Mystical Journey

"I didn't have a teacher. It was all self-taught and it took me six years," Garen used the previous story again.

"Self-taught?! Is that possible?!" Lan was so shocked that her eyes widened. "I have tried many times and I couldn't do it! I haven't even passed Level One now..." She was saddened. "It's been seven years... Grandpa taught me since I was young."

"Er..." Garen didn't know what to say.

They walked slowly along the counter.

"Brother Garen, you can pick whatever you like. Our business has been getting worse and worse after Grandpa fell ill. After selling off the previous stocks, senior brother and sister had to do some not-so-good quality imprints themselves and sell them to support the shop."

She whispered. There was no one in the store anymore. The last customer who was only having a look around had also left. The soft lights that were dim reflected the silent surrounding. Only Lan's voice echoed a little.

Garen nodded silently and listened to Lan's introduction while scanning the few kinds of Energy Machine Imprint on the counter.

"All the imprints uses basic Level One imprint as the main body. The seniors are all Level Three Energy Machinists. They have insufficient computing power to process Level Two Energy Machine Imprint. The Energy Machine Imprint is divided into two parts, computation and production. The computation part is the main body, which had to be purchased from the Federation. It is the part that is responsible for the calculation and increasing the Energy Machinist's computing power. The production part is what you just saw. It is responsible for controlling and guiding the production of cannon fodder in the Biochemical Pool. The processing part that we are in charge of is the second block," Lan introduced, slowly moving forward.

"In other words, we purchase semi-finished products and then process them into finished products before selling them, right?" Garen asked.

"That is the case. However, all the main bodies of Level One imprints are similar and the computing power is increased by a factor of three. The key lies in the second block of the processing of the Production Mod. If an ordinary imprint main body met a powerhouse who could process it into a decent Production Mod, for instance, the powerful cannon fodder such as the demon worm, then there will be a leap in price," Lan said with some envy.

"That's how it is..." Garen nodded to express understanding. Although he did not want to decide on his first imprint this rashly, there was no other way. The situation now was critical and time did not allow him to carefully make a choice.

His sight swept across the counter and landed directly on the Wild Wolf.

"That one then. Wild Wolf Imprint."

He pointed to the Energy Machine Imprint on the counter and said.

"Are you sure you want that?" Lan asked.

"Yup, I'll have that." Garen nodded.

"The Wild Wolf is fast in speed, has sharp claws and is capable of night vision, but its defense is not good. This imprint is a proud work done by senior brother. I will give you the best one. The wastage rate is only five percent. It is one of senior brother's proudest work," Lan deftly retrieved a gray shimmering soft object from a small cabinet under the counter.

All the Energy Machine Imprints were like different colors of cotton candy, soft and without shape.

"Are all Energy Machine Imprints like this?" Garen asked curiously.

"Of course not. This is only a Level One Energy Machine Imprint and it generally can be used by Level One Energy Machinist. There are also Energy Machine Imprints used by Level Two Energy Machinists, or Level Three, Four, Five. When you have money later on, you can equip yourself with a Level Two Energy Machine Imprint once you reach Level Three. Remember, it is very hard to change this stuff once it is fixed. Like primitive cells, once you have already developed them into a piece of beef, if you want to change it into a bovine bone later on, it will be very difficult," Lan exclaimed.

"I understand," Garen nodded.

"Looks like you really don't know anything," Lan shook her finger and said, "well, this is for you," she handed the imprint and put it into Garen's raised hand.

"Eat it. When you go back and retrofit, it will be painful. Just endure it and it will be fine. It generally lasts for an hour. Remember to pay attention to safety. This is the time when an Energy Machinist is most vulnerable. Regardless of how powerful an Energy Machinist is, it's all the same."

"Got it."

Garen nodded solemnly.

After an indistinct twist of color, Garen suddenly returned to his room.

He raised his hand and saw that he was holding a clump of shimmering gray cotton.

"This is the Wild Wolf Imprint?" He did not hesitate and stuffed it into his mouth.

What was strange was that when that thing touched the mouth, it immediately whooshed inside, as if it was a living thing. It slipped down the throat like liquid and it was cold, like gulping a bowl of ice water.

Garen barely swallowed and felt a tumble in his stomach.

The Willpower behind his head slowly vibrated, as if there was something cold that was radiating out a lot of silk tentacles, slowly wrapping around the two imprints at the back of his brain.

With a whirring sound, a sudden huge shock rushed into his brain and Garen felt a cramp in his stomach, like the churning of rivers and seas. He felt like vomiting. Feeling nausea, he began to burp and continuously spurt out unpleasant gas.

White spots appeared before his eyes as if someone was using their fingers to firmly press on his eyes. He saw many white spots dispersing non-stop.

He leaned forward and suppressed the pain as he walked to the room's single-seated sofa and sat down, taking a deep breath.

Although this kind of nausea and pain was unbearable, it was nothing to Garen. The pain of reworking his heart was much stronger than this. After a slight adjustment, he was able to stay calm and move about freely. However, the faint beads of sweat on his forehead showed that he was not in a good condition at this time.

After adapting to this severe pain, Garen headed to the side of the window. The sky had already lit up and it seemed to be early in the morning.

Weird sound like the howling of wolves could be faintly heard outside in a distance, but this surrounding terrain could not possibly have wolves. Even if there were, they would have been annihilated by the radiation people. The only possibility was the Predators.

"It's about to begin..." Garen murmured. Looking at the horizon where the sky was in the distance, he hoped everything would be well.

Even though he was in the room, he could feel the tremendous pressure from the people walking around on the outside.

Anxious, uneasy and forcing themselves to calm down, that kind of repression.

This was the entire mien of the thirty or forty people in the whole of Leo City.

Through the window, Garen saw someone holding a sharp metal spear and was swinging it around non-stop. There were some who were constantly rubbing their hands, sitting on the steps of the doorway and mumbling about something with their heads down.

The howling sounds came from outside, but no one lifted their heads to take a look. The whole city was increasingly quiet. No one spoke. Occasionally, one could hear the cries of babies. However, even the children who were a few years old were seriously doing what they could to help, whereas, the adults were constantly adjusting their physical status so that they could remain at their peak at all times.

Letting down the curtains, Garen knew he could do nothing now. The Wild Wolf Imprint seemed to be transforming the two Willpower imprints at the back of his head. This transformation was very rapid and precise. Many times, it would also extract some subtle substances from his own body to include in the transformation. This was also the key reason as to why the human body felt severe pain.

Garen looked up at the time, 6:21.

The wall clock ticked, its sound crisp and rhythmical.

He sat down, slowly relaxed his body and carefully observed the transformation of this Willpower Imprint. But unfortunately, such transformation was too rapid and the degree of sophistication far exceeded his imagination. Just watching for a few minutes, his conscious was a little blurred and his energy was over-exhausted. He could only stop.

Sitting quietly on the sofa, the sofa cushion under his buttocks was soft and firm. It was a leather surface and there seemed to be metal springs inside of it. It was bouncy when one sat down on it.

Minutes and seconds ticked by.

The sky was getting brighter outside.

Someone started to call on the men guarding the wall to prepare for a change of shift. Three rounds of shifts, this was previously arranged by Garen.

The footsteps of the guards who passed through the room were sparse. The people who came down were breathing deeply. No one spoke. There were only heavy breaths.

Garen looked up and glanced at the time, 6:44.

It had been twenty-three minutes.

The pain in his body continued and the intensity was increasing. He endured it, quietly sitting on the sofa and waited for everything to past.

6:51.

There were subtle noises coming from the outside and there was the sound of gunfire. Hurried footsteps swept past the room and it seemed that someone was running to the wall.

"It's alright. Just a few Predators who had been singled out rushed over and was gotten rid of," said a voice. Then everything went quiet again.

6:59.

There was a knock on the door and then came the voice of East Perrin from the outside.

"Are you there? It's going to be daylight soon."

"Don't worry. There's no need to rush," Garen sat on the couch with his eyes closed. His sweat ran down his forehead towards the edge of his cheeks and dripped on his clothes. The clothes he wore were still the plain clothes from the inner region. There was blood, engine oil and black soot on it. The outfit looked like a painter's work suit. Besides the long sleeves and long pants, it was hard to spot any pattern or color. There were smudges all over.

Hearing Garen's answer, East Perrin was silent and went away again.

7:12.

Gunshots were heard outside once more. This time, it was no ordinary gunfire, but a clutter of noises.

In the midst of the mess, there was the voice of people cursing and occasionally, someone screaming.

"It had really begun..." Garen opened his eyes, but he could do nothing except for moving about freely.

Boom boom boom!!

East Perrin knocked at the door again.

"A group of Predators came from the outside but have been repulsed by us. I suspect they are just testing our forces. A few brothers have died."

"Help me prepare some basic materials," Garen raised his voice. "The root of Loquat leaves and Dragon-beard Grass. The higher the radiation, the better they are; more than 20 grams each. The blood and brain of radiation beasts, higher grade would be even better. If not, general ones would do as well. The more, the better. Also, Tomb-branches and Winter Flowers..."

He casually named a series of things, all which were common materials in the radiation belt. These things more or less had radiation. Many of them were used as substitutes for the Nutritional Liquid to create the Biochemical Pool. Garen had no other way. Although these alternatives might be less effective and might affect the strength of the final bred-creatures, there was no other way. Just create some first and see how it goes later on.