Dissecting a Demon

What awaited Orendo beyond the door was naturally not an intimate atmosphere. On the contrary, he was startled the moment he entered.

The bedroom was roughly thirty square meters. Apart from something resembling an operating table in the middle, the room was completely empty.

Well, not entirely empty...

Orendo saw that besides the mysterious lady and the operating table, two monsters were restrained nearby by magical force!

He recognized them at once.

Demons!

Imps!

They were small, mischievous demons that loved to chatter incessantly. Cunning lesser demons that wielded fel fire, they were not much of a threat individually, but a swarm of imps could make up for that weakness and overwhelm their enemies.

His experience from his previous life told him that these things were the Burning Legion's most basic cannon fodder—the cannon fodder among cannon fodder.

Yet they were actually quite clever. They were a little smarter than demons stronger than themselves, such as Doomguards.

Their power was simply too weak. In a Legion that revered strength, they were worth less than cannon fodder.

Orendo could not help staring at the mysterious lady in astonishment, unable to understand why she had summoned two demons into her room.

Could she be a warlock connected to the Legion?

"Looks like you know them?" A cool voice rang out.

"I don't recall seeing any records of them in the first floor of Dalaran's library."

The young lord spoke bitterly, arguing softly, "I may not know their species, but with an aura like this, they should be the demons of legend, shouldn't they? Madam, could you explain why you summoned demons in Dalaran?"

"Are you questioning me?" Disdain appeared on her exquisitely beautiful face, but she still said, "I didn't summon them. I caught these two little insects."

Her explanation only left Orendo more confused. Why had she summoned two imps? To have them kill him? Wouldn't it have been easier for her to do it herself?

Even if she wanted to use demons to dispose of him, she should have summoned something more powerful, shouldn't she?

What could two imps possibly accomplish?

Seeing Orendo's baffled expression, she seemed to have lost any desire to explain further. She made no movement, yet in the next moment, one of the two imps bound motionless on the ground floated up by itself and landed on the operating-table-like platform in the middle.

At the same time, an opening appeared in the air above them. Something fell from beyond the brilliant starry sky. Orendo looked closely—it seemed to be a set of tools. He spotted something like scalpels among them.

"Take the tools and dissect it." Her words were brief and direct.

"I... I'm only a magic apprentice." Orendo widened his eyes and argued. "And I haven't learned anything about dissection yet, much less how to dissect a demon."

"There are sixty-one books related to dissection in the first floor of the Grand Library. If you haven't read them during this time, then you deserve to die."

Her expression remained blank as she stared at Orendo, exerting immense pressure on him.

"I order you! Pick up the tools and dissect it!"

The young lord swallowed involuntarily.

It was different from what the Fourth Calamity players imagined.

The study of magic was broadly divided into several fields, such as researching magical principles, spellcasting, and creation. Among them, dissection was an important part of studying magical principles.

Mages and certain occult researchers in Azeroth often dissected all sorts of things, much like scientists on Earth.

The difference was that Earth's scientists dissected living creatures, whereas Azeroth's scientists dissected a far wider range of subjects.

High-ranking mages were all skilled dissectors. By dissecting certain extraordinary beings, they could gain more knowledge and better understand the world.

Just like now. Orendo appeared troubled, but inside, he was eager to give it a try.

Dissecting a demon!

Though it was only the lowest-ranking kind of demon, an imp, it was still a demon! Of all the people in Azeroth, all the mages in Dalaran, all the apprentices at Violet Academy, how many had the chance to dissect a demon?

"Can I do it?"

He asked the Eye of Truth.

[Analysis: With adequate preparation, the host has a 95% probability of successfully dissecting the imp before him.]

A 95% chance was high enough.

Both excited and nervous, Orendo approached the operating table. He felt that the lighting was a little too dim for dissection, so he flicked his hand and uttered an unclear syllable from his throat. A light source floated above his head.

It was a minor zero-ring spell, a cantrip he had found among the library's many books—Light Spell.

The female mage watched this unfold.

The tools had already been prepared for him, as had the dissection material. The imp was even immobilized on the operating table by magic.

The demon on the operating table could not move at all. Only its swollen, vicious eyes, overflowing with fel fire, remained capable of movement as they glared at him with all their might.

"I haven't systematically studied dissection, much less learned how to dissect demons..." Picking up the two scalpels that felt most comfortable in his hands, Orendo looked at the unmoved mage beside him. "I may make some mistakes. Please guide me..."

She did not speak at all, wearing an indifferent expression.

Orendo could only steel himself and begin.

Among the many magical tomes he had read, there was one book on dissection that was somewhat similar to the imp before him.

It was about a native Azerothian creature known as the lesser imp, a woodland sprite. The book was titled Woodland Sprites—A Comprehensive Study of Lesser Imps, published by a scholarly mage named Afun.

In the book, Scholar Afun stated that although lesser imps, as woodland sprites, looked extremely similar to demonic imps—

Their appearance alone would make anyone think of imps, those demons that loved to commit evil—he had found no trace of demonic energy in any of the lesser imps he studied.

For the sake of research, Scholar Afun dissected more than a hundred lesser imps before finally reaching his conclusion: though they looked alike, lesser imps had not been corrupted by evil.

Afun did not explain how to dissect demonic imps in this book, but he recorded in great detail how to dissect various types of lesser imps.

"I've read Scholar Afun's Woodland Sprites—A Comprehensive Study of Lesser Imps. This demon is extremely, extremely similar to a lesser imp. Apart from differences in energy and essence, perhaps their physical structures are the same."

Orendo spoke softly, mainly for the female mage to hear.

"So I think I can try dissecting this demon the way one would dissect a lesser imp."

She still did not respond.

Orendo could only begin.

He drove a scalpel behind the imp's large ear, precisely striking an internal organ that resembled a nerve. Not even a drop of unnecessary bodily fluid spilled out.

After finishing, Orendo boldly said to the female mage, "If its internal structure is the same as a lesser imp's in this regard, then it has now lost control of its body, but it's still alive. Perhaps you can release the magic restraining it."

"That will make my next steps easier," he explained.

The female mage, who had not moved or shown a single expression until now, finally reacted.

She nodded.

The spell on the imp was removed.

And just as Orendo had said—

It did not move.

The mage apprentice let out a sigh of relief.

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