Yui says "Well, if your guess is right and he was brought over from the main continent, then Haku is a Heavenly Lion. Or at least that is what his species is called in the records."

"Heavenly Lion? What can you tell me about his species?"

Yui says "According to the records, they are pride based. Each male has between ten to twenty females. Interestingly, upon reaching maturity the females grow wings, the males do not."

"That saves me from one problem, Asuna would be upset if she was my only kid who couldn't fly."

Yui says "True, but you should be prepared for him to grow. According to the records the males were two to three times the size of the females."

"That I was already prepared for. Have you seen the size of his feet? He is going to be huge! So, was the name of the species based on the females wings?"

Yui says "Actually, no. The name comes from a single eye witness account that reported a male using a destructive breath attack. He described it as Heaven's Wrath, hence the name."

"Oh, that's something to look forward to! Does it say anything else?"

Yui says "No, I'm afraid that is all it says. These records are from over two thousand years ago."

"Alright, thank you. At least now I know what to expect."

Core says "All that aside, what are we going to do about Myria? You should at least figure out something to tell her."

Yui says "True, if you don't satisfy her somehow she will tell the others."

"I will figure something out when the time comes."

Core says "I am the living core of a spell and never met anyone before you. Yet even I can tell that is a horrible plan for dealing with a woman."

Yui says "Ash is an expert when it comes to horrible plans."

"Alright, enough of that! Yui, are Myria and the guardsmen currently working out?"

Yui says "Affirmative."

"Good, can you scan them all and show me how the mana is flowing in their bodies?"

Yui says "Sure, one second."

After a bit the images of twelve bodies appear floating in the air, they are transparent and show colors moving around. This is the mana flowing into the core through the conduits and out into the body through the channels. By studying the mana flow I am hoping to spot any problems early enough to fix them.

Kitara and her men all look good, the mana is flowing properly, but Myria is a different story. Her mana isn't flowing smoothly, it is pulsing kind of like a heartbeat. Her core also looks completely different from the others, it is brighter and the mana in it looks wilder.

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Core says "Why is Myria's core so different from the others?"

"Probably because of the method. Yui, remove the others but leave Myria's. Can you scan Core's body from here and put it up next to Myria?"

Yui says "I can, if Core doesn't mind."

Core says "Go ahead. Ash, why do you want my body scanned?"

"Because, like you said, your entire body is a core. I want to compare it to Myria's because her core isn't acting like a core."

Core says "Then what is it acting like?"

"I think it is acting more like a mana organ, but I am not sure if that is accurate. Even my core never did anything like this."

Yui says "Why do you think it is so strange?"

"Either because of the amount of mana in the core, or the amount of life force I used to stabilize the core."

Core says "Do you think the increased amount of life force tied it into the body more than a core should be?"

"That's currently my best guess."

Yui says "What is this going to mean for Myria?"

"I have no idea!"

Just then the image of Core's body appears next to Myria's and I start comparing them. While they don't match up, Myria's core looks more like Core's heart than anything else. I imagine that if Core did have a mana core they would be fairly similar.

"Yui, call Myria to the experiment room please."

Yui says "Alright. Did you spot something?"

"Yeah, Myria's core is pushing out more mana than the channels can handle. For now her body is absorbing the extra mana, but once her body can't absorb any more it will just sit in her body. I need to make her mana channels more like a circulatory system so the extra mana goes back into her core."

Yui says "Now I understand! If you don't give her body a way to get rid of the extra mana she will suffer from mana poisoning!"

Core says "You can be poisoned by mana?"

As I head for the experiment room I listen to Yui explaining mana poisoning to Core. It seems that elves never had to worry about it, their bodies could handle the extra mana. From that I can guess that elves are similar to both humans and mana beasts.

"Core, did elves have cores?"

Core says "No, they didn't. Like humans they could process mana in their bodies. Unlike humans, every single elf could do it."

Yui says "And no elf ever found the maximum amount of mana their bodies could handle?"

Core says "Not that I know of."

Myria walks in and says "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I need to fix something. Lay down on the table please. Leave your clothes on! Yui, start the ritual please."

Yui says "Sure, but why?"

"Because I have no idea what might happen if I try and pull mana from her core. I am going to need mana to change her channels, so I would rather use the ritual."

Yui says "Understood."

Myria says "Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?"

While waiting for the ritual to gather mana, I explain the problem to Myria. Breaking it down into language that she can understand takes a few minutes. Once the ritual has gathered enough mana, I place my hand on her leg and start working.

For the most part I am leaving the existing channels alone and just adding extras. As I am adding new channels I can sense that the density of her muscles has almost doubled. This is a much higher improvement than the other beastmen have gotten from the procedure.

Yui says "Why are you adding extra channels between her heart and her core?"

"It is my hope that it will get her core's pulsing to sync up with her heart rate."

Core says "What is that going to do?"

"For one it should help her core stabilize. For another, in stressful situations where her heart speeds up her core should also speed up. This way it will act as a secondary adrenal system, at least I hope so."

Yui says "Won't that increase the risk of mana poisoning?"

"It would, but I think I might have a way around that. After seeing the scan of Core's body, I think I can increase her body's resistance to mana."

Core says "Really? Are you sure?"

"Well, as sure as I can be without trying it."

Yui says "Are you sure it is a good idea to further experiment on Myria given her current condition?"