The hunt was as brief as it was painful. I descended the stairs. Thankfully, I had my slingshot in my pocket, so it didn't get destroyed. I found a few rocks outside and went back to the kitchen, opening the door slowly. I scanned for scavengers... and wasn't disappointed. There was one munching on a dead bug, on top of the counter.
It was dead before it could notice the open door. I collected my kill, closed the door, and waited. Ithas would warn me whenever another scavenger entered the room, and I would repeat the process. I got four scavengers like this, though the process took the better part of three hours.
That was another one of the perks of having Ithas. He always seemed to have an internal clock running.
I arranged a pot and a small knife—surprisingly free of rust. I carefully made my way three buildings over, gutted and skinned the carcasses, and even threw their guts into the middle of the street. All to attract husks away from my current hideout.
I boiled the four scavengers using one of the hobs; I had two cores to power them now. After having a soup consisting of dead rat-lizards and water, I went back to the attic. I ate in silence.
It tasted terrible; the meat was tough and flavorless. It tasted like boiled chicken, but funkier and generally less pleasant. It only made me miss Owl's simple but decent cooking. I went to sleep after eating. I needed the rest.
Like this, a day quickly passed.
ººº
[You have rested enough, bearer. I will teach you a ritual to make yourself stronger, faster.]
I woke up rubbing my temples. The fatigue and soreness were still there, only mildly reduced.
'Can't I rest a bit more? It hurts a lot.'
[The ritual will also help with your regeneration. Now that you are outside the danger zone of overexertion, you should make use of it.]
I sighed. This guy was even more of a training maniac than me. I sat down, crossing my legs.
'What do I do?'
[I scanned some of your recent memories. You have learned about the runic inscription body-advancement method. Its roots are solid and it can have great effects, but with your limited runic knowledge you can only get so far. There are better runic arrays that can be used, as well as better energy sources than "scavengers."]
This could solve the biggest problem—my lack of food!
'Tell me how to do it.' He seemed to give me a satisfied mental nod.
Knowledge was projected into my mind. Unlike the knowledge ritual, this was much simpler. The image of runes overlaid on my body showed up in my mind.
[Draw according to the patterns.]
'Alright, but there is one problem. I don't have the chalk mixture.'
[Blood will do. Make a shallow incision on your finger and draw carefully. Keep a rag close to smooth out any lines.]
I was speechless for a second. 'He's completely ruthless, huh? I'm starting to get afraid of his "better method."'
I took out the small knife.
'Am I really going to do this? Follow a voice inside my head that tells me to draw on my body with blood to get stronger?' I was silent, for a time, looking at the knife in my hands.
'Yes, yes I will. I don't want to die—or even come close to dying again.'
I perforated the tip of my finger, flinching slightly. Blood started to drip. I got to drawing.
The runes were harder to draw and had much more complex shapes. They also didn't have simple meanings, but based on my knowledge I could gather what they meant. They completed phrases, not just simple meanings. Some of them sounded like mythical chants, with a much deeper power than the simple runes from before.
Ithas had me correct the drawings at least a hundred times. Any imperfection in the lines, and he complained. By the end of the process I had to reopen the wound on my finger several times too. It hurt like hell, but I just accepted it.
In the end, the model image in my mind glowed green; it had been much more helpful than a mirror. With my closed eyes I could see an ethereal image of my finger hovering on the image, and the drawing I made was highlighted in contrast with the model. The result was a red painting that looked... completely different than the scribbles of runes I made on my first try with the chalk.
[You are ready to start. I will now explain the process to you.]
I waited.
[You will place a core in your mouth and keep it there.]
[The runes around your cheeks and jaw will siphon energy from the core. The runes and pathways down your throat will lead the energy downwards and distribute it in the perfect ratio through your organs. This will increase your metabolism severalfold while energy is provided.]
'Wait, I can use the energy from a core? The book I picked up never mentioned that.'
[Of course. It was a book of basics, after all. This is an advanced technique.]
[The remaining runes around your body are tailored to your muscle groups, and I have altered them to suit your physiology perfectly. They will exhaust and injure your muscles in a cadence that can be kept indefinitely as long as the muscles are being healed.]
[You will thus be able to improve within your first tempering much faster.]
'First tempering?'
[An individual must undergo three muscle tempering cycles to achieve the full potential of their race.]
[You are on the first.]
I picked up a core, rolling it over my fingers for a bit.
'Is this gonna hurt?'
[Yes.]
'I figured...' I let out a sigh. Maybe he was just a sadist?
ººº
Popping the core in my mouth, the blood pathways and runes lit up with glowing red light. Slowly my body started to heat up, I felt like thousands of ants started crawling over my skin... and then started to bite into my muscles.
Clenching my teeth hard, I kept the core on top of my tongue and away from them. I didn't want to end up as a crater in a smoking attic.
The intensity of the process only increased; it hurt more and more and eventually my whole body felt like I was being digested alive. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't—not with the core in my mouth.
[Good, the results seem satisfactory.]
'Satisfactory!? I'm dying here, Ithas!'
[You are not.]
The process did not abate and kept on increasing in intensity. Sweat was pouring out of me... only for the water to be reabsorbed by runes on my skin, making sure I didn't get dehydrated. The caveat to this is that I was overheating quickly; by now I already had a high fever. Then, as if on cue, the runes glowed red hot and a wave of steam was let out of my body, rapidly cooling me.
[According to my calculations you have enough moisture in your body to endure thirty-two cycles before collapsing from dehydration. We shall stop at thirty to avoid any accidents.]
I was way beyond hearing him at that point, however. I had started to hallucinate because of the high fever, only for the hallucination to be cut short. Then my vision swam, darkened, and returned to normal—only for it to repeat all over again, all the while my whole body felt like it was being digested alive.
The pain was such that I felt I was losing a piece of myself, something precious that I didn't know existed. That I valued above all else and yet couldn't even perceive.
ººº
After thirty cycles I was numb. The attic was filled with steam, like a sauna. I moved robotically after the process was over, not even noticing the improvement on my physique. I drank water, liters upon liters of it. Then, after I could no longer drink, I fell face-first on the floor and passed out.
Even with its terrifying side effects, however, the process had been remarkably successful. My muscle density increased by leaps and bounds; with it, my strength, speed, endurance. I had become much more than I was a few hours before.
In this moment—should it be measured—I would be the strongest human alive in terms of pure muscle. I had surpassed the limit of humanity and yet... the price had been steep. For the few brief waking moments after the process, I felt less. Less human, less like myself.
I had burned away my humanity through pain to achieve power.
Had it been worth it?