Chapter 819 Pebbles
Complicated emotions washed over Khan as he stared at the transparent container on the floor. A chunk of a dead Nak was within his reach, ready to be studied, but his hands didn't move.
Khan remained still inside the empty reinforced hall for minutes, sitting cross-legged before the item. His senses studied the dead flesh, but part of his mind explored his strange emotional state. He had spent seventeen years with the Nak as his sole goal, and they were finally here.
Of course, that wasn't Khan's first time facing the Nak or their traces. He didn't even actually get to them. Milia 222 and Cegnore had only featured consequences of the Nak's mutations, and the lab had nothing more than dead flesh.
Nevertheless, that flesh was now in Khan's power. He owned it and could do anything he wanted with it, which had to count for something. Even his mind acknowledged that.
Khan knew his true goal was still far away but couldn't stop experiencing those strange emotions. That result spoke louder than any promotion, political acknowledgment, or additional star on his shoulder. He had reached the point where he could touch Nak's flesh with his bare hands, vouching for his progress in his journey.
The hall's atmosphere reflected Khan's emotional state. On the surface, everything was calm, albeit slightly cold. However, anyone with sharp senses would feel the violence brewing in the air. Khan seemed about to explode.
Khan eventually moved, exuding his usual grace. He kept the violence inside him as he reached for the container, lifting its lid to expose the chunk of flesh to the hall.
The symphony's nature instantly changed. Truthfully, the chunk of flesh didn't do much to the synthetic mana, but Khan experienced it differently. The Nak's influence washed over him, trying to fuel urges he barely suppressed.
Khan took his sweet time calming down before reaching for the chunk of flesh. He expected lightning bolts to flare through his arm at the direct contact, but nothing happened when his fingers touched the body part. He only experienced its dry fabric, which seemed ready to crumble at the faintest pressure.
Even the air outside the transparent container seemed too much for the dry flesh. That lump of bones, tendons, and skin was centuries old and had survived many experiments. Khan had to be grateful there was anything left to test.
Khan carefully pulled out the body part before placing it on the floor. He closed his eyes, reviewing what his mind had concocted. He was no scientist, but his experiences had given him some ideas.
On Milia 222, the Nak's hand had reacted to a spark of Khan's mana, but the flesh in his possession lacked many of its qualities. Khan didn't believe he could kickstart that maimed body part back to life with a bit of energy. He probably needed tons of it, but quantity wasn't a problem.
Khan opened his eyes, placing his palms at the flesh's sides. Purple-red mana leaked from them, enveloping the Nak's body part into a spherical lump of energy.
The mana anomaly already afflicted Khan on Milia 222, so he tried to kickstart the Nak's flesh with his usual energy. However, cracks immediately appeared on the body part's brittle skin, expanding and stretching toward its insides.
Khan promptly retracted his mana, but it was too late. The energy lingering around the Nak's flesh fueled the destruction, finalizing it. Khan could only watch as that priceless body part crumbled into a pile of dust and shards.
Khan couldn't claim that losing the body part left him unaffected. Yet, his face and body didn't show any odd reactions. He had expected a similar result but needed to test it at least once.
"Bring another sample," Khan ordered while pressing on a label on the floor. "Similar size."
The scientists hurried inside the reinforced hall, delivering another transparent container. The body part inside consisted of a chunk of a forearm, featuring mostly muscles. It was slightly bigger than the previous sample, but its state was equally poor.
Khan waited for the scientists to leave the hall before drawing the body part from its container. He had confirmed that his normal mana was too violent for those brittle samples, so finding energy they could endure became his priority.
Manipulating the mana's properties was a staple of the Niqols' arts, which Khan had mastered long ago. He even used it on a daily basis to taint the symphony with his element and summon spell. Khan didn't lack confidence. He only feared he would keep failing until he ran out of Nak's flesh.
The chaos element wasn't kind nor gentle, but Khan could partially suppress its innate unruliness. His mana changed color as he summoned a calmer version of his energy, abandoning its purple-red shades to approach something that resembled blue.
Khan's strategy was simple. The Nak only needed mana to function, so he wanted to bathe their flesh in his energy until something started working. Yet, many samples had to fall apart before he could even begin that plan.
Rebecca had probably spent years and an unfathomable amount of resources collecting those samples, but Khan destroyed more than five in mere minutes as he searched for the right shape for his mana. The results grew more promising with each test, ultimately reaching a point Khan could claim as a success.
The seventh sample was nothing more than a group of strangely intact fingers that shared the brittle nature of their companions. Nevertheless, their skin didn't crack under the azure sphere between Khan's palm. He had successfully summoned harmless mana, and the Nak's flesh remained immersed in it without falling apart.
Khan remained still for almost half an hour, pouring mana into the azure sphere. His senses worked overtime to search for the slightest change in the sample, but no revitalization happened. His energy entered the Nak's flesh, but the latter didn't absorb it. It didn't even try to store it.
That was another expected result. Khan had predicted a similar outcome when he noticed the difference from Milia 222. Small or huge amounts of energy wouldn't change anything. The fuel wasn't the issue.
Luckily for Khan, he had come prepared. He pressed another label on the floor, and the door behind him soon opened. Soldiers entered the hall, carrying a large metal container and placing it beside Khan. The troops quickly left, restoring the privacy Khan needed.
Khan waited until the door behind him closed before opening the container. A series of flasks appeared and popped out, showing their dark green liquid. Khan had harvested a bunch of the blue plants' substance before the trip, bringing it with him in case the situation required it.
Truthfully, Khan didn't know whether the green substance would have any effect. However, he was out of options. If that failed, he would have to leave things to proper scientists.
Nevertheless, the theory was on Khan's side. The blue plants' substance facilitated transformations, and Khan was providing the fuel with his mana. There was a chance the Nak's flesh could absorb his energy after being exposed to the green liquid.
Khan didn't have to worry about destroying samples anymore and had brought enough green substance with him, so he took it slow. He didn't immediately pour the toxic liquid on the fingers. Instead, he opened one flask and placed it near the flesh before summoning his mana again.
The substance's influence tainted the symphony, even stretching toward the Nak's fingers. Khan could see it trying to affect that dry flesh. However, as minutes passed, it became evident that passive interaction wouldn't lead anywhere.
Khan moved to the next step, pouring a few drops of the green substance on the fingers before summoning his mana again. The toxic liquid dug holes into the dry skin, threatening to damage the rest of the sample during its expansion. Yet, an awaited reaction finally invaded Khan's eyes.
The green liquid was too dense for the brittle sample but didn't immediately destroy it. The Nak's flesh and bones survived a few seconds, enough to fall under the effects of Khan's mana.
Khan had to suppress his aura when he noticed the awaited reaction. The flesh bathed in the green substance absorbed his mana, interrupting its shattering. Not everything survived, but Khan noticed small pieces of the sample growing stronger while cracks spread in their surroundings.
The drops eventually pierced the fingers, falling to the floor and leaving holes behind them. The sample broke around those cavities' edges, but Khan didn't care. Much of the body part remained brittle and dead, but tiny pieces continued absorbing his mana.
The tiny pieces' absorption affected the remaining brittle skin. As their state improved, keeping them attached to their frailer counterparts became impossible. New cracks opened, separating the dead pieces from the living ones, and the former didn't survive the process.
Eventually, Khan was left with nothing more than a few pebbles, dust, and shards. The last two merely bathed inside his mana, but the former continued to absorb it, seemingly refilling themselves until they reached their structural limits.
Khan pressed on for a while, but no additional changes arrived. It seemed the pebbles had reached their best form, so he retracted his mana. The absence of his energy highlighted the now-blue chunks of flesh, which retained their new state without requiring more fuel.
Khan's eyes darted left and right, inspecting the hall. A sigh eventually escaped his mouth, and his hand rose to reach for the blue pebbles. That interaction could start another Milia 222, but he didn't fear it.