158 Water Nightmare Chimeras (1/2)

Ed set to work sending a single drop of Water Nightmare flesh to each of the remaining monkeys' brains. Unlike the previous attempt, the brain cells easily adapted. The monkeys' overall resistance to the foreign tissue had increased dramatically. Even when their native mana filled the new flesh, only a minuscule amount of tissue died.

”Excellent.” He grinned as he repeated the test just on the monkey that had recently had its skin nearly melted off. Once again staggering his experiments, he repeated the test over and over again, using only a single drop at a time.

Soon, the monkey that had previously had its skin melted off closed its eyes.

”Is it dead?” Haru questioned.

”Close enough.” Ed nodded. ”It's brain dead, basically a vegetable at this point.” His powers activated, killing the monkey by melting its brain. ”6 percent transfusion out of 73 percent. Pretty good for the brain.”

”Is the experiment finished now?” Haru asked while glancing at the only remaining monkey.

”Mm.” He nodded. ”We can set the last monkey free. With its current abilities, it'll probably do just fine. It might even start a new species in the forest once it mates with the other monkeys.”

”I'm going to keep him!” Haru suddenly declared.

”Eh?” Ed's eyes widened in surprise. ”Why...?” He questioned in confusion.

”Why not?” Haru returned the question. ”You've got a pet crocodile. If anything, a pet monkey is more normal.” He pointed towards the monkey. ”Besides, he's a Water Nightmare chimera. He's one of a kind! No other mutant in the world can compare to him!”

”I guess...” Ed agreed. ”Well, do whatever you want.” He shrugged. ”Good luck taming it though.”

Haru glanced back at the bound monkey. ”How did you tame Tao?” He asked.

”...” Ed remained silent.

”Well?” Haru curiously asked.

Ed sighed. ”Tao hatched right in front of me after I had already transformed into a chimera using his mother's flesh. Maybe it imprinted on me as a parent and accepted humans after.” He shrugged. ”Or maybe he was just weird and liked humans regardless. Either way, I really didn't have anything to do with it.”

Haru's eyes widened in surprise. ”I always thought you had trained it...” He looked down, appearing slightly dejected. However, he soon looked back up, glowing excitement in his eyes. ”Maybe the monkey will recognize me after I become a Water Nightmare chimera too!”

”Well, let's get started then.” Ed smiled. He returned to the Water Nightmare and refilled his jars with the Water Nightmare's flesh. Then he returned to Haru and set to work. He opted to perform the operation on Haru first. Why? Because it would give him further data and thus improve the safety of his own self-operation later. After all, how could he call himself a teacher if he didn't charge some type of tuition? Well, that was his secret excuse anyways.

Ed started with seven drops of water, mirroring the earlier monkey experiments. He infused the drops into all of Haru's flesh and blood with the exception of the brain. Haru's skin just barely had the tiniest hint of blue. However, he didn't seem to be in much pain. It made sense when considering the human body was much larger than the monkeys, yet Ed had still chosen to only use seven drops at the start.

After letting Haru adjust for fifteen minutes, Ed moved onto the next step. 70 drops of Water Nightmare flesh fused into Haru's body. His skin turned bluer, and he seemed to be in severe pain. Sweat covered his body as he clenched his teeth and hands. His nails dug deep enough into his palms to draw blood. However, the wounds healed almost as quickly as they appeared. It seemed the Water Nightmare chimera flesh was truly amazing even in low quantities.

One wave of infusion after another began. Ed stopped infusing certain parts when he reached the same percentages that the monkeys had been able to handle. Soon, he was already finished with all except for the brain. He carefully regulated the brain infusion, concentrating even harder than when he had focused on collecting the Water Nightmare's flesh. Fortunately, everything went well. The damage was minimal, and any damage he did cause was already being healed by Haru's new self-healing powers.

”How do you feel?” Ed asked.

”Odd...” Haru honestly answered while staring at his hands, which he was repeatedly opening and closing. His skin was entirely blue, which looked rather funny when combined with his half blue and half blond hair, not to mention his white eyes.

”I half expected you to have a 2nd awakening during that.” Ed commented. ”Guess you're just unlucky.” He shrugged. ”Or maybe lucky depending on your perspective.”

”2nd awakenings are just a shortcut anyways.” Haru smiled, not seeming to mind not having one. ”But am I really going to look like this forever?” He frowned as he stared at his blue skin.

”I'm rather surprised you didn't have an emotional episode from the transformation.” Ed rubbed his chin. ”Though I guess you have already cultivated, so maybe that's why. Your unique body constitution could also affect it.” He glanced at the bound blue monkey, which seemed completely calm. ”The monkeys didn't react much either. Granted, they're already mutants so that makes sense.” He looked back to Haru. ”You should be able to control the transformation if you concentrate. It'll probably take some practice. It's kind of like riding a bike. It's hard to teach and explain to others, but once you grasp it then you should have no problems.”

”I see.” Haru nodded. He concentrated hard, but still failed to transform.

”Well, keep trying while I get to work.” Ed smiled as he prepared to transform himself. Unlike the others, he had to be even more careful with his own transformation. After all, he had mutant crocodile flesh and bat wings muddying the waters of his flesh composition. Still, it was his own body, so at least it would be easier to monitor and regulate.

Slowly, Ed repeated the same transfusions he had just done on Haru and the monkeys on himself. He also had a few additional steps due to his extra hearts and lungs. His skin steadily turned blue, and his chimera scales also appeared. His seven-colored scales even started to transform, becoming entirely dark blue in color. 'Not bad.' He thought as he looked at them. 'It's a bit more intimidating this way.' Truthfully, he had always thought the seven-colored scales looked a tad ridiculous. He was more than satisfied with them only being a single color.

Several hours passed, and by now, it was already late at night once again, painting the Russian wastelands pitch-black. Soon, Ed carefully finished the transfusion in his brain. A single misstep easily could have killed him. ”Done.” He sighed in relief while standing up. The Water Nightmare flesh replacement ended up taking parts of both his human flesh and crocodile flesh. By now, his body was probably roughly a third of each type, though the exact percentages varied drastically in different areas of the body. Surprisingly, he found that he could now use his crocodile claws again like in the past when he had more crocodile chimera flesh. Unfortunately, his crocodile tail hadn't returned, much to his disappointment. He had quite liked the feeling of crushing his enemies with his tail in the past.