5:00 PM

  Vaillant Residence, Colemond, TX

  Julius’ eyes opened, waking up under the tree. He was surrounded by people. Immediately, he asked: “What time is it?”

  Lian, who was gripping both of his shoulders, appeared troubled. “I tried to wake you up!”

  “How long?” Julius asked again.

  “It's been an hour. None of us could get you awake!”

  Julius noticed his hair was long despite having a haircut in the void. The rest of his physical changes did come. Graying hair, heavier body, and the clothes he wore then. A sharp pain erupted from both sides of his jaw. He gripped hard on the loose bone. Looking at Solomon, who was by the door, he called him over. "Where's…Annia?"

  "She's inside."

  "Tell her to come over now."

  Lian hadn't let go of Julius' shoulders. She sat down. "Sit still. Let me heal you."

  Empress Cai joined by sitting with the two. "It's only been an hour, and you look different…But your voice and qi are the same. Were you meditating?"

  "Ow," Julius muttered from the jaw pain. "I…was until…I didn't."

  Dr. Annia came out, almost thinking Julius was a stranger due to his different appearance. Like what Empress Cai said, his voice did the job. She kneeled right behind Lian. "Why are you gripping your jaw?"

  "Can you do an open surgery right now?" Julius asked.

  "Daniel…What are you saying?"

  "My jaw is damaged. I think I'm close to where my masseter is going to be torn completely, and my mandible is crying right now."

  Annia briefly looked at Lian. "Not in the backyard. Let's go to the hospital."

  Julius shook his head. "No, right here at home. It's too dangerous to do it in an operating room." He then focused on Solomon. "Can you set up the living room?"

  "Sure, but what do you want me to do?"

  "I remembered you showed me a drawing of a mouthplate. You wanted a volunteer to confirm the results. Well…I'm in. I'll be your first."

  Julius' insistence on getting the mouthplate led to mixed reactions from others. Lian objected as it was a chaotic process from start to finish. Annia had no clue about Solomon's mouthplate design. Empress Cai responded with a silent, gentle nod. She flicked Julius' hair back. "You have pretty gray hair."

  "No, I don't. Wait until it's fully turned, and I'm going to cut the hair soon anyway," Julius said, slowly getting up from the spot under the tree.

  "I disagree," Empress Cai said, feeling his hair again. "Keep it. It doesn't have to be very long, but with some work, you would prefer this over a haircut."

  "Let me think about it."

  Lady Bian and Daiyu set up the living room. Solomon headed back inside the residence and rearranged the furniture. Julius stood tall and walked down the small hill. His new height was revealed to everyone, putting everyone in a trance to view him. He felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at because of his unbelievable height.

  Entering the residence, he noticed his head almost reached the upperframe of the sliding door. A tiny duck ducked as he crossed through. He saw the three pace through the wide living room.

  Empress Cai guided Julius to the comfy seat with a full leg rest. He sat down, and Mother Elaine gave him a strong whiskey made of native Raal ingredients. "Here, take this."

  "Why do you need to give me whiskey?"

  "It shortens the pain experience until the procedure is done. Daiyu taught me this kind of whiskey. Fresh Raal ingredients."

  "Just put it over there," Julius said, not really wanting to drink it. "Thank you, but I can handle it."

  "Are you being crazy? Can you relax for once?"

  Julius shook his head. "One hour is my five weeks spent in the void. I can't relax after leaving that place…Once this fix is done, I have to get back to work…Fine, give me the glass, please."

  He gulped half of the glass and handed it to Mother Elaine. He dismissed the whiskey, not needing it anymore. By then, the effects were immediate. It was like an impactful punch. His body felt lightweight. Because of that, he couldn't really move his lower body. It was almost like he got paralyzed from the waist down.

  After a minute, when the setup was finished, Julius felt a little woozy but still alert. Annia reappeared in her doctor's outfit. The two magic wielders who taught her healing magic would be helping out in the procedure.

  "How are you feeling?" Annia asked.

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  Julius' hearing was still sharp. "A little lightheaded."

  The two magic wielders came, and one went to his left and the other to the right. They sat on their stools. Julius turned to the latter, who told him that he would be awake through the entire procedure.

  Julius wasn't distraught about it. In fact, he just nodded. If he can't deal with a surgery, then all the training in the void would be pointless.

  Lian summoned a barrier on the living room's perimeter. No one could come in or out unless it was necessary.

  Solomon, Lady Bian, Lian, Dr. Annia, and the two medical magic wielders were the only ones in the living room other than Julius. The last three put their masks on.

  Dr. Annia began the procedure by taking an enhanced scalpel. Multiple spells started to kick in as she cut open his left cheek. Lady Bian stood a few feet away, handling the magical oversight. Solomon had a table beside him. On it was a small stack of metal alloys. There was nothing much other than ordinary.

  Julius didn't mind looking at what everyone was doing. He couldn't talk since Dr. Annia was now opening up inside of his jaw while trying not to hit any of the nerves and vessels. The magic wielder on his right asked Solomon for the scalpel.

  Once the right side of his jaw was also opened, Julius just relaxed. He didn't want to even talk to them through telepathy. The only thing he did was stare ahead, and by some luck, the TV was on. Only to be a news channel.

  One hour later.

  "Can you try to bite down?"

  Julius gently bit down, testing his fixed mandible. Most of the effects of the whiskey had worn off. So, the pain was there but tolerable. His jaw was tested in many scenarios. He was hesitant at first because they were really testing his bite force. Food wasn't the only thing. He was given plastic cups, a spare notebook, and stones.

  Lian and Lady Bian had their magic duties increased because Julius would spit out after biting. He didn't want to swallow anything that wasn't food. He knew he wasn't a dumpster truck.

  Solomon read his mind or something because he was impatient. He had waited for at least half an hour to get the actual mouthplate on. So far, the bite force test was a test of his enhanced jawbone, muscles around the jaw, and steel-enhanced teeth. Based on the results, his jaw’s power was at the minimum to be equal to a hippo.

  Dr. Annia remained at the spot for the entire hour. The magic wielder beside her moved out of the way for Solomon, and the latter summoned his gloves. Julius watched him lift a piece of flat and thin alloy.

  The alloy transformed under Solomon's magic. He held it with both hands. By the magic's will, it transformed into the shape of the mandible. Solomon then looked at Julius. "I'm going to put this right on your jawline. The metal should do the rest on its own, becoming part of your face."

  "Do it," Julius said, giving him the go-ahead.

  Solomon hovered his hands right under Julius' jaw. The sounds of clanking metal could be heard as it connected to the jawline.

  Julius clenched his fist as the metal was fusing right to the bone. He heard the vibrating sound like a power drill running the nail through a wall. When the vibration stopped, the drilling pain, like a continuous pinch, ceased.

  Solomon gave straightforward instructions on how to activate the mouthplate. He told Julius that it was the chin.

  Trying a few times, Julius anticipated it to activate. "I don't see anything? Why is it not—"

  The metal appeared, covering half of his face. It formed around his mouth and nose. He heard the clanks when it was secured into place. He saw Solomon's excited reaction. The latter asked him to try to switch the mouthplate off.

  Clank! Sizz!

  "Ok, that worked. Phew." Julius was about to stand up, only to be stopped by Lady Bian and Lian.

  They were going to clean up the living room, and he wasn't allowed to leave until he got another healing spell.

  Julius waited as everyone in the living room cleaned up. Any blood on the floor was cleaned and magically wiped away. He finally stood up, and Lian disabled the barrier. Walking out of the living room, he switched the tv channels, not wanting to see or hear the continuous bad news.

  He was being serious earlier. There wasn't time to relax. The first thing he thought of after a wakeful surgery was more work. "Open the Middle Ground."

  Empress Cai heard from afar. "Now?"

  "Is it possible?"

  "Uh…Yes, but that would disrupt the scheduling."

  Julius walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water. "We're doing it now. We're taking control of this city. And bring out anyone who is good at fire and security."

  "How many do you need?"

  "As many as you can. I need fifty hard-working individuals."

  "Like right now?"

  "Yes," Julius said, readjusting his new outfit. He walked out to the backyard as his aura cleaned any debris. It was still spring, but the sunset had arrived. Looking from the balcony, Colemond's skyline was torn. A few abandoned buildings still stood. A lot of its structure was torn apart like in a warzone. The city's area around downtown has become one. Plenty of rebuilding opportunities around the city. They were waiting to be revived.

  Julius turned to the tree. He summoned Valence and dashed right towards the tree. He followed up with one heavy slash, cutting right through the tree in half. Green light shot out from the ground, separating the tree further apart. A silhouette leaped out of the blast, zooming past Julius. It landed on the other side of the lawn.

  "Welcome. I figured it was you after your qi leaked through the leaves."

  The silhouette faded. "Smells like Raal," Hu muttered. "Next generation home…I can agree with Lian."

  "We are pushing the next arrivals to now," Julius said while pointing to the skyline. "Most of the city had found out, so we can't be silent for much longer."

  "You screwed up big time dealing with that beast."

  "Point taken…But the cleanup had to be done, whether they saw it or not," Julius unsummoned his sword.

  Hu stared at Julius. "What's that under your face?"

  "An upgrade." The mouthplate formed around his mouth.

  "Great…King Valtoris will be touching down soon. So…give him a warm welcome, yeah?"

  Kaboom!

  "What the?" Julius turned abruptly.

  A large opening like an earthquake fault appeared not far away. It was in the path where Julius had inflicted a slash a moment ago. Hu watched the views as the ones inside the residence sprinted out.

  "Oh crap!"

  Hu sighed. "Doing it on purpose? There's too much volume around here."

  "You think?"

  "A fucked up city not even two days ago…I hope not, but you just invited more to the party."

  "How much worse can it get?"

  "I guess we all are about to find out."