As I carved the weapon's veins, a blinding light flashed with white sparks.
Inactive Ichor, haze, and a tinge of blood combined by the 'welding stick' were all needed for the initial stages of weapon augmentation while the rest would require more traditional methods. The materials ferried through the tubes twisting around the base and hugging the handle where my hand rested.
The feeling of my ichor being sucked by the machine through the handle that embraced the tip of my fingers felt a bit wrong. But it was me and my big mouth that got me here so I might as well try.
The rate of transfer and the density at which I gather ichor in my fingers are the two factors that mattered the most.
"Huh, you know, with Io being around you I doubted that you would be this good at handling rods, Kek." Rin inspected the now glowing veins in the blade.
Before I could counter, Io frowned behind me, "I'm sure he is more than capable of handling one rod."
"Hahahahahhaha." Rin's little cackle turned into full chortling that didn't belong to a kid.
"Ugh, Io!" I can't believe you've done this!
"I thought you were on my side." Why was her first attempt at defending me like this?!
And all she returned to me was a head tilt with an expression full of confusion, "I'm behind you."
"Oh, you two." Rin wiped a tear of mirth from her eye before submerging the weapon in a vat of… lava?
She cleared her throat, "Anyway, yes. I forgive you for using a blood veil to absorb literal liquid venom and bringing it back thinking that it can somehow be fixed in one day AND that you called me flat!" Rin waved off the matter from before when we were in the hot springs.
"Besides, if you can help me with those eyes of yours that need no protection from the lights and flames I can help you with your training." She turned to me and gave me the good news.
That's right, my eyes are pretty much immune to blinding lights. I could just stare at the sun for days and I would have no trouble adjusting if I were to be transported into a dark room. I guessed that if my sight wasn't obstructed by the tinted glass of my mask, maybe dazzling lights might apply too. Besides, it's not like I would receive permanent damage since my eyes will heal either way.
"That's great and all, but you still haven't told me about those veins between the ichor passages." My one question was still unanswered even now.
"That? I have no idea."
"Didn't you say you knew??"
"I KNEW someone who did…"
"..."
"But there is a theory about it! Because you know, a lot of research was destroyed and we lost the 'why' and while the 'how' remained after the Great Collapse." She shrugged.
"We lost contact with old man Alexander long ago, and he was the only one who possibly knew outside of government officials. We don't know if he got tired of making weapons and just left or… worse..." She explained with a grave tone.
Alexander was a new name, probably the man who created the two weapons brandished by Louis and Yakumo. If my guess is not wrong, that is.
Since he made a weapon that had almost a spell-like structure in one of his creations that could hold Louis' flame without it ever degrading and facilitate the fire-summoning speed, it wasn't far-fetched that such a man held deep knowledge of how to utilize the veins in weapons.
"But Louis has speculated that since Haze is just inactive BOR cells that the parasite gets rid of when dispersing, be it for increased efficiency in their reassembling process or perhaps even gets rid of defective traits, it is possible that attempting to augment a weapon they will naturally try to become whole when infused with Ichor and blood.
This then will lead to them making vein-like patterns around the ichor container as if it were a heart and that is why to mold a weapon, one needs to feed these veins before modifying the alloy so they won't interfere with any tempering procedure. There is a chance that they could reject modification if you don't." She explained.
"... so other than that, it might as well be just dark magic…" I took in the information.
Perhaps, the weapon won't let itself be modified the same way a revenant will suffer a backlash once consuming the blood of another revenant because of their clashing blood codes. Maybe weapons infused with enough Haze, which are considered lone BOR Cells, could be treated as a void type revenant's blood code and be modified?
It could explain why it is so costly.
But what about the infected weapons that are damaged for the Lost trying to bond to it? Although many don't seem to manifest the gifts they had once as revenants, they still mutate in a way that seemed to branch off from their blood code. That could be the reason why their weapons react negatively once they try to bond with it…
BUT, what about the ones that successfully fuse with their weapons? Did the lucky wielders just happen to be compatible with their weapon? In the end, it might be that as long as you have a high affinity with your BOR Parasite, you have a good chance of bonding with a weapon and making it stronger when becoming a Lost…
I might just be tripping balls and it could all be dependent on the user's affinity with the parasite and have nothing to do with the weapon and Haze. Something completely outside of human intervention aside from the human being the catalyst. Unable to properly affect the course of action that the parasite takes without making things worse for everyone.
"Huh, kind of how nobody could understand the patterns in snowflakes."
Rin snapped her fingers and pointed at me, "Exactly!"
"Snowflakes?" Io behind me muttered.
Right, she should have an ice gift of some kind if I remember correctly, perhaps after recovering some vestiges. Maybe she just has some vague feeling about it now or not, can't be sure if she will have the same gifts as in the game. I only know that she can heal for now.
"Alright alright, you can go now." She shooed us away, "Come to me once you get Yakumo's blood code for your training."
Not even taking more than one step away from the safe, the gate closed behind us and Rin got to her craft.
"Will keep in mind to absorb only blood and ichor with the blood veil from now on," I noted to myself with Io agreeing with me.
Now that I could get myself involved with weapon augmentation and even receive training from one of the most talented revenants that actually earned a name way before the blood mist was raised around the city, it was time to attend to another matter.
So time to give a visit to the doctor!
"Your Blood Code keeps changing, now it seems to be adjusting to Yami's characteristics without conflicting with mine's." The researcher stopped reading his Geological Condition Underground book and began to pick up a few files from a counter in his study room the moment he saw me and Io.
"First, hold that thought," I said as I began to close the door behind me, checking that there isn't anyone on the other side. "Second, I know that he is your connection to the government and gives you supplies, but how much can I trust him with my secret?"
"He is trustworthy enough," the man stated before putting down his research and sitting down back again on the chair he was on a moment ago.
"So I can be sure that I will not suddenly be restrained and be sent into a medical facility to see if my blood can be replicated like a lab rat?" Once I said that… Io felt different for a moment.
The researcher nodded. "It's not that he forgot about us teleporting into the base, I'd say that he has a guess that such a feat was done by you and he hasn't probed. If you can't trust him, you can trust me."
"So it's not that bad… but we will also have to count Anderson into the equation," I added, pulling a chair from the table in the middle of the room for Io to sit on.
"Davis gave me some records, Anderson was an ex-mercenary in the middle east before settling here. He used to be a Cerberus official until the government had to let go of some of them to maintain resources. There is some suspicion of internal conflict which led to his dismissal." Louis informed me as I sat down.
"Heh, he gave me the vibe that he was more than he let on. Guess you being able to request a background check tells me that Davis is a higher-up and can actually keep his mouth shut?" I did my best to not ask if he has dug into my past to avoid complications and leave it for later. What I wanted to know was if he was still similar to the Davis from in-game.
I can mostly assume that Davis is a man who can be trusted not only by just game knowledge but also for his way of acting with the human girl and his deal with Louis. Well, at least when it comes to the understanding that it will give better results letting me get hands-on work instead of having me as a lab rat.
Davis is a capable government official who is in charge of managing most expeditions down to the depths of the city to scavenge for resources. Not only that, but he is also a man that has direct contact with Silva, the leader of the provisional government at the moment. And if Silva hasn't gone insane yet, then he would likely order Davis to support us given the chance.
The problem is: I'm not entirely sure about the internal state of the government when it comes to politics or religion.
I know that any politician or person holding some power in the government left would have to cede under his word as he is literally the wall protecting them from the outside… or at least I think they would if they know that whatever is outside the walls isn't any better than the sh!tshow we have in here.
"An official who manages most excursions into the depths for resources. I can deduce that he has plenty of connections with other kinds as well, given the deals and trades we've made with him, but I'm not sure if he can do what you want him to, at least not yet.
You see, I can't just ask if he has ties to someone like Silva by myself." Louis confirmed most of the info I had myself and hit the nail right on, hinting about the deal we could make with Kyle and his group if Davis is trustworthy and capable enough.
"If he is up in the chain of command, or at least has some immunity to the political bullsh!t the HIgEr uPs will try to pull, I think it can be done as long as we show some results. Not like the 'provisional' government is in a state to deny contributions."
Louis was silent for a moment… "It's…" He tried to formulate his thoughts.
From his expression, I could tell this wasn't a foreign idea. He has surely thought about it before.
"I won't deny the fact that we have the tools to attempt such a procedure now that we have you all here. But the process is slow and the possibility of the government meddling might be a hindrance." He explained as he took a few documents.
"What about an external division instead of joining? Since you are taking requests to help in the depths, I'm sure something of that nature can be done." I suggested.
"That would be on Davis to do the convincing, not us. We do have leverage, yes, but it is ultimately up to the government." He shook his head.
Oh boy. Guess I will spend a good while here and find a way to approach Davis about this.
…
"Thank you!" The human girl, whose name I just learned is Luna, said to everyone once a government actual fu*king tank just rolled up to the entrance of the cathedral.
Well, calling it a tank might be a bit too much as one could tell it was just a reinforced vehicle, but compared to anything out there, it might as well be. Though, I say that Coco's ride still looks better.
The girl didn't… Nah, she still looked terrible but wasn't as jittery as before nor had much trouble looking at us. Something I find surprising considering the traumatic event she had gone through.
When it was time for her to go, she decided to at least say goodbye. "I… I thought all revenants were the same, but I'm glad you proved that wrong." Luna's glance swept across the group and lasted a little longer on Io.
"Mr. Davis said that you could probably get a reward if I vouched for you so I will do my best on my part… so, please, I hope you can do yours!" She voiced the only way she could help us as a human.
Well, there is another way for a human to help revenants, but not she nor anybody in this base wants to be helped in such a way. No one wants more blood spilled.
But it was good that she was putting some trust in us to not become like the many revenants that have forgone humanity without even turning Lost. That's a good sign.
"You have no need to worry, they won't be turning their back on people in a situation like yours. I can attest to that." Said Davis, opening the door for Luna to get into the government vehicle.
Reward, huh?
Unfortunately, this one is actually a bit of trouble…
"Ah, and, um, thank you for the meal." She looked at Coco with a small but genuine smile.
"Keep eating well." She returned the gesture.
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Word Count: 2,409
My brain hurty from writing this chap! 😭
Anyway, hope that you understood what I meant in this chapter about weapon augmentation and stuff.