They were free to roam around the castle and the surrounding platform, a sturdy structure of hard wood filled with vibrant vegetation and colorful flowers in every direction. Though natural and lush, everything was orderly and neatly maintained. Damian even noticed a mage carefully tending to a specific plant. However, they weren't permitted to enter the inner palace.
But the castle itself wasn't what interested him. A butler led Damian further up one of the massive main branches of the golden tree, to the old research facility. Despite the reduced manpower and funds of the place, researchers were still actively working there, though Damian was assigned to work alone as per his request. The butler briefed him on the facility's details and introduced him to other scholars and mages.
The first-ranker assistants and other staff were clearly displeased that Damian had been selected as an official royal researcher by just looking at his appearances, their body language making their feelings as clear as day. However, the three department heads were more accepting. As experienced second-rankers, they didn't show outright disdain toward him.
The oldest of the three, a man with a white beard, was a scholar named Erdan. Another man, a mage who appeared to be in his 40s, was called Faelar. Lastly, there was a woman named Velyss, a scholar who looked to be in her 30s. After a tour of the facility, which Damian and Toph thoroughly enjoyed, the three department heads gathered in the old scholar's office with Damian, where Erdan appeared to be in charge despite his equal rank. Meanwhile, Sam and Einar had been surprisingly invited by the princess for tea, though Damian was unsurprisingly excluded.
"Saranis, the head butler, informed me about your healing experiment. What exactly do you plan to do, and what resources will you require?" Erdan asked, getting straight to the point. They were all dedicated to research and theories, preferring to avoid the idle chatter. Da mian could ask for nothing more.
"Nothing much… I just need a light-element mana stone, a large open area, and, of course, the patient," Damian replied.
"No healing spell, however powerful, can negate a forbidden curse," Faelar said with a matter-of-fact tone.
"I know," Damian acknowledged. "But he's a friend, and this is just one last attempt." Faelar's expression softened, and the other two shared similar looks of understanding.
"When will you attempt this?" Velyss asked.
"As soon as possible. Right now, if possible," Damian replied.
"Hmm... I can provide a large mana stone from our storage, and the patient is already in the palace, I believe. We can arrange it," Erdan calculated.
"Thank you. Do you have a sturdy metal platform where I can draw my runes? The wood could catch fire," Damian added. Erdan nodded, but Velyss, tapping his shoulder to draw his attention, asked, "Why not use parchment for the runes instead of a platform?"
"It's a different technique; parchment wouldn't hold up," Damian explained, noticing their eyes sparkle when he mentioned another method.
Hiding his main skill was no longer necessary; the soldiers knew already, so others would soon learn as well. Besides, he wanted to conduct many experiments, and working in secrecy would be too restrictive. The butler had promised that he would retain 50% ownership of any results he discovered which will be mentioned in the contract he would need to sign, along with ample compensation for each breakthrough. Additionally, he had the right to withhold up to 20% of his findings, though withholding too much could risk his position and lead to confiscation of his research and getting fired.
The terms were reasonable, and Damian had no issues with them.
Soon, the three researchers accompanied Damian to a room with a metal floor, likely built for experiments too dangerous for wood. A few assistants brought large chunks of yellow mana stone along with empty jars, and soldiers arrived with Kazak, confined in a rune-covered heavy iron box. Everyone was asked to leave except for the soldiers and the three researchers who would remain with Damian due to the secrecy regarding Kazak.
As the box was opened, soldiers dragged the white tiger bound in chains all over, out. Kazak was hunched over, breathing slowly, barely conscious. Damian spared him a glance, then took one of the large mana stones in his hand. The stone was bigger than a beer bottle, with an irregular shape. Given its rarity, a light mana stone of this size would typically sell for 30-40 gold coins. Although few used raw mana stones, certain runic items did and enchanters had ways to extract mana or plain make use of the stone, making such stones highly prized. Since the bigger the stone, the more powerful the runic tool could be.
Activating his mana extraction skill, Damian crushed the stone in his grip, drawing a surge of energy through his hand, turning most of the stone to dust on contact. The familiar, searing cold pain returned, and Damian braced himself. It felt like being electrocuted repeatedly, the pain lingering long after the energy had fully entered his body. Despite the agony, he managed to convert the entire chunk into mana dust in seconds.
In between taking another mana stone in his hand Damian glanced at the three researchers and saw their jaws wide open, eyes shocked beyond belief. Well that's how a person would react if they understood the full gravity of what he was doing.
After gathering enough mana dust to fill a large jar, he took a moment to steady himself, wiping away the blood from his nose and casting a healing spell on himself. Then getting up in the utter shock of the three researchers Damian drew a giant advanced healing runic circle, he could control the amount anyways. It was larger than necessary, but he preferred an excess of energy over a deficiency.
With preparations complete, Damian took a deep breath, the three head researchers gathering close behind. With his focus set on Kazak, he activated the spell. Despite the iron platform, the spell's heat charred the surface, melting it an inch deep in the shape of the runic circle. The spell activated, and Damian extended over ten mana threads to control it, directing the energy to specific areas of Kazak's body, carefully modulating the amount of healing to avoid overwhelming the body.