Chapter Nine: The Living Soft-Tissue Bio-Arm

"Little Onion Squid?"

At the prompt, Ember looked over and saw the octopus-faced fellow, who had the air of a middle-aged uncle about him, had already become a tiny creature with an onion for a head and squid-like legs. By appearance alone, it was indeed rather cute. But after using the Eye of Insight, Ember discovered that the little thing, lying unconscious on the floor, was actually a miniboss of the leader rank.

After a moment’s thought, Ember abandoned the idea of giving it a beating, picked up the key, and went charging upward with the squid legs in tow.

As for why he did not open the prison gate at once, the reason was simple: he was wary of accidents. Just a moment ago he had been in perfect condition and could still save his life if something went wrong. But as the story progressed, there was no telling whether a lord-class existence might be lurking in the prison. To stay on the safe side, Ember decided to first obtain the anomalous weapon. Now that he had the key, he was not worried about anything inside the prison running off.

Taking three steps at a time, he rushed up the spiral stairway and once more entered the equipment enhancement room, where he handed over the telescopic baton, the unknown tentacle, and the free enhancement voucher to the enhancer.

"Huh! You caught the little fellow that fast? Good, good, young and promising..."

The little old man who handled enhancements seemed somewhat short on ways to praise people; he turned the same few words over and over. Still, his professionalism was beyond doubt. In no time at all, he had completed the telescopic baton’s final enhancement.

[Hint: You have completed the enhancement task for the "Equipment Crafter." Please report immediately to the equipment workshop to begin forging the anomalous weapon.]

This enhancement did not raise the baton’s displayed damage. Instead, it granted the telescopic baton the potential to transform. One noteworthy point was that the unknown tentacle’s extension length had increased, changing from two segments to three. Its total length now was almost that of a standard sword, though the tail end was somewhat softer in material, as if an extra tentacle had grown out from the baton itself.

"Mm, the enhancement effect is perfect. You can go find that barbarian woman now. Also, if you still have any credit points left, you might as well spend your last chance to buy or enhance here, or go take a look over at the apothecary."

The little old man at the equipment counter held Ember in high regard and offered this friendly advice. Ember thanked him, decided to turn in the quest first and then think things over, and when he returned to that cluttered workshop for the second time, the equipment crafter had just finished cultivating the active soft tissue cells.

"Perfect timing! I was just about to waste ten minutes waiting for you to get back. Bring me the telescopic baton and let me have a look... Good. The weapon and enhancement materials have fused together beautifully. Tourmaline and thunderstruck hardwood are balanced and coexisting in perfect harmony. Using this weapon for anomalous modification will definitely meet my requirements, so long as you perform normally."

"Eh? So I'm involved too?"

"Nonsense! Do you think the creation of anomalous equipment is just a matter of swinging a hammer and beating some iron?"

The equipment crafter, who truly seemed to come from a barbarian tribe, had an explosively bad temper. With a face as stern and emotionless as stone, she instructed Ember, "Once I begin the anomalous modification, the living soft tissue cells will keep trying to escape! Your job is to smash the cell tissue apart again and again. Otherwise, if too much of it is lost, the quality of the finished product will drop, and the process may even fail outright. Duration: five minutes. Understood?"

[Hint: The "Equipment Crafter" requires you to prevent the living soft tissue cells from escaping the equipment modification table for the next five minutes, as much as possible.]

[Hint: Each cluster of cells that escapes will reduce the completion quality of the anomalous weapon by one percent. If twenty clusters escape, the crafting will fail!]

"All right."

Ember had not expected this twist, but he immediately brought out the Dire Wolf Gauntlets and focused all his attention, preparing for the critical moment.

The ensuing battle would determine whether the telescopic baton could complete its metamorphosis, and Ember regarded it with the utmost seriousness.

"Begin!"

The enhanced, charged telescopic baton and the living soft tissue cells were placed upon the equipment modification table. The burly, broad-shouldered equipment crafter roared at once, and Ember felt his spirit jolt. He saw part of the living soft matter wriggle toward the telescopic baton, gradually covering and merging with the weapon, while another part resisted quite strongly, continuously writhing outward until it broke away from the main body, becoming a scattered detachment that fled in all directions.

Seeing this, Ember attacked while simultaneously activating the Eye of Insight.

...

Name: Living Soft Tissue Cells
Type: Special / anomalous byproduct
Health: 30/30
Attack Rank: Weak (5)
Defense Rank: Weak (5)
Attack Speed: Slow
Alert Range: Very Short
Skill: None
Description: Cell tissue derived from the anomalous entity "Living Softbody." It possesses a certain degree of intelligence, but because its source of life has been greatly depleted, it can no longer become an anomalous entity.

...

The living soft tissue cells were no sturdier in health or defense than ordinary monsters, and at least for Ember, they were no challenge at all. A light swing of the Dire Wolf Gauntlets, aided by the Smash effect and gauntlet mastery, was enough to kill them in one blow. So although six or seven clusters broke away and fled at once, Ember dropped them all with a casual hand.

Some of the scattered cells obediently fused back into the telescopic baton. Others re-formed into clusters and kept trying to escape. In addition, portions of cells that had attached to the baton without fully merging would occasionally stir as well, causing more and more would-be fugitives to emerge and flee in all directions.

Fortunately, Ember had earlier spent a large number of core points raising his Vital Will, bringing his stamina cap up to sixteen. That made intercepting the cell tissue more than manageable, and he could often find openings between bouts of fighting to recover his stamina.

Over the next five minutes, Ember ran nonstop around the equipment modification table, ensuring that not a single cluster of cell tissue escaped successfully, until the very last cluster finally gave up and fully merged with the enhanced, charged telescopic baton, marking the perfect success of the weapon’s transformation!

[Hint: You have completed the assessment task "Anomalous Modification." You receive the Equipment Crafter’s qualification seal and a piece of candy.]

[Hint: Your weapon, "Enhanced Charged Telescopic Baton," has achieved a perfect anomalous metamorphosis and has been promoted to the anomalous weapon "Living Softbody Bio-Arm"!]

...

[Living Softbody Bio-Arm] (Light / Basic)
Weapon Quality: Perfect (4 enhancement attempts remaining)
Attack Range: Medium
Damage Rank: Average (14)

Equipment Effect 1: Extended Strike (Passive. Increases your weapon’s attack range by one hundred percent and adds a "Capture" effect, pulling you closer to your target.)
Equipment Effect 2: Sluggishness (Automatically applies, every ten seconds, the highest Sluggishness effect equivalent to the "Living Softbody’s Gluttonous Appetite.")
Equipment Effect 3: Paralysis (Average rank. Has a chance to interrupt actions for three seconds. Requires five Agility to become immune.)
Enhancement Effect 1: Energy Infusion (Every thirty seconds, grants one Energy Infusion, increasing the damage rank of your next three attacks by one point.)
Inlaid Items: None
Requirements: Strength 4, Agility 2 / Strength 8, Agility 2 (Charged State)
Description: An anomalous weapon refashioned from a reinforced standard telescopic baton, based on the biological traits of the anomalous entity "Living Softbody." It not only possesses some of the Living Softbody’s characteristics, but also perfectly inherits the enhancement attributes of the standard telescopic baton, granting it better equipment effects than the usual Living Softbody Bio-Arm.

[Living Softbody Set 3/4: The token "Living Softbody’s Gluttonous Appetite" receives certain effect bonuses.]

...

"Purely in terms of damage increase, it’s actually not that dramatic. The key is that the transformed baton has gained four more enhancement opportunities. Any enhancement material at all can greatly raise its base damage. The problem is that the activation requirements are becoming harsher and harsher. To trigger the charged state now takes eight points of Strength. If I enhance it again, I’m afraid it’ll be heading straight into double digits!"

Ember glanced at his contribution bar. Having just reached level nine not long ago, he had advanced the upgrade progress to fifty percent by defeating three Combat Masters and by instantly killing a large number of living soft tissue cells. He was not far from his next level, and before long he would meet the conditions for using the charged effect.

But considering that raising the Living Softbody Bio-Arm’s base damage was already enough to make up for its lack of burst power, Ember decided to give up on the charged effect for the time being and instead pursue stable output. He collected the Equipment Crafter’s qualification seal and a piece of candy, then went once more to visit the equipment enhancer. There, he spent eight hundred credit points to buy an enhancement material that increased damage by one hundred percent, and then spent another sixteen hundred credit points to complete the second enhancement of the anomalous equipment.

The final enhancement effect directly raised the Living Softbody Bio-Arm’s base damage to twenty-eight points, but the Strength requirement also increased from four to six. As for the charged requirement, it was even more terrifying: not only had it doubled, it had also increased by one more point, completely putting an end to Ember’s intention of using the charged state in the short term.

"Though it is a little regrettable that the charged state has become nothing more than decoration, twenty-eight points of base damage, combined with baton mastery, can deliver a steady forty-two points of output. If I trigger the fortification state, the damage can even rise to fifty-three points, which is no less impressive than the maximum damage before its transformation. And there’s no awkward middle period either."

Purely in terms of damage numbers, it had already surpassed Ember’s expectations. What’s more, this anomalous weapon came with three equipment effects. Sluggishness and Paralysis gave Ember an advantage in battle, and as for Extended Strike, there was no need to mention it at all; that was the part that delighted Ember the most.

As the saying goes, an inch longer means an inch stronger. The doubled attack range gave Ember an extraordinary combat advantage when facing enemies. He did not need to fight in close quarters at all; by relying on the range advantage alone, he could reduce the difficulty of combat by quite a margin.

And perhaps most importantly, the weapon’s appearance was incredibly cool. Just as the equipment name suggested, Ember’s right arm, together with the weapon, had become a dark green bio-arm. Although Ember himself knew he was still simply holding a weapon, his field of vision showed only a complete long arm touching the ground, thick and powerful, with immense visual impact. It instantly made his image stand apart from the ordinary, unique and attention-grabbing.

After a few swings left and right, Ember quickly found the feel of it, and his grin stretched nearly from ear to ear.

After all, strength and weakness are only temporary. Being cool is a lifelong matter.