85. Cutting the Source

Brain.

Oh, what a love-hate relationship I had with them. The source of it all was how they worked; it was fundamentally impossible to tackle them repeatedly.

Well, not really, but it was mostly the case for anything important. Neuronal networks worked on patterns; they were everything to anyone with the bodily composition to possess them.

It was a subject of immense complexity. Rebuilding what once was was impossible, unless there was constant monitoring. Something that was also impossible in most situations.

And even then, it was a case of who was who from the hypothetically rebuilt part. It was a horror to do and a horror to clean philosophically.

Life was the focus on the body, and rebuilding a brain required the ability to peer into the soul while simultaneously doing the former.

A task that required Death magic in its purest form.

The dragons, the blue in particular, had extensive lore on those lesser spread magic for obvious reasons, such as their danger. I had hundreds of thorough studies to explore.

The verdict was unchanging. I can't perfectly heal brains, I could, but it won't be the same person. Tur only proved this raging fact over again, but of course, that was if I wanted perfection.

Which I did, but what I want and can do are different. I cannot recover what disappeared, but stopping further loss and assisting in recovery were within my skill set.

Still, I wasn't content with only that, and my skills and knowledge kept on increasing.

It wasn't down to an exact science and would never be by its case-by-case nature and differing species, but I was the foremost expert.

I would have never been without the time dilation of the cavern where the Chromatic Dragonflight resided. Or rather, where they were placed. There was life, but that didn't tell much.

And the current task pertained to the brain. It wasn't any random one, might I add, it was Chromatus'. What work was here was immense, to say the least; it was the backbone of everything from now on.

One that needed to be done in parallel to many others, even with a one-to-hundred ratio, this project was lengthy. It was a thousand pieces shifting at once, each full of problems.

The nervous system was naturally one of the biggest; it was everything and couldn't be messed up. That was more or less someone equal to Deathwing. I absolutely didn't want a rampaging monster.

Worst, a tool for our enemies.

The Old Gods wanted me, and I know they knew they possessed lore that would interest me. Shadow magic could mimic Death to a high degree and was laughably easy to access for anyone with a minimum of cleverness.

But the mastery of it was something else. However, I liked to think I wasn't that stupid.

"You truly do not wish to use a hydra-inspired central nervous system? They bore great similarities and would be best. In my opinion." Tarecgosa said, the blue dragon in her true form, doing the equivalent of a frown.

It was one of my laboratory's few yet inviolable rules because it was mine for all intents and purposes. I led the research, to the displeasure of many.

Unless it was under specific conditions, I disliked dragons hiding who they were. I don't myself, I never did, so they shouldn't.

It was partly irrational, but I was a being of the wild and nature. I didn't care about their opinions on that.

"That would be lazy and idiotic," I said, my focus on her. She was one of my assistants in this dangerous endeavor, aiming to create a bigger bioweapon. Well, if not one strong enough to make us win.

"Hydras are, on average, hardly more than crocolisks in intellect. That is irrelevant, though; the problem lies in the independence of the heads." I rattled right after. She may be intelligent, exceptionally so, but that wasn't the end and be all.

Dragons tended to lack a large chunk of common–not really–sense. She was no exception, adding an unhealthy dose of arrogance, and you have someone who is far too stubborn to the point of ridicule.

More so for a dragonness who was here to assist with the Arcane and blue lizard side of things.

She was only relatively tame because of the Dragon Queen, and I could–and did–demonstrate that she couldn't throw her weight around with me without consequences.

Even an Aspect that is too confident would end with nasty wounds. I wouldn't win; the idea was laughable, but I could make it costly.

If I were a bit more of a petty asshole, I would have even made Alexstrasza unable to regrow her wings when Tarecgosa expressed her disgust at working under me.

Or be enough to the point that the Life-Binder herself would have a hard time fixing the problem.

On a micro level, I was the best by far. I wouldn't be leading this project if I weren't.

"Bicephalia in reptiles causes enough problems even if we ignore the plethora of health issues. Now add three more, each with their own temperament backed by power surpassing an Aspect. Insanity would be the least of our concerns." I said, my gaze on the live schematic currently floating in an up-sized floral womb.

This was a nervous system, the one of Chromatus, well cloned from it and separated. It was gigantic, to say the least, and a masterpiece if vastly incomplete.

Going based on the hydra would have smoothened it, as they were one of the closest related to proto-dragons.

It would have worked.

And it wasn't without benefits, hydra were at the top of the food web for good reason.

But it wasn't a super hydra we were making. It was funny how the dragons tried to dissociate every bit of this project from them, and I did the opposite.

This was a hybrid of all dragonflights warped into one. It was particularly irritating as they wished for these experiments to bear fruit. As if they were ashamed.

I suppose they should, but it didn't mean they could look away.

I wouldn't even consider doing that if there weren't such rewards and a need for it. The entire time, bullshit was simultaneously a problem and a blessing, too.

Regardless, the brain for Chromatus was inspired by cephalopods, with each head getting a secondary brain tied to the main one at the base of the neck.

The heads couldn't be merged; it was an absolute necessity for the magic to flow as powerfully as possible. And he had a soul; certain things couldn't be changed.

The problem was that there were reasons why multiple heads weren't the norm, even in this world. Aside from hydra and ogres, even the latter, it was uncommon and probably artificial.

Differing personally was a big no, however, so a central brain to five minor ones that were at best semi-automatic limbs–heads and necks–was my choice.

And making the optimal brain for this body plan and mental faculties was seldom the extent of my work on that part. It wouldn't be easy, would it?

Then it was to find a failsafe.

One Chromatus couldn't make a workaround, at least not discreetly.

He would be able to wield Life and Nature, not anywhere to my skill for decades, but that wasn't a reason to be sloppy.

And getting on his bad side wasn't an option. It was delicate; honesty was the best chance we got. Only was it to frame it right, tying the whole to his very biology.

So I worked and worked hard.

Using the time acceleration to its fullest, and even then, it was hardly enough. I was busy. Wyrmrest could now be reached by a Dream Portal, but ultimately, I was there for weeks on end in real time.

It wasn't fast enough; it couldn't be. That was the scale of the project. The many projects are put into one. It was rapidly becoming something akin to a life's work. Mine.

I already spent around a decade there. A third of my life within this place, I did more than focus on the chromatic dragons, given that it involved many parts, but it put my time everywhere else to shame.

I don't know how long I would hold, but as long as necessary. So I worked, test after test, book after book, debate after debate.

Yet for all my complaining, this gave me knowledge, experience, and power beyond what I ever dreamed.

What was learned was applied to me and my magic, furthered by me spreading the refined products. My hybrid body was optimized, and my skills refined and evolved.

And by the ancestors, it wasn't small; I wasn't exponentially stronger by all accounts, but I had a clearer way forward. This aside, today was both reaching my limits, and my presence was needed elsewhere.

I remained a few more hours, passing by the purging of the corruption from the black dragon part. That was done on the hatchling and eggs first, not exclusively chromatic.

Black dragon eggs were here by the hundreds. To say there was an ongoing genocide aimed at them would be putting it lightly, and those were the bounty.

Experimenting on cubs wasn't exactly my sweetest honey, yet working on mature dragons wasn't any better. And they were lost causes as the infection was innate, but it grew with time.

There was substantial success here. Soon, the Black Dragonflight could be reborn if the other dragons allowed it, even if their internal politics weren't my problem, as long as they kept their distance.

'Not perfect though… far from it in fact.' I internally hummed, my paw pads gently tapping a dragon cub's floral womb.

Isolating untouched tissues and going from there was one thing. The general method used was total body reconstruction.

But fully rebuilding a body of those was… complicated. Doable on a case-by-case basis, but there was no long-term solution, and recuperation went beyond biology alone.

Their souls weren't compromised, but the cancer held a part of it, and permanently curing it was substantially more difficult and lengthy. Much was left to be done, but we were on the right track.

It wasn't the work of righteousness, but that was a necessary work all the same. And it couldn't be done cleanly. Better than the fragments of the alternative I recalled.

Cloning was a big part of it all, and I knew every flight was interested, the blue in particular, but their Aspect was a raving, grieving lunatic that would explode at any moment.

Or so that was what I could deduce of Malygos from my questions to the Red Aspect.

He was insane and, at this point, essentially far too lost, not that it would have ever been me who fixed that. If only dragons between flights were sociable.

Only Alexstrasza and Nozdormu had the entire picture here. Ysera knew much herself, but she wasn't directly involved beyond a select few green dragons under magical oaths.

She didn't appear to want to know more either.

Sighing, I turned away and left. Hours later, I was back in Kalimdor, precisely in Sara'shenia Forest. It had been close to four months since the Great Collapse, as it came to be called.

The Might of Kalimdor did not relent.

If anything, what Ahn'Qiraj did pissed off more than me, shamans of every species with machinery of plant life and metal, and the regular workforce dug back.

They dug fast and well. It had only been a temporary setback; they took away what limited our assault. It had been methodical both to be thorough and avoid being borrowed alive.

We ignored the tunnels and directly went to the Scarab Wall, starting where I spotted that extension of the titan facility. It will lead to complications in the clean, a lot of them.

Among them were evidently countless hives running wild and the Veiled Sea swallowing two-thirds of Silithus with all its consequences.

It was already getting in; we diverted the flow, but you can't stop an ocean. We were on a timer to seal the entrances found by the insects.

But at this point, fuck them. Fuck everything about their spineless biology and their false deity.

My arrival went as expected, but I didn't waste time standing around. I would partake in one of the largest Wild Hunt assaults with my little siblings.

However, I didn't rush; I had others who would participate. Pandaren. The last months since I healed Shen-zin Shu proved they were no weaklings, perhaps fearful of the outside.

Rightfully so, might I add. The world was dangerous, and cowardice wasn't sinful. What was a sin was refusing to fight back when it was clear running wouldn't work.

And that the panda proved they were anything but weaklings in Silithus.

It would have been odd given that someone like Chen Stormstout came from them, and he may be exceptional. A massive chunk of their population was full-fledged monks.

They decided to join the war to aid the Wild. Not as a form of repayment, but as friends, they already interacted in other aspects.

Notably, arts and culinary matters were among them, and fighting naturally followed. We were deeply martial, as were the pandaren, and peaceful, they may appear.

And everyone had much to learn, for all his skills, Chen wasn't the best teacher. It came to him almost like breathing.

Still, mock battles and occasional attacks from naga and seafaring hostile inhabitants didn't compare to a war. There was a considerable gap, yet one to pass.

"Good morning, Ohto. You seem… weary." Ji Firepaw said, clasping his paws together in greeting. I huffed, and with a twinge of magic, my eyes sharpened and ears straightened.

"Quite. Sadly, I'm a busy bear, and sleep isn't common on my schedule." I answered, head tilted to Aysa Cloudsinger, who did much the same as her colleague.

"Hello to you, Master. I cannot imagine it not being a task most quaint or without dire strain…" She trailed off, probably unsure if this was inappropriate.

It wasn't; knowing someone wasn't infallible saved lives. It was good for these two to question me; almost nobody dared to otherwise.

Annoying if logical conclusion to my station. I was worshipped, literally, and this spreading phenomenon wasn't limited to furbolgs.

I was added to the ursine duo–now trio–of Wise and Mighty as Resilient for a reason beyond the Twin Bears deciding they needed to adopt me.

I wasn't a Wild God, but that was worth nothing to people who saw me as one anyway, while virtually everything pointed to that too.

Bringing people back to life was always notable and was among the many 'miracles' I regularly did. That they were simply advanced spells meant little.

I was far too unique. It was the only logically sound explanation for them, and you can't control people's every thought.

"It is not, but I can cheat. Putting part of my brain to rest or easing exhaustion with spells. Ultimately, I can endure." I rumbled softly.

It didn't seem to reduce their worries. It shouldn't, to be frank. It wasn't healthy, and I knew temporary solutions were almost always permanent, but I had no choice.

There was too much to lose. I won't break for so little.

"Master of practicality and hyper optimization as always." The voice of Chen commented as he walked by, stopping meters away from me.

I couldn't deny that statement. Only grinning was how I got there. And fear, a lot of fear, fear was the greatest motivation.

"It works, then it works." Looking at the pandaren, the results of his training were far from unpleasant. I said, "Now gather your people, we move. Let us not suffer the arthropods' existence any more than we already have."