"You must be Osiris," said Priam, materializing with a smile. Empty-handed, his charisma activated, and draped in a cloak of mist, he aid to appear as friendly as possible. After all, he needed Osiris' help, and threats wouldn't aid his cause.
Despite his apparent lack of weaponry, an enemy would be mistaken to believe Priam was defenseless. An invisible mist enveloped the room, ready to unleash Prosse. In the center of the room, the innocent campfire had a burning desire to help the Fire Sage.
The child turned around, a surprised expression on his face. "It's ! How do you know my tongue?"
"I have so rudint," Priam smiled. The knowledge that had cost him forty bronze Coins. He didn't regret the purchase; the language of the two brothers was special.
[Duat Language - Epic] - A language spoken by the living and the dead. For those who practice it, death is a temporary interruption of life, not a definitive end. Born from complex Concepts, its words influence souls and spirits.
Be careful not to sell your soul by mistake. If you have one.
M 3
TA (Authority) 6
"Your accent is weird," Osiris laughed, pushing back his long black hair. "Are you friendly?"
"I an you no harm," Priam promised. He smiled as he saw Osiris nod. He had just passed so kind of test. "And you, are you friendly?"
"Yes!" said Osiris before displaying an embarrassed expression. "Well, except with the bad guys. I put them to sleep, and Seth captures their souls. But since you're not a bad guy, we can be friends!"
Scary kid.
"It's great to help your big brother... Is that an artificial muscle in your hand?" Priam asked to divert Osiris' attention.
"Yes, but it's defective," the child sighed, brandishing the muscle.
Priam approached, enveloping the organ with his Domain. The muscle was saturated with aether and much more powerful than a human one.
"It's infused with your aether. Are you using a skill to strengthen it?"
"Not right now. Most enhancents are temporary, but this is a prototype that retains its physical attributes permanently. To achieve that, I had to modify the aetheric structure of the muscle cells in the System's fashion," the child explained in his high-pitched voice. Osiris seed extrely mature for his age. This might have made so people uncomfortable, but not Priam. He himself had been rather precocious.
"You an you've artificially increased the strength, constitution, agility, and vitality... permanently?"
Osiris nodded, focusing on the organ. "Not vitality, but the rest, yes. By observing my own cells, I was able to isolate the System runes governing these three attributes. I copied them onto a muscle cell, which I cultivated to form a complete muscle."
The subject greatly interested Priam. For a human, the System was as magical as it was mysterious. Yet, it also followed rules. Knowing them ant avoiding detours on the path to the Zenith.
"Why not vitality?" Priam could understand that a perception rune was less crucial on a muscle - even though it allowed Micro to better understand the organ's state - but vitality allowed fibers to regenerate faster.
"The System runes are tiny. Each cell has dozens of runes, with the larger ones being those of the attributes. I don't have the System's precision, so my runes are larger. There was no room to implant vitality." The child's ashad expression was adorable. Despite his genius, he felt inadequate.
"Still incredible!" Priam exclaid to lift his spirits. "Did you copy the runes one by one?"
With [Aether Manipulation], his Domain, and his system, Priam was capable of such a feat. Osiris certainly didn't have access to the sa tools.
The child shook his head. "I created a fourth rune that encompasses the previous runes and spreads throughout any material infused with my aether. That's why I didn't have room for vitality. It only takes a few hours for the entire muscle to be uniformly infused and reinforced."
"Is that what happens in our bodies?" Priam asked before grimacing. The question was stupid.
"No, otherwise there would be a fraction of a second when our cells are weak; just after their creation but before they receive their runes. The System uses another thod. I have theories, but nothing concrete. All I know is there's a connection with our aether and attributes. If I saturate a lizard's body with aether and cut off its tail, it will regrow without attributes."
Priam's mind and his add-on began to race at full speed. If Osiris was telling the truth, the consequences were terrifying. For example, it was possible to trap soone in their own body after purging their aether. Micro, the Supremacy that managed an individual's control over their body and internal aether, beca fundantal.
Ignoring these considerations, Priam had an idea. "Can you create clones?"
If Osiris could clone his cells, he could eventually clone bodies. By enhancing their attributes, he would have access to an army.
"Not for now," Osiris sighed, turning his gray eyes toward Priam. "I haven't managed to reproduce the entire rune network. I lack many attributes, not to ntion skills. Because of that, I have to fill the runes of this muscle myself."
Too bad, I wanted to introduce Sumstreh to the Attack of the Clones.
"With this technique, could you increase an individual's attributes without developing his skills?"
"That's what happens when you consu a treasure," Osiris smiled. "I just inject aether compatible with the cell runes."
"Smart." And terrifying. ntally, Priam elevated Osiris's level of danger. The child's fine control allowed him to increase soone's attributes without the person gaining a skill.
It was a terrible power in a world where certain attribute thresholds triggered deadly Tribulations.
"What's your current limit per rune?" Priam innocently asked.
"Five hundred points. With my Tier 1 race, that's the maximum energy my cells can withstand. After that, the runes burst with the cell."
"My race is also Tier 1, but I continue to gain attributes with each level-up even after surpassing this threshold," Priam remarked. "I suppose the System must change the rules at that point?"
Surpassing the threshold caused a qualitative change and increased the attribute's versatility. Thanks to that, Charisma improved the compatibility of his Aura with his Concepts.
"Yes, the network changes," Osiris confird. "I think auxiliary runes are created, but [Aether Perception - Epic] doesn't allow to see deeply enough..."
"Reaching five hundred is a milestone for both the user and the System," Priam understood.
Silence settled between the adult and the child, imrsed in their thoughts. Priam wondered what to do with Seth's brother. Kazuki's AI had recorded the fight against the necromancer, and Priam had watched it. The deceased rival was powerful, but the influence of the Necromoon made him predictable. A predictable opponent wasn't dangerous.
Osiris was different. He observed the muscle with the intensity that Priam had when putting everything into surviving. Osiris wouldn't let anything distract him from his goal. In a few years, this kid will be a monster or a hero. Depending on my choices, he'll be either a valuable ally or a terrible enemy.
"Do you want to stay with your brother?" Priam asked.
Osiris turned his gray eyes in his direction. "I have to protect him."
"He will hurt you."
"Not if I save him first."
The child's clear gaze didn't waver. Priam nodded. "If you fail, co find ."
"...Did you co to kill my brother too?" Osiris's fists clenched. He's nervous.
"Too?" Priam asked.
"Half an hour ago, his clothes caught fire while we were eating. A few monts later, all his specters died one after another due to various accidents. He left after detecting an asteroid fall. I know he was afraid for , but I couldn't do anything..."
Priam shuddered at the extent of Es's powers. She wasn't the most dangerous rival in a fistfight, but with ti and information, she beca a terrifying enemy. Fortunately, she must be spending more ti trying to kill her brother than thinking about ...
"Seth annoyed a princess. All Disney movies have the sa moral: don't ss with the princess."
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"In my country, the princess ate people," Osiris shrugged. "What's a Disney?"
"It's an animated movie. I could show you one if you help with sothing."
Before the Tutorial, Priam prepared to be a physics teacher. He was used to children and knew being honest about his intentions was always better.
"So, you didn't co to kill my brother?" Osiris confird.
"I won't piss on his body to extinguish a fire, but I didn't co to kill him. He attacked one of my friends, but if you help , I'll consider it water under the bridge," Priam promised.
Although if he becos a god, I might consider pissing on him. Gotta upgrade [Iconoclast].
"What do you need for?" Osiris asked.
"I plan to upgrade my race to Tier 2," Priam revealed. "For that, I plan to..."
In the next few minutes, Priam and Osiris exchanged thoughts on the feasibility of his technique. Clearly interested, the child studied and tested Priam's hypotheses. From the first seconds, their collaboration beca fruitful.
Priam had accumulated a plethora of questions, hypotheses, and theories. His Vivacity, eidetic mory, and knowledge made him an excellent geneticist. By consuming Potential, few problems beca unsolvable. Yet, his conversation with Osiris illuminated the path to racial upgrade. A mutual epiphany seed to have seized them both.
In his original world, Osiris was a prodigious biomancer, surpassing his older brother. The child had less computing power than Priam but an innate understanding of anything related to biology. His ideas were bright, his questions pertinent, and his intuitions brilliant.
The two complented each other. They optimized the upgrade thod in less than half an hour, surpassing Priam's ambitions. Engrossed in their passionate conversation, they spoke faster as the problem unraveled.
Finally, the solution erged into the light.
Lvl Up: [Human Anatomy] lvl 18,19,20
M 3
[Human Anatomy] has reached level 20, its maximum level as a common skill. Depending on your background, three upgrades are available.
[Anatomy - Rare] - General upgrade. No future upgrade possible. Potential Cost: 5
[Zootomy - Rare] - By dissecting animals, you begin to better understand their anatomy. Future upgrades possible. Potential Cost: 15
[Humanoid Anatomy - Rare] - You have conducted impressive research on the anatomy of different humanoids, even sequencing their genetic heritage. Impressive. High upgrade potential. Potential Cost: 20
You have selected the skill [Humanoid Anatomy - Rare].
POT -20
[Humanoid Anatomy] - Human, empyrean, and arkanian. You have studied, sequenced, and analyzed part of the genetic code of three humanoid species. Through constant regeneration, you begin to have precise knowledge of your own body. Macroscopically and microscopically, you continue your study of humanoid organisms.
Creating a cat-girl species is no longer just a dream.
M 3
"So, it is possible to reduce the energy of a rune to lower an individual's attributes," Priam smiled, ignoring the System's taunt.
The applications in combat were nurous, but that wasn't what interested him. To elevate his race, Priam needed to modify his genetic heritage. His high constitution made that impossible, but Osiris and he had just found a way to temporarily reduce it. All that remained was to finish analyzing the human, empyrean, and arkanian genos. In a day or two, Priam would upgrade his race.
"But you have to be the one to do it, and it has to impact all the cells in your body simultaneously. The best way is to create a ritual. I can do it," Osiris proposed.
Priam shook his head. Creating a ritual required acquiring new runes and thus a lot of Potential. It was unfair to let a child take the loss.
"You've already helped a lot. I certainly gained days of research from our conversation alone; not to ntion I needed the initial technique. I'll take care of it."
"Please..."
Seeing Osiris lower his eyes, Priam felt a tug at his hearts. Osiris was a good boy and had helped him a lot.
"Do you have sothing to ask ?"
"I want you to bring back my brother," Osiris asked. His bright eyes struggled to hide tears of worry.
Priam grimaced. He should have expected that.
"I"
"I'll also give you a drop of my blood to make sure your new race will be Tier 2!"
A silence began to settle as Priam hesitated. Seth was a dangerous and crazy individual who had attacked Kazuki and Sphinx. Yet, thanks to Osiris, Priam had enough knowledge to create a ritual to ensure his Tier up. Helping Osiris save his brother was different from forgiving Set.
In addition, with this drop of blood and a ready ritual, he could be done in two days. At that point, the Tribulations wouldn't risk killing him every mont.
I'd also have a more powerful race. Not Tier 3, but close...
"Please... You're my only friend..."
Seeing the child's big eyes, Priam felt his hearts squeeze. His charisma and instinct told him that this was no attempt at manipulation. Priam considered himself a good friend and a terrible enemy. Osiris, a child, had helped him without asking for anything in return. If I abandon him now, I'm not worth much...
"Just this once," Priam sighed.
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