Chương 105: The External Organ

"My name is Cecil. I am from the Tales Origin World," the Skeleton spoke. Although its mouth did not move, a voice could be heard.

"I have extensive knowledge about numerous topics, including the fundamentals of life. I used to be an advisor to a ruler of the Tales Origin World. Do you wish to know anything?" Arthur was surprised after hearing the voice. It was not at all like what he had expected. It sounded like a human and very mature, as if a scholar had spoken those words.

"Yes, Cecil, I have a few questions I want to know the answers to," Arthur said. He was in great joy after hearing the maturity and calmness in the voice, and discovering what this skeleton used to be. he had been an advisor to the ruler of a whole world called the Tales Origin World.

"Please go ahead," Cecil said.

"Are you aware of your current situation?" Arthur asked. He had held this doubt in his heart for a very long time. Were these skeletons aware that they were skeletons that worked for him? Since this Cecil skeleton used to be an advisor to a ruler, would it be aware that it was currently hired to do a job under him?

"Yes, I was hired by you, Sire. For that, I am grateful," Cecil answered. Arthur was surprised by this answer. He had expected a different response, yet it had called him "Sire" and was grateful to be hired.

"You are welcome, Cecil. However, the question I was supposed to ask was whether you are aware that you are a Skeleton, and furthermore, that you were summoned to another world," Arthur directly asked.

"Yes, Sire, I am aware of that. Both of being a Skeleton and of currently being in a different world." Cecil said.

"Just call me Arthur," Arthur said. He felt very weird, and a chill went down his spine every time he was addressed as Sire. He did not know how a skeleton was supposed to speak, but hearing the voice of a profound scholar call him Sire did not feel right.

"That is not possible, Sire," Cecil said, refusing to call him by name.

"Certain things were written in the contract that I will not break. One of which is calling an employer by his name." Hearing this, Arthur was shocked. It was not because of its refusal to call him by his name, but because there was a contract it had to obey. So, the next question was: who created the contract for it to sign? Was the Notebook doing this? Should he ask about the Notebook directly?

"Cecil, if you are from the Tales Origin World, then how come you were listed on the Nether-Realm marketplace? What was your purpose in appearing here as a Skeleton?" Arthur was a little reluctant to ask about the Notebook. What if the Notebook was listening to them?

"I am afraid, Sire, I do not have the answer to that question. As for the first half of your question, I indeed came from the Tales Origin World." Cecil answered, refusing to answer the other question. Arthur had already guessed that the skeletons would not have any knowledge about the Nether-Realm.

"Were you a human in your world?" Arthur had held this doubt since day one. Every skeleton had the bone structure of humans, so were they humans once?

"No, Sire, I was not of the human race, but the [Istor Race.] But you could call us humans since we share 95% structural similarity." Cecil said. Arthur could not tell the 5% difference just by looking. Maybe with flesh and skin, he might have noticed. Since there was a 95% structural match and he was currently a Skeleton, it was even more challenging..

"Did you die and become a Skeleton?" Arthur asked. He just wanted to know how it had ended up in the Nether-Realm. Since it used to be flesh and blood in its own world, he expected to at least get an answer to this question.

"That question is out of my capabilities to answer, Sire. I regret not being of more use." Cecil said, refusing to answer the question that was closely related to its personal life. Arthur felt he would not get an answer if he asked what the Tales Origin World looked like, how life was there, or whether Cecil had a family. These directly fell under personal details.

"Cecil, do you know anything about a Notebook that exists in a white canvas-like place? It has a similar look to the dome hovering over your shoulder," Arthur gathered his courage and asked.

"Artifacts come in different shapes and sizes, Sire. But I lack knowledge about this particular Notebook that lives in the white canvas you are referring to." As expected, Cecil did not know about the Notebook. However, Arthur did come to know one thing. The Notebook was an Artifact. Did this mean it belonged to someone? Artifacts did not act on their own. Or would they? As far as he could see, that Notebook was capable of telling him what to do.

It might not be a simple Artifact, but some demon in the form of a Notebook.

"Very well, Cecil. I want some advice from you about something. Currently, I am struggling to begin," Arthur said. Seeing that he would not get any answers related to Cecil's personal life or the Notebook, he decided to ignore these matters for now. He believed he would eventually come to know about everything. Currently, he needed to focus on the matter at hand.

"I would love to help you." Cecil readied himself as the Notebook flipped open, startling Arthur. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Did this act similarly to the Notebook in the white canvas? Ignoring the book, Arthur materialized his right fist into Crystal. The Crystal covered the fist and shone in the Luxstone light. In order to consume more Faunite Crystal Elixir, he needed to master the Faunite Crystal Core until he could materialize it outside of his body.

If he did not do that and consumed more, he would definitely die.

"I want you to guide me to make this Crystal materialize outside of my body," Arthur requested as he formed a fist of Crystal. He had previously tried to manifest the Crystal, but it did not work. He did not know where to start, since his intention alone was not enough for the Crystal to listen. As soon as the request was made, the book flipped a single page, and Cecil stayed still for a while. However, Arthur currently could not see any inscriptions being written in the book, unlike what he was used to seeing.

The silence stayed for a while before the page of the book flipped again. Then, Cecil moved and spoke.

"I heard your request and comprehended the requirements. I am ready. Would you like to proceed with your training now?" Cecil asked. Arthur was surprised by how the Skeleton had heard the request and learned to guide him in a few seconds. As far as he could understand from what had transpired, the Skeleton originally must not have known the answer to the question. The book, which was some kind of Artifact, processed the question and revealed the answer to the Skeleton. However, that was understandable.

The Faunite Crystal must be unique to this world or Ariety. Even if it was available in the Tales Origin World, the Faunite Crystal Elixir and Core concept would be unknown to the Skeleton. So, it must run the request through the book, and the book must give the answer or steps back to the Skeleton.

"Let's start right away." Arthur wanted to start his practice right now. There was no reason to wait.

"I believe you must have tried to manifest the Core outside of yourself?" Cecil asked. Hearing this, Arthur nodded his head. He had tried numerous times, but the Core did not even budge.

"First of all, I want to praise your capabilities, Sire. You did something I have never seen or heard of in my life," Cecil suddenly praised Arthur.

"The Faunite Crystal was a widely used material. However, this is the first time I have witnessed a Faunite Core become a living sentinel." Arthur, however, was shocked. The first thing was that Cecil knew about the Faunite Crystal. The next was that Cecil already knew about how he had turned the Faunite Crystal into a sentinel being that would listen to his command.

"Do you think that was impossible?" Arthur asked in doubt. The description of the Crystal clearly stated that it was capable of the transmutation of living organisms.

"No, it is possible, but hard. I wish to know how you achieved this. But first, let me explain what you have to do to achieve your intention," Cecil said. The skeleton was greatly impressed by Arthur, which certainly put Arthur one level up in self-confidence. It was all thanks to Ava the Alchemist, who did a great job turning the Crystal Essence into a potion.

"Not a problem. I will explain everything later," Arthur said, beaming with a smile and confidence. This was especially true after hearing good words from someone who resembled a great, wise elder.

"The main issue we currently face, or rather, the nature of the problem, is that the Core became a part of your body," Cecil explained.

"Meaning, it became a part of your body, just like your eyes, nose, throat, heart, and brain."

"Due to this, manifesting the Faunite Crystal Core outside of your body is nearly impossible. It is just like how you would not be able to separate your eyes from your body. It is fundamentally not possible unless you force it out, but that means you would have to dig out your eye socket." Arthur listened to everything with 100% concentration, not wanting to miss anything. However, what Cecil said made his heart jump in shock. Dig out my eye socket!

Although that sounded cruel, he could understand what Cecil was trying to say. The analogy was very easy to understand, but cruel.

"So how are we going to do this? There must be some way, right?" Arthur asked the obvious question.

"Yes, there are always answers to every question," Cecil said. He then continued, "Even though the Core is part of your body, it is not an internal organ, but an external organ. Meaning, your eyes are considered internal organs since you cannot move them around, but the Core can be moved all over your body since it is an external organ. So, we need to treat it that way." Cecil explained the differences. Arthur could understand.

However, even though he could think of it as an external organ, how could he make something considered a part of his body come out?

"Please take one small stone and place it on your palm," Cecil requested. Arthur quickly picked up a thumb-sized stone and placed it on his palm, which the Crystal already covered.

"Currently, you always give orders to the Core regarding your own body parts. Since the Core is part of your body, it did not deny your intent. Now, in order to make the Core truly an external organ, you must master manifesting the Core on an external object," Cecil explained the first step toward mastering the manifestation.

"For your first training, you need to try to cover the stone with Crystal. Think of the stone as a part of your body, and order the Core to cover your whole fist, including the stone." Arthur clearly understood the concept since it had been easily explained. However, the question remained whether he could achieve this simple concept. But he had to try. He closed his eyes and focused all of his concentration on his right hand. Currently, he felt the stone sitting on his palm.

The crystal covering his palm felt very natural, just like his own skin. He could not feel the difference coming from the stone on the crystal that covered his whole palm. Arthur tried to feel the sensation of the crystal. He concentrated intently. First, he imagined a glove covering his palm, and then he slowly started to feel the crystal. It was a little hard to feel the sensation since it was as natural as skin. But he did not give up.

He simply sat still with his eyes closed, his back straight, and his hand held forward. Cecil did not give any instructions. The skeleton simply sat in front of him, its hollow eyes staring at Arthur. Time passed, and the seconds ticked by, but there was no movement in the chamber. Erral had already finished its dinner and stood a short distance away from Arthur and Cecil. The only sound one could hear was a pickaxe hitting stone, far away from their current chamber.

The constant strikes of the pickaxe felt like a ticking watch. After almost ten minutes of constant concentration, Arthur could feel the difference between his own skin on his left hand and the crystal manifested on his right hand. As soon as he felt that, he willed his intention to the Crystal Core to cover the stone. Immediately, he felt the pressure change around the stone. He strongly imagined that the Faunite Crystal Core was an external Core, moving it outside of his body.

He felt as though he had pushed his concentration beyond its normal limit. The crystal started to engulf the stone, turning the stone into crystal. Arthur's forehead was covered in pearls of sweat. The sweat poured down his face and soaked into his shirt, as if he had been playing in the rain. When the crystal was about to reach the center of the stone, Arthur let out the breath he had held for a long time and breathed heavily. He was finally exhausted both physically and mentally..

But on his first try, he could feel the sensation between his own flesh and skin and the crystallized flesh and skin. It was definitely an improvement toward achieving full Manifestation.

"Beautifully done, Sire. You have achieved at least 20% advancement of your goal on your first try. You are truly a talented individual," Cecil praised. Arthur was still breathing heavily and trying to calm down. However, hearing the praise, he gave a big smile to his Skeleton Mentor.

"Thanks, Cecil," Arthur said with great joy.