Chapter 763 - Just as I like it

The moment I take the fragment, the dungeon starts shaking, and the walls fracture, letting in more water.

I don’t know if every dungeon is like this, but this one seems to be getting destroyed without offering another exit. So, as one of the walls breaks, I just exit through it to find myself back in the dark, cold water. When I manifest a thermal orb to light it up, I look back at Septa, curious about what she will do. The small, dog-sized spider moves all eight of her hairy legs and swims with impressive speed towards the surface, and I do the same.

Adrian is nowhere to be seen, but just in case, I make a quick visit to Sneaky to have him hide some of the memories I have regained. At least until I’m back in the tutorial. Though it does not seem to be needed.

I still don’t see Adrian even as I exit the water, nor as I start flying towards where Channeler is, with around half an hour remaining.

Septa climbs out of the water too, standing on the surface and shaking it off. Just for a moment, she stands on four back legs to wave two of her front ones as she wiggles from side to side, though this time it doesn't seem threatening at all. She then gets back on eight and starts running in the opposite direction I fly.

My flight takes me back to the island, where I land and re-enter the room with Jessica and Channeler. Several massive waterproof boxes sit in the middle of the room, the kind of hard plastic containers you see the military using in movies.

"Hey, welcome back," Channeler says swiftly, noticing me looking at the boxes and skipping straight to the point. "I have prepared all you wanted. Snacks, some food, be it frozen, ingredients, or other stuff. There are solar panels, a lot of phones, tablets, laptops, a gas generator, some gas, plenty of ebooks that my guys have sorted out in files, some music tools for Maya, and documents detailing what happened on Earth."

He starts naming it all, but I don’t stop him and instead listen curiously. Meanwhile, I keep my senses and guard up, looking for any sign of Adrian.

"Then there are some experimental devices that scientists made with metals and crystals brought out of the tutorial. I don’t know if they will be useful to you, but there are camera lenses and some weird sensors that those guys were very proud of. A few scientists also asked me if you could measure a thing or a dozen in the tutorial. There are devices for it with explanations on how to operate them, but feel free to throw them away if you want. I will just hand them a few of your manabloc plates, and they will be happy. What else do we have... oh, you asked, so I put as much as I could in there on smithing, creating alloys, and that kind of stuff. Drones, some guns, you can try, grenades, and other explosives. This one is from me. I gathered several 3D printing pattern samples that I thought you could use in your manabloc creations. Some of the internal structures allow items to be hollow while remaining more durable than fully solid builds.”

"That does sound interesting," I agree with him.

"I thought you would like it. Then there are plenty of clothes, telescopes, and radios that could be used to avoid someone spying on mana channels or to improve your communication. Oh, and plenty of deer jerky and other kinds of it, too, as well as vests for Biscuit."

I nod, but this time I’m unable to ignore the corner of the room and ask, "Is that Grumpy?"

Channeler looks the same way, solemnly, and says, "It is. Jessica is already scared."

"I'm just a Normal difficulty, Rafael. Cats are miniature lions, did you know that? Or tigers. Sure, I could probably play with and forcibly pet a normal lion or tiger, but this is too much. I observed the process a bit, and Grumpy's muscles are getting stronger and his bones denser than they need to be."

"Lily said she wanted to make his body more durable," I note.

"Sorry to tell you, but this cute, but grumpy kitten, as she likes to call him, is already stronger and more durable than most of the Normal difficulty warriors I have healed," Jessica mutters.

Taking one more look, I can only think it can't be that bad. Sure, Grumpy is now the size of a Bengal tiger and will probably grow a bit bigger. Maybe once? Twice?

Lily’s gently smiling face flashes behind my eyes.

Yeah, let’s make it thrice as big, at least.

My phone rings, and I cancel the call before I move closer and start taking photos of the sleeping Grumpy, just as Lily asked. I boop his nose and take a photo, I even turn him on his back and caress his belly to take another. Then, I take a video of him sleeping. Another phone call tries to connect, but I cancel it as well.

"Nathaniel, how long have you been canceling that call?"

"Quite a while," I say, taking the last photo. I turn off the phone and pocket it before straightening up to look back at the blonde man. "I think you guys will be safe, but honestly, prepare for some big changes."

Channeler opens his mouth but closes it without saying anything, to think of his words. Finally, he says with a smile, "We can only do our best, as always."

I observe his face for a moment before I nod, this time a bit more seriously, "I wanted to visit the government or generals or something to make things easier for you, but it doesn't matter now. Some other guy will take over. The less I tell you about him, the better, but simply put, don’t try to push against him too much, and try to be reasonable. But why am I even telling you? It is not like you don’t know how to deal with people."

Glancing at the countdown, I have just a few minutes left, so I ask. "Anything else?"

"My sister wanted a photo with you, but maybe next time," Channeler says. It is all unexpected and surprising to the point that it makes me wonder if he didn't throw it in just to improve the mood that I, as a real party pooper, have tried to bring down.

I snort. "Why?"

Channeler smiles. "She is a bit... well, unique, you’ll see. It’s a little awkward, but she’s actually stronger than me now. She awakened while on holiday in Greece as she and some friends wandered into a cave that turned out to be a dungeon. We’ve been connecting more lately, and she’s been asking a lot of questions, using your weapons, and studying all the tutorial videos we have."

"So, nepotism."

He doesn’t even skip a beat. "Yes. But honestly, I think she probably missed out on getting into the tutorial and would have otherwise ended up in Hell difficulty. Though she is still a spoiled brat."

Looking at me, Channeler takes a swift step closer. He reaches out and fixes my hair and my shirt a little with quick movements.

"Much more presentable like this," he notes with satisfaction as he takes out his smartphone and stands next to me to shamelessly take a selfie. "I’m an older sibling, so I have to tease her a little. I apologize for this."

"Name that photo, Broody Dark vs. Golden Charmer." The until now quiet woman on the couch calls. For some reason, her heartbeat is racing, and her cheeks have more blood flow in them.

"I hope Grumpy grows five times his current size, Jessica," I say as I step towards the boxes. "Take good care of him. I already memorized your name and will tell Lily. She would be very disappointed if she found out you left poor little Grumpy scared and alone after all that talk."

"I’m the one scared here."

"You will survive," I answer as I stick out my left hand and observe the fragment on the back of it, poking from the pale skin. I give myself a moment to watch the reflections before I start cutting off fingers of that hand.

I let mana oscillate on the fingers of my right hand and use [Focus] to filter out the pain as I always do. I cut each finger by the bone into three segments as I start explaining, "Lily left some healing marks for you guys. To make them last longer, and because of something about bones being more fitting, she placed them there."

As those fingers drop to the floor, I move thermal energy around them and burn off the skin, flesh, and everything else so only the bones remain. There are fourteen of them in total.

I continue to explain, "She spent a lot of time working on these. Each bone is a single healing mark, but it needs to be activated. It activates with blood, but the person providing that blood needs to hold the bone while it adapts to the body it has to heal. I want to give you a very, very strong warning that the blood MUST belong to the person who is getting healed. Lily said she doesn't know what will happen otherwise. That is for the finger bones. The two thumb bones are different."

Looking at my hand missing the fingers, I say, "They should be able to do something similar to what is happening to Grumpy, yet nowhere near that extent. These bones can't carry a mark as powerful as the one I had. She made them so they work only for humans, they should be able to strengthen the body, heal illnesses, and possibly reverse aging. We don't know how much, so don't use it on anyone under thirty. The others will heal even a mortal wound. Lily said she tested it, and they should even be able to reconnect a severed head and restart the body. Don’t ask me how she tested it, I don’t want to know."

Meanwhile, thermal energy blazes on my hand, and my wounds heal as my passive combusts. Bones recreate, and over them, flesh and skin grow. The process on my pale left arm is faster than on the rest of my body, faster than it was before the body upgrade, even though the upgrade made me stronger. It occurs to me that Constitution influences healing significantly.

Channeler and Jessica are quiet, so I glance at them, surprised by the shocked expression on Jessica’s face as she watches my hand and the bones at my feet. How? She was Normal Difficulty, something like this should...

"Well, thank you. We will make sure to use them correctly. I will save some for the Group 4 families in case they are needed, and use others to gain some advantages, for sure." Channeler moves first, picking up the bones and placing them on the table. I notice that for a moment, he is surprised by how warm they still are.

"I will see you after the tutorial then," I say, stepping towards the piles of boxes and tethering them to myself with my mana.

"If you don’t get back here somehow before then," Channeler smiles. "You seem to have a talent for breaking things."

Hearing these last words, I am pulled away again and back into my room in the Headquarters of the Primordial Knights.

As always, an alarm starts ringing, but I filter it out and check the wound on my back that still isn’t fully healed, along with the remains of the toxin in my body.

I allow myself to take a break, sitting down to observe both forces.

Later, as they start weakening, I switch my focus to the fragment on the back of my hand. I will need to find out more about it, but currently, I'm thinking one thing, I will not sell it. If my early observations are correct, this thing will be very useful.

While thinking that, I cut the top off the box where I located the snacks and find a thermobox with frozen pizzas. I take one out and, after unpacking it, start using thermal energy to heat it according to the instructions. Unlike before, my control over thermal energy is much better, so it comes out near-perfectly, with a slightly charred bottom to add to the taste.

Sitting there on the floor, resting against the side of the bed, I block the doors to my room and hijack the defensive arrays to keep people from interrupting my thoughts. I think for hours, deeply and gradually, with all my memories returned to me.

I observe my body and its changes from the body upgrade. I take Lily’s and Group 4’s capabilities into consideration, and I even remember the question that the Warden of the Parallax Eyes owes me.

A bit later, I move outside to one of the Headquarters' gardens and Fragment of the Nameless Tree reacts to my will, shrinking to half. Half of it stays imbued in my hand, and the other one I put into a small hole I dig out and close the dirt over it. After just a few minutes, the flat surface bulges and a small sprout with a tiny leaf pokes out, and with it, many ideas as I observe it and its nature.

There is a feeling that I can take it back and let the rest of the fragment in my hand reabsorb it. Looking at the tiny sapling, I continue to think about whose machinations continue to mess with all of this, considering all of the Blights and Radiances.

Lastly, I think of my pride, the pride of its Ruler, and all that I have heard. Some things snap together to make a certain kind of ill-informed sense, others are more complicated. But the base of my plan is made.

A man to kill, rules to abuse, people to be made useful, items finally to be utilized, and the abilities needed for it all.

I take another bite and feel the pizza crunch against my teeth. It stains them black, but I eat it all anyway.

Everything building up towards one single massive fuck you to the system, and people so arrogantly standing above me.

Just as I like it.

***

Author’s Note: As always, thank you all for reading and for your support!

As some of you probably realized, we are getting closer to the end of Book 9. This may even be the final chapter, or one of the last - I’ll decide that later.

Every time I finish a book (roughly every four months), I like to take a 1-2 week break or reduce the chapter output for a few weeks. Mostly to plan out some stuff and to slack a little.
Now, the same as before, I didn't warn people in advance about this - it’s really hard to guess exactly when the book will end - so I think I’ll make a poll to see what you guys think and then decide.

I’m very open about refunds, so if the timing of this screwed you up, just send me a message and I’ll refund you no questions asked!

What would you prefer?

Option A - a 1-week break with no chapters

Option B - 5 weeks of 4 chapters per week (instead of the usual 5) before returning to 5ch/week