The Fallen Prince

Examination

"I shall pay, Doctor Purios. After all, I am the one who wants the surgery."
Earl sighed, collecting the plates and cups then placing them in the sink. "Yes, yes. Although this kind of thing is not in my policy, you can pay me after the surgery is done. You are a necessary exemption because you need this surgery as soon as possible. Come to this room, and I shall inspect you. Just undress, lay on the bed, and put the sheet over yourself. Don't forget to give me a holler when you're done!"
A201 did as told, putting the sheet over his hips, and calling Earl when he was finished.
"Is there anything I should know before I start?" Earl asked as he sat on a seat, drawing it closer to the bed.
"Nothing that I know of, except this headache."
"Alright, then, I shall put a sleep spell on you and examine you internally. Are you ready?"
"Yes, Doctor."
Earl closed A201's eyes, and after muttering a spell, A201 was gently slumbering. The doctor's green eyes flashed silver and he began scanning his patient.
"Mm... His internal processes are not in sync. Any imbalances or anything unusual have been caused by drugs, the residual traces of which can be easily seen. I'll have to extract them because they will cause him much harm, especially the residue in his brain. It greatly affects his memory."
Earl sighed as his eyes turned back to normal. "This will be much more harder than fixing his appearance. But I am a good surgeon! I shall finish my job! That reminds me, Oji-san told me at tea that Kaibutsu-kun had trace amounts of magic."
His eyes flashed amber this time. If they were silver, he was scanning the physical body, but if they were amber, he was scanning the magical channels in the body.
•••••
These magic channels were characteristics of magic users. They were a few millimetres thick, but their size was crucial. Partial and/or weak magic users had thin magic channels, 1mm or less in diameter, whereas full magic users had 2mm channels at the largest.
Earl Purios and Oji-san were partial magic users, so their magic channels measured 1mm.
Magic channels flowed from the primary source of magic in a person (the radix, located in the midline of the body between the chest and abdomen) outward to the hands and fingers, down to the feet, and upward to the head. In some magic users, channels were present in the eyes for scanning, like in Earl's case. In extremely rare cases, channels were warped around inside the head for telepathy, telekinesis, or mind and/or object control, without aid of a wand.
In all magic users, magic channels flowed into the larynx, enabling then to utter incantations. If a person had more magic channels in the larynx than usual, then that person could cast spells by singing a song. 
The radix died if the person was dead. The radix of a magic user, partial or full, if attempted to be tampered by any magical means, would react and unleash enough magic to seriously harm whoever tried tampering with it.
A specially-crafted wand, such as a staff or stick, was a medium through which magic from the hands could flow out of. Magic could be more easily controlled by hands. The channels flowing out of the hands were delicate, and the magic power would harm the hands if a wand was not used. One could temporarily have raw magic flowing out of the hands by the aid of objects, modifications, or magic tools, but the magic would ultimately consume the hand when those devices would wear out or fail.
•••••
The doctor paced around the room. After inspecting A201, he was very disturbed at what he saw.
"In all my studies, never have I seen or heard about channels that surpass 2mm, but this person has channels measuring 3mm! Channels, like radices, cannot be tampered with, so there is no way he got them artificially. "What is more interesting is his radix. The power is sealed inside the radix, and the entrances of the main channels branching out of it are blocked as well, making an effective double seal against any magic power that leaks out. His physical appearance interests me far less than this great dilemma!"
Earl Purios got to work immediately to try and break the seal. He took out a pair of specialized gloves that worked like a medium, and held A201's hands. He fed his own magic power up A201's magic channels in his hands until it reached the seal.
The seal immediately repelled his magic in the main channel and wouldn't budge.
"Such powerful stuff." Earl then noticed A201 sweating and shaking in pain in his sleep.
"Silly me!" he exclaimed, withdrawing his power from A201. "Of course this process causes pain! I forgot my magic absorbers!"
He ran out of the room and returned with an armful of glass trinkets carved into the shapes of different breeds of dogs.
"Hello, my Nobu, Kiara--ack! I'm almost forgetting my patient!" Earl gently laid the absorbers down in the corner of the room.
•••••
Absorbers absorbed excess magic power and were commonly used by physicians, scientists, doctors and the like, so as not to cause harm to their subjects or patients and surroundings. Absorbers were used by all types of people and had many uses. The cheapest absorbers gently dispelled power harmlessly into the surrounding area, while the more costly ones dispelled magic through light, making excellent light sources. The most expensive ones, which were not commonly used, converted magic into the fire element, making an explosion of fire when broken.
The light-dispelling and fire-type absorbers could be sold when they were full of magic power, but at a higher price.
The cheapest absorbers were made of paper with a spell written on them, while the light-dispellers were made of anything transparent that could refract light. The fire converters were small, but powerful glass crystals.
•••••
With everything ready, Earl made another attempt to break the seal. He put more magic power in, but it was still repelled.
Wiping away his sweat, Earl thought whether he should channel his full power. Doing so would delay the surgery, as he needed to restore more power. As a partial magic user, his power needed time to be restored. However, this was not a problem for full users of magic, whose radices constantly restored the flow of power.
"No, I already used up a third of my power examining him and trying to break the seal, and the process will not be as effective as when I use my full power. I'll have to fetch my healer, Anda-san." Earl ran outside the house in search of said person.