Chapter 5 - Part 1 of 3 (Patreon)

Erik appeared on the Metal floor.

He got onto Gilly’s back slowly.His entire body was aching deep down into his bones. He opened up his collar. His chest looked like crumbling charcoal, mercury seeped from the open wounds between his cracked skin.

Metal mana was drawn into his body, making his breath catch, he coughed, his entire body shaking as the first cough pulled him in for more as he broke out into a coughing fit. He felt a hand on his back, holding him up.

It took a few moments to pull himself together.

“Water?” Gong Jin held out a canteen.

Erik took the water, pouring it down his parched throat.

He wheezed and passed the canteen back.

“Thanks,” Erik sighed.

I feel so damn weak.

Erik closed his eyes, using his organic scan to look through his body, the Metal mana had sunk deep into his entire body, through his skin, the muscle, internal organs and bones. I’m close, once I’ve tempered my internal organs then I can release my controls and allow the tempering to pass my neck and reach my brain. I’m just scared as to what will happen once I temper my brain. According to the information we have, the mind is forged with the Metal mana. Shit, sometimes I don’t like being the goddamn canary in the coal mine.

Erik pulled himself together.

“Lets go,” he nudged Gilly forward. The rest of the special team had mounted up and moved around him as they headed for the body tempering facility at the center of the floor, underneath the lightning pool.

Using Simple Heal, Erik felt some relief. Just need more time, rarest resource in the entire universe.

***

“You look like shit,” Melissa Bouchard said as Erik slumped down into a chair across from her desk.

Erik grinned looking like fresh death.

“Thanks Doc. Here I was thinking I look like a superstar.”

Melissa Bouchard had moved her office to the Metal room, for one reason, to watch and record Erik’s progress. She was the head of the Body Cultivation Training Department. Also from Earth, she had come in like a storm, revolutionizing all the body cultivation training systems. Working with her opposite Hou Jun, a Ten Realms native, with their corroborative work, Alvan’s speed at increasing their mana and body cultivation increased by fifty percent and it was no longer a mysterious process. As long as someone could pay for the treatments they could rapidly increase their cultivation.

“Council Leader Delilah cut the costs for all of the cultivation training programs. It just became a lot busier for all of the trainers,” Melissa said as she moved around the desk, using organic scans on Erik.

“The stronger our people are, the stronger we are. All military members that are on standby are completing mandatory tempering up to Body Like Iron and forming their Mist Core.”

“Rugrat has started to form his Liquid Core already right?” She pulled out Erik’s file, noting down changes within his body.

“He spent so much time on the weapon systems. It was making it hard for him to sit and cultivate his mana for a long time. Now it’s being sorted. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t race through completing his Liquid Mana Core. He’s got the stats, resources and the powerful mana veins.”

Melissa ran another scan through his body.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like a bag of smashed ass. Entire body aches down to the core, can barely call on ten percent of my power. After ten minutes of just conversing on an involved topic I run out of energy. Lethargic for sure. Though I’ve drilled the Metal mana right into my organs.”

Melissa jotted down more notes.

“Thankfully we took this slow, your organs are operating at less than five percent capacity, but you long ago left behind human bounds. If you didn’t have the stats, didn’t have your strong body and resources to help you heal, you’d be wiped out. Hell if this was anyone else. I would have them stuck on twenty four-seven bed rest with a stamina drip and healing formations strapped to your body. In fact that is what I want to do.”

Erik’s fatigue seemed to fade away as he looked at Melissa.

“I’ve got work to do, people to train. I can make pills and concoctions.”

“Erik, here are your options, operate at ten percent or less and slowly temper your body for weeks or months. Two, we set you up in a bed, hook you up to stamina concoctions, healing formations and we blast you through this tempering. We temper right through your organs, completely temper your body, then remove your necklace and allow the changes to spread through your neck and head.”

Erik closed his eyes, taking a few breaths, gathering his strength.

Gilly, who was in her small form, nudged his arm.

Erik opened his eyes and smiled, rubbing her head, his eyes thinned.

“Alright I’ll do the blast version, but I have a question for you. If humans can temper their bodies, can beasts?”

“Yes,” Melissa moved her head from side to side, thinking on it. “I have talked to the beast masters that raise the different creatures. Beasts are basically the opposite of humans. Humans are best suited to increase their mana cultivation first and then body cultivation a distant second. Beasts are better at increasing their body cultivation and then once they reach a certain level of evolution, like Fred and his people that you met in the Vuzgal dungeon, they can cultivate mana and become sentient.” Melissa shrugged.

“I focus on the human side, but beasts consume the flesh and core of their opponents that increases their cultivation and gets them some more experience with the core. Though most beasts only cultivate one kind of body cultivation. They don’t cultivate, water, fire, metal and so on like humans, at least to start. They only cultivate a fire body, or an earth body, or a metal body. Dual body cultivations are rare. When consuming aligned monster cores, ones with the same attributes as their body cultivation or materials, then their cultivation will have a greater jump. Compared to having neutral monster cores, and much more than monster cores that are of the opposite attribute. Cultivating a single attribute is easier to tend towards, but the capacity required to temper their body is much higher than a human. How much fire it took to temper your body is much lower than it would take say George to temper his body.”

Erik’s eyes were shining.

“I only know the basics, talk to the beast trainers if you want to learn more.”

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Quest: Beast Cultivation

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One’s power is great, but the power of two united in a single cause is greater than the sum of its parts.

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Requirements:

Achieve tempering of the Bones for your beast companion.

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Rewards:

Beast will advance in power

==========[mc11]

“Looks like the Ten Realms agrees with you,” Erik coughed and closed the status screen. “Alright, yeah lets do this. I fucking hate being sick.”

“Alright, it won’t be an overnight thing, it could take weeks to complete.”

“Better to get it done now than later.” Erik paused, catching his breath. “Did you find out anything about the unlocking bloodline part?”

Melissa held her clipboard against her chest as she shook her head.