Serum: C177 (Patreon)

Note: Again, sorry for the delay. Was being pulled in all directions this weekend, but things should finally be settling down. I shouldn't be wrong this time, but maybe I'm just secretly a dumbass. I also accidentally sliced my finger on my straight razor right after waking up this morning, but that's completely unrelated.

Enjoy :)

Note2: I forgot to mention this earlier, but a detail to remember that was edited in later and has to do with the Otherworld. The skies there are dark, not bright blue. Basically its an eternally night sky, but since the sun is still out as normally, everything on the ground is still bright, as if it were daytime. You can read this in C175, but just wanted to let you all know here. 

It took close to three days of constant travel in order to arrive at their destination.

Along the way, all those in the wagons were fed scraps and given the bare minimum to survive. They really were treated like slaves. Some people almost died on the way, and the only reason they survived was because Dirk, along with a few other body refiners, gave up their food and water.

Dirk could survive a long time without any sustenance, as could most body refiners. So they didn’t hesitate to give their things away.

Because of that, everyone was able to make it to the labor camp.

The camp was located at the base of a small mountain. At first glance, Dirk realized that it was a mining camp.

They pulled through the gates and saw a large fort on one side of the camp along with some makeshift housing on the other. The housing was barely held together, formed out of thin wood, stone, and dirt.

Everyone in the wagon was forced out on arrival before being chained up. The chains were standard, but they also had special restraints for mana and anima.

Those identified as a mage, no matter how much mana they showed, were given mana inhibiting collars that killed their ability to cast spells or store any significant amount of mana.

Since Dirk couldn’t be identified as a mage, he wasn’t given the special mana inhibiting chains. But people like Gianna were, making them weak and powerless.

However, it wasn’t like the body refiners were allowed to roam free with potentially dangerous strength.

When Dirk stepped up to give his identity and be put on a list, they put him down as a Rank 5 body refiner. At the same time, his wrists and ankles had their range of motion restrained with a chain between them. The chain was also heavy, reducing the speed anyone could move with.

Not only that, but when Dirk tried to move a little bit of his anima, he found that the chains became even heavier while locking up. While it didn’t affect him much with the little he moved, even he could tell that he wouldn’t have too easy a time if it activated in full force.

Not only that, but as Dirk waited in the line, he looked around at some of the nearby guards.

They were dressed in heavy armor and carrying a variety of weapons. Most were without their helmets and were looking down on those entering with sneers or frowns.

And they were all Rank 6. These people would be their watchers. After all, Dirk didn’t see anybody above Tier or Rank 5 inside the wagons. They seemed to all be outright killed due to the threat they posed, so if there were no outliers, these guards could kill anyone in the camp.

While moving, Dirk tried to act how a normal blind person would. Sometimes he stumbled and walked straight but in the wrong direction, veering off into nothing. However, Gianna took up a position by his side, guiding him to where he needed to go. This caught attention, but not enough to warrant any reactions.

After getting chained up, Gianna led him to an open field where they stood and waited. It was only once everyone else was finished that they had all gathered and waited for instructions.

Dirk looked around, seeing a few hundred other humans and vampires all working throughout the camp. They already looked gaunt like they hadn’t eaten in days. Their clothes were also ragged.

“Listen up!”

An elf spoke in the standard human language as he yelled instructions.

Their group was given a number and instructions. Based on whether you were ordinary, a mage, or a body refiner, you would be sent to different places.

They also gave general information like the times to eat and curfew.

Dirk didn’t pay attention to much. He simply didn’t care. In fact, he could slip away right now if he wanted to.

This base didn’t have Tier 8’s, and he was confident in sneaking away from anyone below that. Even if there was a Tier 7, they weren’t nearby, and by the time they responded to his abnormality, he would be long gone.

He was only sticking around to collect information. Plus, he felt like he could do something if it made the lives of those around him just a bit easier.

So he let himself get shoved around and yelled at as they were assigned housing. Then, since it was late in the day, curfew came and they all went to sleep.

The next day, they were woken up early for roll call. After that, they were sent off to work.

Dirk was sent into the mines to work. Their goal was to mine Geode, the earth metal.

For this, the body refiners were actually unshackled. They were also given a quota. If they didn’t manage to mine a certain amount of ore each day, they would get punished.

Of course, Dirk didn’t intend to help these people in any way, but he also didn’t need to attract attention. So when he was sent in, he decided to only mine the bare minimum.

Gianna was also there. She was assigned to help him move his cargo while he mined.

The mining site was at the base of the mountain next to them. After passing through some gates, Dirk saw a massive cave that dozens of humans and vampires went in and out of.

Some were processing the material while others were ferrying loads. Dirk passed by them with Gianna, heading into the cave where they were given some gear like pickaxes and bags.

Before long, they were inside the mineshaft. They had to go in deep to find a place to dig, however, Dirk didn’t just search blindly.

With a brief tap of the hand, he sent out some pulses of mana into the walls that revealed varying concentrations of Geode. Spyte was able to analyze their absorption patterns, so he could get an accurate read on small or large deposits.

He easily found enough at first glance to cover his quota for the next several weeks. In fact, in the whole mine there was quite a bit, hundreds of pounds if it was all refined.

And that was just with a brief glance. Most of the Geode deposits traveled downward deep into the mountain. In fact, their densities increased as it did so, exposing plentiful amounts of the metal.

So Dirk was able to easily find a spot and begin digging downward.

Gianna stood to the side, watching him as he started working.

She had figured out that Dirk really didn’t need his eyes to be healed. In the occasional moments he wasn’t acting, she could see him move perfectly fine, as if his eyes weren’t cut or covered.

She didn't know what he was hiding, but she already assumed he wasn’t normal.

Suddenly, as he chipped away at the rock with shocking speed, he asked.

“How long until the resistance gets here?”

“I’m not sure. All I know is that we were told that help was coming. This camp won’t last long, but unless we make contact, we won’t know anything specific.”

“Hm.”

Dirk hummed, Gianna watching as a brand new cave was carved out in front of her. Rock was like butter underneath his strikes, and they had already found several pounds of potential ore.

But oddly, he was digging almost straight down, building himself a little nest before going further down.

Meanwhile, Dirk made some plans for himself.

He wasn’t planning on sitting idly in this place. Every day was precious time he could spend building his strength.

And he did in fact have the tools necessary to begin the process of his next advancement. Within Obsidius was the Mana Heart Manual and Anima Resonance Destruction Technique.

He also had to work on his martial arts, which would be as simple as slipping out of the base and finding a secluded place to practice.

Not only that, but he had the entire day to do as he wished. Although he needed to mine, who said he had to spend all his daylight hours doing so?

Dirk mined for two hours, but just that was enough time to build a massive pile of ore.

After that, he carved out a small chair inside a cave just big enough for him to fit, taking a seat and looking toward Gianna.

“If there are kids or those who struggle to mine, tell them they can take from my pile to fill their quota. I don’t care how much they need, but keep the lazy out. I can’t fulfill everyone’s quotas. Otherwise, I need alone time.”

“Oh, alright.”

Gianna just nodded as Dirk sat in what seemed like meditation. After that, she left and did as he said.

There were many in the mines who were barely able to get by, if they even were. Without enough food and horrid living conditions, they were barely strong enough to swing their pickaxes.

So hearing that someone was actually giving their own work away, many were happy.

And Gianna did as Dirk said, filling the quotas of all the kids. Everyone else came second, composed of the elderly and adults with injuries.

Of course, they couldn't simply bring all the ore up at once. So after Gianna devised a system, everyone followed along and made things seem normal.

As they did this, Dirk was concentrating on his next steps.

Specifically, he looked at the Mana Heart Technique.

The Mana Heart had been formed alongside the Domain, so Dirk was now more powerful than ever. However, according to the Manual, forming the true Mana Heart was just the first step.

The next step was to bring his Mana Heart to a whole new level. After spending a few hours processing the runes within each page, Dirk likened the process to crystalizing his Mana Heart.

He would need to make his mana unbelievably dense in order to create a new Crystal Mana Heart. Just by virtue of the crystallization, his mana pool would become dozens of times larger.

But that was just the start. The technique required him to simultaneously build in several horribly complex runic formations. Their exact function, he didn’t know. They were meant to prime him for later advancements, only being utilized when moving to even higher levels.

The technique had done this before as well. During his second, third, and fourth advancements, he had created runic formations and implanted them into his mini hearts and mana pool. It was during his advancement to Tier 5 that they all came together, resulting in the formation of his Mana Heart and his explosive growth.

But the formations this time weren’t entirely useless. Their benefits would kick in after his next advancement, and they involved unshackling his magic casting ability. The specifics, he didn’t know.

But what he did know was that, from now on, cultivating his mana would be a long and tedious process. After all, crystalizing his mana couldn’t only happen with massive energy investment on his part. On top of that, the runic formation he was supposed to create was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It spanned several pages and was meant to link together like a machine, but he couldn’t even see portions of it, let alone begin to make it.

But he knew where to start. Just getting to that point though took him the entire day.

By the time he left his little cave, he found that most people were leaving. So he got up and left with them.

But he didn’t go back to the trashy housing. Instead, he went invisible and made his way out of the camp.

He smiled, thinking how easy it was to simply leave.

Not only that, but the chains on his body were basically symbolic.

Using a bit of magic, he easily unlocked them and threw them off.

Then, he stood still.

Suddenly, his stomach churned, roiling before he knelt down and started throwing up.

What came out wasn’t food, but a black blob.

“Ugh. You know, as great as you are, you taste horrible.”

“!!”

The blob responded to him by bouncing and splattering across his face, sticking there for a few seconds before sliding back off and landing on his shoulder.

He chuckled before standing and swapping his clothing for something clean and comfortable.

Like that, he made his way into the nearby mountains in sweats and a tshirt.

He wandered for a while, looking around and searching for a decent place to practice.

But when he finally came across a good clearing, he found that it was already taken.

As he was already stealthed, the person didn’t immediately notice him as he went to observe.

He saw an elven woman with a sword in hand.

Her hair was a platinum silver, decorated with some colorful feathers. She was also tall, just an inch or two shorter than Dirk. And her eyes glowed a deep jade green.

But more important than any of that was the aura she exuded.

She was powerful, clearly a body refiner. But her power wasn’t simply by virtue of sheer strength.

Dirk watched for a few moments as she danced around the clearing, the tip of her sword leaving streaks in the air as it moved.

Dirk found it both beautiful and deadly. Everything about her movements screamed danger. Dirk himself couldn’t help but feel a slight tingle.

But the tingle wasn’t out of fear. Instead, he found himself excited.

And just as he started to smile, the woman’s figure vanished.

The instant she did, Dirk equipped the Sword of Dissonance and swung around.

*TING*

Their blades clashed, but the resulting force traveled up Dirk’s arm and split his palm.

Yet he continued to smile as they locked blades, her eyes glued to him with ferocity.

“Hello, human. Can I assume you’re part of the resistance?”

“No. In fact, I’m trying to find them myself. You wouldn’t happen to know where they are, would you?”

“As if I care enough to remember.”

*Shing!*

She shifted her stance, and Dirk found her blade sliding against the air toward his hand.

He shifted as well though, deflecting her sword while jumping into the clearing.

She jumped in as well, landing a few meters away from him. It was clear that neither of them were about to avoid this fight.

They didn’t immediately attack, nor talk. Instead, they simply stared at each other, the girl with a frown and Dirk with a bright grin on his face.

As he stood there looking at her, feeling her aura and sensing the way she stimulated his instincts, he became more and more confident in his evaluation of her.

And her frown started to turn as well into a look of curiosity, then to slight amusement.

She opened her mouth first.

“You’re…”

Let’s find out.”

“But you’re weaker.”

“Let’s find out!”

Dirk could barely contain himself as he jumped forward. No mana was used as he let out a slash.

The girl responded in kind, but her blade was faster, carrying more weight. Her body also started to move, shifting her positions in just the right way to follow up yet leave her myriads of options for response.

Everything she did seemed so perfect that Dirk couldn’t help himself and laughed.

But his happiness confused the elven girl. Wasn’t he a human being hunted by their kind? Why was he happy to see her, and more than that, where the hell did he come from?

Their blades collided, but in that moment, the girl was forced to abandon all her questions and focus on the battle.

Her pupils constricted as Dirk’s body began to move forward, utilizing the impact of their blades to change positions and maneuver his blade into a chain of attacks.

She could already see what he was trying to do. Should she let it, he would chain the next 8 attacks together and push her into his flow of battle.

But what surprised her was the fact that it felt like she couldn’t avoid it. At least, not at first.

After maneuvering, Dirk stabbed foward after reboudning off her blade, forcing her to retreat while deflecting his blade. However, that deflection only aided him in his next attack. It was like he was reading her, knowing what moves she would make ten steps in advance.

But after one more attack, her leg suddenly twitched.

It was the slightest window, but right before it happened, she could sense it coming.

The opportunity made her body move before she even thought about it, her leg exploding with power and driving forward.

Her sword came forward, slicing a millimeter past Dirk’s own blade and shooting down toward his shoulder, threatening to take his arm off.

But being so close to losing a limb didn’t make him concerned or serious. He only smiled further and responded.

His body shifted as his head shot forward. Enough force erupted from his leg to crack the ground as he drove his knee up, using the momentum to both lean his torso back to dodge and send a blow into her ribcage.

*Boom!*

The sound of his knee against her body let out a little shockwave that rattled her organs and lifted her off the ground, sending her a distance away.

She couldn’t help it as she landed roughly on the ground.

Just after landing though, she jumped to her feet and composed herself.

Now, her eyes were dark as she looked at Dirk a few meters away.

The smile was still on his face as he looked down.

A long red line appeared from his shoulder to his chest. Yet, it only let out a few drops of blood before coagulating and beginning to seal.

The girl watched as the wound closed itself in a matter of seconds. It was the only wound she had landed, and compared to the blow he delivered, it was nothing.

But she was concerned about something far more important.

Those instincts, the response time, his odd but scarily effective technique.

Or, more like the total lack of technique, yet the ability to fight her on equal grounds.

She mumbled.

“You’re a Heir.”