Mutagen

The sound of a hammer echoed as it hit a piece of metal inside the workshop. No one could hear the noise from outside as it was a room inside the rocky wall of the cliff. As such, almost no one from outside knew of the things happening inside.

Inside the workshop, Mark held a large hammer as he pounded a sword affixed on the worktable. He was not fixing the sword, however. He was flattening it from the edge while it was tightly clamped unto a bench clamp.

The sword was not just any regular sword, either. It was a magical sword. If anyone in the know saw Mark bend the perfectly fine sword like this, they would scream in dismay.

A magical sword sure was an extremely rare item in the realm of humans. Yet, Mark was on the verge of breaking it for reasons he solely knew.

CRACK! CREAK!

The sword slowly began to make uncanny noises as its metal blade cracked into pieces.

CLANG!

And soon, the part being hammered broke, scattering pieces of metal all over the work table.

Seeing the mess, Mark did not show any reaction. He only let go of the hammer and put it on the table as he searched the fragments of the sword.

It did not take long, and he found what he was looking for. Carefully picking up the things he looked for, it was actually small pieces of metal that looked different from the metal that should have composed the sword he broke.

The blade of the magical sword had a grayish silver sheen. The pieces that Mark picked up appeared to be crystal despite being metal in texture.

"It also contained too little."

Mark murmured as he looked at a small clear container in a display cabinet not far from him. He then compared the contents of the container and the metal pieces he had in his hand.

The contents of the container were actually pieces of metal similar to what he currently had on his hand.

Seeing that it was the same, Mark put the metal pieces in his hand into the container.

Then, he proceeded to break the rest of the sword.

It was not the first magic sword that Mark broke in these past days. It was actually the tenth.

This number was more than enough to drive people crazy. Rare artifacts of the Mythological Era were actually being destroyed into pieces by Mark. One after another.

Even Berrak might have a heart attack if he heard what Mark did.

However, Mark looked at the container in dismay.

"It\'s not enough yet..."

With this thought, he would not stop soon. Even if he had to break most of the magical equipment they managed to get from the Kingdom of Black Duendes, he would do it.

But what were these crystal-like pieces of metal that Mark was looking for inside the broken magical weapons?

It was the magical energy conductor used for the magic circuits inside the weapons. This conductor was the base of these weapons, so it could circulate and even store magical energy for its magical enchantments and effects.

An example was the sword Mark was currently breaking. The materials of the sword were not entirely magical. Although it was made of alloy composing some magic metal that did not exist in the Mortal Dimension, a large portion of the alloy was steel. The very same kind of steel that humans used in things in their daily lives.

Yet, the sword could display a hard to rival sharpness that regular steel weapons should not be capable of. Even if it was made of an alloy composed of magic metals, its sharpness was still incredible. It was all thanks to the magic circuits carved inside it and was filled with this magical energy conductor.

As for why Mark wanted the magical energy conductors, it was not hard to tell. It had many uses, mainly for crafting magical equipment and weapons. And most importantly, building a magical puppet, commonly known as a Golem.

Mark\'s research of the broken Golem had a breakthrough the other day. The body of the Golem was actually made of magical alloy with regular Iron as its base. It was not wrong to say that it was an Iron Golem. However, it was similar to modern gadgets and appliances. There was some sort of circuitry that ran all across the Golem\'s body. Nonetheless, instead of copper wiring, it had these magical circuits engraved inside. All were made of the very same magical energy conductors.

In this case, Mark could start learning about the circuitry since he could follow the ancient documents he was using as a reference. Although there was no way to decipher the wordings in these old papers, they had diagrams. All of which appeared to be magic circles and circuits. If Mark could recreate and experiment on these diagrams, he would be able to see their functions.

However, there was a big problem.

Mark had no way of making these magical energy conductors by himself. He tried asking Teremillio and his mother, even the other magical races he currently had in his base.

No one had a clue to recreate it.

From what Mark learned from them, the method for crafting magical items was a lost art in the first place. That was why magical weapons were almost extinct, and most humans had no idea that these things existed. And, of course, it was the same for the magical energy conductors.

Considering that the method to make the item Mark needed was lost, he had to resort to a drastic measure.

It was to salvage the item from the magical equipment they had.

Apparently, it was the same reason why the king of the Black Duendes amassed such a large number of magical weapons in the first place. It was all for them to create a golem. After all, while a magical weapon was incredible on its own, there was no way it could be used without anyone wielding it. Golems, on the other hand, could move on their own. And was proven to be even more destructive.

Actually, destroying these rare items hurt Mark too. After all, as a gamer, Mark was a hoarder. He liked to collect things, even unnecessary ones. Not to mention these extremely rare items.

Unfortunately, Mark had no choice. If he wanted to develop his own items and create a Golem, he had to make some sacrifices.

If he succeeded, not only Mark would be able to create a Golem. But he would also be able to create his own magical weapons.

It would be his first actual magical creation.

Although he already made the [Shooting Moon Blade] that Mei had, and even the [Shadow Piercer] that he created recently, it was not exactly his magical creations.

In the first place, the [Shooting Moon Blade] was already a magical weapon of its own. Mark only changed its shape to suit Mei more.

On the other hand, the [Shadow Piercer] was not really a magical weapon. It was only a minified railgun. As long as there was enough power source, it would not even need Mark\'s [Black Lightning] to fire.

Due to this reason, Mark was really eager to finish this research. Not to mention that they would need suitable weapons more after the barrier vanished.

It was fortunate that nothing much happened around the barrier this past week. The worst was a few [Mutated Animals] wandering to the base, fleeing from the radiation. Both Berrak and Annika captured the animals to train.

With the lack of events around the base, Mark was able to concentrate on his research.

***

Day 169 - 5:24 PM - Private Training Area, Mountain Base, Mount Malabito, General Nakar, Province of Quezon

In the Private Training Area just beside the Cliff House, there was also the sound of metal clashing several times.

Different from a magical sword being smashed with a hammer, however. The sound here came from several weapons clashing with one another.

This Private Training Area was something that only a few people from Mark\'s group could use. Well, it was specifically built by Mark so that Mei could train on her own.

Mei could join the training that the others were participating in. However, it was difficult considering her circumstances.

As the wife of the owner of the base, no one would mess with Mei. Nonetheless, she was still the most eye-catching female in this place. The others would not be able to concentrate in training if she was around. It was even worse for men, who would not be able to resist but ogle at her.

Thus, Mei did her training privately like she always did back in Bay City. From time to time, Karlene and the others would join her. Pretty much like what was happening this time.

With a large dull sword held with her both hands, Mei stood at the center. Around her were Karlene, Alana, Hannah, and, unexpectedly, Feng Zhiruo.

Feng Zhiruo. She was the female [Chinese Cultivator] that Mark and Mei brought back from their encounter in New Jersey. She had been living in this base for a while already and had already adapted to her current life. Compared to when she arrived here, she was now stronger. From her own words, she seemed to have risen three levels of cultivation in the short time that she was living here.

And to say, instead of wanting to leave, Feng Zhiruo was happy to stay here and serve the base. Not only that the base was too suitable for her cultivation, but even though she was more or less an offender because of what happened before, she was treated better in this place. Even better compared to when she was living in her sect.

Now, Feng Zhiruo was not only helping with Mei\'s combat training but was also teaching her in terms of cultivation.

STOMP!

Hannah jumped sideways and threw a dull dagger towards Mei.

However, Mei did not even block the dagger but dodged it just by looking at the side of her eyes.

It was unexpected that the timid Hannah was an expert at throwing daggers. She was not exactly an expert in terms of combat, but her dagger throwing skills were top-notch. She could even hit a target with a kitchen knife a dozen meters away without missing. As it appeared to be, Hannah only fell into the hands of the raiders due to being outnumbered and having bad luck.

As Mei dodged the dagger, Feng Zhiruo and Karlene made their moves. Karlene using a makeshift claw on her hands swiped towards Mei\'s head. Feng Zhiruo, on the other hand, aimed for Mei\'s legs.

The movements of the two were fast. A regular human would have a hard time following them. After all, one was a powerful [Mutator] while the other was a moderately leveled [Chinese Cultivator].

A bit later than the two, Alana, with her hands covered with gauntlets, punched towards Mei\'s stomach.

With a three-pronged attack like this, it would be hard to dodge or block.

However, Mei, with her eyes dilated, stabbed her sword to the ground and blocked Feng Zhiruo\'s attack. She then used the sword as a balance to position herself horizontally, avoiding Karlene\'s attack. Lastly, in that position, she kicked Alana\'s gauntlet, not only blocking the punch but also pushing herself out of the encirclement of the three.

It just happened in an instant. But Mei was already outside the range of the three.

"Geez... I hate this." Karlene grumbled with a sigh as she looked at Mei. "Close combat with you having those eyes is just unfair."

Alana could only shrug. Feng Zhiruo, who could barely understand what Karlene said, also agreed. Hannah did not say anything, but she seemed to be in the same opinion.

Well, Mei\'s eyes could not only zoom but could also make everything in her sight seem slower.

However, while the other four seemed amazed, Mei seemed disappointed.

"This won\'t do."

Mei shook her head.

"What is wrong? I think you did well."

Alana, who trained in some martial arts, thought Mei did well avoiding the attacks and escaping the encirclement.

"I think I could have done some sort of counterattack at the same time, but all I managed to do was to dodge and block," Mei replied. "I got overwhelmed with four attacks coming almost at the same time and could not think properly."

"Seriously... You\'re quite the spartan to yourself, aren\'t you?"

Karlene grumbled.

"No..." Mei shook her head. "I have to improve more if I wanted to continue fighting by Gege\'s side."

Hearing the reason, the other four could only shrug.

Of course, the only reason Mei wanted to improve her abilities was Mark.