Part one:
"I just found out that the book you gave me wasn't made out of regular paper but parchments of 24 Verms in quality! You need to tell me where you got it from!"
This was an S-mail Zafer received from Mint 2 days after departing.
This was very confusing since Mint himself mentioned that 24 Verm parchments do not exist.
Either way that was not Zafer's field of industry.
The simple physiology of Anomalies: Paragraph 35.
The 8th Anomaly was very unique compared to others, for its quality couldn't be improved, only degraded. It was also completely useless in its anomalous form; hence the whole value was located in the artifact form.
To prevent the degradation of their anomalous skin, the A-8 owners had to eat a specific diet, follow a meticulous skin routine, and avoid consuming direct regenerative substances.
Once Zafer returned to the city of Koth there were 2 main things he was looking forward to.
The first one was receiving the TP tattoos, however, the process of applying the tattoo took a long.
Knuckles already readied Zafer in advance to reserve a whole day just for that, since getting an appointment with a scriptman was also not that easy.
This left Zafer with a free evening to spend with his friends which he was also looking forward to.
Traveling on foot took him several days to reach his destination and during this time he was all by himself.
Loneliness never bothered him but from time to time he would speak out loud just to remember what his voice sounded like.
Due to the nightfall, a lot of paladins and freelancers were also out having drinks, since it was too dark outside to train properly.
He first wrote an S-mail to Skil, since he was someone Zafer felt closest to during this period.
Skil was also the one who introduced Temper to Zafer as a candidate and was the second friend Zafer acquired in his life, right after Semi.
The two of them met at their usual pub and occupied their usual table for two in the corner.
The first hour they didn't even talk about any specific topic, but made jokes and shared stories of people they know.
It was only after a big laugh caused pause when Skil asked Zafer what was he up to this whole time.
Zafer talked about visiting a friend (Mint) but focused more on the girl who attacked him. Yana.
It still wasn't sure why she did what she did but a good guess was that she was just jealous.
However, Skil couldn't recall hearing her name or her supposed application to become a candidate of the Temper faction like Zafer.
Nevertheless, that wasn't as important to Zafer as her anomaly was.
Fighting her was the first time Zafer faced someone who possessed the ninth Anomaly, the Force.
All he knew was that the anomaly allowed its user to attract or repel and although Yana's Force was very weak, it scared Zafer to think of all the possibilities that Anomaly had to offer.
"Have you ever fought against someone with that Anomaly? It's brutal! I only realized it now".
Despite being the same age, Skil was in this business longer than Zafer.
He was picked by the Temper province to work for them very young due to him being born with an A-8.
"Yes, many times because of the Priest. He did put me through a hell of a training", he laughed.
Aside from him and the Priest, no other Temper paladin was a parchment donor, meaning the script economy of the whole faction revolved around the two.
"So, you know how to counter it?"
Skil frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Like, how do you fight it? How do you fight against someone who can freely control your own body and everything around in the environment".
During his fight against Yana, she would sometimes push or pull Zafer's body in a position that benefited her more.
"It's not that difficult really. If you had the Force you wouldn't be thinking that way".
Zafer frowned, "You are saying that the Anomaly is not overpowered?"
"Not if you know how it works. To be able to pull or push something, they can't just think of doing that in their head. They need to aim".
"Aim? With what".
"Most of them use their hands but the more experienced ones can do it with just their fingers or eyes, though it requires a lot of focus from what I've learned".
"I meant what do they AIM with? There is nothing physically pushing you".
Skil smiled, "There is! The Force! The Priest once told me a thought exercise to practice and it helped me a lot! He said to try and think about the Force as an invisible hand or a portion of the wind".
He continued, "The force user doesn't throw that wind at you like an axe, but first needs to summon it at your position and hope that it engulfs you. Only then can they push or pull your body or whatever they engulfed in that invisible smoke".
Zafer argued, "But then how can I avoid something invisible that just instantly spawns around me?! It's easier to avoid a flying axe!"
"No, it's not. When you throw your axe at someone, you only need to worry about them dodging right or left, eventually ducking under it. You don't need to worry about your target stepping forward or backward since the axe will hit them".
"With the Force, it's not like that. They can miss you in all 3 dimensions! Add the blue potion into the calculation, and you are uncatchable!"
Now that Zafer thinks of it, Yana only used her Force when Zafer was right in front of her.
It was very annoying but if you expect it to happen, it didn't make much of a difference. Making such predictions only required some more experience, but there was another problem.
Yana's Force was after all very weak, and Zafer didn't plan on staying at his current strength level.
"I understand. But what happens if they do catch me with their Force? If it's someone strong, it's game over".
Skil frowned, "How? All they can do is push or pull you once, and then they need to aim again. The damage one can cause with that is nowhere near the damage of an axe or let's say your Iron Fist Anomaly! You can literally crush someone's skull if you grab it!"
This was a good point but Zafer was thinking of a very specific scenario.
"Well, let's say they catch me and lift me in the sky, then catch me again midair since I can't dodge and just smash me against the ground! What am I supposed to do then?!"
Skil laughed, "Well have you never heard of Miyalin armour? Some runes significantly reduce such impact!"
"Dude I'm broke!", Zafer smiled but what he said was true.
Even affording runes at Mint's library was a challenge, let alone buying a whole Miyalin armor!
"That's too bad!", Skil laughed as well, "Just kidding. Have you heard of the white potion? Just use that!"
The only time Zafer used the white potion was when the Priest threw him off the cliff in Razihelnor but it did its job, saving Zafer from the fall damage.
Although the white potion was the most expensive one, it also lasted the longest, so it was a good deal.
Maybe the Force wasn't that strong anomaly after all!
As of now, it was obvious that Zafer only lacked experience and knowledge.
If he knew how every anomaly worked, he could develop tactics to counter each one of them!
The Force was a perfect counter for Zafer's Iron Fist Anomaly since it could just push Zafer away and prevent him from laying his hands on his enemy's body.
Nevertheless, this was good, because Zafer never had to use his anomaly, while his opponent would eventually overheat and lose in a battle of stamina.
It was a boring strategy and battle to initiate, but it guaranteed a victory for Zafer!
At this moment he felt as if he was much stronger, but in reality, he had no clue what other anomalies were all capable of.
Part two:
The next day he spent with Knuckles.
He reserved a scriptman, who would tattoo a TP on Zafer.
The scriptman used a special artifact that had the form of a neon stick light bulb to reveal the Transport Point tattoo of Knuckles.
It was a very complex tattoo with no form or structure, and after examining Zafer, the scriptman suggested that it would be best to paste it on Zafer's left side of the face.
After the job was done, the tattoo became invisible by normal and they were free to go.
Zafer obviously couldn't see what he looked like with the TP but it suited him well.
Knuckles then reminded Zafer that the TP became visible during the teleportation process during which he had to remain still and dry.
For this particular totem that time amounted to 10 seconds, which was a lot, but Zafer hoped he wouldn't need to use it as an escape.
Nevertheless, this Transport Point was only his entrance to the grinder.
He also needed another TP to serve as an exit.
It will be his only way of leaving the grinder since it was located deep underground.
The second "exit" totem was located in the heart of Koth, where various parts of the city were connected by long and wide avenues.
Upon teleporting to the totem, one would always face the avenue that led directly toward the Arena.
This was the origin of an infamous saying "step forward" between the paladins that indicated someone teleporting to the TP of the Koth city and then walking only forward which would lead them directly into the Arena.
This was a provocative way of challenging someone to a fight.
By the time Zafer received his second TP tattoo, it was already dusk, and as per agreement, it was Zafer's shift to nurture the flame flowers.
He stopped on the side of a street and activated his TP by thought.
The 10 seconds began and all the colors around him started to shift in hue.
In the blink of an eye, he was in a dark cave room.
It was very warm here, and after giving it some thought that was only logical since the whole purpose of this grinder was to cultivate the flame flower.
The plant itself emitted no energy but it required a warm environment in other to grow properly to its full potential.
The design of the grinder was pretty simple and nothing fancy compared to what Zlatko intended to make out of his.
Upon teleporting one would find themselves inside of a small room that was only meant for the totem and docking of the people teleporting here.
Further down the cave hallway, there was a big hall whose ceiling was so high that the light source from the bottom couldn't illuminate it.
This was the second room, and it was where the flower plants were cultivated.
There were significantly fewer than there were in Ika's farm, but the room the plants were cultivated in was bigger.
There were wide and deep rows of special soil from which the flame flowers grew.
Aside from that, there wasn't anything fancy like Ika had in her hothouse.
This was fine, however.
A single flower plant sapling cost 750 000 units and Zafer was very grateful to be able to be here for free.
Someone suddenly jumped in front of him.
"Boo!"
The voice echoed in the cave.
It was a small and a young girl. At least half as young as Zafer was.
"Uh! Another one I can't scare!", she spoke to herself.
Zafer didn't even flinch.
The girl's hair was pink-purple with a couple of hair strands differentiating in hue, slightly darker or brighter.
Nevertheless, the main attraction to her appearance was a horn on the left side of her forehead.
It was pure white and even gave some particles off that would fly even under the slightest disturbance in the air.
Although Zafer had never seen it in person before, that had to be it!
He just knew it when he saw it!
It was a unicorn horn!
This little girl actually mutated to have a unicorn horn!
"What's your name?", she asked.
"I'm Zafer, and you?"
The girl smiled, "I'm Neimell, the purple unicorn!"
She then randomly turned around and ran towards the flame-flower plants.
This is a typical unforeseeable child behavior.
Nevertheless, as his gaze followed her into the distance he caught another figure standing next to the flame plants.
It was a man, not significantly tall or bulky, dressed in Miyalin armor.
Now Miyalin was supposed to have a blurry white color, but this one was variegated!
Moreover, the colors seemed to be constantly moving on the inside of the Miyalin!
Those were all runes!
There were so many that Zafer couldn't even count it!
Who were these people?
Zafer summoned his axe and opened a flask filled with blue potion.
With the element of surprise, he shall take the intruder out without even having to fight him.
Suddenly, a firm hand grabbed him by the shoulder from behind, actually scaring and making Zafer flick his head backward.
It was Semi! Zafer's best friend and first comrade!
"He is my friend, it's alright".
Zafer gazed back at the man.
The man took the yields that he got from the flower plants, Ahrix packed in bags, sap in small bottles, and slowly swung with his axe vertically towards the floor.
The blade of his axe punctured the fabric of space and cut right through it, creating a portal just like that sword artifact did!
Only axes that possessed every existing rune could do this!
His axe was a Divine!
The man was practically a ghost, and many regular citizens viewed Divine owners to be one.
There were only a few of them due to how difficult it was to collect every rune on a single weapon.
There were so few of them that, every experienced paladin knew the names of all the Divine weapons and their owners.
For example, there were only 3 Divine owners in Temper!
Simra's was called "Ransacking", Zer Ox's was called "Biotoxin", and Kviki's was called "Banana".
That was how he got his nickname.
Skank, the second officer of the Nubis province, also had a Divine called "Og" but rarely used it in a battle or carried it with him because he was supposedly afraid of it getting broken.
"Who was that?", it was only the 2 of them left not counting Neimell.
"Lieutenant Hammerman", Semi answered, "he used to be the 2nd officer of Atlantic Republic. How do you think we managed to get this many flower plants?"
Semi believed that less than 7 flower plants were completely useless, hence he probably didn't want to build a flower plant farm unless he and Knuckles found a way to buy more.
Of course, Zafer saw this as nonsense.
There was a short period in his life when he had the opportunity to cultivate only 2 flame flowers and that was the wealthiest he ever was in his life.
"What about her then?", Zafer asked.
Semi frowned a little bit, "She is Jean's sister. The only family he's got left".
Jean was a paladin of the Nubis province, infamous for his fighting capability.
Many considered him to be one of the strongest paladins ever and even someone who could take on a Level Threat 5 National Security member in a one versus one.
"Jean asked Knuckles to let her stay here so we can look after her when he is busy".
Zafer frowned "Here in an underground cave?"
"Yeah", Semi wasn't very happy about this "I guess Jean doesn't trust any other paladin and is too scared to leave Neimell with a regular babysitter".
Zafer didn't care about Neimell too much except that her brother was a Nubian.
"It's just that I thought it was going to be only the 3 of us".
"Knuckles only cares about expanding his relationship and trust with other powerhouses. You might think that he is all nice but in reality, he does that only for his benefit".
These were very harsh words to hear especially since it was Semi who introduced Knuckles to Zafer.
Semi had a sullen expression.
"Yeah. There is another one from the Nubis province. You will meet him around midnight when you need to hand him over the shift".
Zafer got even more concerned with this declaration, but the more serious issue was how Semi felt about it.
Knuckles is a positive person who's always willing to sacrifice a little bit of his piece of pie for the sake of others, but in reality, he wants to have authority.
It was as if no true compromise could ever be achieved with him since his demands were always too weird.
"I thought that you supported Nubis?", Zafer tested him.
Semi took a glance at the farm before he faced Zafer again, "Knuckles is getting too comfortable"
Zafer didn't care but Semi's authority clashed with Knuckles'es
"Do you have the tools for cultivating?", Semi changed the subject.
Zafer knew everything that he needed to cultivate flame flower plants and purchased them with a portion of the money Ika gave him.
"Yes, I bought everything".
"Well, that's new", Semi was a little surprised,
The simple physiology of anomalies: Table of Contents:
А1 – Synthesis
А2 – [EXPUNGED]
А3 – …
А4 – …
А5 – …
А6 – Iron Fist
А7 – Repeater
А8 – Adjustment
А9 – Force
А10 – …
А11 – Almighty Eye
Since the day Zafer acquired the TP, he developed a pretty straightforward routine.
He would spend the night at an inn in the city of Koth. In the morning, he'd have breakfast and then head to the Arena for the rest of the morning and noon.
There, he would stretch, train, and spar with random amateurs.
Occasionally, he would run into Yana.
Although they already fought, she still possessed hatred towards him.
So, every time they accidentally came across each other, Yana would immediately attack Zafer until he could not fight anymore.
The first couple of days Zafer saw this as an opportunity to use Skil's advice and train to fight against the Force users, however, the problem wasn't in Yana's anomaly.
It was in her ability to consume potions faster than anyone else.
In addition, some young freelancers would interfere in their fight and help Yaha since she was a strong and pretty girl.
Wabler and Luch would help Zafer to keep the fight fair, but most of the time he was left all alone.
This bullying went on for weeks and Zafer slowly started to hide and train in the most abandoned parts of the Arena.
This made him very angry but on the brighter side, he was at least improving his wealth during this period.
Eventually, he started to adapt to Yana's fighting style and her Anomaly.
She was still drinking potions way too fast, but Zafer relied on his environment, using the Welkin flower to lift him and drinking potions mid air.
Most of the time, however, he did not need to consume potions, since he was sustaining less and less injuries.
This meant that his fighting skills improved.
It was all thanks to Skil. The teachings he passed on to Zafer played a crucial role in this improvement.
Zafer could not be more grateful to have him as a friend.
The first time he defeated Yana, was one of the best feelings he experienced in a while.
From that day forward, he was the one kicking Yana out of the Arena, unless she found someone to help her overpower Zafer.
But even then, he didn't care.
Beating 2 people at once was an achievement he was nowhere near.
He got stronger, and that was the only thing that mattered to him, so every time he lost a 2 versus one, he did that with a smile.
The winter was almost at the threshold.
The daylight illuminated the vibrant city only during the morning.
That was the only time during which Zafer could train.
Although training and sparing in the Arena during nighttime was not enjoyable, Zafer felt bad.
His swift and noticeable improvement motivated him to train like never before, but he also understood the importance of the rest.
In addition, his shift in the grinder was at dusk, which was the time he couldn't train even if he wanted to, due to the nightfall.
He would clock in every day just when Lieutenant Hammerman would leave and cultivate flower plants until midnight when it was Triso's turn.
During this time he would sometimes talk to Neimell and try to make her time spent in the grinder as pleasant as possible until her brother Jean came to pick her up.
That always occurred during Triso's shift, so Zafer never really got to meet him, but he knew from conversations with others that he was half mutated.
Just like Key Em.
"Whew", he straightened himself gazing at Neimell.
The fact that she had a unicorn horn and that nobody did something malicious to her yet was good, but also very unbelievable.
Unlike regular wounds, changes that occurred during mutations were permanent.
This meant that if Key Em decided to shave all of his fur, it would naturally regrow as if it was always a part of his body, and if Neimell's horn got removed, a single red potion would probably be enough to bring it back.
On the other hand, if someone's tooth fell out during the mutation or they lost an eye like Ika did, regardless of how strong a regenerative power something had, it would never bring it back.
The changes under mutation were everlasting.
What I mean by this is that somebody could kidnap Neimell, and use her as an infinite source of unicorn horns to craft Krale.
The way Mint explained it, Krale was a very precious and expensive item.
"Oh", Neimell moaned, her soft voice echoing in the cave.
Zafer straightened himself, only to see her standing still in place, looking down at her palms with her head bent down.
"Is your nose bleeding again? Just squeeze it and keep your head down like that", he was already used to her weak blood vessels.
Neimell lifted her head to look at Zafer, her visions somewhat blurry and incomplete.
Her left eye leaked down her ruddy cheeks, mixed with tears and blood as if it had melted, only leaving behind a now empty eye socket.
Her whole eye was missing!
"Ah!", Zafer panicked, rushing towards her.
He caught her by the shoulders with both hands, "How did-", he suddenly realized "Oh fuck!"
Neimell was undergoing mutation for the second time in her life!
Her unicorn horn slowly began to grow even larger and emerge outside, ripping her forehead skin open.
She fell on her knees, making soft but high-pitched cries.
The two of them were completely alone.
How long is it going to take for her to mutate, and more importantly, will Zafer be able to fight her off?
In an underground flame flower grinder?
She will destroy everything and even kill him!
Zafer suddenly got reminded of the incident with Arcanie. The unstoppable force.
Neimell was crawling on the ground in agony.
This was the best opportunity to kill her!
Naturally, the only way to stop mutation was with Anomaly 11, the Almighty Eye, however despite Zafer possessing the anomaly, its euclid nature prevented him from ever being able to learn that technique.
It was completely useless in this scenario.
Zafer's got washed in the heat of waves.
"Fuck!", he cried out.
He swiftly summoned his Miyalin bag and started writing an S-mail as fast as he could.
"God, please… It hurts so bad", she whispered in agony while holding her head.
The Simple physiology of anomalies: Addendum:
…As of now the only known way to stop or prolong the mutation is with either A-11 or Ar-11. The intensity in Verms required for this feat must be at least 23 Verms. In addition, the healing person must be very skilled in the needed technique.