Chapter 25

Once Arya leaves the training field, Eragon sits down on the ground and begins healing his bruises with magic. The sounds of combat return to the clearing as the men and dwarves resume their training, now filled with determination from the spectacle they just witnessed. While resting, Eragon goes over the fight in his head. 

"I may have won the fight but in real combat I would have died twenty times over in the first minute. My armor performed admirably, not even receiving a scratch because of the enchantments placed upon it, but I can't rely on tanking sword swings like that in the future. My speed is clearly what is most lacking. I could barely keep track of her sword. I have built up enough muscle to deal considerable damage but any more would just make me slower."

Eragon rubs his temples in contemplation. "Maybe I have to alter my body if I hope to keep up… I was planning on telling Brom about my dream and the possibility of the urgal attack, might as well add asking him about body alteration as well."

With his injuries now fully healed, Eragon stands up and walks back into the city. It takes him over an hour before he finds out that Brom is currently in a meeting with Ajihad and the council of elders, a group of individuals that govern the Varden and advise the current leader. Unfortunately, they are now just a group of corrupt and greedy people that try to undermine Ajihad's authority at every turn. 

Not wanting to disturb their meeting, Eragon tells the guard to inform Brom that he will be in the library waiting for him then spends most of the day contemplating what body alterations would be the most effective to apply to himself. Enhancing his muscle and bone density would give him a major increase in his speed and power. He could add a layer of graphene to his skin and replace all the bones in his body, minus the marrow, with graphene as well, increasing his already high defense to insane levels. Improving his eyes, ears, and other senses will increase his perception. Eragon writes down these options and many more, organized by how dangerous they are to apply. 

After furiously writing a few ideas that popped into his head, he looks up and sees Brom staring at him from across the table. Startled, Eragon clutches his heart as he had a mild heart attack. 

"Brom!!! I didn't know you were here yet. You scared me." 

Brom smirks. "You need to be more aware of your surroundings. If I had been an assassin you would be dead right now." 

Eragon tilts his head in contemplation. "Well… First they would have to get past my defensive spells that I keep active at all times. Then they would have to disable or remove my enchanted items that passively heal me and expel any poisons in my body. The third layer of defense being a very angry dragon." 

Brom raises an eyebrow. "You have at least thought this through which is good… Let's shelf this discussion for another time, you wanted me for something?" 

Eragon grabs his parchments and stuffs them in his pack. "Not here. We need a more private location."

Brom, noticing the severity in Eragon's expression, nods and motions for him to lead the way. The father son duo leave the library and head to a secluded location where Eragon uses one of his newest creations. From out of his pack he takes a silver mask with a bright yellow topaz in the forehead and places it on his face. The mask is a smooth featureless face with eye holes and a narrow slit for a mouth. Activating the enchantment, Eragon designates Brom as someone that can hear his voice.

"Can you hear me Brom?"

Brom looks at Eragon quizzically. "Of course I can hear you. What is the mask for?" 

"It makes it so that only people that I designate can hear my voice. It has a few other smaller features but that's not important now. I had another vision." 

Brom's demeanor changed instantly, him knowing that Eragon's visions have proven to reveal future events.

Eragon takes a deep breath before going into detail about the upcoming urgal invasion of Tronjheim then the army attacking Teirm from the sea. Brom listens calmly while periodically clenching his fists. Once Eragon is finished, Brom stands there in contemplation for a few minutes before responding. 

"If what you say comes to pass, the time table for defeating the king has to be raised. The urgal attack is most likely facilitated by Galbatorix but this unknown enemy from the sea… That is what truly worries me. We cannot afford a war on two fronts, or the worst case scenario of them joining Galbatorix's forces. I hate to say this but you might have to flee to the elves and continue to train. I'm sure Queen Islanzadi would welcome you." 

Eragon looks at Brom with confusion. "What do you mean I have to leave? I should be here to help stop the urgals from destroying the Varden. Once that is done you should come with me to the elves." 

Brom smiles but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Eragon… You don't need this decrepit old man telling you what to do anymore. You need to make your own choices and 'leave the nest' as it were." 

Eragon looks down, taking shaky breaths and trying not to cry. "Brom… Finding Saphira's egg and finding out you are my father were the greatest things to ever happen to me. I was a farmer's son that had little to no aspirations for the future. Now… Now I am a dragon rider. I have powerful magic and limitless possibilities for growth. But the one thing I truly want is being taken from me. I don't want you to go…"

Brom smiles softly before wrapping Eragon in a hug. "I know, son. I have made many mistakes in my life. The biggest is not being in your life sooner. Not being there when you needed me. Unfortunately, time has passed, rendering my body ill fit to travel much farther. You will stay until the urgal threat has passed then travel to Du Weldenvarden is that clear?"

Eragon sobs in the crook of brom's shoulder, his emotions overwhelming him. Saphira does her best to calm his roiling sadness.

"Eragon… You are not alone anymore. Even when Brom passes, he will live on in your heart. The friends and family you make will always be right next to you when you need their guidance." 

Eragon takes a few shaky breaths to calm himself down enough to talk without sputtering. "Thanks, Saphira. I know that you will always be there for me." Eragon disengages from Brom's embrace. "I will do as you say father. But not because you told me to, but because it is the correct decision in my mind."

Brom sheds tears as well as he looks proudly into his son's eyes. That's the spirit. Now you go and prepare yourself in the way that only you can. I will deal with the political aspect. For one, the twins need to pay for betraying the Varden. I might need your help in dealing with them." 

"You know you can count on me Dad. Just say the word." 

With firm resolve, Brom and Eragon leave to prepare for the coming conflict. 

…

The next morning, Eragon stays in the dragonhold with Saphira and goes over his notes for body alteration. He never ended up asking Brom if it was alright but now he realizes that he doesn't have a choice if he wants to defeat Galbatorix and the unknown man in black armor. With him and Saphira brainstorming, half the day vanishes before he has a comprehensive list of all the changes he is going to make to himself. The main focal points are as such.

First: Create a layer of graphene under his skin. 

Second: Replace his bones with graphene. 

Third: Increase his muscle and bone density by around 15%. 

Fourth: give an overall enhancement of his five senses. Mainly sight and hearing.

Fifth: Increasing the effectiveness of his organs. Lungs for better oxygenation of his blood, larger and stronger heart, ETC. 

These are the alterations that he is willing to do at this point in time. Any more and he might damage his body beyond repair. Even though his body mass will increase, he already prepared for that by making his armor form fitting. With Saphira guiding him and the host of gems at his disposal that have around seventy days worth of his mana regeneration stored in them, Eragon lays down on the floor of the Dragonhold and begins casting the spells. He segmented the procedure into multiple parts just in the off chance something goes wrong. 

The first thing he does is add the graphene layer into his skin, drawing the carbon from the materials he procured for this operation. A powerful itching sensation floods his senses as the layer of graphene is inserted, pure carbon being weaved into graphene and adhered to his flesh. His skin turns a dull blackish gray color whilst still keeping its flexibility. 

Once the itching stops, he looks at his arms and smiles. While the color is quite ugly, that is a problem that can be fixed later when he alters the pigments in his skin. Next he increases his bone density and strengthens them with the same composition of graphene. This time, Eragon screams in agony as he feels his bones shatter and reform into something stronger. Luckily he is wearing his mask, silencing his cries from all but Saphira. Her face scrunches in pain feeling the anguish of her rider but she gladly takes some of the burden from him through their mind link. 

It takes Eragon half a day of rest to recover from having his bones reconstructed before he starts to systematically alter his organs and senses. His heart grows bigger and beats more rapidly, his lungs take in oxygen far more efficiently, he adds a second inner eyelid to his eyes, and many more. In the end, if he didn't alter his appearance to better resemble his old self, no one would be able to recognize him. Once he completes all of the enhancements, he stands up and looks in the mirror. 

To say that Eragon is shocked by his looks is an understatement. What once was a sixteen year old boy with a well defined figure has now become a man with the body of a Greek god. Massive rippling muscles lay beneath the surface of his graphene skin that has had its pigmentation changed to a rich tan color. His height has increased to a staggering 186 cm, or 6ft 1inch in American measurements. His chiseled jaw and well defined facial features give him a handsome, rugged look. Saphira nods in approval. 

"Now that is a body fit for my rider. I no longer have to worry about you dying on me. Wounds that would kill a normal human are nothing but a scratch for you."

Eragon flexes in the mirror, not really registering Saphira's words as he admires his body for an uncomfortable amount of time. Saphira gets annoyed by this and smacks him with her wing, sending him flying across the room. Still unused to his body, Eragon cartwheels his arms in panic and smashes his arm into the ground, burying it elbow deep in the stone with little resistance. His body stops mid air with him being upside down as if he was just doing a handstand. Once he reorients himself, Eragon calmly gets back to a standing position and fixes the ground before turning towards Saphira.

"That wasn't very nice." 

Saphira snorts, a small gout of smoke leaving her nostrils. "You can admire yourself later. You still planned on making Roran that metal arm and you should send a message to Murtagh while you're at it." 

Eragon nods as he dusts off his clothes. "Then that's what I am going to do. But first… I need to get used to this new body. I didn't even feel any pain when my hand went through half a meter of solid stone. I can't be breaking things just because I don't know my own strength." 

"Fine… Go test out your body then. I will go hunting in the meantime." 

Saphira bounds over to the exit of the Dragonhold and leaps into the open air, flapping her wings to gain altitude. Watching her go, Eragon sighs before beginning to test the limits of his new body. He makes some dumbbells out of stone and lifts them with ease. He shrugs his shoulders and decides to head to his forge to lift some ore instead. 

Walking through the halls, everyone that sees Eragon does a double take, shocked by the changes to his body. Eragon hears them whispering even when he is far away from them. His new senses are a little overwhelming for him, causing a mild headache. He decides to avoid the highly populated areas for now as he needs to get used to his heightened senses. Once he arrives at the forge, he takes two raw pieces of ore and attaches them together with an iron rod, making sure that the weight is even between them. 

Over the next couple of hours, Eragon does some deadlifts, squats, push-ups, and other such exercises to relearn how his body works. He finds that his strength has increased considerably along with a moderate boost to his speed. Speedwise he is around the same as a standard elf. And while this is a decent increase to his speed, it is not as much as he was hoping for. His strength on the other hand, now eclipses even the might of the urgals. The weight that he made is deadlifted with ease even though it weighs around 300kg. 

Once he has a decent handle on how strong his new body is, he starts up the forge and begins making a prosthetic arm for Roran. He uses the leftover steel from when he made his armor to fashion the outer shell as well as the hand itself. The joints in the hand are made by having a metal ball with a track on the inside that the fingers can follow to open and close like a normal hand. On the inside, there are fake muscles, bones, and nerves made of graphene and steel that will control the hand movements. The hardest part of making this arm was the enchantment to bind it to the stump where Roran's arm used to be. The enchantment has to find the nerves in his arm then forcefully connect them to the artificial nerves. Eragon had already spent a good amount of time researching to make this enchantment so he applied it right then and there. 

Because Roran doesn't have access to mana, Eragon goes light on the durability enchantment, focusing more on rust prevention and repairing damage instead. He inserts an emerald into the palm of the hand with enough mana inside to power the enchantments for about a year even accounting for over use. Eragon looks at his belt and sighs as most of his gems have been used up in all the items he has been making. Those that remain have been mostly drained of energy, leaving him with not enough reserves for his liking. 

It's as he is contemplating asking Orik for some gems when Brom slams open the door and scans him from head to toe. A deep scowl forms on his face as he stomps up to him. 

"Eragon!!! Are you an idiot!!!? Altering your body with magic is forbidden. Only the elves have ever pulled it off successfully. You could have killed yourself or worse… Ended up in a useless body, a prison of your own making." 

Eragon stands his ground and looks him dead in the eye. "You said to me, and I quote, 'Now you go and prepare yourself in the way that only you can', and I have done just that. I was meaning to ask you about it that day but we got sidetracked with the talk about my visions. I'm sorry that I didn't consult you about it but what's done is done. I had Saphira's consent and guidance along with my detailed notes of what I was going to alter that I had been working on for the past few weeks. Now I just need to get used to my new body before I have to fight anyone." 

Brom's anger slowly dissipates as he takes in his son's words. "Huu… Fine… I shouldn't have been surprised that you did something like this to begin with. Just… Let me know if you're going to do something this dangerous please? You keep shaving years off my life with your antics." 

Eragon chuckles. "No… That is you just getting old." 

Brom glares at him but with a slight smile on his face. "Watch it boy… Now let me get a good look at what you have done to yourself." 

Brom walks in circles around Eragon, examining his body as if it was a prized piece of meat, nodding to himself every once in a while. "Hmmm… Increased muscle mass with no deformities. Your skin is harder but still flexible. What else did you change?" 

Eragon scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Well I made most of my organs work more efficiently, I made my skin and bones stronger, I increased my muscle mass, and I heightened my five senses a good amount." 

Brom freezes in place, his mind buffering as he tries and fails to comprehend what he just said. "You're telling me… basically your entire body has had an overhaul, making you stronger than even the elves and urgals but then you made yourself durable enough to withstand standard blades with ease…" 

Eragon puts his hands on his hips and looks upwards triumphantly. "Exactly." 

"What am I going to do with you…" Brom sits down in a nearby chair and puts his head in his hands. "My son is our greatest hope but he is far too reckless." he says to himself. "Why did I swear to not drink anymore? I could really use one right now…" 

And with that, Brom leaves shortly after finishing their discussion. Eragon spends the next few days in the forge fine tuning Roran's prosthetic arm so that there will be zero complications when he goes to put it on. Eragon uses the scrying spell on Roran once again and finds him sitting in a luxurious room with Katrina seated next to him talking adamantly to an elderly gentleman that he recognizes. 

"Why is Roran in Jeod's study? What could be the reason that he is there talking to Jeod?" Eragon scratches his head in contemplation. "Whatever. Might as well give him my gift right now seeing as he is in a safe place. I will have to add a note telling them to leave Teirm. I can't have them die on my watch." 

After writing a note for Roran, in standard writing this time, he places it inside another box along with the prosthetic arm and sends it on its way. He watches as the three jump in surprise as the box materializes in the room with them in a flash of light. After reading the letter, Roran shakes his fist at the heavens before removing the bandages around the stump where his left hand used to be and slotting the prosthetic on it. Roran grits his teeth in pain for a few minutes before the pain fades and he tests out his new arm. To the shocked faces of Jeod and Katrina, Roran shows off the strength and flexibility of his new appendage, easily lifting his hammer with almost zero effort. 

"So he still ended up using that hammer huh?" Eragon says aloud to himself. "If fate exists in this world it probably hates me." 

Eragon ends the scry and begins writing a note for Murtagh, explaining the circumstances for why he is sending the note and that he should link up with the Varden if he wants to help defeat Galbatorix. Once he is done, he decides to cast the scrying spell on him, just to make sure he isn't in a populated area. After casting the spell, all Eragon sees is a black emptiness. Eragon's brow furrows as the reality of the situation hits him like a freight train.

"I'm too late… Galbatorix has him now…"