Return of the Fallen Volume 10 Chapter 17
*BA-BUMP*
A heartbeat pounding in a broad chest. Faster, stronger. The body within the glass vat slowly opened its eyes and a bright glow of red illuminated part of the room for a but a moment before they dulled slightly.
Zephris raised a palm and pressed it against the glass.
*CSHHhh*
All at once, the reinforced glass shattered and Zephris stepped out. Immediately Nunully screamed at Kazuki.
(Cover Mei’s eyes!)
Kazuki quickly covered both her eyes as Zephris stood tall and…naked.
“You want to put something on, Mei is still a kid.”
Mei pouted at being called a kid but at the same time she didn’t want to see any of that.
Zephris chuckled before shrugging.
“I’ve got nothing to we
Before he could finish his sentence, a pair of pants flew out of his ring and landed directly on Zephris’s head.
Zephris couldn’t help but chuckle as he actually felt some of the coarse fibers run across the surface of his skin. It had been so many years since he last felt anything. A cold breeze, the heat from a fire, or the warmth from an embrace. Now that he had a real body made of flesh and blood, he could once again feel.
He slid the pants on before looking down at both of his hands.
Bozek looked at Zephris with a stunned expression.
“Your face, its like looking in a mirror and taking 30 years off.”
Mei grabbed Kazuki’s hand.
“Me to I want to see young old mister.”
Kazuki took his hand away and Mei’s eyes went wide. She stood in front of Zephris and curled her finger indicating him to come closer. Zephris lowered his head curiously before Mei squeezed and pinched Zephris’s cheeks with both of her hands as she shouted in shock.
“Old misters face is now young misters face, amazing.”
Zephris couldn’t help but laugh some more. Although Mei had a good deal of strength her pinching didn’t hurt. The opposite really. this feeling of having his face squeezed and pushed around, again it was refreshing and it was almost like he had never felt it before. He couldn’t help but pinch his own face as well.
“Hehe, I did it, it’s really there. Damn, I’m good.”
Mei went back to Bozek and then grabbed at his face as well. Bozek was still stunned and couldn’t speak properly.
Danny walked over as well.
“Do you mind?”
Zephris gave a nod and Danny extended a bit of his aura and felt both Zephris’s face as well as Bozek’s.
“Hmm, the structure is very similar but you’ve modified it slightly. I’m assuming there’s a reason why you didn’t make it exactly identical.”
Zephris’s eyes glowed for a second and a sphere of water formed in front of him. It then changed shape until it was flat and then it froze over. The ice was so clean and smooth it became extremely reflective and was mirror-like. Looking at his own reflection he rubbed his own face before it began to morph.
“The reason was so that I could change my appearance whenever I wished without having to alter the skeletal structure every time. Instead, I use the muscles and the extra elasticity in my skin to make myself look how I want it to look. I did this for both myself as well as for Bozek. I’m sure he wouldn’t want someone walking around looking like him.”
Zephris’s face finished changing and he took on a handsome appearance. A square jaw with a more narrow nose than Bozek and sharp eyes.
“I believe this suits me better. What do you think Kazuki, am I incredible or what?”
Kazuki nodded before he used his own muscles and bones and changed their shape until he looked exactly like Zephris.
“You’re pretty good but you have much to learn, hehe.”
Zephris and Kazuki both looked at one another before they both broke out into laughter. Halfway through, Kazuki changed his vocal cords and matched Zephris’s and sounded exactly the same as well. This only caused Zephris to laugh even harder.
Mei as well couldn’t help but laugh seeing Kauzki’s trick.
“Me too Kazuki, I want to see you look like Mei Mei.”
Kazuki once again changed his face and vocal cords until he looked and sounded like Mei.
“How’s this, I’m a big girl who loves red cloud candy.”
Mei fell over in laughter.
“Bwahahaha, Big bro you look like me in the face but you still have all of those bug muscles. It’s so weird Hahaha!”
Kazuki’s heart was lightened seeing Mei enjoy herself. It had been a long while since he last changed his appearance. He surprised himself for the fact that he never really used this skill of his to have fun.
After a bit, everyone calmed down. Zephris waved his hand and the shattered vat was repaired in an instant.
“Now that I have a body, my magic has returned in full.”
“About that. You absorbed no magical energy when you regained your body just now, where did this energy come from?”
Danny’s question was a good one. After all, Kazuki felt no energy move besides what was used in the table glove and the crystals around the vat. The new body itself though, one moment there was no power within it, and the very next when Zephris dove into it, it was just there.
“Danny, are you telling me you haven’t figured it out. Now that is surprising.”
Danny shrugged.
“I have a theory but it doesn’t correlate with my own experience.”
“Speak. I want to know how far you are off or on.”
“Shouldn’t we hurry up and finish making bodies for
“Asuna, Nunully, and even your body can all be made in a few seconds. Your bodies are truly simple and nothing too special, no offense. Just let me hear your thoughts.”
Kazuki was a little annoyed hearing this but he had to admit he was slightly curious as well. After all, one-moment power didn’t exist and the very next it did. Kazuki whose senses could pierce the very planet itself could not detect or see through what had just happened.
Since Kazuki didn’t say anything Danny rubbed his chin for a second before talking about his own experience.
“After I died and was no more than a soul, I was put into this body, into what used to be a Magic Beast core. Using the power of my soul, my aura, and this core, it allows me to use magic. The power of the natural world is absorbed directly into this core over a certain period of time. You though, that body, I can feel a core inside but before you entered it, there was no such thing. Yet there it is, only after you entered. What is the difference between you and I?”
“The difference you ask is like the sky above and the ground down below. Your soul, is weak, even though it grew tremendously within Kazuki, it still is like an ant compared to me. Because your soul is that weak, the moment you died, the mage core that would be within your soul world returned to the aether, the great void, the universe itself, or nature. Whichever one you want to call it, without a powerful soul, you could no longer maintain your will over it. Your mage core, all of that energy just returned to the world. My soul is completely different. Even when I was shattered into countless pieces, the fragments of my soul and my willpower persisted for too many years to count. Even in death, my soul that had been split millions of times continued to rebuild itself again and again. You though needed a host. Without Kauzki’s soul world, you would already be no more. My core remained in some way shape or form. That’s one of the reasons why after I destroyed the other souls in the Miasma and managed to take over, I could still use magic. The magic you perceive as appearing out of nowhere was simply my Mage core finally fully coming back under my control. At my level, the core needs not only the soul and mind but the body as well to be complete. All three forming this connection, mind, soul, and body as one. I am once more whole.”
Mei’s eyes were basically spinning at this point and Bozek as well was having a hard time comprehending all of this. Asuna inside had no clue what was being said and Nunulyl had grown completely quiet in thought.
Kazuki and Danny though shared a knowing look with one another. It made a few things make a little more sense.
Zephris gave Danny a small wink.
“Why all of this happens, even if I explained in further detail you wouldn’t understand it. You need to reach higher, your soul needs to evolve further and further before anything else makes sense.”
Zephris picked up the Sozo glove and put it back on.
“Now, what kind of bodies do you and the ladies wish to have. I still have two more drops of draconic blood here, any takers?”
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