Chapter 523: Enhanced Life Form (1/2)
Zero didn't have to do or say much to convince Jynx to lend him a hand. He didn't even tell Jynx about his crazy idea when he enlisted her help. All the banshee knew was that the doctor needed an assistant urgently for something that concerned Baku. As her child's other mother, how could Jynx refuse?
That was how the banshee was promptly kidnapped into Zero's ultra-secret time-inflating lamp. This new dimensional space made Jynx nervous simply because she felt creeped out by many captive souls and mana emitting flowers in the room.
”Where are we?”
Zero smiled. ”My room. I can give you a room tour later but for now, please chug this down and help me maintain a simple soul binding spell.”
The doctor didn't give her any further explanation and while Jynx was still extremely confused, she did as she was told. There were two other fairies in the room and Jynx wondered if they were Zero's acquaintance.
Whatever drink Zero made her drink was working. Jynx felt her mana churn inside of her uncomfortably. She'd never had such an aggressive build-up of mana and it was making her ill. If she didn't use some mana now, she felt like she was going to become sick!
”What did you make me drink?”
Lily smiled. ”It's just a mana potion that master makes. It sells very very expensive and is usually diluted about a hundred times to be sold. You just drank the undiluted version so if you don't use mana, it will simply continue building up until you explode. Are you feeling sick now?”
Although the banshee was naturally pale, she was never this white. Wii took that as a yes and told Lily to get into position. Zero was very serious when he looked at the soul and the mana lotus. This time, there were eight seeds in the pod. Instead of binding the soul to the entire mana lotus, Zero told Jynx to target the smallest seed in the pod.
”Tie the soul using the array to that seed in the pod. Don't tie the soul directly or it might suffer a backlash if we fail again. I need you to hold onto that soul binding spell tightly while I do my thing. Once both sides are charged to the point of almost bursting, I want you to tell me the situation of that soul binding and who is tugging at what. I need both of them to pull at each other and form a bond willingly. Once they've started to reach out to each other and start strengthening the new voluntary bond, slowly ease up on the soul bringing spell. We're starting now.”
Jynx didn't have time to ask questions and simply nodded for now. If Zero delayed it any longer by explaining, she would barf all over the bed.
The soul binding spell was quickly cast and Jynx concentrated on holding the spell tightly under her control while the soul struggled to break free from it. Zero told her to keep it steady as he coordinated between pumping mana to the seed and qi to the captive soul. This time, he was more successful in controlling the different outputs as the seed was less mana hungry.
”It's changing colours,” Lily informed Zero who nodded. That was a good sign of a maturing seed and Zero quickly forced the soul to its limits.
The soul vibrated strongly in its array and pulsed violently with the oversupply of qi. Jynx struggled to hold onto the soul who tried to defy the soul binding spell.
”Force it to obey you and tell it that the only way to stop the pain is to take that vessel as its home!” Zero gritted his teeth and tried to keep his hand steady with the soul misbehaving in his hand.
The banshee wasted no time and expertly exerted dominance to suppress the miserable soul. They had a long tug of war session with Zero alternating between easing up on the qi and pressuring the soul to forge the bond. It took them a few attempts and nearly two hours in the lamp before the soul started seeking out to the seed that Lily harvested.
Zero could hold the soul and the vessel too close to each other because his hands were supplying them with different things. Hence, Wii had to assist by weaving gentle air spells to carry the seed closer to the soul's array.
At this stage, Jynx was starting to feel the oversupply of mana fade away. She was exhausted and struggling to lead the soul to the vessel. Lily saw that and quickly fed her another bottle of mana recovery potion. They needed all the help they could get to win this battle.
The soul was definitely evolved. Zero could tell. After absorbing so much qi and nourishing itself, the cultivation level of this soul was higher than the rest. Was this why it had troubles resonating with a common vessel?
”Lily, can you grab some mana gemstones from the inventory? I think we have a few lying around. Also, give me some chaos fragments. We're going to try glueing the soul and the vessel. Get some nature mana gemstones. The one from Axel would be best.”
The flower fairy didn't hesitate and retrieved the things Zero wanted. Wii busied herself by taking over Zero's control of the mana supply to the seed. With one hand finally freed, Zero was now able to grab his pre-drawn talisman to slap it on the stubborn soul.