Chapter 74: The Sick Aren’t Recovering. The Parasites Are Controlling Them

Small transparent capsules clung to the intestines and the inner abdominal wall, each containing an almost microscopic filament.

Valeria said nothing for several seconds.

Then:

"That’s disgusting even by my standards."

Raven looked at her.

"Your standards include turning blood into weapons."

"That is still blood that ends up outside the body when I’m done."

"Usually."

"Don’t ruin my argument."

Garran stepped closer. His expression had changed, becoming less official and more exhausted.

"Was this inside every infected person?"

The physician shook her head.

"I don’t know. We haven’t opened many bodies before cremation."

"Why?"

She looked at him.

"Because we thought it was a mana fever. The bodies were burned quickly to prevent transmission. We had no reason to look for this."

Raven studied the eggs.

"Now you do."

Predation updated.

Unknown Parasite lifecycle partially analyzed.

Early Stage:

Microscopic / Low Signature

Enters host through ingestion, open wounds, or mucosal tissue.

Intermediate Stage:

Attaches to mana channels.

Feeds on circulating mana.

Reproductive Stage:

Converts harvested mana into egg development.

Advanced Integration:

Neuromuscular influence detected.

Garran read Raven’s expression.

"Talk."

Raven summarized.

"They enter small. Water, wounds, maybe food. They attach themselves to mana channels, feed, and grow. Then they use the mana to produce eggs."

The physician looked at the corpse’s hands.

"And the movement?"

"They’re connecting themselves to muscles and nerves."

Valeria glanced toward the dead man.

"To move the body?"

"Looks that way."

Garran’s jaw tightened.

"After death?"

Raven studied the filaments around the heart.

"I don’t think that’s their primary purpose."

The physician turned toward him.

"Then what is?"

Raven pointed toward the organ.

"Keeping him alive."

Silence fell immediately.

Valeria frowned.

"He’s dead."

"Now."

Raven indicated the integration points.

"Look where they are. They aren’t directly destroying the heart or lungs. They’re concentrating around mana circulation and muscular control. Some of the structures even seem to stimulate the tissue."

The physician examined them more carefully.

"There’s regenerative activity around the channels."

"Exactly."

Valeria looked back at the corpse.

"It’s keeping the host alive."

Raven nodded.

"Livestock."

She turned toward him.

"What?"

"This isn’t an infection trying to reproduce as quickly as possible. If it kills the host too early, it loses its mana source."

Raven pointed toward the eggs.

"So it keeps the host functional for as long as it can. It feeds, produces eggs, maintains circulation, and may even force the host to move after they become too weak to do it themselves."

The physician looked horrified.

Garran didn’t.

He looked furious.

"You’re saying the sick people may still be walking because those things are forcing them to?"

"I’m saying it’s possible."

Raven looked at the corpse again.

"And if that’s true, patients who appear to be recovering may not actually be getting better."

No one spoke for several seconds.

That was worse.

Much worse.

The physician extracted five more specimens and placed them in individual containers.

Raven observed the differences in size and behavior. The juveniles barely reacted, while the more developed specimens actively sought mana. One tried to penetrate the leather membrane covering a jar.

The physician immediately replaced it with glass.

Garran had already sent a soldier to summon more physicians.

Before they arrived, Raven decided to test something.

"Predation."

The Authority responded.

Unknown Parasite

Analysis Completeness: 63%

Candidate designation required.

"Hollow Thread."

Valeria looked up.

"What?"

"I need to call it something."

Garran said, "We already have Hollow Fever."

"Then Hollow Thread."

The physician nodded.

"Better than ’transparent worm.’"

"That was my second option."

Valeria almost smiled.

Predation accepted the designation.

Temporary designation registered: Hollow Thread

Available Biological Trait:

"Parasitic Mana Feeding"

Source:

Central Absorption Filament

Compatibility with Host: 19%

Risk Assessment: SEVERE

Possible Effects:

— Mana absorption through biological contact

— Conversion of foreign mana into metabolic support

Possible Conflicts:

— Host mana-channel parasitization

— Loss of internal mana regulation

— Self-directed tissue feeding

— Uncontrolled dependency on external mana sources

Assimilation NOT RECOMMENDED.

Raven read it twice.

Nineteen percent.

No.

He didn’t even consider taking a sample for DEVOUR.

Valeria noticed the complete lack of interest.

"Nothing useful?"

"A Trait."

"So that expression means it’s terrible."

"Nineteen percent compatibility."

"Ah."

"And there’s a possibility it would turn my own mana channels into food."

"Definitely not."

Raven closed the interface.

"Correct."

The physician looked at him.

"Your ability offers you capabilities from any organism you analyze?"

"If it finds something compatible."

"Even that?"

Raven pointed toward the parasites.

"Yes."

"And you could acquire their ability to consume mana?"

"Probably."

She looked at the jars.

"That sounds... powerful."

Raven reopened the analysis just to confirm.

"It also sounds like an excellent way to turn myself into a parasite that eats itself."

Valeria crossed her arms.

"I’m glad to hear you still have standards."

"I have many."

"They’re not always visible."

Raven ignored the comment.

Predation was not an order.

That distinction remained important.

Detecting an ability did not make it good, and it did not mean Raven needed to collect every Trait he encountered.

The Glassfang had taught him utility.

The Blackmaw had taught him selection.

The Hollow Threads added another lesson.

Some adaptations were excellent for the creature that evolved them and terrible for anything else.

Copying without thinking was just stupidity with an interface.

The physicians arrived, followed by two more alchemists.

Garran sealed the ward.

No one would enter or leave without being examined.

Raven remained because, for the first time since arriving in Mirevale, nobody tried to throw him out.

That did not mean they were happy to have him there.

One of the alchemists, a thin man named Maelor, spent nearly ten minutes questioning him about how Predation detected organisms.

Raven answered only what was necessary.

He had no intention of explaining DEVOUR.

"Does it detect mana?"

"Biology."

"But it identified the parasite through its mana signature."

"It identified another living organism."

"How?"

Raven looked at him.

"If I knew exactly how it worked, I probably wouldn’t need the ability."

Maelor did not appreciate the answer.

Valeria did.

The investigation continued into the afternoon.

They confirmed Hollow Threads in two more corpses.

One contained a few dozen.

The other had more than a hundred.

That patient had died in his sleep.

According to the records, he had appeared to improve six hours earlier.

The physician opened the chest cavity.

The parasites had formed a network around the heart.

Raven did not need Predation to explain what had happened.

They had maintained the organ’s function until they could no longer do so. Then they had consumed the remaining mana and begun reproducing.

"Livestock," Valeria repeated quietly.

This time, she didn’t ask what he meant.

Garran immediately ordered the protocols changed.

No more simple fever checks.

No more assuming a patient was recovering just because they could still walk.