Chương 133: Research

I was certain I'd managed to earn the blessings of a Slumberer. Askan and the Greencloaks had all but said so. Besides, everything Alis described made sense. That led me to a hypothesis. If a Slumberer's blessing was enough to take a regular enhanced body to Emerald-tier when combined with a Path-walker's ability to manipulate maegen, then perhaps I could use it to make an impossible task possible. I might not get the highest tier body, but at least I could use it to draw the maegen slurry inward.

That blessing was why I could hold maegen and guide it with my fingers, if only slightly. So, as long as I made enough arcane slurry to fully immerse myself, it wouldn't really matter that I couldn't control it. Sure, Sage had to move the slurry constantly during her reforging. But she didn't have the blessings of a Slumberer like I did. If the blessings helped Alis reforge a much better, stronger body for herself, in combination with willfully moving the maegen, then for me, without moving the maegen…

well, I'd be making an average body. Technically. But if I combined that with my nature as a Dupe, I'd be far stronger than most. There were only two problems, now: I had to figure out what aspect Aelfwine's Birch had been, and I needed to get enough potions to make a slurry. The next morning after my meeting with Alis, I brought my plan to my squad at the breakfast table. Sage said, "... It might work."

"Yeah," I said.

"I'll have to check with the library. If Aelfwine's Birch has an aspect that's incompatible, or just something that's way too obscure for my needs, I'll have to reconsider. Something that directly clashes with gravity, for example."

"And what about the potions?" Anchor asked, looking promptingly at Sage. Brawl also glanced at Sage, then said, "If this works for Levi, sister, it would be a massive boon to the squad." I held up my hands, then said, "I don't want to pressure you into anything."

"My father has the funds," Sage said.

"But the liquid doesn't have to be just a potion. You need to consider what else would be compatible with the body you are aiming for. There would be a list of alchemical ingredients for crafting the right tempering blend."

"Right," I said.

"Research is a job for tonight, then." ~ ~ ~ After all my daily tasks, now thoroughly exhausted, I rushed to the castle library and searched for any books on the different known Slumberers. There couldn't be that many in the world, and surely, Aelfwine's Birch had a documented history and aspect. Finally, I found a compendium near the back of the shelves—almost exactly what I needed. I flipped through it, but it didn't take long to find what I needed.

The pages were sorted alphabetically, and this world's letter for A was at the start of the alphabet, just the same as what I knew from English. Almost like a dictionary entry, the book read: Aelfwine's Birch (Slumberer) Located in the Sud Seaxe domains of Gate, in the southern boglands that wrap around toward Steelshore (currently under control of the Hin clan, but it is contested with the Ceon clan). An enormous birch tree with an amber heart, containing the ancient soul fragments of the first king of Gate.

Handle with care. The heart, if threatened, will protect itself. Aspect: Memory, Learning A body reforging coupled with this Blessing will grant the user an immense increase to his Focus and Perception, as well as other minor attributes. Further refinement will allow the user to temporarily scale physical attributes with mental attributes. I was hoping it might be something directly related to gravity, or something that would help with my spear… but I was already starting to gain memory and mental Skills.

I could use this to my advantage. I'd go through with it, then. I kept reading, looking for any indication of what I might use to create a compatible slurry, but there was nothing. I'd need a different book. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. But before I closed the book, I was curious. I flipped through, searching the book and its compendium of Slumberers.

It listed a couple in Gate—there were about a hundred known across the nation, and mostly in the northern domains. But there were plenty more scattered across the world. Some were in nations that had now been conquered by the orcs, and were part of the Bane-lands. Others were west of us. We knew of some in the southern Bluelands across the sea, though we rarely ventured there, and most of their aspects were unknown. But there was one that caught my eye, named Eraen-Kalora's Pith.

It had a spatial manipulation aspect, and though its origin and specific location was a well guarded secret (it was somewhere in the capital city, but beyond that, no one knew where it was), it belonged to the Aelf clan. That would be the clan of Aelfwine. The royal clan. According to the book, any Path-walkers produced by the royal family were required to earn its blessings and use it to help reforge their bodies. And it was always the father's responsibility to insist upon it.

I closed the book after that, then stored it away and went hunting through the library for a different book, one focused on alchemy and body reforging. I hunted through it for anything specific about memory wielders, or those with a memory-aspect to their maegen. The book read: Subtle Men, to assist in purifying their memory and insight aspect, often reforge their bodies using the bile of a minddrake. Even after reforging, they carry vials of it on their body.

They continue to enhance their bodies after reaching Titanium. Otherwise, they can use minddrake bile for advanced interrogations. It can mollify a victim's mind if he is being especially uncooperative. My eyes widened, and I whispered, "Shit. We should've searched the Subtle Man we killed…" Before I slept, I raced to our room in the barracks, then hunted down Anchor and Brawl.

As they were settling down for the night, I barged into the room and whispered, "Do you two remember where you buried the Subtle Man's body?"

"They guy we killed to save the Warlord's messenger?" Anchor asked.

"Is something wrong, brother?" Brawl questioned.

"We didn't really search him, did we?"

"No. There was no time." I crossed my arms.

"We need to go back."

"That's a couple days wasted," Anchor said.

"You can't afford to miss out on that much training."

"You're right, but—""We'll go, brother," Brawl said.

"But not you."

"Get Lord Ceonwin to give us a pretend mission, and we will get what you need," Anchor agreed.

"What is it that you need?" I didn't want to send them away, but I was in no position to argue.

"Vials of minddrake bile. Do you know what those look like?"

"We will loot him for everything he's worth," Anchor said.

"Except, 'course, any armour he's got. Anything that would make it obvious that we killed him."

"Great. I'll make the arrangements. Thank you guys."

"Anything for our sergeant." ~ ~ ~ The next morning, Lord Ceonwin sent Brawl and Anchor off on a mission. Then, training continued. I stayed steady, continuing as normal, doing my very best to pretend I wasn't living two lives. There wasn't anything more I could do even if I wanted to. My schedule was packed. I couldn't even take a half-hour break. As the week went on and the next Labyrinth run approached, I checked the updated tournament schedule for the joust.

My next match was against Peofrith in about a week's time—a little longer. Two weeks after his match, I would face off against Hinfic. I kept my eyes out for any incoming shipments of supplies. I hadn't really paid attention to how often the supply shipments arrived, but these past few days, I stayed as aware as I could.

A few shipments arrived, carrying extra monsters to stock the Labyrinth, but finally, a few days before our next Labyrinth run, a trio of covered wagons trundled into the castle walls, loaded with crates and barrels. A few hours later, as I was returning to my room after a long day of training, I found Abacus wheeling a small cart through the hallways. He brought it to my room and pulled it inside.

"I didn't think I'd see you delivering supplies personally," I said. Glancing down, I couldn't help but notice that one of his legs was a wooden peg. I hadn't noticed when he was sitting.

"That's why they have you on accountant duty, is it?"

"This is simply one of my many chores," he said.

"There is little else for an injured Dupe to do, so the Drillmaster employs us with other support tasks." He motioned to the cart.

"These are your orders." I helped him unload the cart, then cracked open the barrels. There were four barrels, and instantly, I knew they contained infused food. A pressure wafted off them, like it did in the presence of powerful Path-walkers, and they smelled like they were made of nothing but ash and smoke. The first barrel held salt-pork. That had to be for Strength. The second contained pickled carrots, probably for Vitality. Next was potatoes—raw potatoes. That had to help with Agility.

Finally, a barrel full of roasted beans that looked like coffee or cocoa.

"What are these?" I asked.

"Infused Shepherd Beans," Abacus replied.

"We grind them up and mix them into the mashed potatoes, but you should be able to simply eat them. They help lock in your Focus and Perception." Lastly, he placed a tiny black box atop the barrels—barely larger than a jewelry box. I cracked it open, revealing a vial no larger than my pinky finger, filled with a neon blue, bubbling liquid.

"Archerbane neurotoxin," Abacus said.

"To help you damage your body's stimulus sensors. It's the highest strength we could acquire. Don't use it unless you've consumed at least a handful of Shepherd Beans, otherwise even a few drops could cause permanent damage."

"Understood. Thank you." I needed to get started on this as soon as I could. It didn't matter if I was full from dinner—I sampled one item from each barrel. My body rejected each bite, and I had to force myself to chew and swallow. I told myself this would be enough to give me the edge I needed. It was the only thing that worked.