We Meet Again, Espinella

Ronin's pitch-black eyes just blinked, as his reflexes and aversion from touch made him push this man away not so gently.

He cleared his throat. "Thank you... but.... What do you think of the project, sir?"

"Oh, it's truly wonderful! I have never seen anything as bold like it!" Professor Espinella clapped his hands joyfully.

He went over to shake the daze Vyrill's hands. "Congratulations, Vyrill! You have outdone yourself this time!"

Ronin did not expect the person who would be his key into transforming into Obsidian, not to mention a Main Antagonist to be so.... friendly.

He was more like those jittery, kooky professors with a few screws loose.

But then again, first impressions can be disproven. He went over to the two men.

"How are you feeling, Professor Vyrill? Do you still feel any pain or something out of the ordinary?" He asked, in a more interrogating tone rather than caring.

"I'm.... I'm alright....." He said blankly, but his eyes were still wide.

"That's good. Can you stand up?" Ronin offered his hand to him.

Professor Vyrill looked at him straight to the eye this time. The moment he did, there was an evident terror on his face and he recoiled from Ronin's touch.

"I.... I think I could stand by myself." He said, and slowly tried to get up the resurrecting chair whilst still holding his chest and curling up pitifully.

Professor Espinella observed. "Hm, I can feel that your Heartstone is still functioning well despite the damage of being stuck by the knife. It has a scratch, and that may affect your body's function a bit and make you feel dizzy and nauseous."

Ronin raised an eyebrow. "You can sense all that, Professor?"

Even a scratch that no one else could see..... He must have some type of connection or control to Heartstones.

"O-Oh, my Morpho magic involved stones of all kinds. But more potent with average rocks than gemstones." Professor Espinella took out a piece of rock from his chest pocket.

"That's graphite." Ronin easily identified.

He nodded excitedly. "Watch closely."

He seemed to crush the stone with his hands and kept on crushing and crushing, until the veins on his neck popped up from his dark and smooth Black Spinel skin. Ronin also thought there was some steam coming out of it, and a burning scent from his bare hands.

When he opened his hand.....

The graphite disappeared.

Ronin blinked. "What happened to it...."

But then, he saw it. A tiny speck, almost like dust

A tiny speck of diamond.

Ronin's eyes widened. Right, with heat and pressure, graphite can turn into diamond.

But naturally, it takes a process that will involve 1 billion to 3.3 billion years. It takes the pressure of 100 kbar and 2000 degrees Celsius to turn it artificially.

Yet he did it in about a minute or two.

The result was small because the carbon on the graphite had to be compressed and compacted to the maximum and be completely rid of impurities. But it was still an amazing feat.

"M-My family were known 'morphers' in the Mecha realm. It's our job to morph natural rocks and minerals into the form they wanted. We mostly work near o-ores and mountains, so I became easily interested in the process of geological transformation."

Ronin's eyes gleamed. "Can you turn Heartstones?"

Professor Vyrill seemed to look even more frightened from those gleaming eyes, as if he was seeing something he should not.

Professor Espinella smiled. "Actually, I---"

"I should go to the infirmary.... Excuse me." He mumbled, staggering to go out.

Professor Espinella patted his back. "Oh, that would be for the best, my friend. I will write a report about how successful your research is.

He added hopefully: "The Council would have no choice but to fund it and start to spread the news to the scientific society here in Sephyrine. Maybe soon, it would spread to all the medical practitioners in Magecia!"

"Yes... Yes....." Professor Vyrill just nodded blankly.

Ronin noticed that he was still out of it. He also noticed...

That his mind was completely unreadable at the first few moments of being awake, like he was only regaining his consciousness even after he was awake.

But it was a different blankness than with the gods. Theirs were like an empty bowl.

Professor Vyrill's mind was just complete nothingness. A deep, endless dark hole.

And he was struggling to push away from that darkness, his thoughts disjointed.

Ronin offered. "Would you like me to accompany you, Professor? I would also like to talk more to Professor Espinella, though. Would that be alright?"

"Mm..... Stay here..... Don't follow me...." He said, his voice cracking a bit as he seemed to desperately walk faster away from Ronin.

He wanted to go away as far as possible from this child. His mind was just repeating and repeating broken thoughts.

(... The Abyss.... He is..... The Abyss... Go away... Never stopped..... Feel it....... Piercing through..... Looking at..... The Abyss...)

Ronin was just vaguely interested in this, still a bit out of sorts himself because of that lost excitement from killing this man. He can't help wishing he just stayed dead.

He had to fight the urge to stab him again. He just let him go, that shivering and rattled victim of his.

He turned to Espinella. "You were saying, Professor?"

"What were we talking about again? I just noticed now that Vyrill looked..... scared. Almost like when I saw him before..." Professor Espinella frowned.

"Ah, it must be a side effect of the resurrection. Many of the animals we experimented too had the same agitation." Ronin said. "It's only clearer now because he is a human with conscious thought."

He rubbed his chin. "I should study him more before you make that report, sir. Make sure there are no complications."

"Mn. Ah, you were asking if it's possible for me to morph Heartstones, weren't you?" Professor Espinella placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, let this be our little secret... Ronin Zafeiri...."

Ronin was a bit surprised that he knew his real surname, but he also expected this strange professor to know more than he let on so he wasn't too surprised.

He whispered to him. "I am actually conducting a research of my own. I believe I have found the right formulas to morph Heartstones and change mages themselves, but I needed specimens."

"Would you like to be my first one?"