“…What?” I held my breath in disbelief.
Nico was going to die?
“I said-”
“No, I heard you! Why are you going to die?!”
Nico gave me a chagrined smile.
“When I was revived, I got a unique status effect. It’s called [Borrowed Time]. It basically makes me as weak as a mundane, rank F human, blocks all my evolutions and advancements, and has a countdown to my death. Even my God was unable to remove it from me. I couldn’t even fly here myself – the others had to carry me all the way from Tamery, just like when we returned from Tyr. My exhaustion from manifesting Lady Mett and being revived wasn’t just temporary.” She said.
“Well, we have to do something! You can’t just give up like that! There has to be a way to keep you alive.”
She sighed.
“Lady Mett said the same thing. While I hope she finds a way, I’ve already accepted my fate. I should have died in that cave – just being able to tie up loose ends and give my family and friends closure is more than I could ask for. I don’t regret sacrificing my life; I would’ve done it again in a heartbeat.”
Neither of us spoke for a while. She kept quiet because she’d said what she had on her mind. I did the same because I didn’t have the right to invalidate her feelings over her death. Eventually, I came up with a response.
“There’s one more place you haven’t searched for a solution in. Somewhere with even more advanced magic than that of the gods.”
She raised an eyebrow at that.
“Somewhere with even more advanced magic than the gods…?”
The magic circles in her brain were turning, and then it clicked for her.
“Wait! You can’t mean-”
“That’s exactly what I meant! Let’s go to my mom and ask for her help. Even if she can’t do anything about it, she might know someone else who can. By the Abyss, I think I even know someone who might be able to do something myself!” I said, grinning at her.
***
“Hmm… I don’t know any spells that might be able to help with that.” Mom said.
The sun was barely rising on the horizon by the time we got back. Mom was already awake, so we wasted no time asking her. She set up privacy spells for Nico’s benefit as we discussed a solution to her predicament.
“Water magic excels in removing curses and status effects, so you were right to come to me. However, I’ve only heard of one case where anyone managed to get past a status effect with the ‘cannot be removed’ clause in its description, in the rare occasions it afflicted someone.”
“So there’s a way to remove-”
“There is no way to get rid of a status effect if it says ‘cannot be removed.’” Mom said, shutting down my rising hopes before they could take off.
“But you said someone got past it!” I protested.
“Patience, sweety. Let me tell you the story of that single precedent.”
Nico hadn’t said anything so far, listening to the discussion patiently.
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“After the Celestial War, an earth dragon by the name of Fafnir had returned home wounded. He had suffered a blow to the shoulder during a battle with a god using a cursed weapon, making it so that the wound would never heal. Despite emerging victorious from the battle, Fafnir never recovered.”
Both of us paid attention to Mom’s words, hearing a first-hand account of someone who lived through the war.
“Fafnir tried everything he could, from seeking my aid to lowering his head to the living allies of the God, hoping to find a way to relieve his maddening agony. Unfortunately for him, no one was able to help him. Desperate, he came up with what could only be described as an absurd plan.”
“He delved into the lower layers of the Abyss to do battle with the horrors that dwelt within – emerging back from the dungeon missing an arm, an eye, and both horns. He went to the Life Dragon and handed him a rank S mana core belonging to an earth beast and made one of the most ridiculous requests that the Life Dragon had ever heard:”
“‘Kill me, then transfer my soul using this mana core into a new body.’ He said.”
“The Life Dragon, the most advanced soul mage in the world, was baffled. There were many things that could go wrong with this plan; nothing like this had ever been done before, it was the most complicated magic the Life Dragon would have ever cast, Fafnir might remain dead, and, even if revived, he might turn into a mindless abomination.”
“Fafnir said that he did not care if he remained dead, as long as the agony finally ended. If he turned into a monster, he trusted the others to put him out of his misery. With nothing else to cling to but this final, desperate thread of hope, Fafnir waited for a year and three months until the Life Dragon finally finished creating the world’s most ambitious ritual spell.”
“Fafnir laid on an engraved table next to another, identical table with the mana core on it. Both were surrounded by a large magic circle, while four dragons stood at its edges. The Blood Dragon would recreate its flesh and blood. The Nature Dragon would keep the body from rotting during the duration of the ritual. The Earth Dragon would suppress the mana core’s latent influence on the body. Once all of that was done, the Life Dragon would transfer Fafnir’s soul into his new, identical body.”
“The ritual began smoothly; In a few hours, the Blood Dragon managed to rebuild an identical body to Fafnir’s around the mana core, and the Nature Dragon kept it pristine. While that was happening, the Earth Dragon kept the mana core’s influence contained. So far, everything had gone as expected.”
“Things began to go awry when the Life Dragon pulled out Fafnir’s soul, killing him, and tried to implant it into the new body’s mana core. When the Life Dragon placed the soul into the mana core, the body began to tremble, slowly warping from its original shape. Fafnir’s soul should have suppressed the mana core in the Earth Dragon’s stead, who could no longer suppress the core in fear of wounding Fafnir’s soul. Instead, it merged with it, altering the body into something entirely different from Fafnir or the beast he killed.”
“The Life Dragon continued casting the spell, for it was far too late to stop. If they did, Fafnir’s soul would perish, and there would be no bringing him back once more. If there was a chance for Fafnir to live yet, they would take it.”
“Once the Life Dragon finished casting his part, the ritual was complete, and Fafnir’s body was nearly finished changing to adapt to the altered mana core. When the changes had stopped, the four dragons looked on anxiously to see if Fafnir still lived within that body. Fafnir’s eyes opened, and he rose from the table on his four feet. Alive, but changed.”
“Bracing themselves for conflict, the four waited for Fafnir to say something – anything. The silence went on, with Fafnir, or whatever that being that stood before them was, doing and saying nothing. Waiting with bated breath for either result, the tension was thick in the air, until Fafnir finally spoke.”
“‘The spell has succeeded; I am reborn.’ He said.”
“‘This experience has taught me much; It is as if I am seeing the world for the first time. Forgive me, friends, I must travel to rediscover who I am and what I wish to do. Thank you for your aid with my desperate gamble.’ He said, bowing his head to the four dragons who he owed his life to before going off on his own adventure.”
“That was the day that Fafnir had died, and the day that Fafnir, The Worm Dragon was born.”
As mom concluded the story, Nico finally breathed as if she held her breath throughout the whole thing.
“Do you see why this matter is not so simple? We would have to contact the Life Dragon for his aid in designing another such spell. If he agrees, which I do not doubt he will, it will take some time for him to come up with another equivalent spell. Finally, if you decide to go through with this process, young Nicotris, you will no longer be a human – not even a beastwoman. You will be something else entirely; not to mention the possible effects on your mind or the chance of the ritual’s failure. You should carefully consider if that is something you wish to go through with.” Mom said to the girl gently.
Nico was deep in thought, before she turned to mom and bowed her head.
“Thank you for your help, Lady Azoth. It is as you say; I will speak with my family and Lady Mett about if this is something I wish to go through with.”