The Harvester

Chapter 207: Prima Alkahest Materia Physique

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300 MP Deducted from the Host’s Mana Pool and Items to Fuel the Nano-Nots.

Overhaul In Progress…

Initiating First Step: Organic Cannibalization

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Rakna had faced a lot of painful experiences. And after joining the System, his tolerance had done nothing but increase over the weeks. Resistance Skills, like Proficiencies, didn’t ‘evolve’ from one stage to another every ten levels.

They were still classified by Ascended, Demi-God, and Divine but there wasn’t any distinction from one to another except the very basic meaning. Someone with a level 10 Pain Resistance couldn’t be compared to one with a level 11 though.

In other words, after level 10, it is said that one has the pain tolerance of an Ascended Being. After that, one is said to have the tolerance of a Demi-God. And finally, after level 30, one is said to have the tolerance of a Deity.

This is why Rakna could infer one very simple conclusion when a certain prompt popped up even though Pronos had used a significant dose of anesthetizing poison on him.

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Pain Resistance has Exceled!

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Pain Resistance has broken through to Demi-God!

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Pain Resistance has leveled up!

Pain Resistance has leveled up!

Pain Resistance has leveled up!

Pain Resistance has leveled up!

Pain Resistance has leveled up!

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Rakna keeled over, the very last bits of his remaining consciousness focused on stopping his claws from ripping apart his own body because of the pain. He rarely regretted the choices he made but he had to admit, this one was getting very close to it.

His Resistance was steadily going up despite how hard it normally was for a Demi-God skill to be upgraded in any circumstance. However, the agony he was going through aside, the effects of the Overhaul Program were showing.

From a third perspective, the therian’s skin was undulating, sometimes solidifying into a silverish material before spiking like scales and returning to normal. This wave of spiking scales traveled through the entirety of his body and even appeared on his hair, ears, and tails.

And the pain was only growing every second. But, in the end, there was a limit to everything. When the Overhaul was about to end, Rakna’s Pain Resistance was suddenly erased from his status. It was gone without even a warning.

“Fuck…” Rakna gasped when the pain suddenly disappeared. His body was so numb that he could not stop himself from falling on his back. He panted and, from the corner of his eyes, saw his hand momentarily change into a silver spiky material and make a noise akin to thousands of miniature magnets clustered together.

After that, it was only silence for a while. He attempted to move but there was no response. When he was getting slightly worried, his vision was overtaken by a cascade of code lines.

|| Booting Up. || Eye of Symphony announced and gradually, his senses returned to him. He didn’t even notice he had temporarily turned deaf until he recovered and started hearing Pronos again.

He instantly sat up with his body feeling a lot lighter. || Booting Sequence Over. Overhaul Initiative Complete. || The Eye added and went silent. Then, System windows began to scroll.

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Symphony Overhaul Completed!

You have gained a new Trait; Prima Alkahest Materia Physique!

Your Race has been updated: Primal Alkahestic Nine-Tailed Werewolf!

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Shuttle Specter Physique has been incorporated into Prima Alkahest Materia Physique!

Lesser Regeneration has been incorporated into Prima Alkahest Materia Physique!

Internalized Magic Circuits has been incorporated into Prima Alkahest Materia Physique!

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Pain Resistance has been erased!

Fatigue Resistance has been erased!

You have gained Pain Immunity!

You have gained Mind Immunity!

You have gained Fatigue Immunity!

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The Nirvana Skill, Ireful Descent, has been altered!

The Trait, Wrathful Obsidian Blood, has been altered!

The Trait, Eion Auto-Sustainable Nanomachines, has become obsolete!

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“{Well, it appears to be a paramount success,}” Fray commented after a while.

“As you say…” Rakna whispered as he patted Pronos to reassure him. At the same time, he sensed that both of his eyes were biomechanical, though only one had the supercomputer capabilities. He stood up with a grunt and conjured a mirror. He was able to confirm his assumptions when he saw the blinking lenses on his eyes. He also glanced at his newest scar and scowled.

With a single thought, his scar abruptly turned into a silverish line that squirmed a little with the noises of nano-bots before stopping and leaving a skin without blemish. “Interesting… I guess that means changing my appearance altogether is possible now,” he muttered to himself and ultimately made the scar reappear.

“{Hm? Why do you keep it?}” Fray asked curiously. “{Are you by any chance one of those warrior types that wear their scars with pride?}” He said with a jesting tone.

Rakna snorted. “Take it that way if you want. It’s not inaccurate, at least.”

“{Uh, what a surprise coming from you.}”

The therian shrugged and proceeded to swing his arm a few times. He hummed and once again, at his will, he watched his hand turn into silver nano-pieces. In the blink of an eye, it changed shape and turned into a polished blade.

“{That is certainly something…}” The fable writer couldn’t help but voice his thoughts.

Rakna nodded and turned the blade back into a hand just as easily. When he was done with that, he finally got to check the changes in his status.

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Pain Immunity: The holder of this skill has either learned to ignore all pains or possesses a body or mind incapable of such a reaction to external stimulus.

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Mind Immunity: The holder of this skill has absolute resistance against all attacks on the mind and any sort of prying.

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Fatigue Immunity: The holder of this skill is incapable of feeling fatigued from either mental or body exhaustion. They do not need sleep but note that stress is not accounted for.

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These three were candid enough. After that were the adjustments to Ireful Descent and Obsidian Blood. There wasn’t much of a difference to the latter except that it was now triggered by the Eye of Symphony only. But the former had a part erased and replaced with a new perk.

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Whenever the holder deals direct damage to a foe, their attack will passively increase by 1% to a maximum stack of 50%. Each increment lasts 1 minute. This applies to magic damage.

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“{The System’s compensation procedure at work,}” Fray commented.

“Compensation?”

“{Indeed. This Nirvana Skill of yours had a section that affected your blood production and bones so that you would last longer in battle. But I bet the new body you just got… deals with it. In which case, it means you possess two different abilities that do the same thing. The System usually avoids that.}”

“Interesting…” Rakna muttered and finally focused on the elephant in the room. The one Trait that had swallowed four others when it appeared.

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Prima Alkahest Materia Physique: Prima Materia; the ubiquitous material supposedly required to create the Alchemical Magnum Opus; The Philosopher’s Stone. Alkahest; a theorized universal solvent capable of dissolving all substances without destroying their fundamental components.

Eion Stones, also called the Stones of Eternity, are rare materials capable of generating energy from the gaps between Worlds, Dimensions, and Realities. It is an infinite source. Very few worlds in the known Existence contain them.

Mystical Alchemists have long studied its properties and it was unanimously agreed that Eion could potentially be the key to build the Philosopher’s Stone without transmuting life essence.

Eternal Night, also known as Arimane Reigen Blade, has in the past invented a compound capable of the Alkahest’s properties and even more. Combined with Eion, a bastardized version of the Philosopher’s Stone was created. It lacks many of the powers a true Philosopher’s Stone should provide, but it has infinite energy with which it can dissolve and replicate anything.

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That is the current designation of the Prima Alkahest Materia. Congratulations, Rakna Xiorra Blade, you have attained a body worthy of the alchemical fantasy.

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You are now invulnerable to all poisons, toxins, and parasites. Your lost body parts will be rebuilt by the millions of nano-chunks that make up your body (this ability will be neutralized if the destruction surpasses the body’s replicating speed). You can control every body part to twist in shape, size, and color. Remote control of detached body parts is also possible. Your internal force regenerates at a considerably faster rate.

You have ceased aging. Your body has been programmed to simulate aging up until your physical peak by default. Take note that you can die if your brain is destroyed in its entirety, or it can otherwise be damaged to the point of memory loss or cognitive flaw.

This Trait operates in conjunction with Eye of Symphony as its primary control board. Details of the remaining benefits can be further discovered through it.

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Status Effects:

+20% to STA, SWI, AGI, ATT, DEF (Shared with Eye of Symphony).

+100% Senses (Shared with Eye of Symphony).

+30 to STR, END, SPD, & DEX.

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Integrated Traits:

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– Shuttle Specter Physique: Efficiency increased by the Prima Alkahest Materia. (Gathers dimensional energy faster, resists dimensional force better, lasts longer in Enthymio’s layers.) [Layers Unlocked: Antanasia, Onera.]

– Lesser Regeneration: Effects increased by the Prima Alkahest Materia. (Involves the organic components of your body. Allows for the Materia to reconstruct faster.)

– Internalized Magic Circuits: Effects doubled by the Prima Alkahest Materia. (+0.4 MR Factor, +100% Max MP, -20% Mana Consumption)

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Note: The user does not lose their organic identity. Organs, muscles, and blood will still operate inside but are considerably less vulnerable and your biology as a whole is not reliant.

You still require air to live, but you can hold your breath for hours on end. You still require food and water but you can abstain for months. Your blood is needed to provide for the brain, crucial organs, and the growth of muscles but you can lose liters without a problem and acquire the lacking quantities from external sources.

If the user was fully machine, their growth would be stunted. You have become a perfect entity of mechanical biosynthesis, marrying machine and flesh.

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Thanks to his newly augmented brain, Rakna read all of it in the span of a few seconds but he was stuck staring at it for a minute due to the implications all this made.

“{Good Lord… This may be the most outrageous Trait I have ever seen in my life,}” Fray exclaimed with barely restrained stupor. Rakna didn’t say anything for a while and opened a second window in parallel.

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Name: Rakna Xiorra Blade

Age: 17 | Level: 97* (4520/970)

Race: Primal Alkahestic Nine-Tailed Werewolf

Path: Nine-Tailed Werewolf

Affiliation: Throne of Glory

Titles: Legendary Slayer – Legendary Wolf Emperor – and 9 more.

Potential: S+ | Host Rank: IX

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Attributes:

STR: 64.4 -> 94.4 | END: 61 -> 91

SPD: 68.9 -> 98.9 | DEX: 40.1 -> 70.1

INT: 41.4 | LCK: 9

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Available Volatile Points: 0 (10 Assigned to SPD)

Available Attribute Points: 170.6

Available Skill Points: 2

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Statistics:

STA: 358 -> 570.5 | MP: 666 -> 888

SWI: 264 -> 360.72 | AGI: 286 -> 410.9

SEN: 1398 -> 1938.4 | ATC: 285 -> 404.8

ATT: 558 -> 834.5 + 10% Cold | DEF: 367 -> 564.9

MA: 159 | MR: 6.86 -> 10.86/min

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“120 attribute points in total… and senses close to 2000,” Rakna said, stunned. “I didn’t even feel any sort of dizziness this time. Looks like my body can handle a lot more than before…”

“{Obviously. A normal being is incapable of dealing with vast jumps in statistics or even attributes for that matter. Already before, your instincts allowed you to quickly adapt, while others would have needed days to properly reign in their improved physical capability. But now? Your body and brain compute it. Your Eye calculates the difference and automatically calibrates your body.}”

Rakna sighed deeply. “I guess I should have expected this when it said I would stop being a being made of true flesh and blood. Well, not that I care,” he uttered indifferently and closed the prompts.

“{Only you can react so faintly to something this outrageous…}” Fray said in amusement.

“However, I do want to curb a couple of things,” Rakna continued. “First of all, write and launch a program that simulates pain. There’s no need for variation in intensity,” he ordered to his Eye and it carried it out in a matter of seconds.

“{Why do you want something like that?}”

“Pain is an all-in-one indicator, reminder, and motivator in battle. I need it.”

“{Hm, fair enough. I have never been much of a fighter so I cannot form much of an opinion.}”

Rakna hummed and resumed, “Secondly, is it possible to perform Sonata’s mimicking function with the Alkahest Materia?” He asked out loud and his Eye of Symphony responded in kind.

[| Process Is Feasible but Not Recommended. |]

“Why?”

[| Organic Components Do Not Survive the Process. 100% Chance of Structural Failure. |]

[I believe it is saying that your body would either be unable to revert from its transformed state or it would become an unresponsive chunk of material attached to you,] Alexa explained in further detail once she noticed Rakna’s slight confusion.

He raised an eyebrow. “I see… It’s true that I’m not eager to live with a sword in the place of a limb or even turn into a statue of metal,” he mumbled and grunted as he got to not the next matter of importance. “All right… Time to get to level 100.”