Chapter 1 Part 3 of 3 (Patreon)

Rugrat chewed on his words as the Special team rode with him. The city had gone through a round of building and alterations. The dungeon headquarters had been rebuilt and upgraded, the buildings that had been destroyed in the fighting repaired, or new buildings had risen in their place. The glaring hole that had led to the outer world, had been changed into a gate with a constant stream of people passing through into Alva or to King's Hill and the Empire that stretched out across the Beast Mountain Range and beyond.

Ah, he's just trying to sound like some mystical master. Rugrat cleared his thoughts of Lee's words and increased his pace, catching the pained looks as people bowed along their path, their tense smiles.

Everyone in the city seemed to know Rugrat's ailments and the weakness within his body. Seeing their pity he nudged George to go faster, until he jumped into the sky and unfurled his wings, flying across the city.

He had gotten away from their gazes, but now the city would see him flying to the hospital again, he was sure that his mother would have storage rings filled with healing concotions once more, making her worry.

He slouched in his saddle, looking over the city without seeing it.

where Erik and his group were waiting.

Erik was pacing the landing area. He stopped as George flared his wings and they came in to land.

Rugrat could see the lines of pain traced into Erik's face, looking at him he frowned without thought, seeing how he stood differently and carried himself to try and cause the least amount of pain and stiffness.

Rugrat abolished his expression, heat filling his belly. Everyone looks at me the same way what kind of hypocrite am I to look at him that way.

He slid off of George's back, hiding his grimace and moved over to Erik.

Erik led the way into the hospital.

"When do we leave?"

"Heading up in two days, just need to get past the tests."

They fell quiet, moving and not expending mana Rugrat kept up with Erik without problems.

The Hospital, like the rest of the city had expanded an changed, Erik knew the place as a second home.

Rugrat looked at Erik's scarred hands. Erik hadn't been able to cast a spell without the power of the dungeon core ever since they had defended Alva.

"You still looking into that cultivation and level imbalance?" Rugrat asked.

"Yeah, still don't know why, think that it has something to do with the environments of the different realms." Some people who had been cultivating but hadn't leveled up much or just hadn't gone to the higher realms had hit roadblocks in their cultivation.

"Looks like people don't just need to increase their level but go to the higher realms. And instead of jumping from the first realm to the fifth say, it goes smoother if they go from the first realm through the second and so on."

"Huh, weird," Rugrat said as they walked on silently with their protection.

They reached a medical bay, most were empty but this one had several people inside, including Melissa Bouchard, the leader of the mana gathering cultivation research team. Jules the leading Alvan healer and previous director of the healing house located in Vermire and Rex, once a leading beast Trainer, he had now taken the lead spot of the Body Cultivation Research team.

Rugrat didn't miss how the room stilled as they walked in.

"Looks like everyone's here, lets get this over with as soon as possible, Momma Rodriguez is expecting us back for dinner," Erik smiled.

Rugrat felt the chill behind the smile and he knew that he and Erik would spend most of the night going over gear prep and getting ready for the coming operation.

"Of course, this should be over quickly," Jules said.

***

"So, how are they?" Delilah asked. To her right sat Commander Glosil of the Alvan Military and on her left Lieutenant Colonel Niemm, commander of the Special teams.

Jules took in a deep breath through her nose and released it through her mouth.

"Not good."

Melissa and Rex's expressions seemed to agree.

"When the dungeon core was destroyed, shards of the dungeon core was embedded into Erik and Rugrat's bodies which were already over taxed with channelling the power of the dungeon through themselves. Shards of the dungeon core, like shrapnel stabbed into their bodies. In the past five months we have attempted to remove the fragments, but it severly weakens them, to the point we nearly lost Erik a couple of times and we did not attempt it on Rugrat. We have tried pills, potions, therapies, researched every and any possible way to heal them, really, it is surprising that they are even alive. It took nearly three months to stabilize them to the point where they didn't need to move around with scaled down conqueror's armor or be taking potions to deal with the stress upon their bodies."

"Erik's mana channels have been, well torn apart would be an understatement, if he takes in mana it leaks throughout his body, causing him low grade pain constantly." Melissa shook her head. "He still can't cast any spells unless he is channeling power from the dungeon core. Rugrat can still cast spells, but the nature of the dungeon cores is still present in the shrapnel, they drag in mana, refine it and remove the elements and release pure mana. The dungeon cores are dragging that impure mana through his body, all of the elements, if he is not wearing a formation to repel all elements except fire, then it would overwhelm his body, still there are some elements being drawn through his body."

"Rugrat's body is fighting all the time as it is being tempered around the clock. Erik has mana going through his body which is also causing him to bein in pain and making it impossible to repair his mana channels. Erik's mana cultivation is dead and Rugrat's body is so weak that it would be easier to compare him to someone without any body tempering. They can operate like humans fresh from Earth, but their stamina drains as fast as they gain it." Rex shrugged. "Overall, a few improvements, but not much in the last couple of months. They can fight still Erik can call his elemental armor and return to eighty percent of his overall strength."

"Same with Rugrat," Melissa said.

"Also if they are in range of the dungeon core and use its abilities, then Erik can use spells and Rugrat doesn't get as worn down." Jules said.

"I don't like it," Delilah shook her head.

"As much as we can try to stop them, we can't." Niemm cleared his throat.

"Look, this is Erik and Rugrat we are talking about, they chanelled two dungeon cores in the same day through their bodies, they saved Alva because they are block headed stubborn bastards. You think we can stop them saying no?"

Glosil snorted, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Just a question of when not how Delilah."

Delilah twisted her mouth.

"From what Lee Perrin has told us, if they are able to pass the eighth realm Trial, then their bodies will go through a change that could reverse the damage to them," Jules shrugged. " A long shot granted, but how many times have they pulled off the impossible?"

"So what are we really talking about?"

"Who are we sending with them," Niemm said.