Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1793.12.24]

As they waited for Pavail to finish whatever she was doing, Zeph looked around a little, finding the source of the unpleasant, musky scent mixing with other odors in the hall.

The first thing Pavail asked for was a small rake hive, and rightly so. If they were to work on magical healing, test subjects were a necessity. She actually didn’t care for the type of animal, but Zeph knew a hive would be the most stable source for replicable experimentation, so he just paid a local farm to regularly send a certain number of the critters. They even had a ‘small’ multileveled terrarium taking four meters of the far part of the right wall. Well, by Earth’s standards, it wasn’t small at all. But the construct was only one meter thick so it could contain at most thirty rakes at one time. All were very old so at least there wasn’t much movement that could distract him or Pavail during work.

A few more workbenches dotted the half-empty laboratory. The enchanting station provided by P’pfel had its own corner to the right of the entrance and was surrounded by cabinets, shelves, and a closet provided by Kwan. Most of their equipment, reagents, and materials were neatly stacked inside of those, but Pavail also had her own storage near her workbenches by the left wall. She took a diagonally opposite corner than the Enchanting station, mostly because her medical supplies were better kept away from dangerous substances.

After a minute of observing the rakes wandering about in the terrarium, Pavail finally looked up from her work and turned to them.

“Zeeeeph,” she called weakly, looking at him with pleading, wet eyes. “This place is getting reaaaally unsanitary… it isn’t good!”

The scene was disturbingly akin to a confined lab worker of some illegal laboratory begging her boss for better work conditions. The dark circles under her eyes supported that impression quite persuasively, too.

Zeph shook his head to get rid of the strange impression. “Huh, I thought you had it under control?” he asked involuntarily while looking around once more. He couldn’t understand what she talked about for a moment but when he spotted it, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed earlier. The floor around her operating table was clean but showed stains of blood – probably some residue of the fluid that managed to fill the apertures in the porous stone, impossible to remove without strong detergents or an acid. Crouching down, he noticed small, dried-out crumbs of meat and even small fragments of bones on the floor. Then, he looked at the ceiling and walls above her workbench, sitting right beside the ‘butcher table’ that was in the very corner of the room. The place looked like a neglected kitchen. Multicolored stains decorated the surfaces, probably the results of using chemicals… or rather, boiling the chemicals on low fire for hours on end just below them. He ignored the unidentified sludge accompanying those stains. He wasn’t sure if they were of biological origin or just the testament of her efforts to clean the walls.

His face constricted more and more with each new realization. They never hired someone to clean the laboratory. Everything was on Pavail’s shoulders. On the shoulders of an overworked, clumsy, research-focused, unexpected girl.

A recipe for disaster. Also, it seemed that Zeph had forgotten how tedious cleaning the laboratory after himself was. The last time he experienced it was during his studies, years ago. They needed an assistant. Badly.

“Ugh… this is embarrassing,” he said, covering his face while still squatting. “I am really sorry, Pavail. I will do something about it as soon as—”

“You don’t have to,” the giant interjected after assessing the room. “The second one will be ready in three days. It would actually be quite convincing if you left this place in this state…” he said vaguely.

“You expect us to work in this mess?” Zeph head snapped up. “I can even smell rotten meat!”

He just now realized how bad it was. Most of the microbes, bacteria or otherwise, weren’t able to live in a Mana-rich environment. Only the ones able to metabolize Mana could prevail. The stench meant they crossed the hygienic bottom line a few times over. It was barely noticeable but its presence alone proved they have gone too far.

He had an urge to just flood the whole hall with somewhat destructive Magicules, only to purify the whole place from the disgusting microorganisms, whatever they were.

“Harrumph, it’s perfect for a dist—for what we spoke about during the first Guild meeting,” the giant tried to cover his mistake. “Anyway, there are a lot of experiments you can do in this place. Maybe not what we are going to do now, though,” he said resolutely.

“Right… I apologize once more, Pavail,” Zeph said, standing up and bowing slightly to her. “We will work it out.” He straightened up. “Let’s go to P’pfel’s laboratory. I know his place would be clean, at the least.”

Pavail scratched her head awkwardly. “No need to apologize, boss,” she gave him a small smile saying that. “I know you are even busier than me. Umm, I suppose it’s about an implant?”

Great… Now I feel even more guilty for sleeping for the whole day… he sighed in defeat. “It’s just to test… the compatibility,” he said vaguely, sure she would understand the implications. She has worked on it with Ghrughah, after all.

But Pavail just tilted her head cutely.

Oi, airhead! I’m not gonna explain this here! “We already have a small, unshaped sample to use as a bone implant.”

“Oh! Nice, give me a second!” she exclaimed in excitement, quickly packing seemingly random tools into pockets of her lightly green laboratory cloak.

…she doesn’t care about the details, does she? he thought, mentally massaging his temples.

A minute later they were knocking on the double doors of P’pfel’s laboratory. The Gremling was quite surprised by the small parade that came to visit him.

“Something’s wrong?” he asked apprehensively, opening the double doors wider to allow them inside.

“No, no. Just… after the latest series of experiments, my laboratory is in no shape for the small surgery we need to conduct,” Zeph explained embarrassedly. “I will need to hire someone to help keep the place in order. Pavail still helps in Kwan’s place, there is no way she can find time to do everything herself. If you could give us a small corner, we will be done in a few minutes…”

“Eh, I am surprised it came to this after all this talk about safety precautions coming out of your mouth in North Tarak,” the Gremling commented skeptically, crossing his arms and giving him an admonishing glare. “I can understand you are busy, so I will forgive you this time. But you need to take better care of your workshop. Come in, I have a free table at the back,” he finally said, waving them inside.

His place was spotless. Four of Kwan’s people already petitioned for an apprentice position in his Department, so he wasn’t lacking free hands that could keep the place clean. His equipment was also on another level. Glass-enclosed spaces for hazardous experiments had an air funneling system installed above. Apparatuses and glassware were neatly arranged on separate tables made from black, polished stone. There was even a reading corner with comfortably-looking sofas surrounded by a small library. It was currently taken by three of his apprentices, while the fourth was keeping an eye on a glassware setup in one of the high-risk zones.

The hall was filled to its full capacity with different furniture and equipment, looking a little cramped. However, it was clear that P’pfel planned it with the utmost care about safety. The aisles formed by worktables and cabinets were wide enough to easily accommodate even Ghrughah. Areas dedicated for different kinds of volatile materials were separated from each other and all other reagents. Drain grates were sneaking through the hall’s floor in strategic places.

Zeph wondered where P’pfel found all the gold necessary to buy all this.

They were left at a table big enough for Zeph to lie down on. They explained to Pavail what she had to do, but that only earned them a glare. She categorically rejected their idea of replacing his toe’s bone.

“It’s a horrible idea,” she argued, going fully into her Doctor mode. “The forces your feet had to sustain can easily misalign the implant or cause other complications before the cut regenerates. Not to mention, your body can react negatively to the implant’s presence. Do you want your mobility to be compromised?” She looked at them sternly. They could only awkwardly scrap their heads and listen in shame. The Biologist in the making and the ex-bioengineer, indeed.

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“Replacing the last bone of a finger is plain stupid, too. It’s an area with the highest density of neural receptors and capillaries, and important ligaments are connected to these bones. I will replace a part of the middle bone of your index finger in your left hand. That way we can avoid any possible complications with ligaments, have easy access to the bone, and assure you can use that hand. It’s the least important of the fingers grip-wise, and the easiest one to keep away from touching an item you are trying to hold. Any objections?”

They both shook their heads, embarrassed for not giving it enough thought.

Pavail quickly scanned the bone structure of his hand with her Skills and started instructing Ghrughah how to shape the small piece of the Ferrium Fullerene. She opted for a two-sided taper plug implant with irregular edges at the surface touching the bone’s transection face.

While the Blacksmith was cutting and reshaping the piece, this time using tools for the most part because the material had very low compatibility with his contaminations and Spells, Pavail applied a strong anesthetic using this world’s rendition of a syringe. It was almost identical to the Earth’s old version that was made from glass, save for the shape of the needle’s tip and the method of sealing the plunger – a gelatinous substance was present in the upper part of the chamber to make sure it was airtight.

It took a good five minutes before he lost all feeling in his hand and their good doctor decided to act immediately because, as she explained, that meant Zeph was quite resistant to the anesthetic’s effects. She cleaned her hands, the table, and her tools with a weak acid. Then, as soon as Ghrughah finished polishing the rough edges, she did the same to the newly formed implant and his finger.

She was using some variation of the Air Sphere Spell for some time now, probably making sure that the airborne particles won’t get close.

“Pull as much Mana from your hand as you can,” she instructed professionally and Zeph tried his best to follow. His internal Mana manipulation was, as always, shitty. But sucking out the Mana from his appendage wasn’t that difficult of an exercise, so he managed to keep the density low in his hand. He even tried to move his Willforce Magicules out of the way but because they were dissipating rather quickly after making it into his body, he didn’t have much success in that regard. He had no idea how to stop their production at the Soul level, and wasn’t going to experiment on that right now, so he just nodded to her, indicating he was ready.

Immediately after, he could feel as his Veil was pushed back from around his finger, replaced by whatever Mana constructs Pavail’s Skills have formed.

He looked in fascination as the skin on the bottom part of his finger opened and parted without a drop of blood falling off. The Mana construct around his finger changed shape and the fat did the same. Layer after layer, his flesh made way, directed by the invisible forces, while his veins were sealed before any blood could flow out. Though, he could see the dark-brown blotches of clot on the inner edges of opened-up tissue and the lymph pearls slowly congregating from the tissue around.

The Mana construct’s shape changed again and a second later his bone broke soundlessly. She forced the top of his finger to bent downwards, uncovering a protruding fingerbone with a visible waving pattern on its edge.

Before Zeph could comprehend what was happening, almost a centimeter of the bone flew off suddenly, landing on the table, once again cut off by the same Mana construct. Pavail immediately inserted the implant, jamming the short, cone-like protrusion into the bone’s opening while making sure the shape of the edge above aligned with the pattern on the bone. Finally, using a small hammer, she delicately pummeled it shut. She did the same for the dangling part of his finger, pounding on the bent finger joint through a thick cloth.

She finished the whole surgery in less than three minutes. All that was left, was to make sure the tissue was arranged correctly and stitch the cut. She even wrapped an elastic cloth steeped in some herbal medicine all around his finger, making sure the neighboring joints were immobilized.

“All done,” she declared with satisfaction, putting down the scissors. “I will keep your bone intact for the re-implanting – it should shorten recovery time to a few days, even if the cells inside will be dead,” she explained in a monotone voice while dropping the discarded part of his bone into a cylindrical test tube with blueish liquid.

“Ugh, is the bandage necessary?” Zeph asked, looking at his unresponsive hand.

“Keep it for a few hours at least, it should help with the pain,” she told him absentmindedly, returning to her old self. “You shouldn’t overexert your finger but… Well, I don’t know what you want to do with the material, anyway,” she shrugged.

“If we are done here, I wanted to discuss the details of what we probably would have to do in the future. Do you have time to accompany me, Miss Pavail?”

Zeph sent him an unimpressed stare. Did you forget to do that earlier, old man? Senior moment this early?

“Ummm… Yes, I think I am done for today,” she timidly said. The tiredness was starting to show on her face.

“Yea, it will be all. Make sure to rest some,” he said to the Doctor. “I will arrange for someone to clean out our place tomorrow, so just take a day off.”

She nodded with a warm smile. Just as they started to pack up, P’pfel’s voice came from the end of their aisle.

“Done? Good,” he stated, not waiting for an answer, and started unhurriedly walking in their direction. “It’s time you take what you ordered.”

Zeph didn’t have to be told twice. He said his farewell to the duo, promising to contact them tomorrow, and run up to the Gremling.

He followed the little guy to a hidden room at the back of the laboratory hall. It was evidently enhanced, if the feeling in his Veil was any indicator, and they descended a flight of stairs. Because the place was still under construction, everything was very rudimentary.

After reaching the bottom, P’pfel guided him through a series of hidden doors, some the size of a Gremling. The hidden ‘doors’ were quite different from what he saw in P’pfel’s old cave or Ghrughah’s workshop – they were just wide blocks of rock, moved by some hidden mechanisms. They sunk back and then moved up, as if it was a secret passage in a pyramid. At least, according to the movies about Egypt he saw, which weren’t that reliable as a knowledge source, but a man had to have his romantic delusions.

What surprised him more, was his ‘Mana perception’. He even tested his surroundings with the ‘Lesser Tremor detection’—hitting the walls with the back of his combat knife to trigger the Skill—and the ‘Lesser Magnetic scan’. They returned nothing, as if everything around was solid rock. No metal present, no tunnels or holes. On the other hand, that explained why, after entering subsequent hidden passages, he could almost taste the Rock-Mana in the air through his Veil.

After some preparations, he even managed to find the remnants of Mana constructs in the air, which meant P’pfel have used something more than just simple Material Enchantment.

Probably the Holographic Enchanting, Zeph analyzed, trying to remember what the old Gremling taught him in the past about different enchanting methods. I think it’s the only one that can imitate a construction of a Spell in the air. But weren’t they, like, horrendously inefficient? He filed the thought for later and concentrated on his detection method instead.

He managed to perceive the remnants of the constructs only because he forced his Veil to form a delicate lattice pattern at his perception border – a method he started developing after having a taste of the many Air Spheres brushing over his Veil. Even then, he was barely able to tell a Spell was present there moments ago, so right now it was mostly useless technique. It didn’t mean he shouldn’t train it, though.

He wasn’t sure if it was a result of him teaching P’pfel a few Spells and how to modify them, or if Ghrughah sold him some strange materials, but it seemed that the Gremling advanced quite a lot from the time they met at the mine of Barringstone.

I am quite sure that’s how RPG’s dungeons with hidden treasures are made, he mused, laughing slightly at the overcomplicated way the Gremling had set everything up. All of the enchantments were of his own creation, he was sure. Just like in the caves near Barringstone. It would make for a great ruin in the future… I have the urge to visit his people’s mainland now… Assuming that’s a custom they have. I would need better digging equipment, though.

Only when they arrived at something that looked suspiciously like a natural cave—furnished as it may have been—P’pfel stopped and turned around to face him.

“Your spear is ready. It was disappointingly easy work,” he sighed in disdain, making a face of a deceived merchant. “It will cost you only 11 230 gold… In the future, we will have to set more reasonable prices for enchanting in this manner. It’s almost ten times less than the market prices for enchanting a normal weapon.”

“Sure, sure,” Zeph nodded in understanding, crossing his arms. “Which means we will have to balance it over all parties. I will make sure to inform Ghrughah that you don’t like to work with his enchanted-ready equ—”

“No, no, no!” the little guy immediately interjected, his glasses sliding down his nose and almost falling out. “I was just kidding. Kidding, you know?!” He screeched, skipping sideways to emphasize his words. It was evidently his mad side speaking, if one could call it that. “Forget about what I said… Ugh… Faszparaszt, what were we? Ah! The spear is here,” he jumped at a wooden crate after spotting it and unceremoniously broke off the top before diving inside.

Only his legs, and badly covered backside—which Zeph vehemently refused to look at, turning around—were visible for a moment. A loud, happy screech informed him the horror scene ended so he glanced back. P’pfel’s feet were once again firmly planted on the ground as he triumphally hold the spear above his head.

A second later, though, the Gremling had to drop one end of the weapon onto the floor because its weight quickly started to make him lean sideways.

“It’s our best work!” he shrieked proudly, strenuously raising it to stand vertically, not at all bothered by his disheveled lab coat. “There are three Tier 1 and two Tier 2 Enchantments integrated inside!” he continued, correcting his glasses ostensibly.

“Five enchantments in total. On a single weapon. On stratum zero!” he started to list in a much more demure tone but excited all the same.

Zeph hit him lightly in the head with the side of his palm. “I don’t care how many levels you got from it, idiot. Spare me the promotion speech and tell me what enchantments we have traded for!”

That shut up the little guy for a moment. “Such insolence…” he muttered, “if not for our arrangements, I would put you on my black list right this moment,” and declared, pointing at Zeph accusingly.

“Ye, ye. Can we move on? I never got a report on the enchantments, if you forgot?” Zeph deadpanned.

The Gremling clenched his free hand into a fist, murmuring some obscenities in foreign languages for a moment while looking at his feet. In the end, he just sighed in defeat and resignation.

His shoulders slumped down as he glared at Zeph. “You are an ignorant fool, you know that?” Zeph just shrugged indifferently, deepening the Gremling’s depression.

“Haaah… I don’t care anymore.” He hunched even more, massaging his face. “To be an owner of a state-of-the-art weapon but live in such ignorance… I can only hope Zora can bash some reason into your empty skull. With this very spear, preferably.”

Zeph rolled his eyes at the dramatizing geezer. Though, the threat managed to sent a small shiver down his spine.

“Just explain the enchantments, old man,” he said impatiently. “I don’t have all day…”