Shura bully me anymore. I'd rather die than go through such horrors.'
He controlled his ragged breathing and rushed towards the Shura, throwing away caution in the wind. The stifling feeling which he had, now took over his entire body.
The warmth within him channeled through his heart to his fist, as he threw a superman punch at the Shura with all the will and power he had, pouring out all of his negative emotions in it.
The stupefied Shura took the punch head-on, which in turn forced him to retreat back by a step. The punch let out a crisp sound which reverberated through the whole lab, causing Edgar to lose all of his colors, for he was worried not for his childhood friend but for his human companion.
Reid, who was supposed to get further pissed off, stood in utter joy as he prompted Abhin to hit him once more.
"Your punch has twice the power it had earlier. A bit more harder this time." Reid requested the human whose right hand was now limp and bled from various newly formed orifices, to punch him again. Abhin didn't actually focus on what Reid said. He even neglected his broken right arm as he let out another punch on the Shura's abdomen using his left hand. All he wanted was for Reid to end him for once and for all. The newfound pain from the bloodlust leaking off the demon was too much for his sanity as they opened up his previous mental wounds too.
After taking on the second punch, a creepy smile crept up on Reid's face as he once again picked Abhin up from his nape.
"Tranquilise him, Ed."
** **
"How in the world is this possible, mate? Didn't ya say it would take his race another thousand years just to use mana in the most basic way possible?" Edgar questioned Reid as he watched the slumbering human. He had wanted to ask this question when he first heard the mention of other humans at R&D headquarters, but he wasn't able to given how quickly the situation unfolded.
"That was just a hypothesis, Ed. Him using mana points out that the Ningens play a fair share of role in his biology. Well, those five had already awakened and the only thing holding us back was our own shitty equipment. Such an outcome was inevitable." The shura shrugged as he replied.
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He then started working on what seemed like a holographic computer. After working for a full hour, he came to the conclusion that the mana within Abhin was definitely moving, and in a healthy way to boot. Now he had a new set of data, and all that was left was to comprehend it to reach a step closer to being an immortal(and then start working on the resurrection of his dead wife).
"So what will we do with him, now that ya got what ya want?" Edgar questioned the human's fate.
"He is just an extra R&D fished out by mistake. We'll get rid of this troublemaker just before we change our base. Or we can keep him alive too, god knows when we might need his body again." Reid suggested before continuing his work. While keeping him alive as a test subject might be better for the long run, the risks entailed were too much for the Shura to bear, especially after the heat he had generated with the Royals.
"Well, don't disturb me anymore. I have a lot of work to do now. Try and find out his trigger point in the meantime."
Reid then worked his ass off for days, trying to decode the biological mysteries hidden within Abhin. Edgar, on the other hand, tried to find his trigger point by comparing the fluctuations of his brain readings, so that if they were to ever work upon a new human, they would be easily able to activate his or her mana. The human was drugged off every time he woke up so that they could work in tranquility.
The flared-up Shura had dulled out in every sense by the time his research neared its end. On the other hand, Edgar was quite elated as he had succeeded in his task.
"Shit. Why are the results like this? Damn it. Damn you, worthless humans." Reid threw another round of tantrum as he looked at the report sheet in his hand.
"Calm ya ass down, mate, and tell me what happened."
Reid let out a heavy sigh before continuing. "Even after the mana activation, he is estimated to live around only 200 years. That's far less than us Shuras." This piece of news alone had shattered his hopes of extending his mother's life.
The readings showed that the human was not much different from the herbivores in his constitution. Although there were a few abnormalities in the report, there were no heaven-shattering secrets that could help him in attaining a longer lifespan. Shuras themselves lived for 600 years on average, so 200 was a very discouraging number.
He somewhat knew that he cannot just brew a 'nectar of immortality' after getting sufficient data, but the knowledge he gained was far less than the hassles he had gone through, and that was what pissed him the most. Reid was depressed and he had every right to be, for he had now lost all the hopes of extending his dying mother's life.
"Cheer up, mate. I found the human race's trigger point. This might help ya in err.... at least dealing with the R&D officials."
"Gahh, do you think it is something they could not have come up with? Stop acting dumb, Ed. It does not improve my mood." grunted Reid. "Anyways, I am going out to get a breath of fresh air, so keep an eye on him in the meanwhile."
"And I better not find you half-dead once again. " Reid reminded him to be cautious of the human as he left his lab premises.
** **
Abhin woke up in a few hours. He did feel a bit disoriented, but things improved as time passed by. Edgar let him know of the changes that occurred to him.
"Grats, kiddo. Ya is no more still-mana, ya know what that implies, right?"
This sentence blossomed an optimistic smile on the human's face as he further inquired, "You are sending me back to Earth."
But the smile soon died out as he read the Skal's gloomy expression.
"No, not truly. But don't fret kiddo. Ya is free to go wherever ya want after Reid comes back from his work." Edgar said, probably to uplift the human's mood, but to no avail.
'Free to go, don't joke with me. What was I even thinking when I felt that these aliens would let me go back?' He got dispirited again, partly because he couldn't trust a single thing related to that Shura, and partly because he had seen the outside world when he went to the mayor's mansion, and he knew that the world was far too foreign for him to survive on his own. Who knows, he just might poison himself to death the very day he leaves this place, just cause he ate something humans shouldn't have.
Well, the only thing Abhin could get from them is the limited information they wished to give him, and right now, that is the most important thing to him. After all, knowledge is power.
"Anyways, you said something related to mana earlier. Would you elaborate on that matter, doctor? I don't feel much different from what I felt earlier." Abhin inquired as he clenched his right hand, which was supposed to be broken a few hours ago.
That was the only thing that had changed.
'Oh, yes. The heat within me has gone away too.' He added in his mind.
"Of course, ya would feel nothing. It's like buying up balloons for ya birthday. It would not change much, right? But inflating them with air would surely help in the decorations and only then will the balloons serve their true purpose. The same's with ya, kiddo."
'It's weird, but I somewhat get it.'
"Umm.. doctor? One more thing. You said that people could heal themselves with mana. Could you please teach me how to heal myself?" Abhin shamelessly asked Edgar. After all, he knew how important healing was. If only he could have healed his broken leg, he might have had a greater chance of escaping that Shura.
"Sure, that is something I can do. Behold the might of the Skals, kiddo." Edgar proclaimed as he started boasting about how special Skals are.
** **
"... and that's how ya have to move ya mana within the affected area to speed up the regeneration. Remember to keep ya mind clear of all unnecessary thoughts and just focus on healing. Keep trying it and ya will soon become a professional."
For the next few days, he taught Abhin how to heal wounds, or at least the theory of it.
After a few hours, Reid barged in, donning a grumpy expression.
"Did it go well??" Edgar inquired, like a housewife, as they went outside for a while.
"No, they even cut off the little funds they were giving to me. R&D is being pressurized by Agatha and Steya, it seems"
"But didn't one of those old asses(one of the two kings whose son was murdered by Reid) die a few years ago? The one ruling Steya, I believe. They don't even have a proper heir to take over the reign." Edgar believed that the kingdoms would dwell less on Reid's matter, for they would first focus on stabilizing themselves.
"Yes, he did die. But one of the princesses took the reign of the kingdom and has been posing an aggressive stance since then. She is far more different than those old cooters who ruled for fun."
"??" Edgar was quite shocked. After all, the Royals were far more patriarchal in nature than any other race when it came to passing down the throne.
"But don't worry, I have some plans in mind. I just did a humongous deal to rake in some bucks. After all, money is something that never betrays you."
"Wait, whatcha did? Robbed a bank or kidnapped a celebrity?" Edgar knew Reid well enough to know that a plan of Reid would be nothing less than a full-fledged invitation to trouble itself. And the very mention of a deal from Reid's mouth gave Edgar a mini heart attack.
"Do I look like an idiot, Ed? This is the time to lay low, why would I let the world know of my presence?" Reid shot back.
"Ya said the same thing some 40 years ago, and look what happened."
"I was hot-blooded back then, Ed. Since then, I have toned down a lot."
"Listen, trust me and just wait and watch. Why would I commit such atrocities now?. After all, we do have a money bag right in front of our eyes." Seeing Edgar's gloomy and doubtful expression, Reid continued as he rubbed his hands like a scheming merchant.
"Time to con some royals off their treasures." Reid concluded as he put up a wide smile, but was stopped midway by Edgar's laughter, which erupted probably due to the 'ass-like smile' he leaked out.