“Focus, Alexis. No time to overthink shit right now.”

  My priority was clear: get the armor repaired and upgraded.

  All those lingering thoughts about corruption and mutation could wait. Diving into the spatial ring's inventory and checking all the loot I had collected during my recent excursions.

  Inventory

  First, there was the outer monster’s flesh. I held the chunk in my hand; its slimy surface pulsed like it had a life of its own.

  My instincts screamed to stay away. Something about the flesh and using it as a material for enchantment was risky.

  Setting the flesh, I turned my attention to other resources.

  The elite lizard monster’s blood and bones were next. The blood was thick and deep crimson. Luckily, I've collected it in the den.

  Although I regret not getting the boss monster's blood.

  I guess I was too disoriented from being out of the den and seeing the alien sky.

  haaa…anyway.

  Then there were the enchanted items. I had two pendants: the Protective Pendant and the Luna Pendant.

  But I had never felt any real benefit from them. Still, they weren’t useless, and I had an idea for at least one of them.

  I glanced at Luna, who was perched on a nearby log, watching me intently.

  “Maybe I’ll give you the Protective Pendant after I tweak it,” I said with a smirk. “Couldn’t hurt to have you a little harder to kill.”

  “Meow,” she replied, tilting her head like she understood me.

  “Alright, back to the task at hand” I muttered.

  I sorted through the rest of my gear, pulling out items that might have been overlooked.

  “I do have this mask as well; the enchant are kinda meh…but could be useful if I can attach it to noctics set."

  “Okay Lexi, let’s get to work,” I said, standing and cracking my knuckles.

  First, I needed a proper setup. I saw a tree nearby. I chopped it down with a few sharp swings of my blade. Then, I stripped off the branches and cut it into usable logs.

  I tried to make a table, but it wobbled and collapsed.

  “What? Damn all that effort for nothing," I growled, kicking the remains aside.

  I found a flat patch of ground instead and set up there. Using a makeshift bone container, I dripped elite blood in a circle. It marked the area where I'd work on the armor.

  The blood glowed faintly; the crimson lines formed a boundary of power around the center.

  Next came the arrangements of materials, and from my memories this was a crucial process for enchanting.

  I placed the outer monster’s flesh on the chest piece of the armor, closer to the left shoulder where the corruption had taken its place.

  The pulsating surface seemed almost eager, like it was waiting to fuse with something.

  chaos for chaos, huh…

  The twisted forest monster’s bones were next. I broke them into smaller shards, positioning them strategically along the edges of the armor where additional reinforcement was needed.

  They fit perfectly into the gaps.

  The Protective Pendant went around the neck piece. I didn’t know how well it would integrate with the rest of the setup, but it was worth a shot.

  Any extra protection is good until I find a way to heal back.

  If not for my recent adventures in the mind sphere and learning how my mutation essence works, this would be a pain. I had an idea of how the mutation essence works.

  Let’s just hope the mutation occurs in the right direction.

  Finally, I took a deep breath and pulled out the elite blood. The thick liquid oozed slowly as I carefully coated each component, using it to connect the flesh, bones, and pendant to the main body of the armor.

  “Alright, that’s everything,” I said, surveying my work. The materials gleamed faintly under the light, the blood acting as a catalyst to bind them together.

  Now for the hard part.

  Channeling Exira and raising the strength straight to level 2 as the familiar flow of energy coursed through me. The glow of my essence surrounded me, steady and controlled.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  “Let’s take this up a notch,” I muttered, pushing deeper.

  The energy surged as I pushed into Level 3. My vision tinged purple, and a faint haze surrounded my peripheral vision as the Exira coursed through me like a storm. I knelt, placing both hands on the armor.

  Fuuuu…

  Taking a deep breath, I let myself touch upon the origin of the armor as everything around me blurred, and I delved into the essence of the materials.

  The world around me turned grey as if someone had drained the life out of it. The faint hum of energy that had filled the air moments ago was now replaced by an eerie stillness.

  Then, there it was.

  A chaotic tangle of threads stretched out before me, pulsating with power and intent.

  They intertwined, clashing and weaving together in a mess that felt like it might rip reality apart if I so much as sneezed in the wrong direction.

  "Fuck," I muttered, my voice echoing unnaturally in the stillness.

  I could feel it—the weight of the different intents clashing in the space.

  Each thread has an intent: corruption, mutation, protection, and the remnants of power from the chaos monster.

  “Thank the gods I linked this mess with the blood,” I muttered.

  Clapping my hands together, I focused on filtering the origins. With the blood acting as a stabilizing medium, I could trace each thread back to its source.

  One by one, I separated them, peeling away the ones that didn’t belong.

  The chaos slowly gave way to clarity, leaving only the Noctics thread.

  Grabbing it with my right hand, I pulled it straight upward, channeling Exira through the motion. The intent was sharp, deliberate: connect. The energy surged in response, snapping into place with the thread.

  But the outer monster’s thread wasn’t done messing things up.

  It pulsed near the edge of the tangle, spreading its dark influence like ink bleeding into water. Its oppressive aura darkened everything it touched, sending an icy shiver down my spine.

  “Alright, you bastard,” I growled, reaching for it.

  The thread resisted at first, writhing like a snake, but I latched on with both hands. Exira flared within me as I channeled the Mutation Essence directly into the connection.

  “[Mutating Aspects]” I mumbled, my voice steady despite the storm of energy raging around me.

  The armor began to respond immediately. The thread of the outer monster merged with the Noctics thread, the two intertwining in a pattern that was both chaotic and harmonious.

  The flesh on the chest plate pulsed in time with the threads, darkening as they fused.

  The pressure hit me like a sledgehammer.

  “Heukk!” I gasped as the air was forced from my lungs. It was like standing under a collapsing mountain. My mind reeled, my body screaming from the strain of handling so much raw essence at once.

  “Not yet,” I snarled through gritted teeth.

  I reached into the threads of the bones, the pendant, and the mask, dragging them into the fusion.

  Each one resisted, their intents clashing against the overpowering will of the mutation.

  Channeling Exira wasn’t enough; I needed more.

  “Fucking... take it, then,” I hissed, forcing my Blood Essence into the mix.

  My own blood burst from my palms, spraying onto the threads and coating the armor. The sacrifice wasn’t small—it felt like someone had slashed open an artery.

  The lightheadedness hit almost immediately, but I gritted my teeth and held on.

  The blood soaked into the threads, binding them together with grotesque elegance. The armor absorbed the blood greedily, its surface shimmering like molten steel before settling into a deep crimson hue.

  I could feel my strength waning as more blood left my body, pooling around my feet and staining the ground.

  “Almost... there,” I growled, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

  Finally, the threads stopped writhing. They intertwined fully, becoming a single, unified strand. The armor and materials were cocooned in a pulsating shell of blood, their transformation hidden from view.

  I slumped against the nearest tree, my legs giving out beneath me. My breathing was ragged, each inhale like dragging air through water.

  “Shit,” I muttered, pressing a hand to my forehead. “That was way too close.”

  “Meow!”

  Luna’s voice cut through the haze, sharp and insistent. She padded over to me, her tail flicking in concern.

  “Hey…I think it worked."

  She climbed onto my lap, nuzzling against my chest and purring softly. It was a small comfort, but one I desperately needed.

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I said, though the pounding in my head begged to differ.

  She meowed again, this time more insistently, before turning her attention to the blood cocoon in front of us.

  My gaze followed hers, and despite the exhaustion dragging at me, I couldn’t look away. The cocoon pulsed faintly, a living thing born of chaos and willpower. Whatever was going to emerge from it, I knew it wouldn’t just be armor anymore.

  “Let’s hope this is worth it,” I murmured, absently stroking the kitten’s fur.

  She purred louder as if to reassure me.

  Did I adopt a cat or a car...

  |

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