Serum

Exos did a bit more advertising, showing off the details of his augmentations. 

He was obviously very eager to make Dirk understand the technology and how capable it was. And perhaps it was more than just trying to attain a customer, instead proving to someone else that this was a valid technology. 

Exos even spoke about all the backlash he received from his family and other nobles. How his own father basically exiled him from their home, and how he was constantly degraded by those around him. 

Now, he was relying on the funds he had saved since he was a child to fuel his projects, though even that was dwindling. It seemed like at every corner, he was faced with adversity and troubles that hampered his dream. 

Dirk was likely the first person to truly hear him out. 

Unfortunately, Dirk wasn’t listening to him except to satisfy his own curiosity. Not in a million years did he believe that this kid was able to give him a new set of eyes to bypass Asura’s curse. 

“So… What do you think?”

After what seemed like a lecture, Exos caught himself and stopped talking, asking Dirk’s opinion. 

Dirk nodded. He already knew just about everything there was to know about augmentations, or as he knew them, cybernetics. 

“What you’re doing here is revolutionary. You’re nothing short of a genius.”

“Oh, uhh, thanks…”

Exos couldn’t help the smile, even though he tried to look as professional as possible. 

Dirk looked around, seeing all the fruits of his hard work. Exos was no doubt completely obsessed with this work, and it was indeed a worthy thing to obsess over. Technology like this could change the world just as much as Pandora’s modern knowledge. 

In fact, it gave Dirk a few ideas. Someone like Exos shouldn’t just be left here to waste away with no money. Instead, he needed to be nurtured. 

Dirk asked. 

“How old are you?”

“This year I’m 26 years old.”

“Oh.”

Dirk was surprised. Exos was older than he expected, at least a decade older than his own physical age.

Exos could see Dirk’s surprise, and it made him sigh. 

“I’m a cripple by dwarven standards. I didn’t develop normally, and my two limbs that are now augmentations used to be disfunctional and disfigured. This crippled nature of mine led me on this path. The path of unifying the body, magic, and metal, to create something greater than anything mere flesh can grow.”

“...”

Dirk was surprised by his grand words. His dream was beyond ordinary, his philosophy extreme. He was willing to take off his own limbs and replace them to pursue his goal. 

And for the first time, Dirk saw in him what he had only ever seen in the eyes of Pandora. 

That hint of madness. The fire that pushed someone to seek out the furthest extremities of their ideals. The obsession that would only go unfulfilled if they died. 

But… was it madness?

Or was this just the inner brilliance within Exos? He was an unseen prodigy, but that glint in his eyes reminded him too much of Pandora. 

Then, perhaps it wasn’t necessarily madness. Perhaps that’s just what people who sought the highest heights looked like. 

Maybe that glint was required to do what they did. Anything less, and they wouldn’t be able to endure the colossal burden of being the best. 

Is that what Dirk needed in order to become the best? To become so strong that nobody in the world would be able to threaten his life? Did he need to be more than just a machine that merely ascended step by step?

It made him delve into thought. 

“Excuse me?”

Dirk was brought back to reality only when Exos called. Dirk lifted his head before letting out a breath. 

“I won’t be buying any eyes from you. You see, mine are cursed. I can only say that my circumstances are special.”

“Oh…”

Exos lowered his tone as Dirk squashed his hopes of finally getting a customer. 

“But I want to introduce you to somebody. I believe in your work, but there’s also a lot you can improve. I know someone who can greatly accelerate your research. They also have money.”

“...Really?”

Exos asked with both hope and skepticism. 

Dirk could only reassure him. 

“I guess you could say I work with her. We’re here on business. Anyway, she holds knowledge far beyond what you can learn even here at the Haven. Knowledge about mechanics and biology, how machines work and all the components that comprise the body. If you want to reach your goal, then you’ll need to meet her.”

“...Why are you so willing to help me?”

Hearing Dirk’s generous words, Exos became even more skeptical. Unfortunately, Dirk didn’t know what to do about that. He could only say what he wanted to. 

“I just see your potential. Either way, I’m offering this to you. I’ll come by in two days to introduce you.”

Dirk waved while exiting the warehouse, leaving Exos to his thoughts. 

It was all so sudden, but Dirk really did believe that Exos was a genius worth supporting. Pandora would surely realize it to. 

The thought of Pandora though made Dirk sigh as he walked through the city toward the gates. 

“Everything revolves around her. Not that I mind, but I feel like I’m not doing anything for myself… I should train tonight. And maybe find a place to work on my armor…”

He mumbled while observing all the paths he traveled, checking the alleyways, and plotting for the future. 

He needed to prepare just in case Pandora really did do something crazy and turn the entire Haven against them. 

……

…

Dirk spent the rest of that day plotting escape routes through the city. While he was doing this, he operated under the assumption that he was being monitored. 

And thankfully, with his mana vision he could get away with a lot more than normal. 

He learned that many buildings were armed with magical locks and magic alarms by seeing enchanted clusters on doors or walls. And when he visited the outer reaches of the city near the gates, he was able to plot guard patrol routes with Spyte and get a layout of the buildings. 

While more scouting exposed more avenues for escape, it also told Dirk just how difficult it was to go in or out of this city. It really was a massive fortress. 

But no fortress was impregnable. Another thing Dirk did was let out mana pulses to get a view of the ground underneath his feet. 

Dwarves were miners, basically a society of moles. And that meant there would be a great many tunnels. 

And sure enough, merely 30 meters below the surface, Dirk was able to see three or four tunnels in any given area of the city. They all connected to the basements of various buildings, and many went so deep that he couldn’t see their ends. 

Those would be a prime route for escape, so long as he could scout them. 

So since Pandora was giving him a few days to do just that, he planned on utilizing his stealth and going to work. 

The next day, Dirk didn’t see any of Pandora since she was busy with negotiations. So he got straight to work. 

With stealth, he could evade the senses of anybody even a Tier above him. So long as he didn’t get in their face, he would be safe. 

So he chose a few buildings without magic locks and went into their basements, looking for tunnels. 

With that, he not only scouted various routes that took him to different places within the city, but also dug his own tunnels.

In the end, he found and created eight different routes for escape that all led to either the edge near the city gates, down into some mineshafts he discovered, or up into the side of the mountain the city was built within. 

As Dirk had Spyte, there was no need for markings that could give things away. She plotted all the routes and precisely captured the look of every surface to make sure that, when he came back through them, they weren’t tampered with or compromised. 

Like that, another day passed. 

Come the next day, Dirk planned on going back through his routes and perhaps establishing some more. He also needed to go and get the car from Pandora and hide all their pocket rings somewhere. 

But in the morning, Dirk was pleasantly though unexpectedly woken up by a beautiful girl.

Not that he ever fell for her looks. 

“Good morning!”

Pandora entered the room with a bright smile. More oddly though, she was carrying a platter of food. 

Just as Dirk started to climb out of his sheets, she spoke with a stern tone. 

“No no, stay there.”

“Why?”

“Because I personally cooked this breakfast for you, and you’re going to enjoy it in the comfort of your bed.”

She said that while placing the platter on his lap. 

The wooden tray was warm, as was the food on it. And there weren’t just dishes from this world, but from Earth as well, recipes that nobody else would know how to cook. 

She really did make it herself, but that made Dirk skeptical.

“What did you do?”

“I did nothing except successfully negotiate a deal with King Greyscale. Now, I’m going to acquire around 32 thousand crystals within the next three months, as well as a commission deal for trade between our empires and a massive construction order.”

“...”

Dirk was surprised. Although the terms of the deal had changed a bit, it seemed like Pandora still got the most out of everything. She looked exceptionally happy. 

He turned to the food on the tray, slowly picking up an exotic fruit loaded with tons of anima. 

When he bit into it, his teeth felt like they were breaking past leather before sinking into soft goodness. The texture was weird, but the taste was heavenly. 

And when it hit his stomach, it made his body feel vigorous. In fact, as he finished the fruit, he felt something within him reach a threshold. 

That’s when he remembered.

‘I’m about to complete muscle destruction.’

He had been working on it for weeks, and during the car ride with Pandora he did nothing but focus on his armor and training. 

And he had gone through a shocking amount of resources. The large reserve of anima bones he used was bitten into a significant amount, especially toward the latter portion when he would use multiple sets of bones to complete one destruction cycle. 

But now, it was all reaching that tipping point. 

He could feel all the muscles through his body surge with power. If he wanted, he could grab a few anima bones right now and complete muscle destruction. 

But he waited. 

Pandora stood to the side, watching him with a smile on her face. She often blatantly watched him like this, so he wasn’t that bothered. 

He dug into his breakfast, enjoying the well crafted taste of the nostalgic food. At the same time, he wondered why Pandora went and did this for him. 

He couldn’t think of anything she could’ve possibly done wrong though that might warrant a cute apology breakfast like this. The only thing he could think of, regardless of how improbable, was that she was doing this out of the kindness of her own heart. 

He focused on her occasionally in his mana vision while eating his food. 

Since she was being nice like this…

“Hey.”

“Mm?”

She tilted her head at his call. 

“I met a kid a day ago. His name was Exos. 26 years old and I believe he was already a Tier 5. He showed me some interesting magic tech.”

“Like?”

“He called them augmentations, but they were basically magical prosthetics. Metal limbs, flesh mods, even sensory organs. The kid pioneered what could be considered this world’s cybernetic tech. He’s a genius, one I think you might like to know about.”

“...If all that’s true, then I need to see him and his work for myself. He could become an extremely important artisan. You know where he is?”

Pandora asked, her curiosity piqued. Her mind was already swirling with all the applications for such magical augmentations. 

“He’s in some crafting district a mile or so away from here. I told him I’d meet him again today around noon.”

“Then I’ll go with you. Stick around for a while and I’ll find you when I’m done with the last of my business with these nobles.”

“Alright.”

Dirk nodded while finishing off his breakfast. 

Before leaving, Pandora walked over to his bedside, reaching over and running her nails through his hair. After straightening it out, she smiled before walking to the door. 

“I know you’re close to advancing in Rank. I’ll leave you be to focus.”

“...Thanks.”

Dirk’s voice came out with a hint of confusion. When Pandora walked out and closed the door, he scratched his cheek. 

“Odd…”

……

…

[You technically needed a few more days, but it seems things moved a bit faster than planned. Your anima has reached the threshold. I can feel your soul getting ready.]

Spyte paced around while eyeing Dirk. He sat in his room with several anima bones around him, as if he were going to perform some dark ritual. 

And in his mind, he was reading through the traced runes of his Anima Resonance Destruction Technique. 

He had learned the advanced anima resonance technique that utilized the external anima of high concentration sources, and from now on, he would have to use sources that only got more and more dense with anima. Progressing would be no different from forging his body with gold. It would be a money pit. 

Thankfully he had a rather large money bag willing to invest in him. 

Anyway…

Dirk’s soul had transformed upon finishing blood destruction. It had gained blood vessels of its own, and as a result Dirk earned the ability to expel his anima in the form of Aura. Through honing his skills, he had sharpened his Aura and became a Rook class warrior capable of utilizing Aura alongside weapons. This ability was what allowed him to cut the lightning snake skin for his armor. 

What would happen once he finished muscle destruction?

Dirk had already felt the effects of muscle destruction. He was far stronger, quicker, and more durable than before. The layer of muscles on the body served as not just the source of power behind movement, but also a thick buffer for impact. Unfortunately, Dirk had yet to test these powers of his since he had spent most of his recent time in a car. 

But even then, his blood destruction didn’t explode with its powers and perks until he finished. It would be the same with muscle destruction.

Dirk was excited. 

With the anima bones around him, he began to draw on each one. The anima from them rose up like a white fog, streaming into his body. 

The last muscle Dirk had been working on were his neck muscles. He had thoroughly destroyed everything else, from his feet, to the tendons in his knees, to his pelvic muscles, and onward through his upper body and arms. 

And as he streamed the anima as dense as a fog into his neck, it seemed to not just resonate with the muscles, but his entire body. 

The anima destroyed only a tiny few portions of the muscles in his neck, barely even a tingle. It was more like a purification, purging any unenhanced muscles and finalizing the tempering. 

That’s when Dirk felt it. 

The anima throughout his entire body, which had been brought up to another level, began to fluctuate like vibrating air. It made his muscles and body twitch. 

The twitching was so strong that it stressed his bones, threatening to break them. The only thing that kept them from doing so was the dense anima that pervaded his body and indirectly forged his bones stronger. 

Not only that, but the flexing of his muscles sucked the energy out of him. It was like a black hole for energy, and if Dirk didn’t have his blood that was enhanced by blood destruction, he wouldn’t be able to fuel his body. This was the reason that destroying the vascular system came only after skin destruction. It would act as fuel for everything else. 

And so Dirk didn’t get deathly tired when his muscles started tightening uncontrollably. They just continued to flex and cramp. He felt like they were trying to squeeze themselves smaller. 

Dirk grunted because of how uncomfortable it felt. It felt like he was trying to snap his own bones, and his organs felt like they were being constricted. 

And his body drew in anima as it wished, absorbing it through his skin in vast quantities. Dirk quickly took out several more anima bones from a pocket ring, allowing it to completely fuel this change. 

And then, his soul fluctuated along with his body. 

His awareness moved into that mana dimension. He could see the black dragon coiled around him, as well as Eldritch in the great deep of the dark element. 

His soul writhed within the dragon’s protection. It twitched just like his body did. And then, he could see it. 

The layer of muscle that appeared within his soul. 

{The symbol of Strength.}

During the changes, Dirk heard the Dark Dragon whisper. 

{So you’ve forged your body to another level? Keep doing so. It shall be just as important as filling your soul with the power of Mana. Those who believe that forging the fleshly body is useless, know nothing about the secrets of the soul and the realm of existence. But you must continue down both paths.}

Even as Dirk felt his body and soul contracting and crushing itself, he could see the Dark Dragon open its eyes and gaze at him. 

{Forge your body no longer. Only when you enter the realm of Fusion, the next step of Mana Cultivation, can you begin again. Forsake my advice, and you will forsake the opportunity to ascend to the realm you wish to most.}

The Dragon gave this rare and most precious advice with a serious gaze. Then, it went back to seemingly sleeping. 

That’s when the changes ended. 

The muscles in his soul, the symbol of Strength, finished forming. 

And the muscles in his body, which had compressed and reformed, took on their new shape. 

His soul calmed, no longer resonating with the anima. But, that resonation had left a permanent mark. 

……

<Attention, Skill Acquisition successful.>

<Dirk Strider has gained the skill: Anima Resonance (Grade 5)>

<The trait: Adaptable Genes has activated in response to physical alterations.>

<The skill: Restoration (Grade 5), has evolved to: Reformation (Grade 6)>

<The skill: Anima Resonance (Grade 5), has evolved to: Anima Oscillation (Grade 6)>

……

Dirk smiled at the System’s notifications. 

And then, looking ahead of him, he swung his fist out with the exploding power of his muscles. 

The anima through his body flowed along his arm as naturally as flowing water. Then, it took on its own frequency as it was released. 

It warped the air in front of him until the released anima slammed into the wall five meters away, cratering. 

Cracks went up the hard stone that had been enchanted alongside the rest of this royal palace.