106(3) – Zenyo! (II)
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PART 3 – Irkins!
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Verna and Zenyo resume their search for Ariel Horça.
The supercontinent they find themselves on is colossal, with dozens of powerful Empires, no Kingdoms, as the term "Kingdom" is for smaller nations. There is no room for any minor rulers on a supercontinent.
This is because Assimilated Dungeons are one of the biggest problems, as all supercontinents have more than 100 regions that have been assimilated into dungeons. This means there are extremely dangerous areas, areas that could house entire nations, where no civilization lives due to the enormous dangers.
There are dangerous regions in Murim, but on a much smaller scale. While here, in the equivalent of 2 weeks in Murim, Verna encountered 3 legendary monsters, if she explored any continent for the same amount of time, she would hardly find 1.
Another thing worth noting is that legendary monsters in Murim are rulers of entire regions, like a certain Yeti who was one of the rulers of northern Seahorse.
But here, demigod-level monsters are the rulers of large regions, where two or more of them can be found in the center. Regions that even the powerful Empires of these supercontinents take care of.
No one wants to provoke a demigod monster, especially since they are beings of colossal size, like walking mountains. The damage they can cause is enormous.
And Ariel Horça is on the other side of the continent. It's not her exact location, but it's the last recorded information.
At their current speed, it would take years for them to reach the other side of the continent, so they need to go to a capital city. In this world, the most common means of transportation is teleportation.
Due to the size, teleportation technology is high-level, but not only that. With improvements in the concepts of transportation and space being so advanced, it's natural that spatial storage is also incredible.
The spatial storage items in this world are cutting-edge. Even veteran adventurers in this world can manage a bag with several cubic meters. In their world, only the best would have such an opportunity.
As for the Capitals, each Territory has a very powerful noble family governing it. One could say that each Territory is a small nation, with its own laws, but still serving the imperial crown.
They need to reach the Capital of the County of Irkins, from there they will teleport to the Imperial Capital, then pay a hefty price to teleport to another empire and from there obtain more concrete information.
……
Returning to the road, they began to see less and less snow, the weather warming up. They began to see streams with strong currents, ice being pushed by the water, but no longer frozen and treacherous rivers.
Zenyo, careless, stepped wrong and almost sank into a frozen river. Verna forgot that Zenyo is terrible at Footwork Martial Arts; if he had learned the basics, he wouldn't have gone through this embarrassment.
But Zenyo can't be blamed; he has short legs. Every dwarf who tries to learn these martial arts has serious difficulties. No matter how much she tried to modify them to match their structure, she is not a dwarf.
…
The days passed, and in three days they arrived at the capital of County Irkins. A gigantic city.
The pair hadn't expected something of this magnitude. Verna believes it's bigger than the capital of Krugar. She herself is very proud of Krugar, which is constantly growing, but this…
The technology doesn't even come close to Krugar's; perhaps the richest reach that level, but they don't make such amenities available to the common people. Or this is just another ridiculous fantasy world that abhors the progress of science.
Whatever the case may be. The two paid the entrance fee to the city and… the sexual activity that was constant in every city or village they stopped in before arriving here, visibly reduced.
There is still quite a bit of sexual activity, that's common in this universe. But it's much less.
'Maybe they fuck so much in cold places to keep their bodies warm.' – That's what she thought.
……
Night was falling and Zenyo was exhausted. He hadn't closed his eyes for almost 50 hours. Even if he could resist, he had no reason to push himself beyond his limits. That's why they only decided to stop to rest in the Capital.
Normally it would take much longer to get from the city they were in to here, but they covered the entire distance in just 3 days, which is about 120 hours.
Zenyo practically collapsed onto the bed, with no appetite.
Verna didn't want fun; the men and women who practically threw themselves into her arms reeked of sex. She wasn't the type to be disgusted just because her partner had slept with other people. The problem was having traces of semen from 5 different men in her body and still wanting more.
She has her limits, so she simply isolated herself in her room. Sleep doesn't come; she doesn't even need sleep anymore, it's just a pastime for her. But she will sleep, even though she doesn't need to; she likes it, it helps reduce the mental strain, even if she has nightmares.
But before sleeping, she decided to take some books from her spatial storage to read.
Verna has a huge list of books she needs to read, which have been organized appropriately. They contain relevant knowledge about Mechanical and Biological Engineering. Verna is beginning studies that mix flesh, magic, and metal.
There are many things that magic is incapable of healing… in fact, it's not that magic is incapable, it's that one doesn't have the power or knowledge necessary for it. By the time one achieves the power and knowledge for such, it will be too late.
So alternative means must be found.
One problem encountered is organ failure. Verna thought it wouldn't be a problem with the emergence of surgeons, but it has become a huge problem because of magic.
One thing is blood type; unfortunately, the blood of races doesn't mix, except when there's a hybrid, but they can only donate or receive blood of the same type, from their respective species.
Categorizing blood types was irritating, but the presence of hybrids helped a lot with categorization. It's a shame that an Orc can't donate blood to a Human, even though they can reproduce with each other.
But there is a way: using hybrid blood. Their blood has a strange balance that works. It can be used on Humans and Orcs, or they can receive blood from both. So it's possible to convert the blood of humans and orcs into hybrid blood to be used by both races.
It's a process that took Verna a long time to create, but it all worked out. Later, Verna improved it even further, using purifying processes, followed by Ogre blood, which has high regenerative capabilities.
The result was a type of Healing Potion, called Universal Blood. They cataloged the blood types of various humanoid species around the world, using hybrids to match each species' blood type.
Finally, a mixture of each blood type, from each humanoid race, purified, strengthened, and ready. Blood that can be used by any race with the specific blood type, which has healing and adaptive properties.
It's simply incredible and revolutionary. Standard potions or magic are incapable of replenishing blood quickly, which always becomes a problem on battlefields with wounded soldiers who have lost a lot of blood. This saved countless lives.
But Verna wasn't content with that. Even though she created a universal blood cocktail for each blood type, another problem arose with the emergence of doctors and surgeons.
Transplanted organs begin to cause problems. Incompatibility and rejection. Not because of the wrong blood, disease, or anything like that, but because of magic. It's not possible to modify the magical frequency of the flesh; one mistake and the organ is rejected.
As a result, surgeons need to be individuals with magical talent to orchestrate, then, with a lot of medication and the patient conscious to circulate the energy, to then pray for success.
Verna always hated this. Many people die and donate their bodies for experiments. Verna could even give rewards to donors, to their families, but… that would be a problem.
Imagine your family receiving a hefty reward for your death, for each healthy organ you donated. Malicious people would start killing family members for such benefits. Not to mention that it wouldn't be donation anymore.
But back to the subject. Verna understood that there are two possible solutions.
First, is to develop better techniques and professionals in this area. This will come with time, improved experience and skills, better talents emerging in this area, new techniques, etc.
Second is what Verna aims for, an alternative method. Using artificial organs to replace damaged ones. There would be no problems with incompatibility or magical interference.
This would open doors to body modifications, potentially even creating mechanized soldiers, individuals even stronger than people of the same level. Not everyone has the talent to level up conventionally.
With this, a new evolutionary path would emerge, not to mention an opportunity for many. Individuals born with low attributes, even with training, wouldn't achieve enough to begin leveling up.
Verna sees endless possibilities, and this would only be the beginning. So what she's studying are "Magic Nerves," an incredible concept that mimics the body's nerves, which could be used to create mechanical limbs for amputees.
There are also ways to repair spines and improve blood circulation. Interestingly, undergoing this modification allows one to acquire Talents such as [Flowing Blood] and unlock sets of passive skills.
Verna had already planned to begin experiments on criminals, but Zenyo had to come up with the likely cure for her curse. But she made a promise years ago that she would help him. Zenyo is one of her few friends, as well as someone she values greatly.
…
Verna read the book with great interest, making notes in a notebook.
But while she was doing this, something approached her, a figure that could not be seen. Without sound or vibrations. Slowly…
Argh!
A groan resounded, the sharp crack of a neck breaking, then a limp body settled in Verna's grip, who continued to sit and read, releasing the assassin.
“If I were you, I wouldn't leave.” – She said calmly as she turned the page, without looking.
An invisible figure rushed towards the window…
Bang! Argh! She crashed into an invisible wall and rolled onto the floor, losing her invisibility. She drew a dagger and lunged at Verna.
Verna glanced briefly at the female figure. A great figure, large breasts, a striking backside, a slim abdomen, and good movements.
This reminded her of the Shadows of Veremor, all of whom possess excellent female figures. In any case, the blade approached her chest, but her wrist was caught by Verna's fist.
The book floating in the air, the hand supporting it released it, and the back of the palm struck the woman's abdomen. Her body flew against the window, but hit the invisible wall again, falling heavily onto the wooden floor.
She groaned in pain. Verna picked up her book and crossed her legs. – “Golden Claw?” – Verna asked.
Her question elicited subtle reactions from her; even without saying it, it was obvious who it was.
“A greedy informant organization attacking one of its clients in order to seize their valuable possessions. I think in my whole life, I've never seen such a… pathetic organization!” – Verna scoffed.
The assassin's cold gaze intensified; she disappeared moments later, reappearing behind Verna. But the moment she appeared, it was more than enough for Verna to draw her axe, turn around, and slice her in half.
It was a matter of instants, an absurdly high speed of reaction and movement. The same speed that helped her avoid a pervert with a Special Ability related to time.
The blood didn't splatter; an artifact had already been removed, and the blood was manipulated, accumulated, and in seconds the corpses were devoured by the cleaning artifact. Seconds later, it spat out all the assassins' clothes and belongings.
Verna calmly examined the accessories with traces of magic. She found bracelets; a basic analysis made her understand that they were bracelets with invisibility magic.
She kept it; perhaps it would be useful to study the magical items of this world, perhaps there is something different, because even though the language of this world is different, the runic structure is the same.
…
Yawning, Verna went to the next room and found a bloodbath. Zenyo was panting, sitting on the bloodied bed. Two men with bodies riddled with holes lay on the floor.
“What a mess. Did you have trouble with this garbage?” Verna mocked, leaning back and throwing away the cleaning artifact.
“Do you think I’m a freak like you?! Those sons of bitches were invisible!” Zenyo howled angrily.
“Calm down.” Verna said, interrupting him before he could continue. “Are you going to say you were sleeping? That you only detected when the blade was about to touch you or that your protective artifact activated before you died?”
Zenyo growled.
“I know you’ve been quite negligent with training, especially in recent years, but this… Zenyo, disappointing!” – Verna smiled mockingly.
Zenyo raised his middle finger and the assassins’ items were spat out of the artifact.
“Well, go back to sleep, I’m going to settle this dispute.” – Verna said, heading for the door.
“I’m coming too!” – Zenyo said angrily.
“No need, I’ll take care of it. You’re the one who needs a good night’s sleep.” – Verna said, waving her hand.
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PART 4 – Golden Claw!
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Another busy night in one of the many bars in the capital of Irkins.
A tall, muscular man appeared, sat down, and when greeted by a waitress, spoke the code. He then followed the waitress to the back and down the stairs.
In a dark room with only a table and two chairs, a hooded and masked figure awaited him.
“Sir, what do you need?” – the figure asked calmly.
The man sat down and said, “A good reason not to kill you all.” – He smiled coldly.
“How?” – The masked man was confused, and the mysterious man in front began to change appearance, becoming a beautiful woman.
The masked man stood up and understood. An axe was drawn, and Verna attacked.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The walls opened, and several men and women rushed towards Verna, arrows and bullets firing at her, various blades pointed.
Verna smiles with savagery and disdain, a green glow manifests on the blade of her axe, and moments later she waves it. A sharp and brutal wave of wind energy cuts through, a storm unfolds, and dozens of bodies are torn apart.
High-level individuals, even a Legendary Warrior among them, all dead in seconds.
Verna smiles coldly and looks towards a wall, walking towards it and punching it. The wall disintegrates, and a tunnel appears. Her body shrinks, and she begins to advance.
Figures emerge, killed instantly. Verna's body is bathed in blood, and she reaches the secret rooms and kills more of the Golden Claw men.
"Who are you?!" – Amidst the massacre, a man shouts, pointing at her, drawing a rapier.
"Verna!" – She says coldly, understanding appearing in the man's eyes.
"Why are you attacking us?" – He asks, but he already knows the reason.
“You sent four assassins after me and my friend. Not only did you try to deceive me by selling information, but you covet my treasures? Truly deplorable!” – Verna taunts.
“I think there’s been some mistake.” – The man said. – “We’re just a group of informants.” – He smiles, trying to appear as friendly as possible.
“You must think I’m stupid.” – Verna laughs disdainfully and throws her axe. An unseen assassin screams as he falls to the ground, writhing in agony as he dies.
Verna approaches the man, who takes advantage of her being unarmed to attack. Verna throws a punch to his abdomen; it was too fast, and the man is soon vomiting.
Extending a hand, the axe returns, and with a swing, she throws it again, which spins and pierces three burly men, then lodges itself at Verna’s feet.
Crouching, she looks into the man’s eyes.
“Do you know who supports us?” – He growls.
“I don’t know and I don’t care.” – Verna says coldly, then pinches the man’s face so hard she tears off a chunk of skin. He screams in pain.
“I’m not going to kill you.” – She says. – “You’ll be the only one who lives to tell the tale. You’ve annoyed me greatly, this will be the only time I show mercy.”
Before the man could open his mouth, Verna punched him and shattered his teeth. – “I didn’t give you permission to speak.” – She growls, and the man’s eyes tear up.
Verna stands up, drawing her axe. – “You tried to deceive me, then you tried to kill me to steal my things. A low-level informant organization, that’s what you are.”
“But do you know the real reason I won’t kill you?” – Verna smiles, and seeing the curiosity in the man’s eyes, she swings her axe, severing his arm, and the man’s shrill scream echoes.
“It’s because you were used by that bitch to attack me, and now you’ve suffered so much. I wonder what you’ll do.” – Verna smiles and turns away. – “That was my first and only warning. The next time I’m attacked by you, know that in every city I visit and see your mark, I will kill you all!”
“And I know you probably have a demigod supporting you.” – Verna smiles coldly. – “I’m eager to meet him.”