Ren's skull split open like the petals of some impossible flower, ten slick black tentacles unfurling where his head had been. Four more erupted from his back, each one curling into place with the deliberate steadiness of a surgeon reaching for the right tool. In their grasp, the Outer God Surgical Set gleamed faintly under the sterile light: scalpels, forceps, bone saws, retractors, spirit-thread needles each looking deceptively mundane yet capable of cutting through anything that existed.
"System"
Yes, host?
"I have a question," Ren muttered without looking up. "These people have suffered severe mental damage. Can I even heal that?"
Yes. Just repair their bodies first. After you cure the physical trauma, you can use Fear Points to acquire a skill for the rest.
"Sure," Ren replied flatly. He glanced down at the five patients laid out before him. Their pulses were erratic. Their breathing is shallow. They're almost gone. Not much time left.
He made the decision without hesitation he'd work on all five at once.
Five syringes of Awakening Anesthetic appeared between his tentacle tips, shimmering faintly in the cold air. The moment was almost silent, save for the faint hum of the portable medical lamps. Then, in one smooth motion, Ren drove all five needles into his patients' necks.
Their eyes snapped open in perfect unison.
"Now it's time to start," Ren said, voice low.
The medics who had stayed to watch flinched. Even hardened field doctors weren't used to this kind of… procedure.
.
.
.
Ren's right palm opened into a vertical maw lined with fine, needle-like teeth. From within, a thin, wire-like tongue lashed out, impossibly fast, and slipped into the first patient's chest cavity. It split into dozens of microscopic threads, fanning out inside the body.
"Brain blood vessel ruptures," Ren muttered as the data came to him. "Five in total. Two small, two medium, one large. Let's start."
The surgical dance began.
Step One: Seal Surrounding Vessels
Four tentacles descended, their tips splitting into nests of micro-tendrils that wormed through tissue to locate neighboring vessels. They constricted gently, halting secondary bleeding without crushing the delicate structures.
Step Two: Clear Blood Pool
Ren activated Whisper of Anatomy. The palm-mouth siphoned the pooled blood with its microscopic tongues, pulling it away until the surgical field was clear. The crimson flow slid down his arm into nothingness, vanishing without a trace.
Step Three: Expose Rupture Site
Two tentacles, their tips shaped like fingers, parted tissue with surgical precision. The ruptured vessel was revealed, trembling faintly with each weak heartbeat.
Step Four: Clamp Vessel
A different tentacle extended a scalpel from the Outer God Surgical Set—not to cut, but to apply a clean, forceful pinch on the vessel. The bleeding halted instantly.
Step Five: Eldritch Coagulation
A drop of glowing ichor seeped from Ren's tentacle tip, coating the rupture. The bioluminescent substance hardened on contact, knitting tissue together with an otherworldly permanence.
Step Six: Reduce Intracranial Pressure
One tentacle slithered deeper, entering the ventricular system. Clear cerebrospinal fluid drained into his palm-mouth in a slow, steady stream until pressure normalized.
Step Seven: Calm Swelling
The dura mater vibrated faintly as Ren pulsed micro-resonance waves through it, gently massaging the inflamed tissue until it relaxed.
Step Eight: Suture Closure
The bone saws retracted. Silk-like sutures of living thread wove themselves across the surgical openings, sealing them with an unnatural neatness.
Step Nine: Final Sweep
The palm-mouth's tongues swept through the area, clearing away any clot fragments that might trigger future complications.
Step Ten: Check Stability
Ren's tentacles brushed sensors against the repaired sites, verifying vessel integrity and stable blood flow before moving on.
The process repeated five skulls opened, five brains mapped and repaired, five sets of bleeding halted in tandem. To the medics, it was like watching a storm of black limbs weave in perfect synchronization, each armed with a different tool, each moving with its own purpose yet never colliding. The air was heavy with antiseptic and the faint metallic scent of blood, but over it all was the steady, wet sound of flesh being parted and sewn.
Minutes passed like hours. Under Ren's hands or rather, his tentacles their wounds closed at a speed visible even to the naked eye. Gray, lifeless skin warmed with returning blood. Eyes that had rolled upward now focused faintly. Monitors stopped screaming warning tones and settled into steady beeps.
Ren retracted the last set of tentacles, folding them neatly behind him. The scalpels, forceps, and saws vanished with a faint shimmer.
Surgery complete. Fifty thousand Fear Points gained.
Ren exhaled through his nose. "Okay, System. Open the store."