⫸ [ TIME: +24 DAYS SINCE THE SKY WAR ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: THE BLOOD-RIVER MINE – PROCESSING CENTER ]
⫸ [ STATUS: EXTRACTION ]
The mine was a cathedral of red crystal.
Deep beneath the conquered citadel the earth opened up into a vast cavern. The walls glittered with millions of Spirit Stones. They pulsed with a soft rhythmic light like the heartbeat of the planet.
Elian stood on the gantry overlooking the pit.
The Iron Legion was at work.
Giants wielded Void-Steel pickaxes. With every swing they shattered the rock and harvested the glowing crystals.
Deep-Kin sorters caught the falling stones and packed them into lead-lined crates.
"Energy density," Elian murmured checking his scanner.
◤ RESOURCE ANALYSIS ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Item: Raw Spirit Stone (High Grade)
⬢ Quantity: ~50 Tons (Estimated)
⬢ Potential Energy: 40 Petajoules
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"We have enough fuel to run the base for a century," Elian said.
Disciple Lin stood beside him. She held a raw stone in her hand. Her face was illuminated by the red glow.
"The Blood-River Sect used these to feed their dead," she whispered. "They wasted a mountain of treasure to raise skeletons."
"Efficiency is a foreign concept to them," Elian said. "They see magic. I see batteries."
He turned to the loading dock.
The Hover-Sleds were piled high with crates.
"Get this back to the Fabricator. I want the Refinery running by midnight. We need to liquefy this into fuel cells for the armor."
"And you?" Lin asked. She looked at the blood-stained container at Elian's belt. The one holding the Blood-Core.
"I have an appointment," Elian said. "I'm going to upgrade the hardware."
He walked away. His metal boots clanked echoing in the crystal cave.
He didn't look back at the wealth. He looked only at the future.
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 18:00 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: BASE CAMP ALPHA – MED BAY ]
⫸ [ STATUS: PRE-OP ]
The Med Bay was sterile. Cold. White.
Elian sat on the operating table. He was shirtless.
His torso was a map of scars and grey metal scales. The amber circuits of the Iron-Skin scripture glowed faintly beneath the surface.
But in the center of his chest his human heart still beat.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
It was the last fragile thing about him.
Alara stood in the doorway. She was holding a datapad but her knuckles were white.
"You don't have to do this," Alara said. Her voice trembled.
"We talked about this," Elian said gently. "The Federation is coming. A Cruiser has shields that can withstand nuclear fire. If I want to punch through that I need more output."
"You are removing your heart, Dad. Your actual heart."
"It's just a pump," Elian lied. "It moves blood. The new one will move power."
He picked up the containment unit.
Inside the Blood-Core floated in preservation fluid. It was a sphere of red muscle and crystal veined with gold.
Next to it lay the Micro-Fusion Reactor the Fabricator had printed. A fist-sized torus of titanium and magnetic coils.
"A.R.C. will fuse them," Elian explained. "The biological core acts as a buffer. It stops the radiation from killing me. It translates the fusion energy into something my nervous system can handle."
"And if it rejects you?" Alara asked.
"Then I die," Elian said. "But if I don't do this we all die in five months when the harvest comes."
He stood up and walked to her. He placed his heavy metal hand on her shoulder.
"I am building a future where you don't have to fight, Alara. I will become the monster so you can stay human."
Alara looked up at him. She saw the love in his eyes even if they were cold blue optics.
She hugged him. It was fierce and desperate.
"Come back," she whispered. "Don't get lost in the machine."
"I'll be back," Elian promised.
He watched her leave. The door slid shut.
Silence returned to the room.
"A.R.C.," Elian said. "Initiate the protocol."
[ Affirmative. Protocol: PROMETHEUS. ]
[ Anesthesia? ]
"No," Elian said. He lay back on the table. "I need to be conscious to sync the neural link. If I sleep the connection might fail."
[ Pain inhibitors at maximum. ]
[ Engaging Laser Scalpel. ]
The robotic arms descended from the ceiling.
Elian stared up at the bright lights.
"Cut it out," Elian whispered.
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: 19:30 AETHELGARD STANDARD TIME ]
⫸ [ STATUS: SURGERY ]
The pain was white noise.
Even with the inhibitors, the feeling of having his chest cavity cracked open was primal.
Elian couldn't scream. His vocal cords were paralyzed by the sedative.
He watched the monitor.
[ VITALS: CRITICAL ]
[ HEART RATE: 0 BPM ]
[ CIRCULATION: AUXILIARY PUMP ONLY ]
The robotic arm lifted a bloody lump of muscle from his chest.
His heart.
It sat in a metal tray. Still twitching. A useless biological antique.
"Phase Two," A.R.C.'s voice was calm inside his head. "Insertion."
The second arm lowered the Bio-Fusion Reactor.
The Blood-Core had been grafted onto the titanium torus. It looked like a cyborg organ. Flesh and steel fused together.
It lowered into the empty cavity of his chest.
CONTACT.
Elian's body seized.
It wasn't pain. It was Heat.
The moment the connectors touched his arteries the Blood-Core activated. It sensed the blood. It hungered.
It latched onto his veins.
HISS.
Steam rose from the open wound.
The reactor spun up. The magnetic containment field engaged.
[ Catalyst Active. ]
[ Initiating Fusion Ignition. ]
[ 3... 2... 1... ]
BOOM.
A miniature sun ignited inside his chest.
Elian's back arched off the table. The restraints snapped.
Energy flooded his system.
It wasn't the slow chemical energy of sugar and oxygen. It was the violent infinite energy of splitting atoms.
His blood boiled.
The Iron-Skin circuits flared from amber to blinding white.
The grey scales on his arms darkened turning almost black as they hardened to contain the radiation.
[ SYSTEM ALERT: POWER SURGE ]
[ ENERGY OUTPUT: 500% ]
[ TIER ASCENSION DETECTED ]
Elian's mind fragmented.
He saw the universe. He saw the grid of Aether that connected all things. He saw the math behind the magic.
Then the cooling system kicked in.
His blood—now acting as coolant—cycled through the reactor. The heat stabilized.
The chest wound didn't just heal. It fused. The flesh knit together rapidly accelerated by the massive energy surplus.
The new organ began to beat.
It wasn't a thump.
It was a hum. A low tectonic vibration.
Thrum... Thrum... Thrum...
Elian opened his eyes.
The blue irises were gone.
His eyes were solid white light.
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ TIME: +24 HOURS ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: THE BLAST RANGE ]
⫸ [ STATUS: POST-OP TEST ]
Elian stood in the center of the crater.
He was naked from the waist up. His new body was a masterpiece of industrial design.
The grey scales covered him completely now like a suit of biological armor. In the center of his chest a circular port glowed with a soft red light—the window to the reactor.
He didn't breathe heavy. He didn't need to. The reactor provided oxygenation through electrolysis of the water in his blood.
Grom stood fifty meters away behind a blast shield.
"ARE YOU READY, IRON-STAR?"
"Ready," Elian's voice was different. It had a metallic reverb even without the suit synthesizer.
"Test One: Energy Projection."
Elian raised his hand.
He didn't need a gun. He didn't need a rail-pike.
He focused on the reactor.
He visualized the flow.
Output: 10%.
The air around his hand distorted. Plasma formed. A ball of condensed white fire.
It wasn't magic fire. It was ionized gas. Superheated atmosphere.
He pushed.
VWOOM.
A beam of plasma shot from his palm.
It hit the target dummy—a slab of Void-Steel armor plating.
The beam didn't just melt it. It punched a hole clean through it. The edges of the hole glowed white hot.
Elian lowered his hand. Smoke curled from his fingers.
◤ DIAGNOSTIC ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Subject: Elian Vance
⬢ Classification: Tier 3 (Living Reactor)
⬢ Output: 20 Megajoules (Burst)
⬢ Status: Stable
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"I am the weapon," Elian whispered.
"Test Two: Propulsion."
He looked up at the sky.
He channeled energy to the soles of his feet and the vents on his back.
He didn't have thrusters. But he had Gravitational Manipulation via the Blood-Core's interaction with the planet's magnetic field.
He pushed.
CRACK.
The concrete beneath him shattered.
Elian shot into the air.
He didn't jump. He flew.
He hovered ten meters above the ground surrounded by a corona of red lightning.
Grom laughed. A sound of pure joy.
"THE SKY IS YOURS!"
Elian looked down at his army. The base. The world.
He felt powerful.
But he also felt cold.
The reactor didn't feel emotions. It felt logic. It felt efficiency.
He touched the glowing circle on his chest.
"Physics lesson number eleven," Elian said to the wind. "Thermodynamics."
He landed softly.
Disciple Lin ran up to him. She was holding a datapad.
"Commander! The long-range sensors... they picked up a signal."
"Federation?" Elian asked. The reactor in his chest spun up in anticipation.
"No," Lin said. "From the South. The Jade Pavilion. Master Shen is calling for help."
"Help?"
"He says the Grand Harvest has started early. A 'Star-Ship' has landed in the capital city of the Southern Kingdom. They are taking everyone."
Elian's eyes narrowed. The white light intensified.
"A Star-Ship?"
"He sent an image."
Lin held up the pad.
The image was grainy taken from a spyglass.
It showed a massive sleek vessel hovering over a burning city.
It wasn't a wooden cultivation ship.
It was a Federation Frigate. Grey steel. Missile pods. Engine thrusters.
Elian stared at the image.
"The scouts," he realized. "That's not the harvest fleet. That's the advance party."
He turned to Grom.
"Sound the alarm."
"We aren't waiting for them to come to us," Elian said. The hum in his chest grew to a roar. "We are going to test the Sky-Shield."
"Prepare the Earth-Shaker."
[END OF CHAPTER 35]