Chapter 524 - Signature Isolation Framework

We are let into Workshop number 2 the next day.

No test needed and leaving both Hed, his group, and the trio of thylarin behind in Workshop 3 even though they are just that little bit more experienced.

I enter it expecting something different from Workshop 3, but it’s mostly the same—the only big difference being many more war armor parts and more level 8 technicians. Even Leth, who guides us in, seems to have a lot of respect.

I look around, hoping to see Ardenyx, but there are only a few of its parts here; most of the war armor was brought to its tent with its dedicated technicians.

The rush here is intense, even more so than before. Parts are moved around, materials are delivered, and the machinery is operated. I see pieces of arms, some fingers, parts of chest armor, and some of the “wings.”

“Hurry,” Leth stops our ogling and brings us to the corner, “You will only be assisting me today, nothing else. We don’t have much time, so I won’t be teaching you.”

“Leth, why do we not have much time?”

“I’m sorry, Assistant Sophie. Even I don’t know much, and what I do know I cannot share.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you. Sophie and Nathaniel will be directly supporting me. Dennis and Aaron, you will take over if either Sophie or Nathaniel makes a mistake.”

We get to work right away, working on the hand and connecting a new finger to it while fixing damage to one of the other fingers. Leth works incredibly quickly, using a specialized method and sometimes items that seem to send a password to unlock the parts so we can work on them.

It all feels like proprietary hardware and software protected by passwords, with only authorized personnel able to work on it. Likely not done out of greed—more for protection to avoid sabotage.

Sabotage is a constant worry, and for good reason. Some of the powerful enemy forces are really good at infiltration.

They have to be. The Absolute monster is a mimic, and all the other monsters are of its kin.

As Leth works—even though he said he wouldn’t—he continues to explain what he does in his calm tone. He really is a good teacher. He’s not the most talented, as shown by him being stuck as a level 7 technician for a really long time, and he lacks the skills to push him higher. But among level 7 technicians, he’s probably one of the most talented and loves what he does. There is no bitterness at his inability to break through, and even without Izzy, I realize what kind of guy he is.

Still, even then, he is far beyond any of us four. I think we could be considered level 4–6 technicians. It’s hard to say accurately since I’m not sure how they rank it.

Both Sophie and I hungrily take in what he shows us and almost flawlessly fix the hand, leaving it for a higher-level technician to check and implement.

After all of this, I still feel fresh, but I notice Sophie and even Leth looking slightly tired—Leth because he did the most work, and Sophie because she doesn’t have the mid-arcane passive I do. The twins are the same, even though they're struggling to hold on for as long as they can.

We continue for a bit longer, and they are sent away after Leth judges them too exhausted. Then it’s just him and me continuing on, moving to different, bigger parts and helping other technicians.

At this point, there are rarely any assistants other than me. As before, I follow Leth and support him to the best of my ability. It’s been a while since I activated my Mana Wavelength Iris, aware they might recognize it but unable to resist.

I reach into my reserves, letting mana flow through my body as my mind endures more and more strain. And I learn more and more, all this information taken in by a part of me that keeps it there, fresh and ready to note into a mana stone after I’m done.

The ways to connect parts. The ways to make circuits so they continue working even if part of them is damaged—duplicate layers, defensive mechanisms, nodes, ways to connect to mana batteries, multiple pathways to deliver mana.

I examine more of these artificial muscles used to move the armor. They’re made of an incredible material I can’t comprehend—durable yet elastic and mana-reactive. It feels so flesh-like that part of me wonders if it might be possible to heal them by some sort of mana use or by a healer like Lily.

And as hours pass, I realize it’s Leth who is exhausted first, and not only because he worked more. Even though it doesn’t come up too often, my mid-arcane passive is something incredible. My Mental Attunement Loop, my experience, my extreme mana reserves, my Physique, my eyes—all make me very good at this.

Finally exiting Workshop 2, Leth takes a deep breath of cold air, “Good job today, Assistant Nathaniel. Please take a good rest; there is so much to be done.”

He doesn’t give me an opportunity to answer and heads toward where his tent might be, and I return to ours.

There, I’m greeted by colder weather in the hall before reaching the living room, where Izzy’s flames keep the area heated. I noticed it even while working, but it seems like the entire Exoria deployment camp has started using less mana for these functions—something like going into battery-saving mode.

“So, what happened?” I form a manablock chair and sit down.

“Ardenyx’s pilot died an hour ago,” Tess doesn’t beat around the bush.

“I will take over. Rest a bit,” I tell Izzy and start generating heat, placing a few thermal orbs around the place.

“Thanks,” Izzy smiles weakly at me and lies on the couch, pulling sleeping Biscuit closer. Noodle expands slightly so she can use part of his body as a pillow.

Otherwise, there is only Lily and Min-Jae here; the rest seem to be doing their own things.

Lily is the next to speak. “I couldn’t help him at all. We even destroyed parts of his body to regenerate them, but that thing lingered and kept killing him. Some kind of curse, poison, or something. I heard whispers, and I think he stayed in some area too long, knowing it would cause such a wound. All just to retrieve some item.”

Tess catches my attention and says, “It was one of the few times Lily couldn’t heal someone, and it shook her a little.”

And as she said, Lily seems genuinely down.

“If that happened to any of you, Tess, I wouldn’t be able to help. And it would be worse with you. That lumoran was the Champion’s disciple and around level 400, so his body endured it partially, but you? Or someone like Nat with his Constitution?”

“How was healing someone so high-leveled?” I ask, changing the subject.

“As we theorized. It required a lot of mana, and it was much slower than anyone from our group. I was mostly there as support for lumoran healers, but someone with such a high level, more body upgrades, and who knows what else requires higher-level and more mana for me to heal.”

“Tess, any ideas why they went to power-saving mode or what item the lumoran got?”

“Nope. But they sent some lumorans and mercenaries outside, likely to fight or to double-check if Ardenyx didn’t leave anyone behind for us.”

“Got it. Could you get me the warm clothes the others got when they come back? I have a few ideas for modifications in case we end up leaving the camp. And how are the twins doing?”

“Dennis and Aaron say they should soon be able to get into one of the storage tents, and they’ll look for a replacement tent we could ‘borrow’ along with some supplies. But Nat, I’ve been talking to the girls.”

“It’s about the design, right?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the problem? They work well.”

“Yes, but the changes you made… it made them a bit…unsightly. I know it’s not the priority, so please don’t mind it too much. Just if you have a bit more time.”

“It’s always the girls. The boys love the clothes.”

Tess avoids my gaze for a moment.

“Those fuckers, even them?”

“Min-Jae said they look lame and even bulkier than before, and some of the threads you added restrict movement a bit.”

“Such a traitor. I’ll make him wear a sports bra or something if he’s complaining about movement. Plus, he can show his stick arms and abs if he wants to.”

“Please don’t be so harsh on him.”

“Tess, the other day the twins got bored and started giving me nicknames. Min-Jae jumped in and reminded them of ‘Tent Creep,’ now that we’re in tents. I’m sure the fuckers made private links I can’t crack into currently and call me that ever since.”

“In that case, don’t be too harsh.”

“I knew you would understand.” I lean back in my chair, and looking at the ceiling of the tent, I wonder, “They must have known the Ardenyx pilot was about to die yet still had us fix the parts, so they likely have a replacement pilot already. I’ll try to get some info from Serabeth; she likely knows at least a little.”

“You know there’s no way you are the replacement they have in mind, right?” Tess decides to be a party pooper.

But it’s not like I hadn’t thought of that. “It’s unfortunate, but I agree. I don’t even think anyone other than a lumoran could control them, not without extensive modifications.”

Tess, deep in thought, stands up after a while, “So the plan still stays. Since we can’t leave, we’ll prepare in case we end up on our own, and if it comes to the worst, we’ll head to the 8th floor.”

“I guess that makes the most sense,” I agree and move to sit next to Lily. “Try to describe to me how that thing killing the Ardenyx pilot felt.”

***

That night, a group of human mercenaries and lumorans returns. All of them bear signs of fighting—damaged equipment and that look in the eyes when you still feel on edge, ready to attack.

Standing near our tent, I observe the process while noticing the weather has become really cold, something I can feel even with the clothes I wear when not supplying them with enough mana. Still, I don’t let it bother me and watch as they go through the protocols that apply every time someone leaves and returns to the camp.

One after another, all mercenaries and lumorans pass into the array and then step into the circle placed on the ground. Around it, a few lumorans from Serabeth’s personal unit stand—other than the Champion and his closest men, they’re the strongest in the camp.

The circle always lights up momentarily, and everyone inside it shows great relief. From hearing the rules before, I know you’ll be killed on the spot if you refuse to go through the test.

As the tests slowly progress, I notice the mood shift. The last remaining human is acting nervous, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the guards who grip their weapons.

Mana fills the air.

“I won’t go into that weird circle. I fought one of them, so some of their blood got on me,” he lifts his arm, showing his bloodied sleeve, “I won’t let you kill me because of that.”

“Viden, just go into that damned circle. We saw it before, it’s safe,” one of his friends snorts and turns to one of the guards. “I’m correct, right?”

“Yes, Mercenary Zale, each Signature Isolation Framework was personally made by one of our Champions in cooperation with our Absolute.”

“See, Viden, just get in.”

Despite these words, the man continues to refuse, and with each denial, the expressions around him grow darker—even those of his friends.

As he yells, two lumorans grab him and throw him inside the circle.

This time, the light doesn’t shine.

The man’s face contorts, half of it twisting as if melting, while his body begins to expand. Even his clothes and equipment stretch and grow rather than tearing, their textures intact yet disturbingly resembling flesh. Multiple mouths emerge across his skin, clothing, and gear—some as wide as my arm is long—gaping open and filled with long, sharp, white teeth.

From inside one of those mouths, long tongues stick out, all of them covered in slimy saliva that burns anything it touches.

A dozen or so eyes sprout across his form, varying in size. Some as large as a human’s, others no bigger than my fist. Each eye glows orange with black pupils. The grotesque transformation doesn’t spare his equipment, where mouths and eyes also begin to appear.

Even then, the mimic bears some resemblance to the man it replaced—a humanoid figure, just bigger and twisted.

The mimic doesn’t have a chance.

Serabeth’s elites surround him, deploying an array and barrier that doesn’t even allow the mimic to attempt sending a signal or damaging the area.

Two guards step inside and rip the mimic apart, their bodies and equipment withstanding its desperate attacks. Because of that array and barrier, I don’t even sense mana from inside it.

When the mimic dies, they collect all the body parts, all the bloodied snow, and pieces of cloth in a single place and put a dark blue orb on top. Inscriptions glow into that orb before blue flames surround the corpse and burn it until nothing remains.

Everyone in the group is forced to undergo another test before being led to the tent where Serabeth usually stays, likely for further examination or questioning. I take one last look at the spot where the mimic died before heading back into our tent.

Interestingly, I noticed the man’s level and class name when he was still human. I made sure to check all of them before they left to scout.

Even as a mimic, his level and class remained exactly the same as before.

***

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