Ahead Of Time

"Here's… the body." Dignitas squirmed an annoyed grunt as he placed the unconscious Makarov on the chair in front of Bigsby.

The author had to lug the sleeping brawler all the way here. Once he got out of the world, he attempted to attack Dignitas again as well. But due to not being under the caress of his mana home, the situation wasn't nearly as annoying to handle as the one in the illusionary world.

"So this is the rascal, huh? Great work, kid." Bigsby thanked the swordsman as he stared at the blondie.

"Yeah, so how about you teach me how to–"

Dignitas' watch suddenly rang. It was a call from Professor Shib. Although he had already told his teacher his excuse, it seemed like he didn't want to fully let him go for today.

"That looks important. Ya should take it. Plenty of time to learn, and more time for me to get a look at this kid."

Even without letting Dignitas give his answer, Bigsby had already placed the unconscious Makarov on his shoulder and brought him into the back room.

Seeing as how the call seemed urgent, Dignitas tapped the green answer button the moment he exited the store.

With a nonchalant attitude, he voiced out his displeasure. "What is it, Professor? I'm pretty sure I told you I would be absent today."

"It's an emergency, Dignitas. Drop whatever you're doing, and come to the District Hospital right away. We've just transferred Lorelai over there."

Hearing the nervous tone in his teacher's voice, Dignitas pressed him for more answers as he swiftly ran to the hospital.

"Why? Did something happen to her?"

"That's right. The Chrono Stasis chamber was supposed to keep her body frozen, but for some reason her eyes didn't want to follow."

"So… you're saying her eyes weren't frozen in time?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying. I've got no time to explain, so just try to get over here immediately. We're in the ER, so head there directly."

As he hang up the call, Dignitas silently prayed that Lorelai wouldn't permanently lose her sight. Even if they had the means to restore it, there was always a chance that something would go wrong, like right now.

Five minutes later, and Dignitas had already made it to the hospital. The entire building, while more than twenty stories tall like some of the others in the District, wasn't that hard to discern from every other building due to its white paint.

As he burst through the front door, Dignitas ran to the receptionist without stopping.

"Hi, yes, can I know where the emergency room is? I've got someone important in there."

The receptionist's eyes seemed to widen as she recognized Dignitas. "Professor Shib mentioned you would stop by, Sir Qwerdan. Please, go on ahead, it's just one turn to the left and another turn to the right."

"Thanks, see ya."

The door to the emergency room burst open as Dignitas walked through. Inside, Professor Shib was conversing with one of the doctors.

Noticing him, he beckoned the swordsman to approach.

"Dignitas. Glad you could get here so quickly." Shib looked to the doctor. "Doctor Neil, this is Dignitas. He'll be the one who'll donate his eye."

"I see." The doctor replied. "Then, mister Dignitas, thank you for offering half your sight so that the girl may see fully again. I'm sure she will appreciate this kind gesture." He bowed.

"No, that's okay." Dignitas waved his hands. "Could I ask how Lorelai is doing, though? Is her condition okay?"

"As of the moment, her vital signs are all stable. She had a reaction, you see. It turns out a Seraph's body works differently in the eye region."

"Could you explain?"

"For that, I'd have to tell you a short story. Do you have the time?"

"Yeah, I do."

The doctor merely nodded as he led Dignitas to a small bench, just wide enough that both of them could sit on it.

As the two sat down, Doctor Neil opened up with a shocking sentence. "Do you know of Divine Blessings, mister Dignitas?"

***

It was said that when Midania was created, all of the gods were in union, literally. They each made up a part of the ultimate being known as the Almighty, the omnipotent god.

At the time, there were as many gods as there were body parts. Each limb, organ, cell, and system was controlled by a god. As some parts of the body were bigger and more vital than others, they were naturally possessed by the stronger gods.

Among those gods, Meza, the Goddess Of The Hunt, a middle-class deity in terms of strength, held control over the eyes. Her sight was the best, able to see even the farthest of distances without any issue.

And yet despite all originally being one entity, the gods could never live peacefully. The stronger ones killed the weaker gods, and absorbed their control over their body parts.

Meza, a pacifist at heart when it came to dealing with intelligent creatures and her fellow brethren, did not partake in the fight. As she still held a sizable amount of power, no one could take away from her the Meza trademark, her eyes.

"It is believed that Meza grants her most devoted followers her blessing, which takes the form of the All-Seeing Eyes."

"I see…" Dignitas nodded. He knew of the gods and how they came to be, but never had the time to fully explore into the origins of the All-Seeing Eyes before he died.

"I am not done yet. Let me give you my thoughts."

It was very likely that the first few Seraphs were very devoted believers of the hunting goddess, and were rewarded for it. And while Dignitas wasn't sure if Meza worship was all that common in the current world, it was possible that the All-Seeing Eyes might've turned into a trait that, over time, became permanently affixed to the Seraph bloodline.

This was the most fitting reason. But if the All-Seeing Eyes were Divine Blessings, as Doctor Neil said, then didn't that mean there were others out there as well?

"So that explains why her eyes weren't under the constraints of stopped time."

"Indeed. A Divine Blessing is powerful, so conventional magic most likely won't work on it."

As the Divine Blessing was basically the physical manifestation of a god, then that meant it couldn't merely be classified as a "special" eye. It was so much more than that.

"The reaction that she caught was her body realizing that the part that defines her as a Seraph has disappeared. It is most likely still releasing mana to the eyes, as the All-Seeing Eyes require a lot of mana to keep up."

"Interesting… so does the implant we have work? More importantly… will my eye work?"

Doctor Neil seemed to have no worry on his face. "There is no need to be nervous. The Implant will still be able to perform the same duties as her original eyes can do, maybe even better. As for your eye, I've looked through your profile, and noticed. You have a skill that uses them, yes?"

"You mean Death's Vision?"

"That one. From the energy levels displayed by you during the tournament, it should theoretically be able to withstand the mana miss Seraph puts into her eyes."

"That's a relief. Though I won't count the operation as a success just yet. I've learned to never think the situation is what it is."

"That's a great philosophy to live by, young man. But do not worry." Doctor Neil placed his hand on Dignitas' shoulder. "She is in good hands."

***

"How are we going to go about this, exactly?"

It was time. Lorelai's operation would start in ten minutes, and the hospital needed Dignitas' eye before then.

Professor Shib led the frightened author into the operation room, where they would be removing his eye. He made him lie down on the bed in the middle as they waited for the doctors to arrive.

"It'll be a quick and easy process. I've been told you won't feel pain either, as the hospital will be covering the area with a numbing agent."

"That makes it sound a lot better. I hope it really is quick, though. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the operation and see my eye being pulled out."

"You won't. We've got a trained Poison Affinity user amongst the surgeons. He has a sleep gas skill that only affects one person."

"Gee, that sounds fun."

Suddenly, the door to the operating room burst open, and three doctors, all wearing surgical clothes, walked in.

With them, they brought along a table that had perhaps the widest selection of bladed tools Dignitas had ever seen.

Scalpels, knives, small swords…?

The more Dignitas looked, the more he realized these tools were totally not what surgeons would use to remove an eye.

"Patient… Dignitas Qwerdan, yes? Thank you for donating your eye. Just sit tight, and we'll get started on the operation right away. Take slow deep breaths and let the gas fill your nose."

"Before you know it, the operation will be done, and you'll have only one eye. Don't worry, we'll style your hair so that it'll cover it."