Chapter 2: Numbers 22 and 23

After 30 minutes of waiting, the door to the room opened, and two people walked in with the same dwarf escort behind them. Sitting up, Twenty-four's crimson eyes glared in the direction of the two newcomers. But when she sees who walked in, her eyes soften up a bit, not even noticing the Dwarf behind them leaving.

"Hey~ Welcome back!"

"Hello Twenty-four. welcome back."

The first one to speak was Subject 22. The girl was barefoot and had pink colored skin. Her pupils were also pink with black colored sclera, with short dark brown hair, short-pointed ears, and sharp pointed teeth. The girl's black nails were sharp and pointed, on both her hands and feet, giving her a unique appearance.

Twenty-four wasn't really sure what race her friend was. All she knew was that she was a special type of Demon. 22 was also shorter than her, being 167 cm tall and looked to be in her mid-teens. Contrary to her looks she's actually older than she appeared. She is 19, even if she doesn't act like it sometimes.

The other person who walked in was Subject 23. If someone were to meet her for the first time and had to describe her with one word, that word would be 'Blue'.

She had a Powder Blue Complexion, Oxford Blue hair, Sapphire Blue eyes, ears that looked like fins, and was 173 cm tall. She was a Nymph, a race of females that are closely attuned to nature and magic; she was specifically a water Nymph.

Even though she looked to be in her early Twenties, she was much older than she looked. She also considered herself an older sister to the two younger girls.

Both girls wore the same outfit as Twenty-four, collar, and all.

'They seem to be doing well. Good.' Thought Twenty-four, a smile threatened to appear on her face before she suppressed it fully.

"Hey Yuki, Ella." Twenty-four said, returning their greetings with a nod.

Unlike Twenty-four, these two girls had their names known. 22 is called Yuki, and 23 is named Morella, Ella, for short. They were also the only two people Twenty-four cared about.

"You're all healed up now right~? Do you feel stiff anywhere? Any aches? Should I give you a massage~?" Yuki said, positioning herself on the bed behind Twenty-four, already getting ready to give her a massage before she could answer.

Morella smiled at the two younger girls as she sat down on the bed next to them. Looking at Twenty-four's closed eyes, she could tell the girl was starting to relax. Which Morella was right in assuming since she was starting to relax a little.

The only place she could truly relax as far as she was concerned, was here with these two. Enjoying the sweet scent of cherries from Yuki, and Morella's antiseptic scent that reminds her of nice, refreshingly cool water.

"Ah, right, since we have the time to talk; while you were in isolation recuperating, I noticed the staff started acting weirdly." Morella said to Twenty-four.

Opening her Crimson eyes, Twenty-four stared into Morella's Sapphire eyes, silently prompting her to continue with her explanation.

"Everyone seems to be, I don't know, more on edge. If that makes sense? They seem to be impatient as well. Even starting to increase the number of tests and check-ups recently."

"What do you mean? How much has the testing increased?" Twenty-four asked.

"Me, Yuki and the others have gone through 14 check-ups, and physical tests in the past seven days. We were also put through three practical tests this week and put into the chamber four times."

"There weren't any tests to test your regenerative capabilities where there?" She said, narrowing her eyes.

"No, but they seem to be planning something for Yuki. They were paying her more attention compared to the rest of us and they even checked her Mana-Links; they didn't do that with me or the others."

"Yeah, it was super weird. They even brought in, what was their name again...? The Necromancer person?" Said Yuki chiming in from behind Twenty-four, massaging her shoulders. "Oh, which one of your arms is the new one?"

"The left arm, also the Necromancer's name is Sable Hook." twenty-four said with concern on her face. Growing more and more tense again.

Her concern doesn't stem from the weird behavior of the staff, however. What did concern her is the fact that they not only had Yuki's Mana-Links checked, but they also had Sable do it which means they wanted to be sure of what they were checking.

Mana-Links are really important and shouldn't be messed with willy-nilly. Just like blood, Mana circulates through the body, this is what allows people to do the Arcane. But just like with blood if you lose too much of it, you'll die.

Though the only way to lose mana is to use it or have it be siphoned from you. Mana is invisible to the naked eye. It's everywhere but you can't see it or touch it. Mana-Links have the same properties as mana and can't be seen or touched directly.

One can learn to see and interact with their mana to a certain degree, but it all depends on your mastery over mana. There are also ways to interact with Mana-Links that aren't your own; you could either use specialized tools, or use specialized Arcane Power, like Necromancy.

But the problem with messing with Mana-Links is that if you aren't careful, you can damage them, and unless you have a lot of money, healing them is hard if not impossible. On top of that, learning enough to even start messing with the links takes years of dedication and hard work.

That's what Twenty-four knew and understood anyway. After all you don't just spend nine years of your life in a Lab without learning a few things.

So, the fact that Dr. Vancer, who is young but is knowledgeable enough on the subject, had Sable look at Yuki's Mana-Links means he's planning something that could really harm Yuki. Unlike with the physical body the power of regeneration can't heal broken links.

'Could it involve what they have planned for me tomorrow? But they didn't even check my links? Or is it something else?' Twenty-four thought with a frown.

*poke* *poke*

Poking her on the cheek, Yuki smiled at the Silver haired girl in front of her. "Calm down and relax, okay? Don't worry about it too much, this wouldn't be the first time they messed with my Links. Plus it looks like Sable will be there, which also means my chances of being harmed are low. Now which leg is the new one, right or left?"

lifted up her right leg unconsciously towards Yuki, the girl thought about what she said. It's true that even compared to Dr. Vancer who's a genius for his age, Sable knows more about Mana-Links than anyone else in the facility.

As a Necromancer, Sable's magic involves raising the dead. The way Necromancers raise the dead is by using both the Mana-Links, and the left-over Soul Energy in the body. Because of this, they know a lot about Mana-Links and are considered experts. But becoming a Necromancer is very difficult and most people aren't able to do it or don't want to do it. This makes people like Sable rare and valuable.

'So really the only way something bad will happen to Yuki would be if they wanted it to happen.' This is the conclusion she came too.

Thinking of it that way did calm down Twenty-four a little, but she was still worried. But she also realized she couldn't do anything about it at the moment. If she tried anything now, she'll be putting the other two in danger and quite possibly risking their lives, especially if it turned out to be nothing.