Inside the Oni Dungeon. Lake Hatu.
This lake inside the Oni dungeon's subspace had sparkling green water. The morning rays had penetrated deep into the depths of the lake and came out with glitter.
The lake had dense vegetation all around it. There were various flower buds still in their budding phase. The fully bloomed red flowers had golden pollen and golden stems. The flowers and the stems all around them had lights of their own while synthesizing the sunlight. It was the indication that the flowers themselves were harnessers of mana and hence had magical properties.
Lake Hatu had many different types of rare raw ingredients growing all around it. Yet, compared to the other regions of the subspace, the region around Lake Hatu was nothing special. As such, the lake would rarely see visitors.
However, lake Hatu was currently being visited by three people who had come here riding a demon beast.
"How do you feel?"
Eren asked while looking at Alephee. The latter was busy admiring her reflection in the lake water. Eren and Kirin were standing a few meters away from her near the lake's shore.
"Hm. Nostalgic, happy, upset, and all kinds of emotions I haven't processed yet. But it's fine. I'm fine, even though my mind is in disarray.
I feel that I'm content with the chaos that's currently happening in my head. Because I know that I'll manage things somehow. Because I understand the importance of time.
Does that make sense?"
Eren smiled when he saw Alephee replying to him without looking back. He nodded at her before adding up.
"It DOES make sense," Eren said and paused before asking his next question. "So what are your plans?"
It looked like Alephee didn't hear Eren's question as she was still a bit too occupied with observing what she looked like. Eren chuckled and couldn't help but think Alephee was a bit narcissistic.
However, Alephee turned back in the next moment and answered Eren's question with a smirk on her face.
"To train you of course. We can't let you slack off anymore. Hehe."
Eren raised his eyebrows when he heard Alephee's response. He narrowed his eyes at the Homunculus that was walking toward him before asking her another question.
"Was this your plan all along when you told me about this plan?"
Alephee nodded immediately, confirming his doubts.
"That's right. That's one of the reasons. We will make sure that your progress will be streamlined from today onwards.
My other reason for having a Homunculus body is that I can't always cast soul spells using my soul space. My soul is still recovering and I need to be mindful about using them."
Alephee said and turned her gaze toward Kirin. She looked like she wanted to ask Alephee some questions but was waiting for the right time. Alephee smiled at Kirin before speaking up.
"What is it, Kirin? Do you want to ask me something?"
Kirin looked at Alephee curiously before voicing her query.
"Alephee, why don't you have any heartbeat? You don't feel like a normal human even though you look like one. What are you?"
Alephee smiled when she saw the curiosity Kirin had towards her. She, Kirin, and Eren started taking a stroll on the lakeshore. Alephee replied after a bit.
"The artificial humanoids are known as Homunculus. They are made with alchemy, which is a combination of potioning and arrays. Since my body is artificially made, you can easily discern my presence as something out of the ordinary."
Alephee replied to Kirin with a patient voice. Eren had also come to know a bit about homunculus after Alephee and Layla told him things. However, he was still a novice in such a mystic field. Thus, he also listened attentively to Alephee's words.
"Homunculi don't have heartbeats because they don't have a regular heart. The blood and mana in our bodies are regulated by an array of mechanisms. The array is located at the heart. So even if it doesn't beat, that array mechanism can still be called the heart for all the homunculi."
Kirin nodded her head in understanding. Eren remembered that Layla could replicate the functions of a functional heartbeat with her array mechanism. When asked, she told him that she liked to think of herself as alive. The sound and feel of her own beating heart gave her that feeling.
Kirin was having different thoughts than Eren. She asked Alephee another question.
"You mean to say that you don't have mana circuits? How would you cast magic then?"
Alephee didn't take long to answer.
"Homunculi can have mana circuits. But like their bodies, the mana circuits are also artificial and hence less complicated. The artificial mana circuits are also regulated by an array mechanism."
Kirin was beginning to understand how Alephee's body worked. She asked another question without any inhibition. Alephee looked at Kirin before adding further.
"Homunculi don't age. They don't have to sleep or eat like regular people either. They can technically live for eternity. This is the reason Sages create homunculi and make them caretakers of their subspaces or their legacy works."
Alephee looked at Eren while saying the last part of her sentence. She was letting Eren know why he found Layla in charge of the Purgatory for the first time. This is the reason why homunculi were almost always the caretakers of Utopias and Purgatories created by the Sages of the past.
A homunculus was a faithful subordinate. They would never betray their masters. They were not greedy for Extols in a way other humans were. They only looked at it as a food source for the most part.
They practically lived forever. A homunculus would even outlive its creator and still be bound by the same rules and regulations. They would keep on working non-stop without any need to eat or sleep, making them a suitable workforce for Sages.
Kirin was amazed by hearing all this. But then another question popped into her mind.
"Then how do homunculi sustain themselves?"
"Homunculi need Extols or other forms of condensed mana stones to function. Or the alchemist who created them could make them use a different form of energy.
They then use the mana that is stored inside the energy source and circulate it throughout their bodies using the heart array inside them. This would enable them to cast spells more traditionally."
