Chapter 239: Within the Heart of the Aemos

The crystal had been surrounded with a housing made out of a bright, white, shining metal that enveloped it with two bands that circled it, meeting at the sides and top.

The white metal was slightly glowing with purple light, it was clearly conducting the Spatial Mana out of the crystal, and it was to the metal that the muscle surrounding the heart was attached. 

[That's ridiculous, no wonder they're able to open such massive portals. It all makes sense to me now. The entire ship isn't just built to carry their troops, but it functions to wield the mana and use it to create a portal.] Silane said, as they watched the purple glow meld into the heart, and spread all around. 

Kothar however, didn't respond, he seemed completely enamored with the crystal, and was taking slow steps toward it, as if in a trance. 

[Kothar? Kothar! Kothar!] Silane called out, trying to get a response from him, but he continued onward, drawing closer and closer to the crystal.

He slowly lifted one hand, and reached out to touch the crystal, his fingers outstretched, a dazed and absent look on his face. 

[KOTHAR!] Silane yelled with all her might, doing her best to communicate the fear and worry she was feeling, as well as a strong feeling of displeasure. She knew that that had caused Kothar to have a splitting headache, when they had last argued, and hoped it would shake him free of whatever trance he was in.

"Arrrghh!"

[Ahhhhhh!] Kothar yelled out, both mentally and out loud, falling to his knees and clutching his head with both hands, as a splitting pain pierced through his skull, feeling as though his head might split apart.

Kothar knelt there, a pool of blood forming from the cut flesh behind him, and dripping from his soaked armor and hair. 

He took long deep breaths, fighting off the pain still splitting his head. 

[What the **** was that? Silane!] Kothar yelled, still reeling from the sudden explosion in his skull.

[What do you mean? I only did it to wake you out of the trance you were in! You were about to touch that thing, and who knows what it would have done to us! I know I've joked about being reborn again, but I don't want you to be suicidal!] Silane yelled, now actually upset with Kothar, which caused another, less severe wave of pain to wash over him. 

[Ow! Ah! I'm sorry, Silane. I'm sure you did what you thought was best, but I've no memory of being in a trance at all. The last thing I remember was cutting through the muscle with my Skysteel sword, and then pushing through it, but after that, nothing.] Kothar's voice was filled with genuine confusion, and then as he sat himself up, he yelled out to Silane again. [What is this? Why am I covered in this stuff![ Kothar touched a hand to his breastplate, and looked all around him, processing the split in the heart muscle behind him and the pool of blood he was knelt in.

[Oh. Forgive me Silane, it seems I was in some sort of trance. I wonder why it only affected me? I guess I should be thankful that it did.] Kothar said, as he sighed out loud with relief. The pain had now mostly faded away, and the enormity of what had almost happened started to wash over him. 

[It's alright. I guess you had been unusually quiet the whole time we walked up here] Silane responded, as she tried to remember when Kothar had talked to her last. Surely he wasn't still under the influence of whatever had caused him to almost touch the crystal.

[I think it might have been the crystal itself that caused me to go into a trance. It did make my Spatial Mana move uncontrollably, and I thought the Spatial Artifact was enough to overcome the influence on my mana, but it seems like it wasn't. Whatever it was, I'm alright now.] Kothar reassured Silane, but even so, a sliver of doubt remained, as she carefully watched his movements.

[Just don't get too close to it before we decide what to do. I guess it makes sense, the mana runs completely through your body, and neither of us fully understand it yet. I didn't think you could go into a trance due to mana, but then again, it's literally magical energy.] Silane said with a sigh. 

[My Spatial Core is growing thanks to the mana from the crystal, but I don't think that I could disable it by absorbing the mana from it. It would take years, if not centuries, to do that.] Now conscious, Kothar could feel his Spatial Core grow, as well as the ridiculous amount of Spatial Mana within the crystal.

[We have to disable the ship from travelling to different planes, and I guess removing it would work, but I don't want to disable the ship completely.] Kothar continued, looking curiously at the junction between the crystal and the muscle.

[I don't think they'd use the Spatial energy for anything other than opening portals, if they used it to power this entire ship as well as keep it aloft, then that'd be ridiculously wasteful.] Silane said, trying to analyze the purpose of the hundreds of inscriptions that they had seen on the outside of the ship, though incomplete, they might give her some idea about how the spatial Mana was used.

[Shall I slice it away from the muscle?] Kothar asked, his Skysteel blade still clutched tightly in his hand.

[If we don't, then all those people they've kidnapped will likely never see Eclat again. From the limited understanding I have of their technology, my best guess is the beating of the heart is what powers most of the functions of the ship, and the Spatial Mana is only used for portals.] Silane sounded a little unsure, as an AI, she still preferred being a hundred percent certain.

{Your best guess? That's good enough for me.] Kothar said, stepping forward, his blade slicing at where the muscle met the shining white metal.