Serum

 

 

“...”

Dirk’s eyes opened after an unknown amount of time. He was immediately fully alert. 

The next moment, Spyte appeared on his chest, her tail flourishing as she spoke. 

[You were asleep for 18 hours. Over a day has passed since you crossed through that portal. It’s morning now.]

“...Alright.”

Dirk sighed, reflecting on his recent memories. 

That battle with his sister was exhilarating. Talk about brother-sister bonding. He felt like they had talked about everything they had gone through in the time they hadn’t seen each other. In that battle, each attack was a word, each exchange passing along the knowledge of their experiences. 

Dirk had never felt like that before. For him, combat was a means to an end. He was usually calculative about it, his mind utilizing his uncanny instincts in order to plot the most efficient path to victory. 

But in that fight, he had fun. That battle was a place to experiment, to grow and hone himself. 

He and his sister had gone through several phases of development that ended with both of them in a trance. If Viola hadn’t dropped when she did, he would’ve continued for several more hours. 

In fact, Dirk had been in just as deep of a trance as his sister. However, when she passed out on her feet, he had pulled himself out of it in order to divert his last strike. It ruined it for him a bit, but he didn’t mind much. It was much better than taking off one of her limbs. 

Dirk was pretty sure that Viola was the biggest winner of that battle. Compared to when they first started, Dirk knew that she had advanced her strength by another magnitude. 

They had both been Rook class Warriors. However, if Dirk was just beginning to enter the depths of that class, then Viola was already there and pushing to leave it. It was like that battle was the catalyst for pushing past a barrier she was at. 

While Dirk didn’t have the same boon, he did begin to understand a lot more about his magic. 

For one, Dirk was finally beginning to understand his various modes of magic casting. 

There were several ways to cast and utilize magic. There was standard casting in which the mage created magic circles. There was silent casting, where they cast magic directly without magic circles. And then there was elemental manipulation, where the mage didn’t even use runes, instead relying entirely on his comprehensions to directly manipulate mana and invoke changes in the environment. 

After developing his Stigmata, Dirk never utilized many spells beyond it. The pistol made magic so much easier to cast. And any other magics he used came in the form of elemental manipulation. 

However, he found a limitation. 

He couldn’t cast large scale magic. 

During the battle, Dirk had attempted to cast a complex multi-circle spell. He naturally used his pistol as the medium, but in doing that, he realized that the pistol couldn’t cast spells beyond a single circle in complexity. 

This meant that if Dirk wanted to use more powerful spells like the one Pandora cast, he would need to cast it personally. This wasn’t impossible, but doing so was much more difficult without the pistol. 

Dirk’s battles were too fast paced. He didn’t have time to cast a long series of magic circles for a grand spell. He would open himself up to way too much danger. 

But it also meant that his magic wasn’t allowed to surpass a certain level of strength. If he didn’t figure out a way to solve that issue, his magic would remain supplementary. He still couldn’t see how his magic could become a tool just as or more powerful than his own body and weapons. 

Of course, that wouldn’t stop him from making it more powerful, but he wanted to use the tools at his disposal. Being both a mage and body refiner gave him a massive advantage over those who only trained one or the other. But that would only remain so if his magic could keep up. 

He also had the advantage of not needing to train himself in martial arts. He was already an exceptional fighter whose instincts afforded him combat ability that rivaled some of the most powerful people in the world. So that meant he could devote most of his time to magic, advancing faster than those who had to train both. 

There was no reason he shouldn’t be able to reach Pandora’s level.

Dirk slowly leaned up. He got a read on the state of his body, which felt amazing. It was like it had been burned and refined through the fire of battle, which wasn’t far from the truth even taken literally. 

Dirk remembered how much stress he had been put under. Viola was the perfect opponent for him, not weak enough to fall under his combat senses, but not so strong as to be overwhelming. So he had been pushed to his limits in order to keep up, and technically, he won out in the end due to his greater stamina. 

Just because his body had been under great stress didn’t mean his stamina couldn’t go for much longer. If he insisted on going until he died, Dirk could’ve lasted another day, let alone a few more hours. And the fact that his stamina could surpass someone a full level ahead of him in every respect spoke volumes. 

[By the way, I have a report.]

“What is it?”

Dirk asked curiously, wondering what was so important that Spyte decided to report it. 

The cat sat straight on his chest, transmitting some data to his mind. 

[I observed your body through your nanites during the battle, and there are two things that I noticed a change in. The first is your blood. At the end of your battle, massive amounts of mana had been infused into your blood stream. This is by design according to the Mana Heart Technique, but because your blood is no longer human blood, instead supposedly being some kind of dragon’s blood, it is heavily accepting of the mana. Long story short, your Adaptable Genes Trait is showing signs of activation, and your blood is moving towards evolution. I’m not sure of the specifics, but that’s what all signs point toward.]

“Interesting.”

Dirk nodded, thinking that this was a good thing. 

Back when Garel had mistakenly given him a potion at the Academy, Dirk’s body expelled all his blood and replaced it with something else. The blood couldn’t be identified by his nanites because it wasn’t a human variation. Instead, it was blood that could work in tandem with mana, and this blood synergized well with his Mana Heart Technique that infused his heart and blood with mana. 

Now, it seemed like the increasing mana concentration was beginning to positively affect his blood again. Either way, if it was changing, then it was either improving or properly assimilating to his body and growing power. 

Unfortunately Spyte didn’t know much else, but that was alright. 

“Just keep monitoring it. What about the second change?”

[The second change is in regard to the nanites themselves. Your nanites exist all throughout your body, but their highest concentrations reside within your blood. And because your blood is changing, it seems your nanites are being affected as well.]

“How is that? The nanites are supposed to be a foreign device that isn’t affected by bodily functions.”

[Well, that’s not entirely true.]

Spyte pulled from her memory banks from when she was just a basic intelligence. Back then, the AI had been armed with the standard programming of Dirk’s AI from Earth and knew all about the specifics of how the nanites truly functioned. 

[The technology of the nanites relies heavily on genetic engineering. Your body doesn’t accept something unless it becomes a part of its genetic code. So the nanites and their existence is a part of your genetic code, yet your body treats it like it isn’t there, carrying on as normal and letting the nanites operate as they please. In fact, the installation of the nanites was the second biggest cause for psychosis in the Supersoldier program, only losing to the AI integration. And that’s because of this genetic alteration.]

“...I see.”

It seemed there was much more behind Dirk’s cybernetics than he knew. But then again, it wasn’t like he was a genetic scientist, so it was normal for him to know little about it. 

[Anyway, because your nanites are a part of your genetic code, they’re being affected by the changes to your body. Your new blood, all the mana and anima, and your growing power is invoking change. Your nanites are beginning to affect the mana and anima within your body and work alongside your Reformation skill, simultaneously triggering your Adaptable Genes Trait. I’m not sure what this will lead to, but like with your blood, I plan to monitor every change.]

“Sure. Well, thank you for the report.”

[Of course. Now go eat. I’m starving.]

“You’re my stigmata.”

[And a part of you. I share your hunger. So hurry and eat.]

She pawed at him, causing him to smile and scoop her up before climbing out of bed. 

He walked down after dressing. Dirk had long noticed that this residence wasn’t the one back at the Capital, but one within that base. He could feel the incredibly dense fire mana despite the house cooling the air around him. 

And after walking down, he found a funny scene. 

“Well good morning, sleeping beauty.”

Pandora chuckled as he walked into the dining room. There, his family was seated and eating. 

Ryker and Cecilia sat across from each other, while Ethan sat across from Viola. Pandora sat at the end next to Viola, and across from her was an empty seat. 

Dirk sat down while Nova, Pandora’s personal maid, prepared him a plate. 

“Morning.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Very well.”

Dirk answered Viola, making her nod. 

“Good. Sorry about going so hard on you. Not that you couldn’t keep up just fine.”

“It’s alright. How about you? Just how much stronger did you get?”

Dirk smiled while asking that question, causing Viola to grin, though she tried to stifle it. 

“Quite a bit. I had been banging my head against a wall for a while when it came to advancing my Aura and combat techniques, but your insane instincts inspired me. I suppose in terms of sheer power output, I should have gained what was equivalent to half of my previous strength. But on top of that, my technique has advanced significantly. Thank you for that.”

“No problem.”

Dirk raised the glass of water in front of him, tapping it against Viola’s when she raised it. 

Still, he was surprised by her gains. Not only was she 50% stronger, which was a massive increase, but her techniques had advanced to another level. Dirk wouldn’t be surprised if she had doubled her overall combat power. 

At the same time, he was kind of disappointed. He would love to outright double his combat power, but then again, the fact that he could still fight against Viola’s power meant that he was much farther along than he had any right to be. 

However, Viola sighed. 

“Unfortunately, I’ve hit another wall. The inspiration was nice, but it feels like going any further is impossible. I’ll probably be stagnant for a while.”

“That’s normal, sweetie. Approaching Rank 7 isn’t something most even get the chance to do, let alone do so easily. It took me around a decade to push into Rank 7.”

Cecilia comforted her child, but Viola only looked at her with narrowed eyes. 

“How old were you then, mom?”

“I believe I was 30 at the time. So it’s been over three decades since then.”

“So I’ve got 5 years in order to reach that level to be on par with you.”

“You will take however long you need and not rush it, otherwise you may never advance. My path is not something you should be trying to mimic, because reaching the Bishop class is different for everyone. If you’re focused on others, you’ll never be able to pave your own path to that level.”

“Hm.”

Viola only hummed, seemingly not convinced. 

Her mother and father were both extremely accomplished people, having reached Rank and Tier 7 respectively. She was pressured by their talent, especially as the oldest child. 

But even more than that, she was pressured by her youngest brother, Dirk.

She had finally realized just how talented he was, and it was overwhelming. It was like he had a straight shot to the top so long as he was given time. The fact that he could fight on par with her, who was an entire 8 years older, had her feeling like her talent was pitiful. 

She had even been inspired by him, if that wasn’t bad enough. Things like that only happened when facing someone far superior. And she had no choice but to admit that Dirk’s combat ability was immensely superior. 

That combat ability was the only reason he could fight against her. Usually, a person’s combat ability grew alongside their power. As they accumulated Anima over time and developed strength, they would also begin to face stronger enemies and hone their skill. They would rise together, stably entering each level.

But Dirk’s skills far surpassed his power. As far as she knew, only Rank 8’s could display that kind of skill, and that was due to their colossal strengths. So to do so at such a young age and low power level was anomalous. 

And from the side, Ethan was feeling the same way. In truth, he was inferior to his sister’s power. She was older, so he couldn’t quite keep up. But Dirk had actually come in and matched her. Did that mean he would lose to his younger brother?

He made a note not to end up in a spar with him. Unlike his sister, he held on to a certain amount of pride as an older brother and wasn’t quite ready to have that pride crushed. 

“Hey mom.”

Suddenly, Dirk spoke as they ate, causing Cecilia to look up at him. 

He asked.

“Where can I find Alec?”

“That boy? He’s here, actually. You wanted to see him?”

“Yes. I promised to say hi to him.”

“Very well. Your father will find him today.”

To the side, Ryker nodded with a smile. 

“I can do that. Heh, I’ve heard some things about that boy. He’s quite the character.”

“How so?”

“Well, let’s just say that the girls can’t seem to stay off of him. In fact, there was quite the scandal a while ago. Apparently, the girl he fooled around with during our diplomatic trip to the Dark Kingdom scurried on over to Horizon and glued herself to him. Now she fights with him on the battlefield here. But the real kicker is when she got challenged by another girl and lost! So now the kid has two girls pining over his sorry ass! Haha, that kid is gonna have quite a few wives once he settles down. I can’t imagine.”

Ryker couldn’t stop laughing as he spoke, and his words caused Dirk’s brows to raise in amusement. 

It seemed his friend was busy while he was gone. He really wanted to say hi now, see what kind of headache he earned for his charming self.