Bio-Alchemy

A ball of light was embedded in a recess on the top of the rock wall, its silvery-white radiance falling evenly from directly above, serene and cool, carrying the scent of the High Mountain snow.

The giant Orr lay flat on the ground, his brow still slightly furrowed. The pain of his bones healing was both itchy and painful, and not pleasant. The clothes sewn from Bark had been removed, leaving only a dirty pair of shorts to cover his ugliness. Hard scars from the cooled and congealed blood remained on his body. The open wounds had healed, and the rhinoceros-like skin next to the new flesh was a bit pinkish-white.

Loren stood on the shoulders of the giant Orr, looking down at the head that was larger than his entire body, and raised an eyebrow.

I never imagined that my first Bio-Alchemy would use giants as materials...

He took a tuft of Unicorn Hair from the pendant and casually tossed it into the air. The Unicorn Hair scattered lightly in the air, fluttering and swirling, each strand radiating a milky white glow, their pure Magic Power resonating with each other and trembling slightly.

Extending his wand, a wisp of milky-white light trembled slightly before being absorbed by the tip of the wand, transforming into ink marks that outlined Alchemy Rune and landed on the giant's brow.

Loren drew a dot on the spot on his left chest where muffled thuds were constantly emanating. From the dot, he drew out a series of winding and complex patterns that covered almost his entire torso. He inscribed a twisted array base along the veins, with the heart as the center. The pure milky white light began to be stained with blood, and the crimson light was eerie, as if this was another heart of Orr, and the Magic Power was the flowing blood.

After completing these steps, Loren began to consider which magical runes to inscribe, making the skin's surface thick but not stiff, the muscles resilient but not rigid, and the joints requiring a balance of flexibility and stability...

Gale watched his movements with longing. They represented the alchemical knowledge of wizards, the omnipotent wonders of magic, and the powerful force that maintained humanity's dominance... knowledge forbidden to all other races.

As he watched the streaks of white light transform into alchemical runes on the massive body, Gale's mind was once again filled with the details of the deal from not long ago. The wizard named Morgan had offered a price that was not to be refused.

"... Considering that you need strong military force to rule the Giant tribe, and in order for our transaction to be maintained in the long term, given the daily leisure activities of the Giant tribe fighting each other, I am worried that you will be surrounded and beaten to death by other giants before long. So I can give you some help."

"What kind of help?"

"Power, a tiny, insignificant power."

"..."

On the other side of the Cave, Mill sat with his legs bent against the rock wall, his expression slightly dazed. "Alchemy, magic, human wisdom, how enviable..."

Hermione stood beside her, focused on looking ahead, and said softly without turning her head, "Giants also have brains, they can think, they know how to use clothes to keep warm, they know how to hunt animals and gather plants to obtain food to survive, just like humans, you are intelligent beings."

Hearing the Witch's words, Mill glanced at the orb of light on the top of the rock wall. "We are different from humans. Humans can use the power of wisdom to create all sorts of incredible creations, making their race stronger and stronger. However, most of the giants in the race are beasts who follow their instincts and abandon thinking. They only think about eating and dressing warmly. But once they get warm caves and enough food, they will fight and kill each other."

"Because they lack a sense of social responsibility."

"What is that?"

"It's complicated to explain, but to put it simply, it's about preventing the giants from killing each other. Once they're well-fed and clothed, they can focus their energy on other things, making the race stronger and stronger."

Mill's huge eyes flickered, a bright light flashing for a moment, but quickly dimmed. "It's no use. Among the surviving Giant tribe, my siblings and I, who are capable of thinking, and a few old guys who won't survive this winter, even if you put [social concepts] in front of them, they won't even glance at them."

Hermione tilted her head and glanced at her. "It's not their fault. They all grew up in this kind of environment. They never learned to think, they don't realize the importance of thinking, and they don't need to think. When they're hungry, they find something to eat; when they're thirsty, they find water; when they're cold, they find a sheltered place to hide. Your strong bodies can defeat most wild beasts, even Fantastic Beasts. At least if you climb a little higher, you can see where the water source is. You can even dig Cave with your bare hands. Over time, you've given up the ability to think..."

"So, being physically strong is actually our downfall?" Mill's eyes widened. She had always thought that the taller the better, and that all the difficulties they faced were caused by not being tall enough. "Then what should we do? We can't just cut off the legs of the mindless people in the tribe and tie their hands, can we?"

"Just teach them your wisdom and thinking; the ability to pass on knowledge is the greatest strength of humankind."

Mill's shoulders slumped, and he let out a long sigh, "That giant will never become strong. Those people will never think, just like those two outside. But they will never learn the wizarding language, not even the simplest words. Even if they recite them hundreds of times, they will forget them after a good night's sleep."

Hermione saw that the Unicorn Hair scattered in mid-air was almost exhausted, realizing that the Alchemy was about to end. She said softly, "You don't need to teach all the giants to think. If the adult giants are truly unteachable, you only need to use force to regulate their behavior. Then focus on teaching the young giants. When the adult giants die naturally, there will be fewer and fewer savage giants and more and more intelligent giants. Then let the intelligent giants teach the other young giants..."

Gale was eavesdropping nearby, had increasingly bright eyes. She looked up at the Alchemy Morgan in front of her and asked out of the blue, "By then, will we be able to use magic too?"

Hermione paused for a moment, then said hesitantly, "I'm not sure either. Wizards are only a very small minority among humans."

Gale nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

He attached the last Unicorn Hair to the tip of the staff, connecting the array patterns at the giant's heart and brain to create a protective barrier against soul magic. This was the first time Loren had inscribed alchemical array patterns onto a living being, prioritizing safety and sparing no expense in using Unicorn Hair to achieve perfection.

It's a pity we can't cut through the surface and inscribe the magic runes directly onto his internal organs and bones...

"Um?"

I can't think about it anymore, or I'll really become a dark wizard.

Loren shook his head and stopped carving.

Orr's skin was as rough as a rhinoceros's, his bulging, writhing muscles like the gnarled roots of an old tree. In the darkness, only tiny specks of light flickered and floated. Vast and immense Magic Power surged into this giant's body, like a boundless ocean pouring into a rugged Mountainous Area. His heart pounded like a drum, every drop of blood seemed to boil, surging and flowing through every part of his body. His chest rose and fell with the support of his ribs, and his lungs sucked in oxygen from the Cave like a vacuum pump...

Every muscle was trembling, faster and faster, until it reached a point of near-madness that threatened to tear all the muscles off the bones to which they were attached.

Suddenly, the light on the magic runes dimmed and disappeared beneath his grayish-brown skin, and Orr's body fell silent.