There were hundreds of thousands of worlds in the universe where humanity existed, but none of them were similar to each other.
Some were so ancient that their origin could be dated back to the creation of the universe while some were basically akin to a newborn baby, some were so big that they were comparable to the solar system where Earth was while some were even smaller than the moon orbiting around Earth.
The same could also be said with human genetics. Most civilization came from an influence of higher realm humans who came into the primitive ones. However, during this entire process, the genetics would gradually change, dwindling and developing into other directions in the evolutionary path.
Hence, no human had the same quality of body.
"Here in this facility, we help to temper the human body to its maximum potential by an exquisite and complex method of elements and alchemy," explained the staff member as the two of them did a tour around the place that was apparently called the furnace.
As they walked, Emery could see several large five meter high black cauldrons placed in various corners of the place being heated. He could clearly feel the searing high temperature in the air as they got closer to them.
In all honesty, Emery could not help but think that the direction this conversation was headed in was both exciting and terrifying.
"Here is the warden of the facility, Master Dulin."
The staff pointed at the back of the figure who was busy fiddling with one of the cauldrons. Unsurprisingly, standing before them was a dwarf with a red beard and a rather splendid mustache that caught Emery off guard for a moment.
Now that his job was done, the staff quickly retreated several steps backward before turning around and leaving the two of them alone.
On the other hand, Master Dulin became visibly excited when he saw Emery.
"Ahhh, new customer!! Amazing! Come with me," said Master Dulin as he grabbed Emery's hand and basically dragged him away.
Without asking for Emery's consent, Master Dulin immediately pushed him into some kind of a box. He didn't even have a chance to utter one coherent word before the former started to insert long, thin sharp needles into various parts of his body. They easily pierced through his skin and went deep into the flesh, sending waves of slight pain that made Emery frown.
Noticing the obvious dissatisfied look on Emery's face, Master Dulin wore a smile on his face and spoke, "Don't worry, this will only take a second."
The whole situation went so fast that Emery didn't even have a chance to react, and subsequently, quite disturbing to him. If this place was not recommended by Magus Ramora who was the official guide the academy arranged for him, then Emery would have run out and away from this place by now.
Some time later, Master Dulin finally pulled the end of the needles and connected it to a certain cable. Afterwards, Emery watched as multiple information and values appeared on the holographic display next to the former.
[Skin – 36% – below average]
[Flesh – 49% – average]
[Muscle – 58% – average]
[Organs – 52% – average]
[Veins – 42% – below average]
"Hmmm… such an awful condition. Fortunately your innate bloodline has helped develop your muscle and flesh to a certain degree, otherwise there's really no help for you." Master Dulin said those words while wearing a smile on his face.
Then suddenly, he exclaimed loudly. "Ahh! I see now, the lower realm… It's like your body is still a virgin!"
Emery was dumbfounded when he heard such a word from the red-bearded dwarf. In fact, it only raised the current level of awkwardness between the two of them to another height altogether. Alas, the latter didn't seem to realize this.
Master Dulin continued to do what he planned to do, nonchalantly taking out all the inserted needles on Emery's body and then telling him to sit on a certain table. Immediately after, he opened his mouth again.
"Don't think of what I just said in the wrong way.. After all, it means both good and bad news for you.. So which one do you like to hear first?"
Emery didn't expect such a result, hence he took a deep breath and said, "The bad news first!"
Master Dulin nodded his head slightly, as if he understood Emery's intention. "Alright, the bad news is that your body is just untainted; means in order to temper it, you must go through a certain painful and expensive process."
Hearing about money, Emery couldn't help but wonder if this was really a benefit to be accepted in the privileged class. Just before he was being lean toward buying books that cost hundreds of thousands of contribution points.
Fortunately, he had some riches to spare from winning the Magus Game. Still, he asked how much he would exactly need.
"How much?"
[Elemental Body Tempering – 2.000 contribution points]
Effectively temper one's skin, flesh, and muscle – elevating them into the next level of hardness to better endure hits.
[Alchemical Body Tempering – 5.000 contribution points]
Effectively temper one's flesh, organ, and veins – enhancing as well as strengthening the internal organs by capitalizing the miraculous feat the alchemy is capable of.
[Heavenly Body Tempering – 10.000 contribution points]
The combination of both methods, which will generate maximum results faster and tremendously lessen the pain.
Emery was so happy to see the affordable number stated next to the three methods. At least that was the case until Master Dulin told him that was the price for only a 24 hour treatment.
"… its a daily cost?"
The revelation almost choked him to death due to how outrageous it was.
"Of course its expensive, it was filled with expensive and rare herbs" answer the dwarf
"Then ..Err… and how many days would someone like me need to temper their body to its maximum condition?"
It was at this moment that Master Dulin beamed a wide smile at Emery, which naturally caught him off guard.
"Excellent! Yes, that is exactly the good news! Our facility is currently available for you to use as many days as you need! Really good news ain't it?"
"… So… how many days?" Dread gradually appeared on Emery's face, as he had a hunch that he would definitely not like what he was about to hear.
The dwarf master got closer to Emery and whispered, "One… hundred days."
"…"
Such audacity; that's a grand total of 1 million contribution points that Emery had to spend in order to temper his body to its 'maximum condition' as they called it.
Recalling how the extraordinary feat of killing the Undead Dragon only gave him an extra 25.000 contribution points made Emery once again speechless by how expensive the treatment was.
Emery quickly turned his body around and started to walk away without saying anything more. He needed to get away from this place as fast as possible before he died of a heart attack.
Seeing that he was leaving, Master Dulin immediately gave chase.
"I guarantee you won't get a better offer than this! Prices offered outside this place are twice as expensive. Moreover…"
Emery ignored the other party's words and took another step forward. All of a sudden, the dwarf master's attitude turned 180 degrees as he suddenly resorted to begging.
"Please..! I am so bored here! All those elites and special magus; they don't need body tempering at all anymore!! How about this? I will give you a big discount! So please!!"
Emery's step hadn't faltered even once as Master Dulin continued to throw his offer.
"5%!!! No! 10%!!!"
What the other party didn't know was that Emery also felt helpless inside. He, of course, wanted to temper his body but he really didn't have the necessary ability to do it. He shook his head slightly and decided to really leave when the dwarf said something that made him stop in his tracks.
"Stop! Think about it… I am sure no amount of money can be compared to saving your life, right..?"
That last, exact sentence managed to bring Emery's feet into a stop. He took a deep long breath as he thought that maybe he should at least try a day or two and see how much of an impact the treatment would make before he finally made up his decision.
Turning around and looking Master Dulin in the eye, Emery said, "Alright, I'll try for one day!"
A happy expression immediately replaced the pitiful look on the dwarf's face.
"Excellent!"
Right now, Emery felt the dwarf master in front of him didn't look like a master artisan at all. Instead, he looked much like a wicked trader.
Heaving a sigh of helplessness, Emery could only hope that all of this would be worth it as he followed the latter back.
There were hundreds of thousands of worlds in the universe where humanity existed, but none of them were similar to each other.
Some were so ancient that their origin could be dated back to the creation of the universe while some were basically akin to a newborn baby, some were so big that they were comparable to the solar system where Earth was while some were even smaller than the moon orbiting around Earth.
The same could also be said with human genetics. Most civilization came from an influence of higher realm humans who came into the primitive ones. However, during this entire process, the genetics would gradually change, dwindling and developing into other directions in the evolutionary path.
Hence, no human had the same quality of body.
"Here in this facility, we help to temper the human body to its maximum potential by an exquisite and complex method of elements and alchemy," explained the staff member as the two of them did a tour around the place that was apparently called the furnace.
As they walked, Emery could see several large five meter high black cauldrons placed in various corners of the place being heated. He could clearly feel the searing high temperature in the air as they got closer to them.
In all honesty, Emery could not help but think that the direction this conversation was headed in was both exciting and terrifying.
"Here is the warden of the facility, Master Dulin."
The staff pointed at the back of the figure who was busy fiddling with one of the cauldrons. Unsurprisingly, standing before them was a dwarf with a red beard and a rather splendid mustache that caught Emery off guard for a moment.
Now that his job was done, the staff quickly retreated several steps backward before turning around and leaving the two of them alone.
On the other hand, Master Dulin became visibly excited when he saw Emery.
"Ahhh, new customer!! Amazing! Come with me," said Master Dulin as he grabbed Emery's hand and basically dragged him away.
Without asking for Emery's consent, Master Dulin immediately pushed him into some kind of a box. He didn't even have a chance to utter one coherent word before the former started to insert long, thin sharp needles into various parts of his body. They easily pierced through his skin and went deep into the flesh, sending waves of slight pain that made Emery frown.
Noticing the obvious dissatisfied look on Emery's face, Master Dulin wore a smile on his face and spoke, "Don't worry, this will only take a second."
The whole situation went so fast that Emery didn't even have a chance to react, and subsequently, quite disturbing to him. If this place was not recommended by Magus Ramora who was the official guide the academy arranged for him, then Emery would have run out and away from this place by now.
Some time later, Master Dulin finally pulled the end of the needles and connected it to a certain cable. Afterwards, Emery watched as multiple information and values appeared on the holographic display next to the former.
[Skin – 36% – below average]
[Flesh – 49% – average]
[Muscle – 58% – average]
[Organs – 52% – average]
[Veins – 42% – below average]
"Hmmm… such an awful condition. Fortunately your innate bloodline has helped develop your muscle and flesh to a certain degree, otherwise there's really no help for you." Master Dulin said those words while wearing a smile on his face.
Then suddenly, he exclaimed loudly. "Ahh! I see now, the lower realm… It's like your body is still a virgin!"
Emery was dumbfounded when he heard such a word from the red-bearded dwarf. In fact, it only raised the current level of awkwardness between the two of them to another height altogether. Alas, the latter didn't seem to realize this.
Master Dulin continued to do what he planned to do, nonchalantly taking out all the inserted needles on Emery's body and then telling him to sit on a certain table. Immediately after, he opened his mouth again.
"Don't think of what I just said in the wrong way.. After all, it means both good and bad news for you.. So which one do you like to hear first?"
Emery didn't expect such a result, hence he took a deep breath and said, "The bad news first!"
Master Dulin nodded his head slightly, as if he understood Emery's intention. "Alright, the bad news is that your body is just untainted; means in order to temper it, you must go through a certain painful and expensive process."
Hearing about money, Emery couldn't help but wonder if this was really a benefit to be accepted in the privileged class. Just before he was being lean toward buying books that cost hundreds of thousands of contribution points.
Fortunately, he had some riches to spare from winning the Magus Game. Still, he asked how much he would exactly need.
"How much?"
[Elemental Body Tempering – 2.000 contribution points]
Effectively temper one's skin, flesh, and muscle – elevating them into the next level of hardness to better endure hits.
[Alchemical Body Tempering – 5.000 contribution points]
Effectively temper one's flesh, organ, and veins – enhancing as well as strengthening the internal organs by capitalizing the miraculous feat the alchemy is capable of.
[Heavenly Body Tempering – 10.000 contribution points]
The combination of both methods, which will generate maximum results faster and tremendously lessen the pain.
Emery was so happy to see the affordable number stated next to the three methods. At least that was the case until Master Dulin told him that was the price for only a 24 hour treatment.
"… its a daily cost?"
The revelation almost choked him to death due to how outrageous it was.
"Of course its expensive, it was filled with expensive and rare herbs" answer the dwarf
"Then ..Err… and how many days would someone like me need to temper their body to its maximum condition?"
It was at this moment that Master Dulin beamed a wide smile at Emery, which naturally caught him off guard.
"Excellent! Yes, that is exactly the good news! Our facility is currently available for you to use as many days as you need! Really good news ain't it?"
"… So… how many days?" Dread gradually appeared on Emery's face, as he had a hunch that he would definitely not like what he was about to hear.
The dwarf master got closer to Emery and whispered, "One… hundred days."
"…"
Such audacity; that's a grand total of 1 million contribution points that Emery had to spend in order to temper his body to its 'maximum condition' as they called it.
Recalling how the extraordinary feat of killing the Undead Dragon only gave him an extra 25.000 contribution points made Emery once again speechless by how expensive the treatment was.
Emery quickly turned his body around and started to walk away without saying anything more. He needed to get away from this place as fast as possible before he died of a heart attack.
Seeing that he was leaving, Master Dulin immediately gave chase.
"I guarantee you won't get a better offer than this! Prices offered outside this place are twice as expensive. Moreover…"
Emery ignored the other party's words and took another step forward. All of a sudden, the dwarf master's attitude turned 180 degrees as he suddenly resorted to begging.
"Please..! I am so bored here! All those elites and special magus; they don't need body tempering at all anymore!! How about this? I will give you a big discount! So please!!"
Emery's step hadn't faltered even once as Master Dulin continued to throw his offer.
"5%!!! No! 10%!!!"
What the other party didn't know was that Emery also felt helpless inside. He, of course, wanted to temper his body but he really didn't have the necessary ability to do it. He shook his head slightly and decided to really leave when the dwarf said something that made him stop in his tracks.
"Stop! Think about it… I am sure no amount of money can be compared to saving your life, right..?"
That last, exact sentence managed to bring Emery's feet into a stop. He took a deep long breath as he thought that maybe he should at least try a day or two and see how much of an impact the treatment would make before he finally made up his decision.
Turning around and looking Master Dulin in the eye, Emery said, "Alright, I'll try for one day!"
A happy expression immediately replaced the pitiful look on the dwarf's face.
"Excellent!"
Right now, Emery felt the dwarf master in front of him didn't look like a master artisan at all. Instead, he looked much like a wicked trader.
Heaving a sigh of helplessness, Emery could only hope that all of this would be worth it as he followed the latter back.
