Serum

“Hi mom.”

“Dirk! Are you finished?”

“Yes. It went well, and I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Seeing that she was in the green, Cecilia couldn’t help but move over and check her son’s condition. Dirk just smiled and let her. 

At the same time, he noticed the large pool of dried black blood underneath him and staining his clothes. Perhaps that’s what had her worried. 

“Don’t worry, I’ve healed from everything. There was just a small change that caused my stomach to churn.”

“What kind of change?”

“Well, I guess I can’t call it small, but I’ll try explaining.”

Saying that, Dirk wanted to describe the skill and trait changes. But before he did that, he called for his Status.

<Profile>

Name: Dirk Strider

Species: High Human

Tier: V

Rank: V-

Attributes: Fire - 100% (Lightning - 100%), Earth - 100% (Metal - 100%), Dark - 100%

Traits: Cybernetic Enhancement, Adaptable Genes, Pure Soul, Mana Body

Skills: Active BioKinesis (Grade 8), Mana Manipulation (Grade 7), Anima Resonance (Grade 6)

Stigma: Black Cat of Calamity

Stigma Skills: Magic Form - Pistol, Magic Form - ???, Runic Simulation, Symbiotic Intelligence, Processing

Familiar: Obsidius

Familiar Skills: Symbiotic Armor, Living Flame, Living Gloves, Pocket Dimension, Molding

<>

‘It seems my Tier has surpassed my Rank.’

Dirk pondered curiously.

He had noticed that his advancement had gone very well. Almost too well, in fact. The changes were vast, and he directly shot into the middle level of Tier 5. 

Perhaps all his skills and his body had been primed for this change, and the advancement was the trigger. But Dirk felt that he had been affected by the Light Dragon Primordial who oversaw his Status in the first place. 

After all, it had directly told him that his Mana Body was suppressed when it was combining skills to form BioKinesis. This wasn’t something he did himself or something that happened naturally, so there was obvious external influence. Regardless, this advancement brought his magic power forward several levels. 

And he wanted to make sense of exactly what these changes entailed. Luckily, it was like the Record could read his mind. When he wanted to know about his Mana Body Trait, information about it popped up. 

<Mana Body: A body perfectly suitable to host mana on the genetic level. Your blood, organs, and other bodily systems have been altered, enhanced, and bound with mana. A Mana Body can perfectly merge with its Domain. A Mana Body is resistant to all forms of magic attacks or interference. A Mana Body is also naturally enhanced in every respect, the natural processes and strengths of the body supplemented by mana. When it comes to controlling or containing mana, the Mana Body knows no equal.>

Dirk read through the description, and he was surprised. 

It seemed that he didn’t simply gain something like Mana Blood, like Spyte had predicted. Instead, his entire body underwent a change, becoming entirely adapted to Mana. 

Now, things like Mana Blood, Mana Lungs, and a Mana Heart were all a given. Every organ, every muscle, and every bodily system was now enhanced by Mana. 

This naturally meant that every aspect of controlling mana was boosted. The most noticeable change Dirk noticed was to his Mana Vision. And with all the feelings of power, he was itching to cast some magic. But he stifled the eagerness and got a description for the other Skills. 

<Active BioKinesis: A Skill that liberates the user’s genetic code. Its capabilities are threefold. It opens the gateway between the mind and body, allows complete bodily restoration and regeneration according to baseline DNA, and adjusts the body’s parameters to peak levels according to species. Primarily, this ability allows the user to control the various aspects of their body. Examples include controlling digestion, enabling perfect proprioception, and actively repairing or reinforcing injuries.>

<Mana Manipulation: A Skill that enables the perfect and unrestrained manipulation of mana. Without any barriers between the Soul and body that may inhibit magical flow, mana and its elements can be manipulated by mere thoughts and with perfect precision.>

Dirk read through the descriptions, thinking about how these skills were quite amazing. And in fact, he could feel the abilities of these skills, like BioKinesis. 

He intuitively knew that he could outright stop his stomach from digesting things. He could also cause his body to release adrenaline, activate specific muscle fibers instead of entire groups, and enhance certain body processes by devoting more resources and energy to them. He could even control his bloodflow to some extent.

But the abilities of this skill went beyond even these things. However, controlling the finest details of this skill required impossibly precise processing, something that could only be done by Spyte. 

He would have to wait for her to wake up. But in the meantime, he described all the changes to his mother, who gradually went mute out of disbelief. 

After a minute of silence, she sighed. 

“My wonderful child, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but you’re a monster. I myself have the Anima Manipulation Skill, and it is the basis for my Bishop class Aura. But I only got it after my Rank 7 advancement. And the only thing I know about Mana Manipulation, its counterpart, is that only the best enchanters in the world have the skill. Otherwise, it’s unheard of, let alone found to be in the possession of someone only at Tier 5. As for Mana Body…”

Cecilia frowned, scanning Dirk’s body. 

“Your mana is perfectly concealed. Not even I can see through you. Looking at you through my mana senses is no different from my eyes looking at you. I simply can’t glean anything other than what’s on the surface. The only thing I can pick up is the faint mana density of someone barely at Tier 5, but otherwise, there’s a wall. It’s quite amazing. The only people who have given me similar feelings are those Tier 8 monsters of the Empire. Perhaps they have a Mana Body too.”

“Maybe.”

Dirk didn’t doubt it. He wasn’t under the impression that these skills, besides those tailored for his cybernetics, weren’t in the possession of anybody else. Of course, those who may have such skills would likely be incredibly powerful, but regardless, they surely had them. 

In fact, perhaps a Trait like Mana Body was a prerequisite for becoming a Tier 8. After all, the mana densities at that kind of level were so high that anything but a Mana Body may be destroyed under such power. 

In that case, every Tier 8 would have it. It wouldn’t be surprising if talented Tier 7’s also had it. Dirk also guessed that it may be the same situation for Mana Manipulation. 

But for him to have such skills was still unbelievable. He even had BioKinesis, a Grade 8 Skill worthy of someone at Rank 8. Of course, he also had the Grade 7 Skill AI Interface when he was just a child, but nonetheless…

Cecilia genuinely believed that in terms of talent, her child was monstrous. He was far above Viola and Ethan. Perhaps only Rita could hold a candle to him, and even then, Dirk didn’t lack anything she had. 

It was to the point that she began to question the nature of Dirk’s existence. His talent was so unbelievable that it couldn’t be explained by his alien origin. After all, even with Dirk’s life on Earth, he wasn’t even half of Cecilia’s age. And yet, after being able to cultivate mana and refine his body for what was amounting to a mere 7 years, he was already surpassing her old records. 

At this rate, if he didn’t hit a wall, he wouldn’t even be 30 before he became more powerful than her. 

So although she knew that Dirk’s talent was atrocious, she still felt that there was something else there. Perhaps it had something to do with the War Cataclysma and his contact with the Dragons. Perhaps the powers of this world, having brought his soul here in the first place, were pushing him toward those heights.

And because he was dabbling in such deep waters, Cecilia was beginning to feel the threat. Not to herself, but to Dirk. She felt like he was drifting into something he wouldn’t be able to handle, and it scared her. 

So with his advancement, her sense of urgency increased by several times. If she wanted to be able to protect her child until he could protect himself, she would need to reach higher herself. 

And Dirk had actually inspired her. If a Mana Body was supposedly necessary to reach Tier 8, then perhaps she needed to develop an Anima Body to reach Rank 8. She already had Anima Manipulation, so if she could gain that Trait while advancing her Aura to King class, then she should be able to push past the boundary, becoming a true hegemon in this world. 

Of course, it was easier said than done. To become a King class required one to seemingly defy the laws of the world, which was never casually done. Every King was an untouchable existence who was both unfathomably powerful and unfathomably smart. The only person Cecilia ever felt could assuredly reach the King class was Dirk, and that was only because of his atrocious talent. 

Calming her thoughts, she took a deep breath. 

With Dirk’s advancement, he would surely be leaving soon. Cecilia remembered that Pandora was also trying to advance, and surely she didn’t take as much time as Dirk did. 

But either way, Dirk had work to do, so she didn’t keep him. 

Dirk stepped out of the training room with his mother. When he walked outside, he noticed that it was dark. He had started his day’s training in the morning, so he wondered how much time had passed. 

“How long did my advancement take?”

“Hm, about two days.”

“Huh?”

Dirk stopped in his steps, looking dumbly at his mother.

“My sense of time isn’t that bad.”

“Hehe, I’m not joking. You sat in that room for two days straight. In fact, given another 6 hours, it would be three days. Also, you caused quite the commotion. A beast tide was triggered from your disturbance and the base was raided for a couple days until your mana calmed down. I had to personally stop the base’s commander from throwing you through a portal in order to get rid of you.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Dirk apologized, but he couldn’t help the smile. His advancement was just too good to apologize for. 

After giggling, his mother suddenly tilted her head. Now that Dirk was standing, she noticed that he looked different.

“Did you get taller?”

“Did I?”

“I think you did. At least several inches. Your muscles look bigger too.”

“Hm.”

Dirk lifted his arm, flexing all the muscles of his forearm and watching them ripple under his skin. 

He knew his body extremely well, so he knew that all his muscles were indeed bigger. They were also much stronger compared to before. 

Body refiners, without anima, all actually had basic strength. And Anima didn’t make you ripped or create big muscles. It simply multiplied the base strength of your body when applied. 

But it was obviously better to have stronger muscles in order to facilitate greater power output. Weak muscles could only handle so much anima, so strengthening your body beyond merely raising your Rank was important. 

And now, Dirk had just become significantly stronger than before. It could be said that his body was the perfect vessel for anima on top of mana. His Adaptable Genes were evolving him into someone who could perfectly take advantage of this world’s magic systems. 

Not only that, he noticed that he was looking down on his mother from a greater height than before. He really did get taller. 

Before, at 16 years old, Dirk had grown to be about 6 feet tall. When he turned 17, he had grown another inch or so. But now, he had shot up in height once more. He was at least 6 foot 5 inches tall. That was about as tall as his father, who was one of the tallest people he knew besides the Dwarven Generals Umangot and Feller who were around 7 feet tall. 

And Dirk could tell that he wasn’t done growing. Active Biokinesis gave his body parameters at the pinnacle of the human species. In fact, he had noticed how his listed species on his Profile was no longer simply human, but High Human. It reminded him of Pandora who was a High Vampire. 

It seemed these pinnacle parameters made him taller and stronger. His hair was also quite a bit longer, having grown out during his advancement. 

And there were some other changes to his body, ones not so immediately obvious but surely something Pandora would try to enjoy. And he wasn’t talking about his blood that had also become far richer. 

‘She’s already been trying to get me in bed. Just need to survive a while longer…’

Dirk muttered in his mind. Over many months, he no longer had any reservations toward Pandora, but he wasn’t willing to take that final step, to her great displeasure. She frequently complained about him blue balling her, because apparently that was possible, and made no shortage of attempts to get in his pants. 

Now that the present was bigger, she would no doubt want to open it even more. 

‘Hm, the hormones are stronger too. That’ll make it more difficult to resist, but I need to hold on. I can’t close before I settle both accounts.’

Dirk sighed. He almost wanted to head straight to the Unity Empire and find Ava. He found it more difficult to wait with every week that passed. But unfortunately, they had business in the Elven territories, so that was their priority. 

He would have to wait another long while before he got to see her. And if she had moved on by then, so be it. But if she was waiting for him, then he needed to try to work things out. 

After seeing Alec and his growing number of girlfriends for so long, Dirk was no longer uncomfortable with the thought of having both Pandora and Ava by his side. But Ava needed to be okay with it. 

If she hated him because he showed up with Pandora… He could only blame himself. 

Shaking his head, Dirk cleared his mind of negative thoughts before walking to the walls of the base. Looking over the edge, he could see rivers of corpses, many of which were burning like wildfires after being lit on fire by the surrounding lava. 

But the walls still stood tall. It was clear that they had no issues defending against the monster tides.

The lack of monsters made Dirk sad though. He was eager to test out his new abilities, itching to let out the explosive power bubbling up inside of him. 

It seemed like he would need to stifle those urges. With a sigh, he turned away from the wall and walked off to take care of business. 

One thing he noticed when he finished his advancement was a message from Pandora. Exos had finally created not only the Security Processor, but a Processor capable of driving the Sky King that they needed to steal. 

She had spent too long preparing to steal it. It was practically within their grasp already. By simply activating everything, they would be able to walk in and walk out with a new airship. 

And now, since Dirk had advanced, their chances of doing so were practically guaranteed. 

After saying goodbye to his mother, Dirk headed back to the capital and made his way to Pandora’s residence. 

It was finally time to get out of this empire.