Chapter 511: Mediating a Civil War (1/2)
After explaining the concept of soul cultivation several times, Jynx finally understood it when Zero demonstrated how it could work by borrowing a few pieces of paper cut into little human shapes. Truen didn't understand what Zero was doing as he poured a little qi wrapped in mana into the paper puppets and controlled them with basic animation magic.
The paper puppets put up a small skit and danced on the table, amusing and impressing Jynx who decided to give cultivating a try instead of harvesting the souls of the living. Zero was pleased and they shook on this but Jynx brought the initial question back about her client and Zero finally agreed after seeing the efforts Jynx was willing to make for him to reduce slavery.
”Thank you for accepting!” she smiled brightly then sighed.
”Those fraternal twin magicians you were looking for are chimaeras. I'm assuming you don't know what that means?”
Zero blinked. ”No, I know what that means. They were artificially created, weren't they?”
Jynx nodded. ”That makes things easier for me to explain. There are different kinds of chimaeras. Generally, a chimaera is created when a body is not 100% the original. For example, if I take the arms of a were beast and stick it to the torso of a merman and then attach legs from a human and complete it with a head from a fae, that is going to be a chimaera when a soul takes over the reanimated body.”
Zero was briefly reminded about his healing magic fiasco at Endow Hill. Back then, he didn't know better and thought that it was possible to bring to life what had already passed if they had a modified body. The result was heart-breaking after his chimaera massacred an entire village and was eventually disposed of by his shifu.
”I know that kind of chimaera. Are there other types of chimaeras?”
Jynx nodded. ”It's not very known yet but it is something all of U.N.U. has been trying to do. Those abandoned body parts you see on the streets are examples of the second type of chimaera. We try to grow parts in the lab and alter the genetic code of cells in their early stages to force a new kind of species to be born. This is the second type of chimaera that is lab birthed. They come with souls but nobody knows if it is a real soul or an artificial soul. We call these lab-grown chimaeras the 'homunculus'. Your fraternal twin magicians are the second type of chimaeras and their inventor is Sylvia the Silver Witch.”
That would explain the summons that they received. However, Zero couldn't understand one thing. Why were the twins running and seeking refuge in Half Moon Village? Also, how did Sylvia find them and why call them back after so long?
Jynx didn't appear to know much about the twins but she had one last thing to tell Zero that made the doctor uneasy. ”From what I know, Sylvia has been trying something called organic transmutation alchemy lately. It's in the experimental stage and many of her successful chimaeras end up dying.”
That sounded... horrifying! ”What does that mean? What's organic transmutation alchemy?”