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- Adrian leads Eldwyn to the... fabled upper floor of the sanctorum!
- As they make their way up the stairs, he finds a very professional looking office space. A small library, a few black boards, some desks, a storage unit and a cleaning station could be observed.
- The scholar makes his way towards the cabinet. A complex runic formula covers the lock, one that is quickly dispelled by the Chief of Staff as he flicks his fingers.
- He procures a lock box and places it onto the table.
- "We found a cure. Now, we can begin weaponing it."
- (Adrian Montbell)
- Eldwyn patiently follow Adrian along, and takes a seat next to him shortly after they arrive to the Sanctorum.
- As the lockbox is placed on the table, Eldwyn had already presumed it may have been Aesperus' infection. He was very likely to be right, given Adrian's words.
- "Ahh... of course." he was slightly hesitant. He still wasn't entirely sure if this being weaponized wouldn't completely backfire somehow, but that is what testing is for!
- "Well, first we should discuss how exactly we want to apply this, right? Given it spreads through bodily fluids, we could always make a poison or toxin. Or if we get more intricate, we could possibly convert it to a gasseous state?"
- He paused, before he got too carried away with ideas.
- "Uh-- but, I suppose I should let you tell me the plan first."
- (Eldwyn)
- Adrian took a seat. He crossed his legs, tapping his fingers along the edge of the table for a few moments as he pondered over Eldwyn's words.
- "We know that it spreads through organisms with mana circuits. Namely, magi. All good diseases, Eldwyn, require a carrier. A transporter."
- He glances towards the young man, smiling.
- "Certainly, a toxin or vapor would be effective. But.. I'm of the mind something else may prove more useful."
- Adrian points a finger upwards. The ring next to his wedding ring was fitted with a small daemon containment cube.
- "Daemons, Eldwyn. They are the perfect carriers. Just imagine how their unique biology would bolster the potency of the disease. We're talking about organisms that evolved in accordance with the energies emitted by the Spires."
- (Adrian Montbell)
- "Ah! You're right... and it was highly occult, if I recall correctly, so Daemons would indeed be excellent carriers..."
- Though this did spring one question to mind.
- "Well, how do you plan to control this Daemon? We would require one to infect in the first place, and I cannot imagine that being done willingly... Then, even so, it is no guarantee that it wont just turn on us. Did you have anything in mind for such an event? All effective powerful weapons should have some sort of countermeasure, surely."
- He was not opposed to the idea. This much could be assumed purely off his facial expression, which was completely with a dorky grin. It was exciting. Finally something interesting to work on, and finally something that didn't involve Evan almost getting himself killed.
- (Eldwyn)
- "Simple, Eldwyn."
- "How does one normally control daemons?" There was a subtle click as he removed the daemon containment cube from the end of one of his rings.
- "With one of these."
- "Daemon tamers such as myself are able to completely and utterly enthrall these creatures, so much so that they only respond to the commands issued by the magi who tamed it."
- He tosses it up and down.
- (Adrian Montbell)
- "Oh my.
- This was what he mustered in short response to Adrian's ring. This was a skill that Eldwyn was not aware of.
- "I had no idea! Then-- Given your plan-- This would work wonderfully!
- His eyes followed Adrian's ring as he tossed it up and down.
- "Isn't what we're doing, then, just infecting a yokai? Sure it cannot be too hard."
- (Eldwyn)
- "We capture a daemon, yes. Then we perform the necessary amount of experiments on it. As of right now, however? It would be easy to capture one, infect it, and set it loose in Ardent."
- The scholar put the ring back on.
- "Weaponizing a disease is easy. Controlling one and reducing collateral damage? Not so much. You made a very good point earlier, Eldwyn."
- Adrian leans back in his chair.
- "We need contingency plans. Say for a moment, that we do exactly what I just said. We capture a daemon, let it loose in Ardent."
- "Now, normally there wouldn't be an issue, right? So long as I am controlling the daemon, there is no risk of us getting infected. Wrong."
- Adrian leans forwards in his chair.
- "Assuming that it goes well, what then? Jianghu is infected, all of them. Gehenna soon to follow. Magi are not daemon. We cannot enthrall them and control them. And given that they are infected, we know based off of our notes on Aesperus that they will do anything to spread the disease."
- "So, Eldwyn. What we need is a proper vaccine. Something that makes us immune to the effects of the disease. A ward, of sorts."
- Adrian picks up a piece of chalk and begins drawing a runic array on the blackboard. It is small, but complex. The intricacy of the runes are quite a sight to behold.
- "We cured Aesperus by performing a runic ritual written in the holy magic scripture, further empowered by the cleansing effects of the water runes mixed with Sarradian blood."
- He tapped the chalk on the board a few times, showing Eldwyn the rune.
- "Observe. This rune is an organic brand. A simplified version of the ritual that serves as a natural defense mechanism against the disease we're up against. It activates as soon as a body fluid is transferred, exorcising the occultic parasite, cleansing it with water and then rejuvenating the damaged area with Sarradian blood."
- (Adrian Montbell)
- A lot of Adrian's words felt like an echo in Eldwyn's head. Many of these things had already been crossing his mind, rightfully so.
- "Mmm."
- He observed the rune carefully. Despite not being a runewriter, he did have some basic understanding of things. However, this seemed quite intricate. Probably even moreso due to it being such a small variant of the cure.
- "That was my worry, too, when Aesperus wanted to use it herself. There was never any guarantee that the infected Magi wouldn't just turn it around on us. I'm glad we've put that into consideration."
- He paused, and took a long breath. He raised a hand to his chin, losing himself in thought, but also thinking aloud.
- "Surely we cannot perform a ritual each and every time someone is infected-- That seems quite inefficient... Can that simplified rune be mass-produced, as a vaccine? Do weneed to alter it in any way to enable it to be mass produced?"
- Though these would obviously be taken as questions, likely directed at Adrian, he had very little awareness that he'd said most if it out loud, so they could go unanswered if Adrian chose so.
- "What is your idea, Adrian? For a vaccine."
- (Eldwyn)
- Adrian nods.
- "Yes, it most certainly can be. See, the issue with Aesperus is that she was already infected when we utilized the ritual. That is why it was so large scale and required the combined efforts of myself, Acha and Dirk."
- He taps the chalk against the black board again.
- "This rune is set to activate if and only if one gets infected. Meaning, the magic is dormant until activated by the specific set of commands issued by the brand."
- "The issue is, applying this would be very painstaking. We'd have to brand each and every citizen of Avalon, which.. could take time.'
- (Adrian Montbell)
- "It would indeed take time. Wouldn't it be best to start doing so as early as possible?"
- This felt rather obvious. Surely if we alerted everyone of the importance of thise brand...
- "While we're working on getting a Yokai, experimenting on it, unleashing it. All that will take time too. Perhaps someone should work on branding our magi in the meantime, no? That seems the most efficient use of time."
- (Eldwyn)
- Adrian nods.
- "Yes. I will begin applying the brands, but before I do so I must inform the.. upper echelon, if you will, of our actions. It would look strange, walking around branding people with a rune absent of any context."
- The scholar looks towards Eldwyn.
- "You will be the first. Put your wrist forwards, Eldwyn."
- (Adrian Montbell)
- Eldwyn let out a brief chuckle.
- "Of course, I would expect you to inform superiors first."
- He then extended his arm outwards, lifting the sleeve of his shirt to expose his wrist.
- "Whenever you're ready then. Lucky me, to be the first."
- He had no idea if this would hurt or not, so he was somewhat prepared just in case.
- (Eldwyn)
- "Luckily, there will not be any pain. You are not infected, so if anything? It should be quite soothing, actually."
- The scholar slowly stands up. He makes his way over to the cabinet. There is a vial of Sarradian blood. He removes the cork, utilizing his water magic to migrate the healing essence over his glowing fingers.
- "Eldwyn, I'll need you to regularly collect around 16 fluid ounces of blood from Acha every day. That is how much will be required per rune."
- With that, he began to work his magic.
- A runic array appeared in the air, hovering above his wrist. It was completely identical to what had been drawn on the board. Through the use of cognitive magic, Adrian was able to seamlessly replicate the formulas stored in that brain of his. It was quite handy, really.
- Before long, it pressed down onto his skin.
- A white-gold light emitted from the holy magic runes, melding with the light aqua which was procured fromthe water runes infused with Sarradian essence.
- When all was said and done, a runic brand around twice the size of a coin could be observed on Eldwyn's wrist. The young alchemist wouldn't feely any degree of pain as Adrian applied the runes. Like he said prior, if anything he might have felt a soothing tingling sensation.
- (Adrian Montbell)
- Eldwyn watched Adrian's work with the rune, admired it, even. Runewriting was such an interesting skill, and something Eldwyn almost wished he had pursued instead of Alchemy. It was so intricate, and beautiful.
- As the rune pressed into his wrist, he pulled his sleeve back down to rest on his arm the way it should.
- "Well, I suppose I have a tattoo now." he jested.
- At the mention of Acha's blood, Eldwyn visibly had a light-bult moment, and reached into his satchel. From within it, he pulled out a jar of blood and placed it on the table.
- "I actually had some already. He gave it to me not too long ago-- but I did not end up needing it."
- He pushed the jar closer to Adrian.
- "I would say this size is around 32 ounces. So this should be good for the next couple of days, until I can convince Acha to let me drain his blood regularly. You know, sometimes he can be a bit difficult."
- He couldn't help but keep averting his gaze to the rune on his wrist. It felt so soothing.
- (Eldwyn)
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