A soft bed was something that was welcome after spending time training. It had been months at this point and his body still hadn’t grown accustomed to the feeling of such intense training every single day.
Owen had tried his best to simply not sleep but found his body had begun to succumb to the fatigue so hitting the bed of his room was quite a welcome feeling. Sleeping was something that felt like a waste of time at the moment, his body could survive without it, yet craved it at all times.
As morning came, so did the sound of an explosive boom following the force that was needed to send him skipping across the hard concrete and grassy areas. Working day in and out for months would leave any man exhausted, but today was the night he finally understood the first major lesson Alister was trying to teach him.
“You just don’t get it,” was something the overgrown wall of a man said in the beginning quite often. Never outright spelling out what he should do which caused untold amounts of irritation to Owen.
Finally coming to a halt when he slid soundly into what was a mini crater he pulled himself up into a sitting position and attempted to regain his composure. “One minute!” He heard Alister yell across the space, only one minute to make it that far…
Alister had his own ideas about training, the foremost being that Owen had to figure it out himself so he could ‘learn to learn’ so that he could expand his skillset alone without having his hand held like all the others did.
That day however, during the abuse, screaming, and beatings it finally clicked.
He had not only been training, but studying all forms of tomes that he could borrow from Osmir, and one gave him an idea. Pulling himself out of the dirt he rubbed his hands together, separating them just enough to create a ball of pure mana according to the steps detailed in the book. This was a dangerous technique but he had no choice if he was to keep up with this level of training every day.
Maintaining the orb for a few moments he channelled until it was roughly the size of a kids ball to which he then crushed it between his hands, causing his arms to begin to tremble at the power rushing through him, channelling and funnelling it all through his body until it was pushed down into his legs.
That was it, exactly what he needed.
The energy running through his body did allow him to overclock his natural abilities to that of a superhuman. The downside to this being that forcing one's muscles to react and work this hard was agonising.
Finally accepting his immortality as a core part of how he functioned and less of a thing to keep in the back of his mind he was able to use experimental magic that, on a normal mortal, would irreversibly damage the body.
Last Stand as it was known was used by the mages to the west in a last ditch attempt to win during wartime. When a soldier was on his last legs it was something used to take as many of the enemy with him as he could.
This barbaric magic was what allowed Owen to kick off the crater and crush the ground underneath his very step. It almost felt like he was running across quicksand as the dirt beneath his feet caved away with each stride through the town, a rush of air following behind him that caused the signs in the village to violently swing with some even breaking off their mantles.
That feeling of power was still something that he was never going to forget. Through every single fibre of his being screaming in pain, covering the distance of the town in a matter of a few minutes left him with such a feeling of accomplishment that it almost overwrote the pain.
Well, that was all until Alister pushed him over and said “I said one minute. That is another failure.”
Nothing to take the wind out of his sails like Alister not even letting him enjoy any form of a victory until it was perfect… But this was a victory. One that marked the beginning of Owen’s change from a regular mortal into an agent of the spire.
Up next was another meeting with the moles. This time it was his turn to teach. The youngest mole was to become an ambassador of sorts so Owen was to teach him some common language, and what he would need to know about the world to begin such a role. Quaffing a regeneration potion to numb the pain in his muscles he wandered out into the field where he was to meet the young mole while carrying a bag of muffins he had made the night prior.
“Man!” Owen heard with a rumbling in the ground that caused him to take a quick step backwards. The child that he had taken to calling Stephen had burst from the ground nearby which threw shreds of dirt in every direction.
“I told you, my name is not Man. I am a man,” Owen called out to him from a distance. He knew the child was still reading his mind but it helped for him to hear the sound of words being spoken aloud to become accustomed to it.
“Names are confusing.” Stephen responded, this time by speaking into Owen’s mind so he could be more articulate. Shaking the dirt from his fur he rubbed his eyes gently with those large claws before asking “Did you bring the tasty things?”
Owen nodded, waving his hand so he would follow him into a small hut near the edge of town. “I did. We will have some after each lesson.”
Stephen was excited, mostly at the idea of snacks but it was a good motivation to keep him learning where he needed to. “So, to continue where we left off from last time…”
Hours passed and the sun rolled across the sky until a knock sounded across the door. Stephen took that as his que to move away from the table and quickly open the door to reveal Hugur and signal the end of the lessons.
“It is time for our training.” Hugur said to Owen.
Owen stood from his desk and grabbed the bag of muffins to toss them to Stephen. “Be sure to bring the bag back next time,” he called out before the child had quickly fled with his treats.
“Have you made any progress at all since our last session?” Hugur asked, making no intent to hide his disappointment. It was hard to argue with it, given almost no progress at all had been made with Owen learning. He hadn’t even been able to enter the state that allowed him to enter someone's mind.
“I have not…” Owen responded grimly. Though he had spent days within his room trying to figure out anything at all that could cause such a state. The moles lacked the ability to articulate how they entered the state required to read one's mind. Owen lacked the ability to mimic what they do without sufficient instructions.
Hugur solemnly nodded and stepped back to walk outside. Owen followed him to where they usually trained. The large mole that had come with Hugur and Stephen as a caretaker was with him. Hecket, he had come to call her.
“I have some questions about magic once again,” Owen began as it seemed the two were having some form of a conversation between themselves given their faces becoming somewhat dejected. It stung, it reminded him of the look his professors gave him back in college when he was caught with Tithe and Desmond sneaking out at night, breaking curfew in hopes of catching fireflies in hopes to avoid the schools exorbitant prices for them.
Aain, Owen spoke and asked “How do you channel your mana when you try to cast the magic?” Moving forward when they both looked down at him he added “How mana flows through us is important.”
The two seemed to have finished whatever conversation they had, ultimately leading to Hugur responding finally and saying “Perhaps we should postpone our training until you can break the surface of mind magic.”
He hardly gave Owen any time to process what he was told before the two quickly burrowed back into the earth once more, leaving him confused and quite frankly at a loss for words.
When he finally processed what happened he decided now that he had time on his hands he would head to practise alchemy. It had been quite some time given he spent almost every waking moment training, cooking, or resting.
Within the small village they resided they kept many buildings he once thought were completely random lay a building that he thought was simply saved for if another were to join them. That was until recently, when a key had been provided to him by Swiss. “It’s for when you want to relax.” He remembered her saying before plopping it into his hand and sprinting off into the night.
When he first opened the door to see what it was, he was far too tired to make use of what he found but what he found was truly breathtaking. His own lab. All forms of apparatus and high end alchemy supplies just begging to be experimented with lined the shelves, cupboards and tables. A cauldron of high quality steel that could only be forged by the likes of the ancient blacksmith Mydir and as many vials and beakers as he needed.
On the smaller scale the amount of tools used for extracting, heating, blending, and liquifying what he needed was also astonishing. His heart almost skipped a beat when he saw it but his body gave way before he could, leading to needing an early rest.
Today, however. He had more than enough time given that the moles had slipped away early so he could become quite intimate with his new workspace for the foreseeable future. “I can’t believe they went all in.” He said, unsure if it was easy or difficult for the dragon to create such a space on such short notice.
The one thing within the room that left him quite uncomfortable was a homunculus that he assumed psychopomps created of Owen. A lifelike body that he could use to test his various experiments on without needing to use absolutely every single ingredient on himself and allow him to witness the effects from a new perspective.
Closing the door behind him and flicking the light on he approached the cauldron which was already filled to the appropriate level with clean water. It was just begging to be used… But that was for after, right now he had a much more pressing concern.
Curiosity.
Rummaging through the ingredients they had left him, he had a feeling the dragon already knew what he wanted to do when he was able to test alchemy so he was able to find exactly what he wanted in the lower drawers.
A vial of acid. The same substance he found filling his lungs when he woke up in that vat facing the crowd. It caused at first the memory to pop into his mind, and him to wince slightly but that feeling was soon replaced by his amazement.
“Now that I am immortal…” He thought as he uncorked the heavy duty lid and took a whiff of the corrosive liquid which at first seemed odourless but left an odd… pungent feeling in his nose that was uncomfortable.
He understood that smelling such an acid would be a horrible idea given it could cause loss of breath and potentially be fatal in a high enough dose of inhalation but he was immortal now and this was the least stupid thing he planned to do at that moment.
“Well… Bottoms up.” He said as he took a deep breath, feeling every fibre of his being scream to not do this, screaming to simply be okay with the knowledge that he had.
The top alchemy labs around the world may have had machines that allowed them to discover the chemical compositions of many ingredients, they tended to keep such information secret to have a form of control over the use of such dangerous substances.
With his increased sensitivity to taste he was able to get a better picture of the composition of the chemical, along with finally being able to sate a long lasting curiosity any child would have but understand was far too stupid to do.
For a brief moment it felt like an epiphany. Breaking down the different aspects of the acid allowed him to see just for an instant the various kinds of solutions he could use such a volatile liquid for. With a single taste he could understand more than simply it was going to cause pain as that was a given, but comparing it to things he had tried before he gained an understanding of how to handle it.
That was of course all in a matter of moments because now was the expected result of such a stupid decision. The first of the pain to hit was within the mouth, his tongue beginning to burn up followed by the rest of the mouth as a whole. His throat followed with each inch screaming in agony as the corrosive substance attempted to destroy whatever tissue it came into contact with.
No matter how strong his stomach was, or what time of the day it was, there wasn’t enough natural protection produced to defend against such a volatile liquid. He collapsed to his knees and clutched his stomach as it desperately fought to eject the corrosive liquid but he did his best to contain himself.
It was in vain of course as the pain became far too much for him to handle and he wound up throwing up across the floor of his new lab, burning the floorboards below. Everything began to spin as he collapsed onto his side and he felt his body rapidly attempt to revert his stupid decision. The world began to blur and dim before he blacked out in a puddle of his own vomit.
Was it worth it to sate some simple curiosity?
Of course.
While he may have expected whoever had found him to have some form of mini heart attack given the state he was in, it seemed it was treated as quite normal. “Everybody tries to push the limits of their immortality at least once in the beginning.” Osmir said as he had propped Owen up against the wall and used a rag to wipe him down. “Though usually it is in a way that could be considered a bit more intelligent than… drinking acid?”
“What can I say… I was curious.” Owen teased, his voice hoarse and strained. The pain still spread through his throat and stomach but it was at least manageable.
Osmir essentially forced a regeneration potion into his mouth and explained “I will need you to make more of these regeneration points. Silly incidents like this lead to using more than we expected.”
For an orc he was surprisingly gentile. He held Owens face up so he could more easily swallow and then took a seat across from him on the floor. “Curiosity can be as dangerous as it is fulfilling, you know.”
“It was worth it.” Owen commented in response, just tasting his ingredients often led him to a much, much deeper understanding of them, so it was naturally frustrating for him when he had to work with ingredients that he wasn't able to taste.
Osmir laughed at the notion. Something so profound about the story. “Well at least this will be a story we can fondly look back on decades from now.” He commented.
It was a small idea, but one that did leave a slight warmth in Owens chest. Or that could have been some form of horrific heartburn… But the idea that he was making memories with what he could only assume were going to be his comrades for… well forever.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Osmir…” He asked, peaking the interest of the orc. “What could you imagine is the problem with me learning mind magic?” It had been no secret that he was struggling given that they would check in on his training periodically.
“It is hard to say…” Osmir responded. Rubbing at his chin a few times he mulled over the idea “I doubt it is for lack of trying given how we have seen your training progress… The moles themselves seem to have such a natural affinity for the magics it becomes impossible to even know how they do it.”
“If only I could read how they channel mana…” Owen thought aloud… But perhaps that was possible. Thinking back to his time in college there was a machine that would allow someone's mana signature to be read. One that was used often enough to tell how much someone was outputting. It was safe to assume they wouldn’t have such a machine here and getting one would take far too long with the time dilation
“I think I need to use your library for a bit, Osmir.” Owen mentioned as he stood, almost running off without permission to do so, each step still wobbly and unbalanced.
By the time Osmir made it back to his study that connected to his library he found Owen had created a study pile for himself. Book stacked upon book detailing the various histories of alchemy and the practices used to understand it.
“Well, make yourself at home.” Osmir mocked before he returned to his work.
Days passed which led into weeks of study, reading each book at any single chance he had to find some way to overcome this barrier to his study and finally… He was getting closer. He had finally created a way to see what he needed.
He had gathered who he could in the dining hall after breakfast and simply rolled out a very long sheet of paper across the dining table. “I am going to need someone to help me with this.” He began, placing a pen on the table and taking his position sitting on the far end. Before anyone could ask to clarify with what he said “Someone will need to gently pull the paper from this end at a slow and steady pace.”
“I can do that.” Swiss said as she quickly bounced over to take a hold of the edge. “I would still like to know what this is all for.”
“You’ll see.” He smiled in return. Nodding to Osmir he then used a hand to signal him to sit across from him “Give me your hand, please.”
The orc agreed, sitting down and placing his large and surprisingly soft hand into Owens. “Now I want you to wait ten seconds and then cast any form of spell. Swiss you begin to pull slowly when I close my eyes.”
A common nod was once again shared between them all which let Owen close his eyes and begin to tune out what he could of the world. Taking a deep breath as everything began to fade away and he placed the pen gently against the paper.
Counting the seconds he became slightly hesitant as they made it to eight seconds. Though the time to back out was long gone as once they hit ten seconds, he felt it. A wave of warmth washed over his hand and through his body where it merged with his own mana and dissipated.
The hand holding the pen began to move the moment he sensed the sudden change in mana tracing a lined pattern that once he opened his eyes again showed a curve that dipped at first before rising rapidly and slowly returning to the centre after that.
“Well, it looks like it works.” He said, a grin creeping across his face as he examined the results while everyone else expected some form of explanation.
After he failed to provide one, Alister leaned across and used a finger against his forehead to force him to look up “Well, are you going to explain what this… is?”
Osmir dissipated the flame he had created to lean in and examine the results, seeming to have a notion of what they were as Owen explained “It is a very ancient tradition, one that had almost been forgotten to time if not for the books Osmir kept. They have machines to do this nowadays.”
“Oh, so it is a managraph.” Osmir responded. The only one who seemed to know what that was, given the others leaned in to examine it once more.They still seemed confused so Owen continued his explanation “Basically what this does is it allows me to draw a graph of your mana input and output.” Pointing down to the low end of the graph where it dipped. “This is where one begins to draw in mana from the air around them so it can be converted.” Then moving his finger along the line to the quick and sharp raise “Then this is where it is expended on the spell.”
“As Owen mentioned, they have machines for this now. This was an old way that was done in the beginning.” Osmir chimed in, mostly interested in the data of how his own mana spiked. “This is in no way a measure of one’s power.” He added awkwardly as he realised how it looked with the large dip and low rise. “At neutral it follows your baseline mana and then scans for any changes so the strength of the spell would reflect on the dip and rise, along with how steep and long both are.”
“Getting defensive there?” Swiss asked with a sly grin. Jumping up onto the seat next to Owen she stored the paper within her space again for future use. “So what do you hope to do with this technique?”
“I plan to use it to understand how the moles cast their mind magic.” Owen explained. “It will let me finally get a baseline idea of what is needed in order to cast. I’ll need your help again with the paper, Swiss.”
They were off moments later, heading to the usual meeting spot where to summon them he had to ring a bell that had been placed above ground. Given most of the world reset itself daily they had to break through the surface layer each time.
Three holes dug that caused the two to step back, two large holes that allowed the gigantic moles Hugur and Hecket to emerge and a single small hole that Stephen sprung from. “Man!” He exclaimed, audibly this time which showed the progress of their time together. “I told you before, that is not my name.” Owen laughed, almost assaulted by those large claws as the child rushed to his side to offer a hug of sorts. It involved a tad too much squeezing and probably would have broken his spine if not for the unbreakable aspect.
“What do you need of us?” Hugur asked in as deep and stern a tone as ever directly into his mind. His eyes glancing between Swiss and Owen given it wasn’t often he brought someone with him.
“A test today.” He thought, assuming he could read the intention of said test already but thought to explain it. “It will allow me to see how you channel mana as you cast your mind magic. From there I can reverse it and cast it myself.”
“I see…” The mole responded.
“If you aren’t able to do it yet, you must not be trying! Even babies can do it!” Stephen said as he held onto Owen, until he was finally pushed back slightly when Owen broke the hug.
“Well, I am not of your kind.” Owen tried to rationalise for him “So it is a lot harder for me to learn something we have never known.”
Hecket seemed to be more interested in asking questions as she probed his mind to inquire “I have been curious as to what you and your people will be offering once this training is complete. Our leader refuses to answer such questions.”
He knew Hugur was listening in, though Hecket was most likely able to mask her probing from him but he decided to simply answer. “We will be offering up many forms of long term training and information on how to defend yourselves from the surface dwellers. Ultimately how to be able to contact them and form an agreement that the underground around your home is your land and that to enter must be agreed upon.”
He couldn’t help but feel a little agitated with both of them in his head at once, like that feeling of pins and needles running along one's arm but through the mind.
Shaking his head to try and clear the feeling he let them know his intention and why Swiss was here. “It should only take a few moments and then I will be off to check the results.”
At that the mole offered a giant claw for Owen to hold. Swiss moved into position and watched as he requested Hugur to use his magic.
Once again pulling on the paper she watched Owen trace how the mana moved when Hugur used his magic to enter his mind and create an image. Though the results seemed to be what she expected.
Opening his eyes, Owen was eager to examine what he found. Looking over the line tracing how mana was moved around within the mole when casting it was… just a straight line. Not a single dip or curve of any sort.
Swiss expected some form of dejection from him but Owen seemed confident as he stood once more “Just what I expected.” He stated before he took out a needle and a vial “Do you mind if I take a small amount of blood for testing?” He requested of the mole “It won't hurt given your size.”
“If you are to do so, be quick about it.” He responded which led to Owen promptly jabbing him with the needle. Hugur seemed to flinch slightly at it but due to the look of embarrassment they decided to not bring any attention to it.
“Thank you so much.” Owen said before he was off once again into the distance, leaving Swiss in a state of confusion as he had taken the paper and simply ran. “You're welcome!” She shouted at him as he fled.
What followed was what one could only call a mad dash of an experiment. Locked away in his lab none seemed able to remove him from his experiment for the coming days. Training being postponed as whatever he was working on was described as “of utmost importance” to Alister which he begrudgingly accepted.
Of course Owen didn’t want to admit that the first thing he had done was taste a drop of the blood to confirm his suspicion. Something about the moles' anatomy was different and that was what allowed them to so freely cast these spells. This wasn’t a technique, but an organ.
Looking over the managraph only confirmed such a theory due to the lack of needing to draw in mana from the world around them to cast it so it simply had an upwards trajectory until they finished. So potion after potion, failure after failure, and explosion upon chemical burn all led to his final attempt with the last of the blood that he had obtained. He would need to ask for more if this failed and by now his homunculus was looking quite disfigured from the experiments.
He was a mess by this point. His hair was scruffy and greasy while his clothing had become stained from all forms of sources. Luckily for him Swiss would come around each day with something to eat from the canteen but even then they often remained half eaten due to not being up to the standards of his taste buds. A few too many grains of salt here, the wrong oil there. His ability was both a blessing, and a curse.
Given his body was difficult to change he lacked the stubble that one would associate with such a long term lack of self care but what he didn’t lack was those bags under his eyes he had always had, now forever burned onto his face.
Holding the vial above the cauldron he stared down and mumbled “Just one drop…” tipping it into the green concoction below which caused another explosion of foul smelling smoke to fill the room. Coughing fits aside he leaned in and checked the results to reveal that the concoction had shifted into a vibrant brown colour with the mixture of the blood. His heart raced as he stared into it and he hesitated. If his testing and theory was correct, a cup of this was going to drastically change his ability to use magic. Though, it may also fundamentally change a part of him as well. One that would kill a normal person for even trying to do so.
He took a mug and filled it to the brim, setting it aside for the moment as he took a moment to… appreciate? The gift that had been given to him by Psychopomps. A genetic blueprint that would allow him to create a new homunculus when he ruined the previous. A near exact copy that would act as a soulless doll that he could run more dangerous experiments on before attempting them on himself, all he had to do was pump it full of mana every few days to keep its form.
It seemed the dragon already knew he was planning to use himself as a lab rat.
It was… Uncanny to say the least. Staring at himself standing in the corner of the room, completely lifeless and motionless. “Owen 2.” He had begun calling it with increasingly stupider subtitles such as “Owen harder” or “Revengance.”
Now was not the time for jokes though as he took the mug over to it and using one hand opened its mouth and the other slowly poured the concoction into it. The only data it couldn’t provide was pain as it had no autonomy or any form of feelings or speech capabilities.
It did however end up shaking slightly, mostly It’s head rocking back and forth as a change was clearly happening within. “I think this might finally be it…” Owen mumbled to himself as he quickly got his equipment ready to chart the homunculi’s mana signature.
He had carved some runes into the back of the creature's hand so he could prompt it to cast a basic spell or simply to expend mana so he could take a graph of it. Several sheets of failed managraphs lay across the floor that he hastily kicked aside. Pressing his hand against the homunculus once more he simply told it to expend mana. Closing his eyes and attempting to clear his mind he began to trace, allowing his arm to move alongside the flow of what he felt.
Opening his eyes he stared down at the results… He didn’t even need to compare them to know that this was a rousing success. A grin spread across his face as he said “I… I did it…” But this was simply the first part of a two step process.
Moving the homunculus to the table he cleared off, he took a scalpel and got to work opening him up, luckily the homunculi wasn’t indestructible so he could do so.
It was perfect. Exactly what he expected with his deductions and reasoning. He could alter his own body if needs be. Not add to, but alter.
After returning the homunculus to its usual spot in the corner he took a cup and used a ladle to fill it to the brim and with his heart racing within his chest and confident now this mixture was what he needed he took a deep breath before quickly tilting the cup upwards and guzzling down the concoction in hopes of avoiding the taste. A mixture of the saltiness of the sodium chloride in the blood mixed with the earthiness of the soil and sweetness of the pixie plums made him want to throw it up. Tasting like drinking mud let alone the thick texture of the liquid made the endeavour quite unpleasant. His hopes of the plum masking the taste did not work and only served to make it far more unpleasant. If only the homunculus could let him know how to add honey.
Finishing the mug he dropped it, causing it to shatter across the floor while he stepped back from the cauldron. Panting heavily and clutching his stomach, heaving as he felt the concoction almost melt away inside him. There was no rapid digestion here as it assimilated through the stomach walls into his very being which caused an agonising pain to travel through his body.
Inch by inch the pain spread, desperately making its way upwards. If this worked as he planned it was to integrate into his brain. A stupid idea to most given anything that would physically alter the brain would no doubt kill the host.
It was a gamble, and one he had put a hefty bet on. This could potentially leave him as a vegetable for the rest of his immortal existence but as they say… There’s no progress without sacrifice.
His vision blurred as the door opened and fresh air washed over his sweat coated body. The briefest respite of fresh air before he collapsed and once again, lost consciousness.
There were no dreams, no nightmares, nothing. This was a dreamless sleep that ended in what felt like an instant. Ultimately when he awoke his head was still in agony. It felt like his brain was pounding against his skull in a desperate attempt to escape and it was close to actually breaking through.
His sight would slowly return though everything was blurred as he lay on a soft bed at least. Given the sun was out he had assumed he had been out all night. His body, however, was not responding.
No matter how much he tried to move he found that his body would not respond. “Hey, take it easy…” He heard. His vision slowly cleared to see that Osmir had been the one to find him on the floor of his lab. “Whatever you did to yourself has taken one hell of a toll on the body. You’re lucky to even be lucid right now.”
He could only stare at his comrade as even his words eluded him. His mouth felt numb and he couldn’t close it on his own. However… As he stared at Osmir and something felt different.
He couldn’t put it into words even within his own mind but he felt a small connection as he kept his attention on the Orc. Watching his every movement he felt as if he was reaching out to him even though he couldn't move his arms.
This was it. He continued to reach out in this metaphysical sense until he took a firm grasp of Osmir who seemed to have a shiver sent up his spine in response. Shaking himself off it seemed as if he hadn’t noticed.
But Owen had. Owen heard what he had been hoping to hear, and that was his thoughts. “Apply runes to the lower wound…” He heard without Osmir moving his lips. He couldn’t believe it, tears beginning to well in his eyes as he continued to probe “Next step is to… Is he crying?” The thoughts continued before Osmir spoke “Don’t worry Owen. I am going to make sure you fully recover.” He assured him while he placed a hand atop the rune he had just created.
Owen was elated, and he tried to remember what Hugur had told him in training. Grasping the idea of someone's mind was one thing, but sending a message was another. When he questioned how one would do it he was told it was like projecting one's will into someone else.
Given he couldn’t move at the moment he closed his eyes once he felt Osmir wipe away the tears of joy and focused hard. Channelling what mana he even could in this state he maintained that grasp on Osmir’s mind and spoke to him, saying “These tears are joy.” He had finally done it… Months of training to no avail, months of ridicule from the moles and peers alike. He had finally read someone's mind.
It caused a pause of course and when Owen opened his eyes his colleague stared at him in utter shock. There was no need for words now as Osmir quickly moved a hand to his wounds once more to continue healing him. “Can you hear this? Oh this is awkward… I don’t know how to speak like this?” Osmir blabbered within his thoughts, far less articulate and proper sounding.
“I think I have gotten the hang of reading at least.” He projected into Osmirs mind after some time of meddling through his surface level thoughts about the process he was using to heal Owens wounds.
“Well that’s good but I have to say, the state I found you in was quite scary.” Osmir said aloud. His thoughts added more context to the situation “And I was not expecting that lifeless homunculus to just be standing there…”
It took quite some time for his wounds to be healed by Osmir, at least to the point that he was able to move again, though needing a cane at the moment to lean on. “Don’t worry about long term effects…” Osmir said once he stood Owen upright and pat him down. “You will make a full recovery, just over time.”
“Thanks so much for the help.” Owen said, having long left his colleagues' mind to not be too intrusive.
“We need to have a talk with the others about what happened, just to keep them up to speed.” Osmir explained while putting away the various tools he used to carve runes and inject mana.
“Then gather them, but I must first let Hugur know that I have made this breakthrough.” He assured Osmir while hobbling out the door.
“Meet at the dining hall!” Osmir called out to him as he locked up the lab behind him… Giving that creepy homunculus one last glance before the door closed.
Owen quickly made his way through town to where he would always meet with the moles and instead of ringing the bell he wanted to see if he could potentially latch onto them from here and let them know that he had made a breakthrough as a surprise.
Focusing his energy once again he reached far below the ground and probed for any form of life which took quite some time given he wasn’t used to this feeling of sending his mana out as an extension of himself.
Once he finally found something below them he probed at it, finding that he could easily latch on given they most likely weren’t expecting him. Though in not being prepared Owen heard something that he clearly wasn’t meant to.
“This deal is not going to go through. If this child cannot even learn the basics of mind magic then we aren’t going to be provided with anything and this is just a waste of time.” Hugur stated, most likely speaking with Hecket. “Just probe his mind as planned and steal as much information before we leave. We should never have agreed to this.”