Age of Adepts

Chapter 262 Change of Heart

Time flew by, day by day.

In the meantime, the resources Greem had been accumulating were vanishing at a rapid rate, gradually turning into part of his strength.

The Second Grade molten giant-core had also been successfully turned into a terrifying elementium golem– the Infernal Tyrant.

Of course, due to the limitations of Greem’s own abilities, this Infernal Tyrant couldn’t possibly exhibit the full strength of a Second Grade. In fact it was weaker than even the weakest of Second Grades. Still, the earth and flame energies contained in each and every one of its attacks had the amazing ability to crush a First Grade adept.

After a detailed analysis by Greem’s chip, the normal attacks of the Infernal Tyrant were estimated to reach a terrifying degree of 110 points of damage. This was only slightly inferior to Greem’s most powerful single-target spell. Moreover, the earth-fire hybrid spell that the Tyrant possessed could even go up to 191 points of damage.

This… this was close to the lower limit of a Second Grade adept’s attack!

The defensive spells of an ordinary First Grade adept could usually endure between 90 to 130 points of damage. This meant that the Infernal Tyrant’s most powerful spell could potentially kill an ordinary adept in a single blow. That is, if the spell wasn’t avoided or negated by the enemy.

With the birth of the Infernal Tyrant, Greem was finally able to sweep away his frustration of losing the Fire Lord. Once again, he stood tall. Greem was much more confident in the trip to the Castle in the Sky now.

…………

Within his room.

The entire place had undergone massive modification. It no longer looked like the way it used to, but rather resembled an operating theater.

The furniture had already been cleared from the room. Only a single neat and orderly stone platform was left in the middle. Several dozen complex and intricate robotic arms floated above the platform. All sorts of surgical tools could be seen at the tips of the robotic arms.

Scalpels, surgical scissors, blood vessel forceps, forceps, needle holders, tissue forceps, sponge forceps, right angle forceps, surgical needles, cutting needles, bone nibbling forceps, and many more…

All sorts of machinery could be found on the table; tools like knives, hammers, drills, chisels, needles, and even saws. Greem had borrowed all of these from Keoghan. Their original use was actually for the modification and creation of voodoo beasts…

As today was the big day he transplanted the Flame Fiend’s Heart into himself, Greem had woken up early and summoned Alice. She was to lead the other apprentices and guard the door for him. Greem would hide within the room and accomplish this difficult and complex task of transplanting an organ all by himself.

To avoid any interruptions by outsiders, Greem had decided not to use the magic labs of the adepts’ tower. Nor did he ask for help from Adept Keoghan. Even the reason that he gave for summoning his apprentices was a lie. He told them he was going to be engaged in a dangerous magical experiment. Not a single word had been said of the Flame Fiend’s Heart.

Caution was Greem’s way of protecting himself, having learned from his long stay in the World of Adepts.

The only person he could partially trust in this foreign land was Mary. Alice and Snorlax, on the other hand, were still pending verification. It would depend on their attitude and performance henceforth.

After a long, dark, and sweet sleep, the beeping alarms of the chip rang out in his mind. Greem finally woke from his deep slumber and slowly opened his eyes.

This was a peaceful sleep, a relaxing rest he hadn’t had in a long long time.

No dreams, no meditation– just sleep. Greem had completely recovered from the exhaustion and tiredness he had accumulated over the past few weeks.

He rose from his bed, stretched, and did some simple warm up exercises. He only stopped after the chip had completed the examination of his body.

”Beep, self examination completed. All attributes normal. Host body has been restored to optimal state… ”

Greem nodded in satisfaction and looked down to examine his tall and muscular body.

He wasn’t a body refining adept, and didn’t have those perverted muscles that were tough as steel. However, his two meter height and perfectly crafted figure still gave him the perfect body. Well-built muscles, crimson and radiant skin, as well as the strange tattoos littered across his chest and back.

A head of long crimson hair flowed down behind him, reaching all the way to his waist. When put together with the crimson light in his black eyes, Greem radiated a wicked aura of mystery and wisdom.

He had no choice in this matter. After undergoing the elementiumization of his body, crimson had become his standard color. This was a magical shine radiating from the concentration of massive amounts of flame elementium. Ordinary concealing spells could no longer hide the crimson color he radiated all over his body.

Even though there wasn’t any dirt on his body, Greem put himself through a firebath out of habit.

The elementium flames blazed suddenly, pouring out from every pore on his body, forming a thin layer of crimson fire over his body. All of the dirt and dust on his body would be completely burnt by this layer of fire, leaving nothing behind to taint his skin.

The ordinary sleeping robe he had on instantly turned to dust and vanished.

Greem didn’t bother with clothes anymore. He walked out of his bedroom naked and arrived in the workroom he had converted into an operating theater.

Greem shut his eyes and examined the magical defenses within his room. He confirmed that all of the defenses that he had were activated. This place was now completely defended and covered.

He then calmly lay on the cool stone platform.

There was a metal headband resembling a helmet placed on one side of the platform. Greem picked it up and put it over his head.

When his Spirit seeped into the metal headband, all of the several dozen robotic arms hovering above the platform sprang to life, creaking as they did so.

Greem snapped his fingers, and five extremely clear mirrors of fire appeared at various angles above the stone platform. With these flame mirrors, Greem could observe the experiment from every angle without obstruction.

The light from the surrounding walls quickly faded, plunging the room into darkness. A dozen crystal lights shone down upon the stone platform. The light was bright and gentle, clearly illuminating everything on and around the operation platform.

At this moment, Greem was extraordinarily calm.

”Chip, you may begin!”

With this order, the chip immediately took over the controls of all the operating machinery.

Cold steel flashed in the air. A magic mechanical arm had floated to Greem’s chest and stabbed into it with a sharp scalpel. A ripping sound rang out and the flesh was split apart.

The speed at which it moved and the accuracy at which it cut was stunning!

Even Greem wouldn’t have been so decisive and quick in his movements if he had been the one at the steering wheel.

Perhaps because his physique was unique in some way, the scalpel hadn’t cut through any large blood vessels. Blood wasn’t spilling and splashing everywhere. Moreover, with Greem’s current Physique of 3.7, his flesh and skin was as tough as an Iron Rhinoceros, even without the use of any magic.

If it had been any ordinary mortal’s weapons, slicing through Greem’s skin would have been a difficult task on its own. All of the machinery used for the operation today had clearly been enhanced with magic!

Having completed its task of slicing open Greem’s chest, the scalpel arm quickly moved away. Another machine, this one with two humanoid arms, flew to Greem’s side and lightly pried open his chest.

Thus Greem’s human heart, protected by his thick sternum and ribs, was exposed to the world. Even though this heart had been slightly mutated by the high concentration of fire elementium that surrounded Greem, its basic function and form was still very similar to that of the human heart.

Greem looked on calmly. He didn’t interfere with the chip’s control.

Even though he was the true owner of this body, he couldn’t possibly compare to the chip when it came to its decisiveness and accuracy in the operation. The chip was far superior when it came to the fine details of a delicate surgery.

The saw and bone cutter flew over, and the ear-grinding noise of bone being cut rang out from Greem’s chest. If it wasn’t for the Spell of Sharpening and Spell of Reinforcement he had cast on the tools, they would never have been able to damage Greem’s magically protected flesh and bones.

The vibration of the metal blade as it sliced through his bone, as well as the intense pain of his flesh being pried apart, was transmitted to Greem’s soul. He could only endure it as he watched on with wide-open eyes. He had to see every single detail of the operation with his own eyes, in order to provide the chip with sufficient information to maintain its precise control.

The ribs were slowly extracted, one after another, until Greem’s heart was finally exposed.

The saw and the bone cutter shifted away as more machines surged forward. They started the delicate task of detaching the heart from the body and the rest of the internal organs. Every time a blood vessel was cut, a thin heat ray would shoot forth and seal the vessel.

Greem also started to control part of his body. He tensed all the blood vessels in his body in order to slow the flow of blood and prevent it from flowing out of his chest.

A crimson light shone in the darkness.

The Flame Fiend’s Heart, already treated several times by now, slowly levitated to the operation platform, carried above a floating tray. A magical robotic arm slowly picked it up and held it above Greem’s chest.

Greem’s eyes scanned across the Flame Fiend’s Heart, taking note of the numerous strange runes that filled the crimson tendons and flesh of the heart. These runes, that were as small as sesame seeds, completely covered the inside and outside of the Flame Fiend’s Heart. Together they formed an extraordinarily complex and profound runic array.

A sharp pain shot through Greem’s body. The last main blood vessel that connected his heart to his body had been severed. The slowly beating heart was removed by a robotic arm.

There was no time to wait or pause. The new Flame Fiend’s Heart was instantly plunged into Greem’s chest. Then, countless tiny robotic arms swarmed forward, using unimaginably intricate maneuvers to reattach the vessels to this new organ.

The process was complicated, but it was by no means messy. A dozen robotic arms worked in unison, the sound of them creaking as they worked rang out in the room…

After advancing to an adept, Greem’s life force and Physique had long exceeded that of an ordinary mortal. Moreover, with his elementiumized body, he couldn’t die even after having his heart removed.

Still, this heart transplant operation couldn’t go on for too long. Otherwise his body might be affected, causing a reduction in his basic attributes.

Honestly, due to the elementiumization of his body, he could no longer use the means that the body refining adepts used to strengthen their bodies. It was simply no longer effective. Consequently, it would be extremely difficult to raise his Physique if it ever fell.

And having learnt of the violent, barbaric, and rampaging combat style of the Flame Fiend Transformation, Greem could no longer give it up in exchange for a weak and pathetic guerilla form of combat. It would be unbearable!

Thus, the entire transplant operation quickly concluded under the unbelievably precise and accurate control of the chip.