New Heart

Link was silent for a while as he tried to digest what Zero just told him.. To create a Core, one similar to a Slimes', a heart is required. This thought process made sense, since from what Link learned in the Academy was that Slimes had their essence inside those Cores, keeping them alive until their over the top regeneration kicks in, bringing them back to their best condition.

"Will it hurt?" Link asked in a whisper. Ronaldo was still sitting on the other side of the room, waving towards him whenever he saw Link's eyes land upon him. "And will others be able to interfere with the process somehow externally?"

Link's questions were from fear of torture and Ronaldo. He could never see him the same way after he put a few things together. At first, even with his corpse-like looks, Link managed to treat him like normal, but now with his conclusions plus his looks, made the whole situation even more terrifying. Plus the walking half alive corpses did not help with the atmosphere.

Light barely found its way inside, as the top floor windows were nonexistent. If not for Link's eyes allowing him vision in the dark, he wouldn't have made it through these past few days. At first, he wanted to head down a few floors and chill near one of the rooms with the gaps, but he stopped himself, deciding to stick with the Fragment Stone. Why? Even he didn't know why..

<The Integration process will take approximately an hour.. Your heart will be reshaped and molded to have the ability to hold your essence, then we will have to reduce its size, making it small enough for the Realm Travel Spell to transfer it perfectly. So of course, its gonna hurt>

[Do not worry Link, with both of us working on this, it'll be a certain success. We'll have to use your Skill Points and purchase a few Skills from the Shop that will allow some of the tasks to happen and access to your Mana though..]

"Sure, go ahead" Link said. "As long as you do not kill me"

<We'll try>

[We'll try]

"What?"

<Nothing>

[Nothing]

Their simultaneous response was funny, but Link didn't have it in him to laugh. This reminded him of an operation he did as a kid, he felt scared, but his mom and dad were there for him. He remembered in the hospital bed how they sang to him and comforted him as he waited for the doctor. These memories brought a smile onto Link's face, calming him down.

"Alright, where should we do this?" Link asked.

<Pick a room downstairs and use this Skill to set up a barrier.. We don't want those freaks walking around you in the middle of it>

[Don't call them freaks. They are lost and broken souls]

<Ok, sorry>

Link stood up and dusted his clothes before floating down to the floor he entered from. He headed to that room and looked at the Skill Zero was talking about.

<Absolute Barrier: With enough Mana, the User is capable of forming a barrier that blocks all forms. Be them physical or spiritual>

He quickly used it, seeing over 5M Mana Points leave him all at once and forming into a beautiful rainbow colored sphere that covered the whole room. Outside, a few Spirits were walking randomly, as they got closer to the barrier, they bumped into it, making them turn around and walk in the other direction, uncaring about this new structure.

"Alright!" Link spoke. "All good"

<Let's get started then>

[Ok!]

Link sat in the middle of the dome, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down. Slowly, he could feel his body warming up as his forehead started sweating slightly. Link quickly opened his Status Window, allowing him to see the terrifying Mana drop.

<Quickly, Drink a Mana Potion and a Mana Regeneration Potion>

Link listened and grabbed them from his inventory, chugged both the Grand Potions down without hesitation.

[Close your eyes and hang in there]

"Ok"

The moment he answered, the air around him stiffened as his limbs became numb. A sharp needle like pain came from his chest, specifically his heart, then.. Nothing. Everything became dark, Link could feel the changes happening to him, and how he could stop them if he wished.. It was odd, as during Zero's explanation, he should be powerless, but he could feel it. A thin line of Mana.. A dark Mana that was connected to all of his being. Seeing it, it reminded him of his True Form and its special Mana color. This confused Link, but that thought process did not last for long, as a terrifying wave of pain fell upon him, making his mind go blank and putting all of his focus onto it.

ARGH!

Link roared as the pain kept increasing by the second. The Story of Genes did the same to him, but that was a pre-set technique that was created by a God, a perfect process that provided the least amount of pain. But Zero and Ora were no Gods, even with their god-like minds. All of their focus was aimed towards the process itself, wanting to be 100% certain of its success than the pain levels.

Link felt like his body was being boiled and morphed, and with the increasing pain only made him fear what's to come. A few times, Link nearly reached for the thin strings of Dark Mana, as he couldn't take it anymore, but each time he managed to stop himself with great difficulty.

ARGH!

Screams never seized in that Dome. A figure had his hand placed on it as it peeked inside. Trying to get a better look inside of the room.

"Interesting!" It muttered before leaving.

The hour felt like an eternity as slowly but steadily, the pain decreased and color returned to Link's pale face.

BU-DUM!

The sounds of a heart beat reverberated inside the room. The sky outside became cloudy as Thunderclaps filled the place, like the heavens were applauding their success.

<That was tiring>

[Indeed]

Link slowly leaned backwards, laying on his back while staring at the ceiling. "That fucking hurt!" He muttered.

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