Chapter 31 Return
The way Body Forging worked was really interesting. I, of course, read the manual and knew what it was about. However, the person who really studied how this process worked was Julie. She tried to analyze all of the herbs, their properties, and how they would interact with one another.
Essentially, it all boiled down to the herbs creating a concoction that would put me through hell and agony, purging the impurities out of my body.
And it was a lot of pain.
Pain I was not prepared for as I jumped into the bath.
"Ahh FUCK!" I screamed like a child. "THIS HURTS!!!"
"Stay inside!" Julie yelled back. "The herbs are opening your pores right now, so it hurts! Just 30 seconds! Then I will begin adding the rest of the herbs and pain will be... gone."
I knew she was lying, but it helped my mind anyway.
I wasn't sure whether the water was boiling hot or extremely cold. It obviously looked like it was boiling, but the moment I jumped in, a chilling sensation spread through my veins, so cold I went static. My muscles didn't even cramp or spasm. They just froze.
My question was answered a second later as the cold turned into a hellish heat that made me feel like my blood boiled. Then the sensation switched to cold again. And the process was repeated all over again until Julie heaved a second load into the tub.
My screams intensified.
This time it felt like my skin was pierced by thousands of small needles. Every time you thought the pain was over, another round of needles would pierce your skin.
"Two-thirds of the process is done, my Lord!" Julie informed me. "Endure. Endure. Endure."
A minute later, a new batch of herbs was dropped into the tub. This was the smallest one size-wise but the largest quantity-wise. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of small pebble-sized pellets were dropped into the water. The moment they submerged fully, they all flowed towards me.
And when before the sensation resembled being stabbed, this one felt like I had millions of small insects crawling beneath my skin. It felt disgusting. I wanted to rip off my skin.
I held myself back, however.
I knew this was just part of the process. The pain. The agony. All of it would be worthwhile.
And for the next half an hour, that became my only thought inside my brain.
The crawling sensation disappeared somewhere around minute five, but the pain didn't lessen.
It just became more endurable? It felt like my muscles were on the brink of exhaustion, but I still pushed myself and continued anyway.
So they weren't truly exhausted. This was the same with the pain.
Each moment, I thought I couldn't take it anymore.
But I stayed anyway.
And staying proved, I could take it.
It was weird.
Once the pain disappeared, I opened my eyes slowly.
I was afraid that the painlessness was just a dream.
It wasn't. The water below me had stopped bubbling, probably long ago.
What surprised me was not only the water's color—it was a dark midnight black—but also its consistency.
It was like sitting inside a tub of mud.
If I didn't know this was supposed to happen, then I would have been disgusted or panicked. Probably both.
It was then that strings of words filled my vision.
You have undergone your first Body Forging.
You have gained 5 Strength.
You have gained 4 Dexterity.
You have gained 9 Constitution.
I nodded; this wasn't bad. To see my progress, I pulled up my Status sheet.
Name: Ivor Harvings
Class: Life Simulator [Unique]
Level: 10 [1%]
Rank: Stone
Stats:
Strength: 15→20
Dexterity: 16→20
Constitution: 23→32
Mana: 59
Free Points: 0
Class Skills:
Life Simulation [Unique]
Skill Transfer [Unique]
Minor Simulation [Unique]
General Skills [5/5]:
Mana Manipulation [Uncommon] - Level 12
Unarmed Combat [Uncommon] - Level 4
Commanding Presence [Common] - Level 7
Martial Forms [Uncommon] - Level 2
Meditation [Common] - Level 5
Limbo State Skills:
Tactician's Mind [Common] - Level 2
First, I gave my Stats a once-over. In my opinion, I had too much invested in Constitution rather than Mana, but it was whatever. I promised to rectify that. I just loved Mana.
As long as it wouldn't get me killed.
These past few days, my Skills also had risen steadily, most notably Meditation.
The Skill was honestly awesome, and I used it at every chance I could to see what it regenerated.
It helped with mental and physical fatigue but wouldn't replace sleep, sadly.
I had already started salivating thinking about how fast the Skill would rise if I could meditate instead of sleeping.
As for my last Limbo State Skill? I decided to use it.
Not on myself, of course, but probably on one of the veterans whom Gerald trusted.
I would require an oath after the debacle with Tom and one of my conscripts betraying me, but not one of loyalty.
Oaths also could work like contracts. So I would have the veteran swear not to disclose who gave him that skill.
I just didn't have the time to make the man trust me fully.
"How did it go?" Julie asked me from the side.
"Amazing," I said, and almost stood up, before remembering I was naked. "Well, the pain wasn't awesome, but the stats are."
"How much did you gain?"
"Five in strength, four in dexterity, and nine in constitution."
Julie nodded and scribbled something inside her notebook. "That's not bad. You will be able to do the procedure two more times. That will be it. They will also give you worse benefits."
I sighed and leaned back inside the bathtub, the mud-like water displacing underneath my movements.
"Hey, can I get out? Is there a pair of clothes available?" I asked.
Julie nodded. "Of course." But she didn't budge.
"First, I need you to describe the sensation and everything you felt in detail, also how you managed to overcome the pain and all that.
I am sorry, but this can't wait, my Lord.
Your information will make the analysis of the procedure much easier.
It will allow me to see how the herbs interact with one another on a much deeper level, so I need your memory as fresh as possible. "
It was only hours later that I could take a fresh shower and change into a new pair of clothes.
***
It had been a week since the Body Forging.
Today was the day Sebastian was going to come back. Probably. It was our agreed-upon timeframe, and today was the last day of that timeframe. And if he didn't come back? Well, we would be royally fucked, wouldn't we?
After all, the man was a Bronze Rank Mage, somebody I couldn't even fathom fighting. So if he died? Yeah, that wouldn't spell good news for us or anybody.
Today was also supposed to be the tournament.
But, well, after the Body Forging, I told Julie about it, and she just called me, Gerald, and Samuel mentally challenged.
We had a fight to prepare, and here we were planning a tournament, how to feed the participants, make sure nobody gets seriously injured, and all the other logistics that go into that.
Note—it was a lot.
I explained to her my thought process, and, well, it looks like we were right to be called mentally challenged.
She agreed with our stick and carrot approach.
But nobody forced us into doing the tournament now.
We could just do it after the Beast Wave, and not waste time and resources and risk serious injury, etc.
One Swordsmanship Skill also wouldn't make a difference whether or not we would survive.
However, having all of us distracted could make a difference.
Luckily, we hadn't announced a date yet, so it was not an issue.
Samuel, Gerald, and I breathed out a sigh of relief after we came to the conclusion that Julie was right. It was a lot of stress and pressure that went away.
These last few days had proven Julie even more right.
It turned out that none of the recruits expected us to have the tournament before the Beast Wave, so nobody was disappointed.
In fact, they were just more motivated to train because they knew the Beast Wave was also an opportunity to level, and in turn, have a better chance at the tournament.
Like every morning, I ran the simulations. First, I tried whether or not Life Simulation was still on cooldown. It was. Then I ran my ten Minor Simulations. All Timothy. I got 13 Shards in total.
More than enough to form the Second Skill I got from Minor Simulations.
All one hundred Skill Shards have formed into the General Skill [Unarmed Combat - Common]
It is noticed that you already have the Skill [Unarmed Combat - Uncommon].
Do you wish to merge the Skills into one or place [Unarmed Combat - Common] into Limbo?
Merge.
Unarmed Combat [Common] has merged into Unarmed Combat [Uncommon].
Unarmed Combat [Uncommon] has reached level 5.
Unarmed Combat [Uncommon] has reached level 6.
Unarmed Combat [Uncommon] has reached level 7.
I grinned. This was awesome. Then my face broke into a frown. I basically had to decide between my town's growth or my own.
Who was I going to dedicate Minor Simulations to?
Before I could contemplate that question, a knock resounded from my door, followed by Magret's voice.
"My Lord, are you up? Sebastian is back...and he doesn't look happy at all."
Looks like he was here earlier than expected.
It was barely dawn.
Did he travel through the night?
I picked up Inky, who snored lightly on my chest, and gently placed her to my side. She opened one of her eyes but quickly fell back asleep after I massaged her neck.
I decided against showering and changed out of my sleeping clothes before heading down into the meeting area. Magret, Jen, and Emily were already up, preparing things for the day. As they ran around the room, my eyes traveled towards a figure sitting at the table.
Sebastian.
His spotless black suit sat perfectly. There was not one wrinkle on it. It was almost as if he hadn't traveled for weeks already. His hair was slicked back with not one strand of hair sticking out of place. He sipped his tea calmly, savoring it with a big frown on his face.
"Sebastian," I said. "You look...well."
"I am well, Ivor," he turned his attention to me. "What isn't well is the situation we are in."
"Straight to the point, I see," I said as I sat down across from him.
He poured me a cup.
I took a sip.
Damn, was it good.
"The Beast Wave is two weeks away," he said.
"Nothing unexpected. I estimate more than ten thousand animals and beasts but not more than fifteen thousand.
As we expected, most are at Wood Rank or have no level at all.
There are quite a few rabbits and mice and other small mammals there.
The problem is that there are also quite a few Stone Rank Monsters among them.
Not many. But enough to create a problem.
However, from what I saw, most will break away from the herd, leaving us with much less to deal with. "
"The Stone Rank Monster will also hunt down and eat the stronger Wood Ranks they feel slightly threatened by.
It won't be much, but it will be something.
At least, that's the behaviors I could observe.
Again, the Beast Wave is just as we expected.
The only thing that surprised me is that there is much less infighting among the weak animals than I thought.
Meaning the Beast Wave is a lot less dense than we expected.
Which is good news, as we won't have to cover a large area, but also need to be careful not to get overrun.
However, whatever scared the beasts, scared them really, really well. "
"That's fine," I said. "We have anticipated as much. I am assuming the Beast Wave is only coming from one direction."
He nodded.
"If everything is well with the Beast Wave," I said, and thought for a moment. "Then is it about the greens? Is that what you are concerned about?"
Sebastian stayed silent for a moment, and for the first time as far as I can remember, I could see hatred flash through his eyes. He looked at Magret, who brought us some food before speaking.
"Please leave us alone for the next couple of hours."
The woman simply nodded and left. Sebastian followed her with his eyes, and when she was fully gone again, he looked back at me.
"What do you know about Demons?"