Ivar laid down on the white operating bed as Vector once again brought a big syringe with anesthesia and moved it toward Ivar's right arm.
The syringe pierced his right arm as Vector said, "It's wonderful that you managed to recover in less than two weeks. Looks like people like you might be hard to mass-produce. After all, not everyone has equal talent, intellect, and resolution."
Ivar's vision had started to get blurry and his hearing dimmer as he only barely heard the last sentence Vector uttered, "I look forward to what you can bring for the demon sect."
Ivar woke up, not being able to feel both of his arms—his biceps, triceps, forearms, and even his fingers.
Vector released a long sigh of relief as he sat down on a chair nearby.
"That was really complicated! Thankfully, I tested this transplant on some other subjects while you were recovering from your previous one!"
"Puggy should be here soon. I expect to see you in no more than two weeks."
Ivar was still absentminded as he slowly tried to comprehend the meaning of those words.
After a while, Puggy arrived and took Ivar to Zephyr's place to recover. Zephyr looked after Ivar as they started making small talk about various topics: life in the underground city, life outside, and how Ivar came to the demon sect.
After Ivar successfully recovered his arms after five days, Zephyr instructed him to walk to the dojo himself and meet Bismuth.
Ivar walked toward the dojo. The stares this time were less intense as the people had seen him before a few times with Puggy and Zephyr. Both of them were respected in the city.
Ivar reached the dojo and met Bismuth, who quickly gave Ivar a sword and started training him, instructing him to quickly complete his next circulation.
Even without Bismuth telling him, Ivar had already started to send some vital energy to his arms to heal them and let them adapt.
This time, Ivar also dueled with other disciples of the dojo and exchanged pointers with them as they all improved together. Ivar was finally assimilating with the dog men.
After seven days, Ivar completed his 22nd circulation!
"Good job, kid. Puggy won't come to pick you up. You remember the way back, right?"
"I memorized it previously."
"Excellent. You can start to move after you are done eating."
Ivar rested for a while and ate some meat with water.
After that, he waved the kids and other disciples of the dojo goodbye. He skillfully walked through the city and reached the hole he and Puggy had taken to get to Lab #45.
After a while, he reached the heavy metal door with the label of the lab. Ivar stared at the door.
'Can I even move this door? The sound it made when Puggy opened it made it look really heavy.'
Ivar extended his hands toward the door handle and tried to lightly pull it—as expected, the door didn't even budge.
'Alright. Let's try this again!'
Ivar used some vital energy to enhance his whole body and strongly pulled at the door handle.
CREAK—
Ivar's face twisted and turned as the door slowly opened. Ivar didn't fully open the door and stopped when there was a gap big enough to barely let him in.
'That being said, the arm muscle transplantation really worked, huh? If I didn't have the transplanted muscle, then I probably would not be able to open the door this much until I did my 50th circulation.'
Ivar was finally satisfied a little bit, seeing the results of his transplant. He walked to his room and started lifting some weights to train his arms.
Vector arrived after what Ivar guessed to be two days and barged into Ivar's room as Ivar was reading a book.
"Reading about the history of the demon sect, huh?"
"Yes, Lord Vector."
"Well, I have some good news for you. Want to hear it?"
"Yes."
"You see, I will transplant the remaining torso muscles in today's session. After that, there will be some remaining muscles in the next and some facial muscles. You might need to shave your head for that."
"So I will have four weeks or roughly a month till I complete my transplant."
"Yeah. After that, I will arrange an instructor to teach you about proper disguising and assassination. You will also be promoted to Rank 7, unofficially called a team member because most members at that rank are exactly that."
Ivar's eyes widened as he asked, "Rank 7? Do I even have the strength required to be one? Also, I believe you want me to do something after learning about disguising techniques."
"Don't worry about your strength. You should have realized it already, but right now you have the strength equivalent to a normal 50th circulation member. You should reach the strength equivalent to a Rank 7 member after completion. What you need to worry about is the upcoming mission."
"A mission? Is it with a team?"
"No. It is a solo mission. I will give you the details about it after all the operations are done and you are promoted. I wanted to make sure you were mentally ready."
"Got it, Lord Vector!"
"Okay. Come with me for your next operation."
***
A month later, Ivar swung his sword toward Bismuth but Bismuth skillfully blocked it. Seeing the opportunity, Ivar slid his sword across Bismuth's sword as the tip of Ivar's sword got dangerously close to Bismuth's head.
Bismuth, seeing this, increased his strength and pushed the sword back. Increasing his strength, he aimed at the base of Ivar's sword and deflected it.
"You weren't supposed to use that much strength, Bismuth."
"You surprised me, kid. But can your heart handle that much strength? Can your heart pump out the blood required for those muscles?"
"Lord Vector said that as the heart is the home of the energy core, it will adapt to the requirements of the body. I can already feel those changes." Ivar put his left hand over his heart as he felt its beat.
"I see. Well, all your surgeries are done, right? Will you go outside after this?" Bismuth looked indifferent, but if one looked deeply at him, one would realize that he was engulfed in various feelings, and one of them was sadness.
"Ivar, are you going to go?" Although Bismuth could hide his sadness, there were people who couldn't. A group of small dog men walked toward him with their sad and innocent eyes, led by a small pup.
"Don't worry, Asphalt. I will come to meet you once in a while." Ivar hugged the small pup as he spoke.
"That's enough, Ivar. These pups need to grow strong, don't spoil them."
Ivar removed the pup from his hug as he nodded.
Ivar unsheathed his sword as he fist-bumped with Bismuth.
"I am going, Bismuth. Goodbye."
"Right now?!" Even Bismuth was shocked.
"Yeah. I have had food and battled you once again. I also completed my 24th circulation. I also have some orders from Lord Vector that I have to follow."
The Ivar with violet-colored buzzed hair now looked resolute—someone who didn't look soon to be 16.
Ivar walked through the city and quickly entered the dark corridor, reaching Lab #45.
He stood in front of the heavy door and strongly pulled the door with both his hands. His face was still relatively normal as he successfully fully opened the door with relative ease. He went inside once again and closed the door.
He would be waiting for Vector to arrive and send him outside. He would finally be able to see the sun in two months.