"Hello number 1 how are you doing?"
I asked my new slave. She had been quiet after every attempt to talk to her failed. Her eyes were the only thing following my movement. It wasn’t out of curiosity but a reflective action.
She was lying on the surgical table I had recently commissioned. It had been made to fit my height and could be increased as I grew. A long-term investment.
"I’ll be putting you under anesthesia."
She didn’t respond. She was going to be my first human experiment. Her face had been too destroyed for it to heal normally.
The skull had been broken into pieces with her left side being the most affected. Whoever did this clearly hated her or had really bad anger issues.
Her body had at least survived with minor injuries despite how banged up she looked. The attacker had only gone for her face , she wanted number 1 to be disfigured.
I couldn’t even imagine who would show such hate to a small child. I didn’t really care since she now belonged to me.
This was going to be my first surgery and I was beyond excited. I had practiced on synthetic dolls but doing it in reality was jarring.
Most of my surgical tools had been custom-made to look like those from Earth, but it was still crude. The anaesthesia had been self-made and could knock out anyone according to the measurements.
I cut into the skin tissue and separated it from the bones. It was worse than I had expected; the bones on her left side were caved in just a small distance from her brain.
A small shove would have broken it completely. It had tried to heal, but it was only in the early stages.
I reconstructed the bone tissue, layered the new synthesized skin, and molded her face until I was satisfied.
My first surgery had been a success no deaths. I was officially ready to work on humans.
This small achievement gave me a sense of empowerment that I had never felt before in my experiments.
Three month later.
"Number 1, it’s time to take off these bandages. Are you excited?"
I asked her. She was still unresponsive. Her head was wrapped in bandages; I could only imagine how heavy it was.
During her recovery, I had tried to bond with her, but she was still quiet, not even trying to talk to me. It wasn’t tiring to talk to her since I wanted her to get used to my presence.
I had not allowed her out of the laboratory since I wanted her to be seen when she was brand new without any blemish.
I started to remove the bandages slowly, hoping the healing potion had worked its magic. Due to how delicate the face was, I couldn’t use too many healing potions.
The facial nerves and muscles had to heal slowly by themselves; I didn’t want her to have a stiff face.
"Marvelous, I can’t believe I did this."
I looked at the perfect face in front of me and almost screamed in joy. She looked just as I had imagined. A beautiful doll. If this is how she looked before she had her face bushed in, then it was understandable why she would receive such hate at a young age.
She would have grown up to be beautiful.
"Number 1 do you want to see your new face?"
I asked her excitedly. I helped her down the bed and led her to the full-length mirror I had installed the past week.
The moment she saw her reflection, her eyes widened in shock, disbelief, then excitement. This was the first emotion she had shown me since I brought her back.
It was true, women do treasure their faces.
"Do you love your face?"
I wanted to hear her response instead of a few changes in expression. She didn’t answer but continued to look at herself. I wasn’t in a hurry; it was better for her to enjoy this before I could put her to work.
...
"Lucian who’s this child you brought?"
Mother asked me as she studied Luna, that was what I had decided to call number 1, after multiple attempts to get her to speak to me failed. My sister was also sitting beside my mother, combing her hair. She seems to enjoy being of service to mother.
"It’s my slave. I would love to appoint her as my maid."
I said exposing Luna behind me. She stood there stiffly as mother and sister studied her in surprise. Seraph stood up, walked to Luna, and held her face.
"What wizardry have you done to her face. It was too broken the last time I saw it?"
She asked curiously. I puffed my chest up at the praise. This was the first time both of them had been interested in my craft.
"I gave her a new one. You tear the former skin off. I created the new skin from mixing elven florishtia, midnight flowers, parts of her cells, fibers from the dragons, ligaments..."
I started rambling as I explained my new investment. I had gotten the recipe from an old book I had found in the Library. What drew me to it was the cover; it was made of human skin, but it didn’t look rotten or dead; it felt just like fresh skin.
The recipe had been incomplete, but after a few tweaks and adding the biology from Earth, I had been able to produce skin that was perfectly tailored for Luna.
"Anyway, you need to train her well, take her to the head maid,"
Mother dismissed me mid-speech. She was probably bored by my rambling. I bowed to her before leaving the room with Luna in tow.
Two days later.
A wide stretch of land rolled gently beneath the morning sun, each blade of grass tipped with dew that caught the light like scattered crystals. Warm sunlight flickered through the open sky, painting the land in shades of gold and green.
"Young master is this really okay ?"
The guard asked me uncertainly. I had decided to bring Luna to start her physical training. She was too weak to do anything or even survive one of my experiments.
If she was going to be my helper, I needed someone strong enough to be able to contend with me. Since she was going to learn alchemy and fighting I had to start her training young.
"Yes let her run, her body is too weak now but she will soon adapt. I have high hopes for her."
The body was a vessel for the power that runs through us. Constant training improves the body and increases the capacity it can hold.
I had tried this theory on myself, though unconsciously at first before I learnt its core mechanics.
I discovered my powers while I was still a baby. In my excitement, I had overused my power, and I ended up fainting. This has happened a lot. It had started with fainting, but my body got better with more practice, and I only had to suffer from chronic fatigue that would last a few days to a week.
This phenomenon mostly affects children and old people since their bodies are weak. That is why I took care of myself and exercised despite having power. Complacency can lead to destruction.
I looked at Luna who was running around the large grassland. I could see her heavy breath coming out as mist but she held on. Her body was too weak and she was on the verge of collapse.
I wasn’t planning on stepping in. It was better for her to run until she couldn’t anymore. It wasn’t hard to carry a six-year-old, the age I assume, according to her current looks, back to the carriage.
"Pick her up, let’s go."
I said to the guard. Luna had reached her limits. She was kneeling on the ground looking up at the sun. Her body swayed as if she were about to be blown away, but she remained upright.
The guard picked her up and walked towards the waiting carriage. She had managed to run for thirty minutes before her body gave out. It was more than I had expected.
I climbed after the guard had settled her in the carriage. She was sitting upright on the seat, a failed attempt to appear like a proper maid.
"You did a good job today. I’ll give you sweets when we get back to the mansion."
Despite her straight face, her eyes light up at the mention of Sweets. Yes, it was literally sweets. She was still really a child inside, despite whatever traumatic experience she had gone through.