Drodosis spent the next days in meditation and practicing breathing technique, since they were the only things he was allowed to do, and actually helpful in order to recover. His left eye was gone forever, and with great difficulty, he had decided to purchase an eyeball coming from some sort of monsters.
"Are you sure you want to do that?", the shop keeper Albert Dawins, and odd-looking middle-aged man asked, "Bloodline corruption can make you insane, and maybe you won't even survive the transplant!"
Drodosis knew the risk, but still took it. Bloodline corruption was a widely-spread disease which struck most of the people who transplanted magical beast's organs in their body. If they survived the bloodline corruption, they would turn into a different person. Most of the times, the result would be dramatic, some would contract madness, others would turn into vegetables.
Only a fraction of lucky men and women were mentally healthy after contracting bloodline corruption. The bigger and more important the organ, the more dangerous it would become. This is why Drodosis' decision to transplant an eyeball in his left eye empty socket was not unreasonable.
"Yes. I would like to purchase this eyeball."
"Mm, it is quite popular since it provides night vision. It will cost you 10 magic crystals."
Drodosis knew that it was a huge expense, but still purchased it. After all, it was far from being an average eyeball. Even Albert Dawins failed to appraise the true value of this good.
[Beep! Item: Advanced-grade Mummy Eyeball.
Mummies are creatures from the dark age, where necromancers roamed through the world. Mummies were soldiers, assassins or meat shields for necromancers, and some of them gained a consciousness over time. Covered in bandages, and possessing overwhelming strength, mummies' dangerousness actually does not come from their vitality or strength, but from their experience. In the past, their near-immortality allowed them to master their weapons better than any mortal could hope to achieve. Their eyes can see through darkness as if it were daylight, a useful ability. Host can actually recover some memories of the Old ages from transplanting a mummy's eye, a unique trait to mummy's constitution, since their eyes possess brain cells allowing them to memorize enemy's moves and make up with their low-quality soul.]
'Dark vision is popular, even crucial for ruin exploration or assassinations. However, the reason why I chose this eyeball is because the mummy was said to be killed with a scimitar in its hands. Now that I own a scimitar, I might as well earn some swordsmanship from the past by transplanting this mummy's eyeball. Moreover, it is a high-grade eyeball. The bigger the difference between your cultivation grade and the transplanted organ, the better the gains, but the more difficult it becomes.'
[Beep! Success rate of self-transplantation: 11%.]
'That's a problem as expected. How can I increase it?'
[Beep! It is possible to increase the success rate to 80% with the consumption of dragon grass, vitality fruit…]
After buying the eyeball, and as many ingredients increasing his success rate as possible, Drodosis headed to his room. In there, he followed the instructions of his biochip.
[First, consume the dragon grass mixed in green elven spirit water…]
Following the 220 detailed and precise steps issued by the biochip in the next 18 hours, without resting, drinking, sleeping, or eating, Drodosis felt exhausted. Shelling and pounding herbs, heating them in order to create pills, adding this and that ingredient, mixing it with that bottle of priceless spirit water...The tasks were long, stressful, but he still managed to complete all of them, without a mistake, which would have wasted dozens of magic crystals.
Upon drinking the solution, and implanting the eyeball, Drodosis knew that his spirit was increasing by the minute, but couldn't help but fall asleep, and lived a very strange dream. The dream was long and terrifyingly real. In this dream, he wasn't on Earth, and he wasn't in Alphen either. He wasn't in his own body! He was a mummy, humble undead servant of Lord Zakar.
Following the orders of his tyrannical necromancer lord Zakar, he cut heads and limbs for centuries. His first battle was tough. He knew nothing, but still managed to pick up a scimitar. With it, he managed to kill three humans before dying. The pain, the humiliation when he lost, he felt it all. However, he survived and recovered, thanks to his undead status.
Surviving one battlefield after another, the necromancer commanded him, along with the millions of fellow undead, to conquer a kingdom. As he got injured and recovered, he grew stronger over time. He could comprehend his scimitar better than any other undead in the gigantic army. The more time passed, the closer he became to create his own scimitar swordplay.
He remembered that it used to be his natal country. Yet, he didn't betray his orders. He cut through his enemies, like he always did. From the beginning to the end, the mummy did nothing but wield its scimitar. From the beginning to the end, it fought. It was long, boring and almost maddening. The feeling of wielding a weapon without purpose. To Drodosis, it was a novel experience.
His soul was bound to a higher existence, one he couldn't even fathom. Fighting was source of fear in humans, but as a mummy, he didn't feel that. He fought, and fought again. It was the sense of his existence. If he died, he would be freed from this madness. If he survived, then he would become stronger.
Unlike other undead, he was driven by a strange determination, and it was most likely what kept him alive all these centuries. A demonic will, striving for strength and truth, and more importantly, freedom. Ultimately, he encountered a priest whose strength was surpassing that of the strongest adept of modern times in Alphen, a priest who sealed him in a coffin. Years later, time corroded its strength. The once all-powerful mummy was now just a weak advanced mummy, who lost both its will, strength and master. It died in a ruin, at the hands of weak 'acolytes', or whatever they were called. And Drodosis, by implanting this eyeball in his left eye socket, reawakened this flame.
Drodosis could easily understand why many contracted mental illnesses. It was because they couldn't bear to live the life of another being.
Drodosis could not have stayed sane alone either, but his biochip reminded him of how great of a blessing it was. The centuries of boring yet repetitive, bloody yet relentless fights and duels were literally maddening. Most people were fed up after a few years in the army. Yet, Drodosis didn't have the privilege of spare time. He only trained, fought, and trained again. He wasn't human in the dream. He was an undead! Moreover, he didn't endure this for one year or two, but for what seemed to be four centuries!
Instead of a curse which would contaminate his bloodline, the biochip allowed him to see the implant as a huge opportunity. He accepted the mummy's innate will. He wanted to become strong too. He would pursue and pass down, if necessary, its purpose, its dreams of becoming free. He would reach his own dream too, that of reaching immortality.
[Beep! Scimitar comprehension acquired!]
(…)
[Beep! Scimitar Mastery acquired (Intermediate).]
[Beep! Scimitar Mastery acquired (Advanced).]
[Beep! Essence of Scimitar understood. Effects: +8 damage of scimitar sword energy per strike.]
The mummy was insignificant in the kingdom-scale war. Yet, it wielded its scimitar for centuries, sharpening its techniques through the dozens of thousands of battlefields where he earned victory. Scimitar was all it knew. There was no sex, no hobbies, no pleasure in this life. There was only life and death combats. And the mummy always survived. Drodosis experienced it all. The sharp pain, the pleasure of victory...
When Drodosis woke up, he was shocked to see that he only slept for two days in a row. After all, he had "experienced" centuries in this dream, fighting against his enemies. When he woke up, there was no gullibility to be found on his facial expression. He was akin to a war veteran. If not for his eyes, still flickering with wisdom and intelligence, he wouldn't have recognized his body.
Taking his scimitar, he felt safer. He felt like he was…stronger than ever. Something changed in his body…Internal energy…He could feell it. It was much thicker than normal, almost burning his whole body.
[Do you wish to break through the knight realm? Cost: 400 evolution points]
Drodosis ignored how much evolution points this experience earned him and how ridiculous it was. Instead, he followed his principle of pragmatism, and accepted the proposition. Unlike average knights, Drodosis didn't break through by a few dozen life and death combats, but through centuries of battles. It might only be an illusion, a dream, but it was real nevertheless. Every single fight he went through, Drodosis remembered them, and even if he didn't, his biochip had already recorded all of it. His body had long since surpassed the limits of normal preparatory knights, and the consumption of nutritious magical food, and high-grade breathing technique made him much different compared to the average preparatory knight.
Combining these two factors with the blessing of the world consciousness, the evolution points were consumed to strengthen and improve the quality of his internal energy, which was thus much thicker than usual, invigorating every single cell in his body. He was much more than just a knight. He was a true master of scimitars. He rose from a preparatory knight, maybe stronger than the average but still not as strong as a knight, to a true powerhouse, an elite knight, which is several realms higher.
Such experience was unheard of. If words of it got out…the knights from all over Alphen would come over to try to learn his secrets!
[Beep! Name: Drodosis Thornfield (13-years-old, 6 months).
Beginner Acolyte – Elite Knight
Evolution points – 8
HP – 31/31
Strength – 6 (+6) | Agility – 5 (+4) | Physique – 7 (+6) | Spirit – 7 | Magic Power – 7 (+0) | Mana – 21 (+0) | Internal Energy – 13 (+0)
Status: Healthy.
Perks:
→ Elite Knight Physique (+6 Strength and Physique, +4 Agility).
→ Scimitar Mastery (Advanced), Scimitar Essence (+8 Internal Scimitar Energy Damage when using a scimitar.)
Skills:
→ Acid Spear (Deals [Spirit*4] points of damage, cost 3 points of mana. Projectile's speed scaling with magic power (50 + [Magic Power] *10 m/s)).
→ Water Orb (Create a water orb around the caster, with [Spirit] layers, each one of them absorbing up to [10+Spirit] points of damage. Cost: 3 points of mana. After ten minutes, the spell is cancelled)
→ Mummy Whirlwind strike (Rotating to accumulate centrifugal energy and unleashing every single ounce of power into this one strike, Deal [10] + [Strength*2] + [Internal Energy] + [Scimitar Essence] + [Weapon Damage] points of damage. Cost: 30% of host's stamina.)
Items: 6 magical crystals, Enchanted Scimitar (+5 Shadow element damage per strike), defensive artefact.]
'My god…I'm completely changed. My strength, my agility, my physique, my spirit, my magic power, my mana…I guess I truly stepped in the path of body refinement!'
Drodosis felt huge hunger. Going to his usual place, his glowing green left eye stood out. If before, his gaze flickered with wisdom, it was now literally glowing in a terrifying light. Instead of eating one portion, Drodosis ate four times more than usual. As he became a knight, his strength had increased as much as his appetite.
Returning to his room after spending 4 magic crystals on food, he unwillingly resumed his session of cultivation, but he was shocked to see that his breathing technique had become useless to him, while his meditation's yields had largely been diminished!
'Why?'
[Beep! By breaking through the knight realm, host's sudden mental growth and experience led to internal energy of much higher quality, enabling the host to reach elite knight physique in one go, skipping the novice and veteran knight stages. The breathing technique was of high quality, but it was only meant for people of preparatory knight – and below – level. From now on, it is highly suggested to find another breathing technique, suited for knights, and preferably, for grand knights. Meditation is as useful as before, but while your spirit improved greatly, not even one month passed since you broke through the beginner acolyte realm. If not for the fact you comprehended most of the library's theories and knowledge, you wouldn't have experienced the slightest improvement!]
'Since I already have knowledge, how can I increase spirit again?'
[People usually take 2 years to break through the beginner acolyte realm, but they take 5 to become intermediate acolytes. Host is suggested to continue meditating, and be patient. Foundations are essential and cannot be rushed.]
'Can I use the gained evolution points to take a shortcut?'
[Indeed. But it will cost you 1800 evolution points.]
'Damn…How much time do I have to wait to recuperate a normal growth rate?'
[You will have to wait for 68 days, and 12 hours, in order for your spirit and body to adapt to the changes.]
Even though he would have to be patient in order to continue progressing at a fast rate, Drodosis thought his time of sufferings would come to an end within the tower. A new age would unfold before him, an age where he would become one of the most respected acolytes! He would be able to be a bully, and reap the rewards of other's efforts!
He calculated the potential of the mummy's trump card: Whirlwind Strike, a killing technique sharpened through trials and errors for centuries, an inheritance he couldn't have hoped to even fathom if not for his biochip, which maintained the synchronisation as long as the eyeball could possibly last. Indeed, usually, the 'dream' would only last for a couple minutes in real time, and a couple days, or weeks in the dream world. Yet, for Drodosis, it lasted literally for centuries. The biochip used special methods, which he didn't even bothered to try understanding as it was beyond his capabilities. Biochips were amazing, and it wasn't a surprise that only a handful of scientists from a futuristic era could understand the math and reasoning behind it.
Anyway, this whirlwind strike could deal, with his current attributes, as much as 60 points of damage! Even the assassin, who seemed pretty strong even among intermediate acolyte, had only managed to deal 29 points of damage. Elite knights weren't called elites for nothing! It meant that as long as he could enter in melee, even an advanced apprentice would have trouble fighting him!
He suddenly remembered a book which compared knights and acolytes. While both were strong, the issue of a fight highly depended on the environment and individual prowess. Yet, beginner acolytes were more often than not weaker than novice knights, individually speaking. After all, their low amount of mana didn't allow them to cast more than three or four spells in a row, and unless they had long-range spells, it was difficult for them to prevent the knight from closing the distance. In melee, a knight would always have the advantage. Yet, intermediate acolytes, who often mastered more than five spells, could easily overpower three to four veteran knights by themselves! This was proof of how much stronger an acolyte became by breaking through a single sub-realm! As for advanced apprentices, only elite knights, and Pseudo Grand Knights could take them on.
Drodosis was an exception though, as he was not only a beginner acolyte, he also happened to be an elite knight. The combination of destructive power, superhuman speed and acolyte's defences, was truly something to be fearful of. However, Drodosis knew his limits.
For example, he knew that against an elemental who could mitigate physical damage, he would be in tough spot. In the Ivory Tower, the advanced apprentices were all the more unique. One could actually divide his body in thousands of venomous spiders, hence even he could strike the man, he would only kill a thousandth of his true body. This was Spider's frightening trump card, a suiting nickname for the heir of the Klosbe Adept Family. The other advanced apprentices, Dragonborn Ivar, had probably twice the strength of Drodosis, from his bloodline, and Allan Heister, disciple of Great Adept Rayleigh and only pseudo-adept in the tower, was known to be a fearsome caster who could just kite Drodosis, if he happened to fight with this guy. Among all advanced apprentices, only the close-range Earth Giant was suscpetible to lose against him!
Of course, Drodosis now had confidence in taking on any intermediate acolyte!
Yet, his thoughts came to a quick end, as a purple-robed woman entered his room.
"Oh, you're finally awoken. The family head summoned you and your cousins. I was asked to escort you", she said with slight surprise on her face. Her strength could be felt in her aura. Just like Drodosis, she had water elemental affinity, and a strange halo of serenity came out of her. She was Drodosis' aunt, known as the ice elder in his family. She was also one of the two only advanced-level acolyte in his family, and the third strongest in term of fighting power.
"Hi, aunt Lily.", Drodosis said respectfully.