Entry Two.
The first subject.
The first subject entrusted to my care is said to be a direct descendant of the Flame God, Vael’Thar, although the purity of that claim remains impossible to verify through conventional means.
The noble house responsible for delivering the child possesses genealogical records stretching back nearly eight centuries, all of which insist upon an uninterrupted lineage.
Whether those records speak the truth or merely preserve an illusion matters little. My instruments shall determine the quality of his blood more accurately than any family archive ever could.
Initial examination revealed several abnormalities when compared against ordinary children of comparable age.
Although his physique appears unremarkable at first glance, palpation of the muscular tissue revealed density nearly twice that expected of a healthy child.
The fibers have not yet matured sufficiently to produce visible definition beneath the skin, however, they possess remarkable elasticity and structural integrity.
The skeletal frame is similarly unusual, exhibiting cortical thickness well beyond the accepted average while remaining proportionate to every major organ within the body. No signs of pathological overgrowth are present.
The foundation appears promising.
The first objective of Section Carving is to determine whether the body may be encouraged to rebuild itself upon a superior frame if forced to heal under carefully controlled conditions.
To that end, I have elected to begin by artificially elongating both femurs.
The procedure required deliberate fracturing of each leg before external steel braces secured by threaded bolts were applied to either side of the bone. Daily adjustment of those braces shall gradually increase the distance between fractured ends, compelling the skeleton to generate new bone in an attempt to bridge the expanding gap.
The body must first be convinced that evolution is necessary.
Unfortunately, the subject has displayed considerably greater mental resistance than anticipated.
His screams continued long after the operation concluded, while repeated attempts to remove the braces have reopened several incisions that should have remained undisturbed. Such behavior unnecessarily increases blood loss while compromising the precision upon which Section Carving depends.
Beginning tomorrow, the subject shall remain continuously sedated throughout the reconstruction period.
Two assistants have also been assigned to perform daily manipulation of every major muscle group, thereby preventing prolonged inactivity from producing unnecessary muscular atrophy during recovery.
The body must remain active.
Even if the mind cannot.
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Page Two
Seven days have elapsed.
Subject 001 expired unexpectedly during the early hours of this morning.
Contrary to my original hypothesis, the skeletal reconstruction progressed exactly as intended, while measurable bone growth exceeded every projected outcome.
Unfortunately, accelerated ossification demanded mineral reserves beyond what the child’s physiology could provide, resulting in widespread electrolyte imbalance before multiple vital organs ceased functioning in rapid succession.
The procedure itself did not fail.
Preparation did.
Future subjects shall receive nutritional reinforcement beginning no fewer than fourteen days before the first carving.
Failure remains educational.
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Page Three
Subject 002
The second subject is female.
House records identify her as possessing distant ancestry connected to the Moon Goddess Minerva.
Unlike Subject 001, skeletal alteration shall not serve as the initial point of refinement.
The previous failure demonstrated that overwhelming physical trauma during the opening stage introduces too many uncontrolled variables before the body’s adaptive mechanisms have been properly evaluated.
Pain itself shall become the catalyst.
Beginning today, controlled thermal carving shall be introduced through repeated applications of localized heat across predetermined anatomical pathways while maintaining uninterrupted sedation throughout the procedure.
The objective is to determine whether gradual cellular destruction followed by accelerated regeneration produces comparable bloodline refinement without compromising structural integrity.
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Page Four
After four days of treatment, the subject never regained consciousness.
Assistant Rhael administered the fourth sedative infusion at nearly double the prescribed concentration after misreading my calculations.
Respiration slowed progressively before cardiac activity ceased despite immediate intervention.
Assistant Rhael has been dismissed from my service.
His replacement shall possess stronger mathematical ability.
Scientific failure is acceptable.
Carelessness is not.
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Page Eleven
Subject 007
Several procedural refinements have now been introduced.
Sedation has become standardized.
Continuous nutritional support has become mandatory.
Muscular stimulation has increased from once daily to four sessions.
The subject survived twenty-three days before widespread rejection began throughout every carved region simultaneously.
An encouraging result.
The body adapted.
The mind and blood did not.
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Page Twenty-One
Subject 011
For the first time, measurable purification was observed.
Blood extracted before and after the fifth carving exhibited a distinct reduction in unstable Aether residue while muscular regeneration exceeded baseline expectations by nearly forty percent.
I permitted myself optimism, however, it was misplaced.
The subject was permitted to regain consciousness on day fifteen, however, seemed to have lost all vision and sense of touch.
Something within the subject’s brain had altered while he was unconscious, and the damage was impossible to heal and continued to worsen as time passed.
The subject lost all higher cognitive function three days later.
The body survived.
The mind did not.
It appears that blood and consciousness are connected more intimately than previously assumed.
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Page Thirty-Four
Subject 014
A modification in carving sequence produced unexpectedly stable physiological adaptation.
Rather than purifying multiple regions simultaneously, individual sections were carved independently before allowing complete recovery between each procedure.
This approach dramatically reduced systemic shock and sheltered the subjects brain from giving up on the body.
The subject survived fifty-eight days.
Progress continues.
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Page Forty-Eight
Subject 017
Every lesson learned from the previous sixteen subjects has culminated in this trial.
Preparation proved flawless.
Nutrition proved sufficient.
Sedation remained stable.
Sectional intervals were executed precisely according to calculation.
The body accepted each carving.
The bones strengthened.
The musculature rebuilt itself beyond expectation.
For seventeen consecutive days, I believed I had finally succeeded in making the perfect procedure.
However, as soon as the subject regained consciousness, things started to take a turn for the worse, as the subject began hyperventilating and going into shock.
Despite having stable vitals before, the body went into sudden shock after the subject woke up, as no force within my laboratory proved capable of stopping that process.
The child expired before sunrise.
I have now reached a conclusion that none of my previous failures allowed me to see.
Section Carving alone is insufficient.
The procedure is sound.
The subjects are not.
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(Present Day)
Page Fifty
Subject 018
I am seventy-four years of age now, and I can no longer deny what the passing of time has done to these hands.
Although they remain steadier than those of most younger Anatomists, every procedure now demands a degree of concentration that once came naturally, while even the finest incisions require greater effort than they did three decades ago.
Age has become the final variable that I cannot account for, and so I have accepted that Subject 018 shall be the last subject upon whom I attempt Section Carving.
Whether my life’s work succeeds or perishes shall be decided by this final project.
The previous seventeen subjects have each revealed a flaw within my understanding, while every failure has forced me to refine the procedure further until very little now resembles the methods recorded within the opening pages of this journal.
What began as a theory has gradually evolved into a discipline, purchased at the cost of seventeen young lives whose sacrifices, however tragic, have brought me closer to perfection than I once believed possible.
Subject 018 arrived this morning.
According to the records provided by his benefactors, the child is believed to be a direct descendant of the Storm God Surthur, a lineage that has not appeared within the Imperial records for several centuries.
As with every subject before him, I shall reserve my judgment until my own examination is complete, although my initial observations have already exceeded expectations.
The subject possesses exceptional muscular density remarkably similar to that observed in Subject 001, while maintaining complete proportionality throughout the remainder of the body.
More importantly, his eyes display the distinctive emerald-green pigmentation repeatedly described within the oldest surviving accounts documenting the descendants of Surthur, a characteristic many modern scholars have dismissed as little more than myth.
An unexpected advantage has also presented itself.
The child was delivered with both shoulders, multiple ribs, and the spine already fractured, injuries sustained before arriving under my care.
Although unfortunate by ordinary medical standards, such extensive trauma eliminates the need for several of the initial procedures ordinarily required before Section Carving may begin, allowing reconstruction to commence immediately after stabilization.
Perhaps fate has chosen to grant this old man one final kindness.
I shall proceed more cautiously than I have with any subject before him.
Every calculation shall be verified twice.
Every carving shall be measured twice.
Every change shall be recorded without omission.
Should Subject 018 survive where the previous seventeen failed, then these pages shall record the birth of a new era in Anatomical Science.
Should he perish...
...then this journal shall also become my final confession.