Layla climbed to her feet and staggered over to Michelle's bed.
She raised a hand, and a soft pale-golden glow appeared in her palm. The light fell over Michelle and seeped into her skin.
Michelle's sobbing gradually stopped.
"Do you feel better?" Layla asked.
Michelle nodded.
Layla turned and walked toward Thomas, then Marcus, then Elena, and then every other person.
Her light fell over them, and the violent energy within them seemed to settle slightly.
But Layla's face grew paler and paler.
With every person she healed, she weakened further. In the end, she collapsed into a seated position in the middle of the barracks, utterly pale and without even the strength to move a finger.
"You're insane." Isaac's voice came from the floor. "You'll die like this."
Layla smiled. It was a weak smile, but a genuine one.
"I won't die." She panted. "I know my limits."
The next morning, the door opened.
Wu Heng stood in the doorway.
He looked at the ten people who had lain collapsed in the barracks all night—their bloated, twisted bodies, and the light in their eyes that hovered somewhere between human and inhuman.
"Come with me." He turned and walked outside.
The ten followed him out of the barracks and toward the trial platform.
But this time, the trial platform was different.
There were ten metal beds on it.
The beds were wide and long, their surfaces covered in dense runes and barbs. Beside them lay all manner of tools—knives, pliers, saws, needles, and countless instruments with no names, gleaming coldly under the lights.
Huge hooks hung from the walls, countless metal chains dangled from the ceiling, and intricate blood-red magic circles were carved into the floor.
This looked less like a medical room than a torture chamber.
"Alchemy modification." Wu