Chapter 43: Shadow

It was late April. The sea breeze gently caressed Cimali, bringing waves of coolness. In a five-acre courtyard in the south of the city, people were coming and going endlessly, making it very lively. A large horizontal plaque hung over the main gate of the courtyard.

“Cimali Private Hospital!”

Locke looked at the strange phrase, clutching his aching stomach. He thought about the rumors circulating about the hospital and about Ace.

The legends claimed Ace was blessed by His Excellency Pontos, possessed an unimaginable great wisdom, and was a born painter and a saintly physician.

In just two months since he established the hospital, countless physicians had sworn allegiance and entered as resident doctors.

He also hired many attractive Cimali fisherwomen at high wages, dressing them in clean white skirts and calling them nurses, to look after the patients.

The ordinary clinics in Cimali rarely received patients anymore. Patients preferred to come to the hospital, where their hands and feet were not casually cut off, where enemas and bloodletting were not performed at the drop of a hat, and where treatments were effective. Patients absolutely loved it here.

Thinking this, Locke walked to the back of the queue in the courtyard.

A girl dressed all in white, wearing a white nurse’s cap, sat at a makeshift window, directing them to register in order.

“Name?” the girl in white asked.

“Locke.”

“Age?”

“21.”

“Is this your first time?”

“First time.”

“What is your ailment?”

…

Finally, Locke paid 50 Copper Thales, took his parchment medical record book and number card, and walked into the courtyard.

Locke went to the department of Gastroenterology. After an examination by the outpatient doctor, the doctor left incomprehensible characters in the medical record book and directed him to the operating room.

Ace had just finished a round of surgeries. His Lesser Ultrasound Perception spell was miraculously effective for surgery. It allowed for real-time, precise localization of the lesion. He performed conservative treatment when uncertain and bold surgery when confident, resulting in an extremely high cure rate.

After being sterilized and anesthetized, Locke was carried into the operating room on a stretcher. He was unconscious.

Ace looked at the medical record book written in Bird Script, tentatively confirming appendicitis. He then activated the Lesser Ultrasound Perception spell.

As an Advanced Wizard Apprentice, Ace’s Soul Sanctuary could instantly trace Lesser Runes. However, the Lesser Rune structures were too simple and low-level to exist permanently in the Soul Sanctuary.

Under the ultrasound perception, the surroundings were black and white, and Locke’s internal organs were clearly visible.

Ace looked at Locke’s internal organs with some disbelief. These are not human organs.

He had dissected a few Merfolk and even preserved some organs. Therefore, he was certain that this young man named Locke had Merfolk internal organs.

Moreover, they were not entirely Merfolk internal organs. A part of them were Merfolk organs, and the other part were human organs.

The human organs were slowly transforming into Merfolk organs, which was why he felt unbearable abdominal pain.

“Interesting. This is absolutely fascinating.”

Ace smiled, his eyes gleaming, as if he had spotted a delicious feast.

He activated the Lesser Charm Creature spell. Using mental suggestion, he instructed the few assistants to leave, and then began to enjoy his feast.

He created five Mana Hands and began to meticulously examine Locke.

There was no need to use the more advanced Spell Hands now. The Spell Hand was only necessary for experimenting on creatures at the level of a potent low-level Monster or a Pseudo-Hero.

The five Mana Hands, working in concert with Ace’s ultrasound perception, quickly found the supernatural factor hidden within Locke.

A flickering sphere of light, invisible to the naked eye, was located in Locke’s brain. Ace could not clearly observe the rune structure within it.

He canceled the ultrasound perception and directly released his advanced mental power, strengthened by his promotion, to perceive the sphere of light.

It’s very familiar! This Mana accumulation, the way it pursued his mental power, and the rainbow-colored glow in his perception were all very similar to the blessing of the Son of the Sea.

He continued to perceive. The internal structure of the sphere of light gradually emerged, and peculiar rune structures appeared.

Ace commanded someone to guard the operating room, hurried to the backyard, and took out the copper mirror inside the lead box.

He perceived the sphere of light inside the copper mirror again and found that he still could not penetrate the rainbow-colored light to perceive the internal structure of the sphere of light.

Ace carefully compared the similarities and differences between the two spheres of light. The sphere of light on Locke is similar to the copper mirror’s sphere of light in all aspects, but it is weaker than the copper mirror’s sphere of light in all aspects. It’s like a degraded sphere of light. The copper mirror’s sphere of light still cannot be perceived, but the degraded sphere of light can.

The rune structure of the degraded sphere of light must hold the secret of how humans are being transformed into Merfolk, and it might even involve the plotting of the Son of the Sea.

Ace thought this as he put the copper mirror back into the lead box and hurried back to the operating room.

He continued to study Locke, obtaining everything he wanted to know through illusion and charm spells.

Locke was a student of the former magistrate, Ma’er, and had been studying under Ma’er for nearly 10 years.

A few months ago, Ma’er told Locke that he was leaving for a long journey and gently stroked his head with his hand.

Locke smelled a hint of fish, felt a fever coming on, and fell into a deep sleep. The next day, he found that Ma’er had mysteriously disappeared.

Since then, Locke became bright-eyed and quick-witted, physically strong, his mind agile, and his memory clear. However, his body also frequently experienced hot and cold flashes, and he often heard auditory hallucinations. Recently, he had suffered unbearable abdominal pain.

Ma’er was a blessed individual from 30 years ago. It is almost certain that there is a conspiracy hidden within the blessing. That Excellency is planning something. I must first figure out what this degraded sphere of light is, and then decide the next step.

Ace thought this as he began to study the sphere of light in Locke’s brain.

Fearing that directly removing the sphere of light would alert Ma’er, and wanting to observe the changes in a living body, Ace convinced Locke to stay in the hospital for observation, preparing to conduct live research.

Locke dazedly checked into the hospital and was charged a substantial hospitalization fee. No one noticed that a Soul Rune structure had appeared on the back of his head.

A week later, Locke lay flat on the operating room bed, feeling immense trust in Dr. Ace. Since being hospitalized, his abdominal pain had significantly lessened. He believed everything was due to Dr. Ace’s efforts.

Ace analyzed the Soul Rune structure within the sphere of light and observed and recorded Locke’s changes.

Based on the analysis and reconstruction of the rune structure, Ace extracted several new Soul Runes, which he named the Transformation Rune, the Solidification Rune, the Strength Rune, the Constitution Rune, the Agility Rune, the Wisdom Rune, and the Perception Rune.

The Spell Model formed by the Transformation Rune requires Casting Materials, usually a part of a specific creature. The more complete the material, the better the transformation effect achieved.

The Solidification Rune can fix a certain magical state. It has a high chance of failure, but once successful, it is irreversible.

The Strength Rune, Constitution Rune, Agility Rune, Wisdom Rune, and Perception Rune are a brand new type of rune that can enhance a specific ability of the person being cast upon.

Based on this, Ace developed several new Spell Models and Rune Arrays.