Chapter 75: Chapter 75: Silver Ashe
Before testing the new tonic, Siderius took a look at his status window.
[S.Y.S.T.E.M.]
[USER: Siderius ’Snow’ Satterblade]
[ ATTRIBUTES ]
|Strength: 4 (+1)|
|Agility: 4|
|Perception: 3|
|Stamina: 5|
|Endurance: 6|
[WITCH HUNTER RANK: OCULUS EXTIMA I]
[ALCHEMIST RANK: SILVER I]
[SIGILS SLOT: 2/2]
[SIGIL: <VERTIGO>; <PARAVE>]
[MERCURY EXTRACT: 8/150]
[PSYCHOSIS LEVEL: 35/125 (-5)]
[TOXICITY LEVEL: 0/100]
After two weeks of training, his attributes didn’t change much. He only gained one additional point of Strength.
This was as expected. Pure physical training alone needed months and years for it to have a significant impact on one’s body. Because his strength was the lowest, it was the only one that increased.
His endurance, stamina and agility also saw improvement. But the system didn’t register those as an increase in attribute.
Siderius had also lowered an additional five psychosis points. The effectiveness of the psyche meditation had lowered even further. Now Siderius needed six hours to decrease one point, which he split into a three-hour session each day.
Only on the fifth day of training, when he dedicated an entire day to meditation that the psychosis would decrease by one point. Siderius could feel that the psychosis reduction would only be slower from now on.
He didn’t worry too much about the reduction rate. Normal hunters might take months to dissolve their first mutation. If Siderius could complete his first mutation within two to three months, that was already a rare achievement.
Siderius recounted his days in this new world. He had come here for almost two months. Most of it was trying to train and getting used to this world. The conflict in the Rocky Pit was a unique event but that only took a few days in his journey.
Siderius took a few drops of the Wolverine Anabolism and drank it.
Anabolism Tonic must be used in combination with physical training. It would enhance the improvement of one attribute throughout all training days. So even in Strength, Agility and Endurance day, Siderius’s Stamina could be increased at the same time.
But for now, he sat on his knees and stayed motionless to observe and examine the effect of the tonic.
Arvenox Tonic caused a burn to the throat and an instant fever to the drinker. Wolverine Anabolism was different. The liquid was dense, almost honey-like and had a faint taste of sweetness.
Siderius could feel the energy in his body replenish, the hunger in his stomach subsided by a bit.
The first few symptoms seemed to be positive. Siderius then stood up and ran a few laps around the hideout.
His stamina was better temporarily. Usually Siderius would feel his lungs burning and his muscles sore after half an hour but now his lungs stayed fresh and his muscles energized.
That was only a trick provided by the Tonic. Stamina Anabolism could provide a temporary increase in stamina but it had a grave side effect afterward.
Siderius ended his marathon early and rested after an hour. He waited for the consequence to arrive.
It arrived abruptly and unannounced. Siderius’ muscles contracted and a burning sensation spread through his body. His lungs became dried and his blood demanded oxygen.
Siderius stayed still. He didn’t panic. He drank some water to stay hydrated then began an alchemist meditation session.
Siderius regulated his breathing and relaxed his muscles. He rejoiced with the discomfort and did not deny it.
Anabolism could grant you a temporary boost according to that beast’s strength. But if you only relied on that short boost, your body would be wrecked.
It was not a spirit to be used for combat to boost your attributes. If you do this, the effect of the tonic would lose its effectiveness and soon to be useless.
The correct way to use it was to train with it. It allowed the body to reach a state that it normally could not reach. The state that corresponded to the beast’s strength. And once you’re in that state, train with it and condense that temporary boost into a permanent attribute.
If you didn’t, that boost would disappear forever and you have wasted a good bottle of spirit.
Siderius meditated for longer than he needed. Around two to three hours. The after effect of the tonic had disappeared but Siderius wanted to observe more, checking if there would be any other hidden side effects.
There were none. The third experiment was a success. However, there was more room to be improved upon. Siderius knew he could make this better and created the most potent Wolverine Anabolism.
Each Anabolism was a one time tonic. A hunter could never receive the same boost to the attribute again in the future. That was why he only tried for a tiny bit. He saved the best for last.
As for the remaining third batch, Siderius looked over to the baby wolverine.
He had no use for this batch anymore. And Ashe still needed a long time to be ready for her first mutation. The best option was to use it for your allies.
Siderius didn’t trust Kraus or any of the other recruits. Selling this tonic would surely be a mistake. He didn’t want to expose his secrets yet. Not until he had the power to safeguard it.
It was made using the essence of the baby wolverine’s mother. It was because of him that the baby wolverine had to survive on its own now.
"Using your mother’s essence to strengthen yourself doesn’t seem to be that wrong."
Siderius took the bowl to the baby wolverine. He would need to work its body to make sure it received the attributes boost permanently.
That was easy for him. Siderius had a lot of experience training animals. It wasn’t that rare for a witch hunter to have an animal companion.
Even for a solitary one, they knew how to train their horse. So each witch hunter would have some experience in beast taming one way or another.
It was at this time that Siderius felt a silent wave of disruption. It was not a physical wave, but hiding in a higher, more enlightened zone of the soul.
Siderius looked over to Ashe. With his Mind Eye, he could see her ordinary soul slowly lit up in silver. It was a faint, barely illuminated silver shade.
But it was unmistakably silver. Ashe had succeeded.
"Around a month to ascend. You do have talent in the Truth-Seeking Path, my apprentice."