EU: Chapter 028 | The New Potion Factory

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[to be edited]

[Spell: Wood Ski]

This was activated through the legs, requiring expert usage of the feet while primarily involving Speed Factor.

When standing atop a block of wood, the Elf will slightly space his feet apart. The core of this Spell was to not move the feet. The feet will grip the wood tightly. Static friction was enough for this.

The left foot would be in a state of rest, serving as an anchor. Control Authority over Wood would then be applied on the foot directly in contact with the right foot.

Range Factor and Speed Factor had one unit, even with the most minimal of stats. That meant, the Elf could move wood for about a metre from the body in a second. If Control Authority was being applied from the right foot, then the wood in a radius of a metre from the point of contact—the right foot—was within range for Control Authority.

A Speed Factor of one meant a point of wood could be moved for a distance of one metre in a second. It took half a second to cover 50 centimetres in distance, which the right foot did.

The Elf wasn’t moving the right foot through muscular actuation. The layer of wood in contact with the right foot moved forward for half a metre, dragging the foot forward, in half a second.

Right as the movement ended, the right foot came to rest while the same process repeated on the left foot. This way, the Elf could slide slowly on a block of wood. At the start, it didn’t seem impressive. However, once the stats increased, it became scary.

If the Speed Factor reached 5, it meant a point of wood could be moved for ten metres in a second. It meant that moving the right foot for half a metre only required a tenth of a second. And that’s it.

One-tenth of a second was the activation window for a Spell. It was also the reaction time for a human on Earth at their fastest. Therefore, in a second, with the Spell being alternated between the right and left foot five times each, the Elf would have skated forward by five metres.

Bear in note that a Speed Factor of 5 was easily attainable. As the Speed Factor continues to increase, the speed at which an Elf could pull off would easily surpass muscular movements. As long as the mind willed and the body could handle the strain, movement speeds farsurpassing a bipedal could be achieved.

‘And that’s at Level 1 and with a Control Factor of 1.’ Pinaka felt a hard urge to use the Spell immediately. ‘I’m at Level 2, and my Control Factor has reached 2 too. What I can achieve with this Spell is…’

‘Hahaha!’ He covered his mouth desperately, trying to stifle his laughter.

The Spell relied on static friction for grip for an Elf with a Control Fator of 1. The Control Factor was being used to move the foot forward.

But once the Control Factor increased to 2, things changed. When a foot moved forward, the other foot could anchor itself to the wood as the Control Authority could be unleashed through two points of contact now.

This meant that skiing across slopes or even vertical, wooden surfaces was now a possibility. As one foot moved forward, the other foot anchored itself. ‘This isn’t even the best part.’

The same Spell, with the introduction of Creation Factor, turned scary. As now, another possibility appeared. The anchored foot would use Creation Factor and create a wood foothold. The moving food would glide over it.

If the Elf had a Speed Factor of 10, the moving foot using the Spell of Wood Ski would harness five units of Speed Factor, moving at speeds of five metres per second.

The Creation Factor would spawn a wood floor at a speed of ten metres per second.

For example, the right foot moves forward for half a metre. The anchoring left foot creates a foothold for a metre. As it spawns wood faster, there’s always a foothold of wood for the right foot to ski over.

Once the right foot comes to a stop, it spawns wood for a metre from its spot while the left foot now moves forward. This way, there’s always a surface of wood to ski over. Meaning, the Elf could move about endlessly without rest.

‘The only limiting factor here is the mind.’ Pinaka mused. Of course, the body would also suffer strain from the movements. However, skiing was significantly less strenuous than running. Thereby, one could travel for a longer distance at faster speeds.

‘If I study civil engineering, I can create wood bridges in various shapes in the air without it collapsing during a fight.’ Structural integrity was important if he was spawning a construct of wood in the air, with only a small portion of it in contact with the ground, like a bridge.

As long as he studies and experiments with it a little, the possibilities seemed endless. And that’s exactly what he thought upon realisation, ‘Damn!’

The Spell of Wood Ski could also be used through the palms. However, skiing like this required a lot more skill than skiing with the feet.

‘This Spell alone makes the entire ordeal with it!’ He relished in glee. He obtained two Spells from Raepekka. The latter had plans for a lot more Spells, but only these two were truly creative and took advantage of their power system.

[Spell: Grafting]

Grafting is a technique for joining two plants or tissues together. That was the definition on Earth. And here, the Spell did the same.

Normally, two pieces of Wood cannot be joined together through Control Authority. Shape can be changed, but that was the limit.

It was why whenever they used their Authority, it was always on one object. When Pinaka controlled a wheat stalk, he changed its shape, contracting the roots and shoot to the shape of his desire. Structurally, despite the many branches, it was one object.

It was why he had to regularly discard his shoes, since every wear and tear broke off pieces from it, which reduced the overall matter—of Wood—forming the shoes.

The Spell of Grating allowed two pieces to be joined. It was significantly valuable for those at Level 1. Pinaka didn’t have much use for it, since he could create Wood as he pleased.

Just the knowledge and method used behind the Spell was enough for him. He didn’t have to waste a Spell slot for this.

While he was musing with endless sparks of inspiration, thanks to the addition of the two Spells in his arsenal, a team of six soldiers entered the prison, dragging the figure of Prichka with them.

Pinaka subtly peeked out from the railings on his floor and observed the soldiers feed Prichka the World Tree Fruit in advance and then roughly harnessed him into the apparatus. There was no issue even if they were being rough, as the World Tree Fruit spontaneously healed the Elf’s injuries.

Once Prichka was harnessed into the apparatus on the pillar, the Vampire’s Race’s fang was stabbed into his heart to extract blood. Twenty litres of blood was collected in total.

“It’s a bit less today, since we wasted some of its healing power to heal this slave.” The grey-robed Human commented. Soon, the group cleaned up after themselves and took their leave.

“You’re struggling, huh?” Once the coast was clear, Pinaka appeared before the pillar and stared at Prichka. He observed the latter’s face filled with grief, for a moment second-guessing his actions, ‘Can I seriously endure that pain without going insane?’

‘Man, fuck this world.’ He let out a sigh in the end. This was the fastest way to increase his stats and also avoid all levels of supervision. Employing his Spell of Root Glove, Pinaka climbed up the pillar and shined the light from his Status Window over Prichka’s face, “Do you wish to survive?”

Prichka couldn’t speak. However, his eyes showed his determination to survive.

“Then, show me your Status Window,” Pinaka asked, solely to ensure he could copy the latter’s window for the rare case he was asked by the Humans to reveal. ‘Based on what I saw for the past few days, there is never a need. But it’s better I am prepared for the possibility.’

[Name: Prichka]

[Race: Elf]

[Authority: Wood]

[Control Factor: 1]

[Weight Factor: 6]

[Volume Factor: 1]

[Range Factor: 2]

[Speed Factor: 1]

[Spell: Seed Overgrowth]

For someone who had been alive for over a year, Prichka’s stats were seriously unimpressive. He neither had the talent nor was he good with his deliveries. The quality of his products wasn’t up to par when compared with the other Elves. And when it fell below standard, he was relegated to being a potion factory.

Only Elves with the worst talent were relegated to the potion factory. Otherwise, the stats they would gain from ingesting World Tree Fruits daily would become ridiculous.

That’s why people like Nunaka with decent talents were killed off after a while. These people continued to grow even in horrible living conditions, even when they tried their best to restrict themselves.

‘I think I am pretty decently talented too.’ Pinaka thought as he eyed Prichka from closeup, looking over the latter’s face, ‘That means I won’t be kept alive for long. So, this is better anyway. Once I obtain all the benefits I can from here, I’ll escape.’

“Goodbye.” Slowly, Pinaka extended his index finger and plunged it into Prichka’s heart. There was shock in the latter’s face, filled with disbelief as his hope shattered. And then, he lost his life, as Pinaka had stopped his heart.

Like warm butter wriggling around a sharp knife, Prichka’s muscles freed themselves from the nails under Pinaka’s control.

In a matter of minutes, Prichka had been pulled out fully from the apparatus. Pinaka carried him to the floor, used his Status Window as a source of illumination, and began to alter the other party’s appearance.

‘Good, he looks just like me.’ Pinaka made doubly sure of all the scars, ensuring Prichka looked just like him now. At the same time, he modified his appearance into Prichka’s.

Once that was done, Pinaka carried Prichka to his cell and placed him on the floor, ensuring the latter looked like someone who had died from extreme hunger.

‘Hmm…whatever.’ For a moment, he glanced into Mahnaka’s cell but didn’t bother after a moment’s thought, ‘Whether he’s on our side or has defected to the side of Humans, it doesn’t matter to me.’

Pinaka then walked to Raepekka’s cell and created a corpse of the latter.

Soon, he was back to the pillar, having gently strapped himself into the apparatus, ‘It…HURTS!’

He pumped adrenaline throughout his body and exercised utmost caution to prevent the nails from stabbing into any pain receptors. A couple mistakes alone made him regret being daring enough.

The gloves he used to climb up the pillar were turned into a sheet and stuffed underneath the skin of his stomach. He then made adjustments to ensure he looked no different from Prichka and relaxed, “Now, I wait.”

Clang! Clang!

A soldier entered the prison right at dawn and clattered a baton against the metal gates, waking up the Elves. The Elves stirred up at the irritating sounds. Once after seeing the Elf in a cell budge at the sound did he proceed to the next cell.

All Elves habitually jerked awake at the sounds. But the Elf in one of the cells didn’t, causing the soldier to frown. “Slave!”

He roared in anger and burst into the cell, pulling out his whip to last at the floor, right next to the Elf’s face, “GET UP!”

Seeing no reaction, he kicked the Elf on the stomach once. No response.

‘It can’t be…!’ He extended his index finger and placed it below the Elf’s nose, also checking for pulse to conclude a few seconds later, “He’s dead.”

Hearing the commotion, the adjacent cellmates—Zetaka and Mahnaka—had gathered in confusion. And then, they heard the soldier’s declaration.

Zetaka clicked his tongue in irritation and walked away while Mahnaka stared in shock for a few seconds, ‘I thought you would do something, Pinaka. Where was the drive you showed the first day?’

‘I guess…you too were no different from the rest of us.’ He sighed, shook his head mournfully and began to descend the flight of stairs, ‘This fucked up place has laid claim to you in the end.’

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Gangnea Daily Article #28:

The metal carriage used by Pronto, the bridges extending out of all Gates, and every modern device that harnessed the power of a Sun Stone were created by a legend among Humans, called Master Whorren. He was the Human Race’s Librarian, and the man who made his debut with the potion factory’s apparatus. The guy loved torture more than anything, and his every great invention was a faulty torture device.

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