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The great forest of Waldestein is located on the western side of the Northern subcontinent, and separates the rest of its landmass from the ocean in the west. It covers almost a third of the entire subcontinent, and is home to countless monsters and terrifying magical beasts. It is an environment rich with dense mana that seeps out from within the ground, attracting and sustaining all sorts of magical creatures. It is said that even all of the mana of the rest of the subcontinent combined together, still cannot match with the amount of mana found here. There are also countless tales of treasures hidden within the vast expanse of this forest, and countless people have tried their luck in hopes of finding such treasures. But for the most of them, the forest became their final resting place. It is said that even many saint level powerhouses went into these forest to look for treasures or to temper themselves and got buried inside, becoming nourishment for the forest; it could not even be imagined as to what horrors lay inside.

The forest has been mostly untouched since the primordial times, thanks to the presence of extremely deadly magical beasts coupled with the thick foliage and difficult to cross terrain which make the region very dangerous and difficult to cross. Over the years, many expeditions have been sent by various powers to explore the forest and obtain its riches, but almost all of them have met disasters, while some have been lost forever in its vast expanses. Extending from the edge of the northern tundra, all the way down to the south till the foothills of the southern mountain ranges, this forest is a natural barrier to Reinglief, preventing access to the trading routes to the Atlas continent. The only place where traders from the Atlas continent can make land to trade is the southern coasts of the subcontinent, where the country of Solia is.

“So, this is the great forest huh…”

A man was walking in the very outer reaches of the forest, where the foliage was not so thick. He stopped in his tracks as he gazed around, trees tens of metres tall surrounded him, while many even taller trees stood like towers amidst others, their trunks so wide, it would take more than a dozen men to circle them. On the ground numerous small saplings, shrubs and bushes competed for their chance to grow the tallest while all sorts of critters crawled and scurried about through the lush vegetation. The climate was very hot and humid with frequent rains, making dry places a luxury. Having gazed at the natural beauty of the place, the man moved on. He appeared to be less than 20 years old and was very handsome; he had an androgynous charm which attracted both the sexes. Yet all that charm was shadowed by the deadpan and indifferent expression on his face, as if he had no emotions. This man was none other than Add or as he was known in this world; Adolf Kaiser Weismann. After making a long  and risky journey, he had arrived before this primordial forest.

It had been now been over five years since he had transmigrated to Iseria. Over the years many great changes had taken place, but Add himself had changed little on the outside, but completely on the inside. To understand exactly what had happened to him, we must at first look at the gene enhancers he had been taking. Till grade C, the enhancers worked in a more general pattern improving all aspects of his body. But starting from Grade B to Grade S, that changed drastically.

The Grade B Gene Enhancer was the comparatively unremarkable one among the final three grades. It was designed to work extensively on the genes which were responsible for building the bones and their upkeep. It edited the genes such that the bones would gradually be completely changed, both in their composition and structure, which increased their load bearing abilities and toughness by leaps and bounds. The enhancer also had the secondary target of working on the muscle genes, heavily modifying the muscles, greatly increasing the muscle density, and increasing their energy output. The muscles became tougher, more flexible and their strength reached a level considered impossible by regular human standards.

The grade A Gene Enhancer was specialised to act on the organs, increasing their efficiency by several fold and making them much more durable. The vital organs such as the heart and lungs were especially strengthened. It also improved the quality of blood as well, allowing it to carry four times as much oxygen when compared to a regular human. The sense organs were also improved manifold, the effect most prominent on the eyes resulting in exceptional eyesight, and a fair degree of night vision. Another pronounced effect was the unnaturally quick reaction times and nanosecond reflexes, very important in battle. It also gave the body immunity against all diseases, be it pathogen related or worn and tear of the body and very high degree resistance to poisons. The digestive system was improved, allowing digestion of most organic materials. Metabolic processes were also enhanced enabling the body to do labour with minimal rest, and to absorb maximum energy from food.

Finally, there was the Grade S Gene Enhancer, the most costly of them all. This was the pinnacle of gene enhancers, and there was nothing better than it. And it deserved this title, as what it added to the human body was perhaps the single most desired ability. It made the body, virtually immortal, emphasis on virtually. If we ignore the complicated scientific explanations aside, then in simple terms, this enhancer allowed the cells to divide virtually forever. The cells in the human body have their DNA stored as chromosomes which over time, and after billions of cell divisions began to lose their integrity. There are certain parts of the chromosome called telomeres, which protect the chromosomal integrity during replication of DNA. But as we age, these telomeres which maybe considered a protective layer, is reduced bit by bit, until it is no longer able to do its job and the the cell loses the ability to divide.

The enhancer removed this limitation, allowing the telomeres to be repaired, and also changed many other components of the genome which were related to aging, allowing the person to have eternal youth. A side effect of this however was that the appearance of the person would forever remain the same, as when they were injected with the enhancer. As such, Add had waited till his body was 20 years old before taking the enhancer as he did not want to stay in a 15 year old body for the rest of his life, and he felt that by that age, his body would have developed completely.

The other major effect was the regenerative ability. You see, humans are not really suited to take heavy physical damage. Cuts and bruises are not a problem, deep flesh wounds can heal, mostly, broken bones are difficult, but still manageable, damaged organs maybe replaced but that’s the limit. If humans lose, let’s say an eye, a hand or a leg, they cannot replace them. Granted there are prosthetics, but these are substitutes, not replacement. Unlike humans however, organisms like the humble Planaria, a lowly worm can regenerate their entire bodies from a cut away portion and certain salamanders can re-grow their lost limbs.

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In that regard humans are very poorly equipped. But the enhancer changed the DNA and allowed every cell in the body to divide like a totipotent cell and re-grow any lost parts, including the neurons as well. The natural healing ability was greatly boosted, reducing the time it took to recover from wounds drastically. For example given enough time an amputated arm could be re-grown, an lost eye could be recovered and even damage to the brain could be recovered. while minor wounds would be healed without leaving any scars. There were still limitations to this though, if the brain was damaged beyond a certain degree, the person would still die. Similarly, if the body was damaged heavily enough and medical attention was unavailable, the person would still die. As such although the enhancer gave the human essentially an unlimited lifespan, it was nowhere near an omnipotent elixir which would make a person invincible.

All in all, after injecting himself with all the six grades of gene enhancers, Add's body appeared to be virtually unchanged on the outside, in fact his skin was white and tender, as if he was a person who never went outside into the sunlight, and his body did not have any bulging muscles too. He was now around 180 centimeters tall and his face had become slightly more mature. Aside from that, everything else was the exact same as before, the cold heterochromatic eyes, and the silky black hair with the white streaks which made him look more mature, and skin even females would envy.

However, looks can be deceiving, since on the inside he was technically not human anymore. All the enhancements gave physical abilities unimaginable for a normal human, at least on  Earth. He now had the strength to lift over one ton in weight and the stamina to run at a speed 60 kmph for short bursts of time, while able to sprint at a speed of 30 kmph for hours without tiring.

If necessary he could go without sleep for days at a stretch, although he rarely did so. As for combat, based on pure physical strength alone he could go one on one against a Rank 8 warrior, or an Orc Lord which was an A ranked monster almost twice his size, and win, given they were both unarmed and there were no external interference. That was very impressive, since Rank 8 warriors could be considered the top powerhouses in Reingleif. The physical durability of his body was also exceptional, and although he had not tested it himself he could probably survive a direct hit from a trailer truck travelling with appreciable speed, with minor injuries even in the worst case. These improvements were clearly reflected in his status.

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STATUS

Name : Add (Adolf  Kaiser Weismann)

Race : Human

Credit Points : 70,584,500

ATTRIBUTES :

Vitality :  250

Strength :  400

Agility :  220

Dexterity : 200

Defence: 180

Intelligence : 15

Wisdom : 15

Stamina : 240

Charm :  20

Magic Aptitude : Enhancement Magic (Low)

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With this, he had reached the pinnacle of his physical potential, and there was no way to get stronger by upgrading his body any further. Add had once thought of trying to become a mage, but the system revealed that the body of a mage had special channels which allowed them to use mana in a way different than warriors. Add’s body lacked those channels and there was no way to grow those, so the path of the mage was unavailable to him. What could be done however, was using mana, to boost his strength like the warriors did. He had the aptitude to use [Enhancement Magic] which  was a fancy way of saying that he could harness mana to boost his physical abilities even further. However, his talent was low but the system had a solution to that and that was the reason why he was here today. He had to obtain the following items:

Mana cores from Knight Class monsters X 500

Mana cores from General class monsters X 250

Mana cores from King Class monsters X 50

Mana cores were found inside magical beasts. These were crystals which were found inside a magical beast’s body, and it was where it stored all its mana. The stronger the beast, the more mana its core can store. The shape and size of each Mana cores varied greatly from species to species, some were perfect spheres, some egg shaped some were polygonal etc. because they were basically mana in a solid form, these cores were in very high demand among humans and other races, especially for mages as these could be used as batteries to store mana to use when needed. These cores were also used as power sources by professions such as alchemists, enchanters and blacksmiths to create magic tools, make magical weapons  etc. And since getting them was very hard, they were extremely costly.

Once he had obtained the required number of each type of Mana core, they had to be  submitted to the system, and in return he would be able to increase his innate talent. Exactly how the system was going to do it was not mentioned though, and no matter how much he poked the system for answers, it remained silent unwilling to reveal anything. The requirements, however were a bit hard to put it mildly, to gather the Mana cores of magical beasts was by no means an easy task.

It should be mentioned that monsters that could not use magic, still were within the scope of logic, somewhat at least. However, the magical beasts were a completely different category of creatures. They had the perfect tool to bend the laws of science, mana and could actively use it. It was not uncommon to find a magical beast which was the size of a cat, yet was tens of times stronger and deadlier than a bear. Some could even use spells, and some high ranking species could also take humanoid forms in order to mingle with other races. Over the years, Add had fought a lot of monsters in the great Northern ranges; however, he had never encountered a magical beast since there were few magical beasts in those harsh mountains where mana was quite thin. Rumours said that magical beasts did live in the very depth of those mountains, but he had not ventured there. So it was his first time going against them, as such he was very cautious; the weapons and amour he was using proved that clearly.

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Item: TSAR-77E Pulse Rifle (Grade: Epic)

Description: The TSAR-77E is a pulse action, air cooled assault rifle. This weapon uses high voltage pulses of electricity to fire its bullets at extreme speeds. The momentum generated, along with the bullets made from compressed-superheated-alloy blends, enable these bullets to penetrate some of the toughest armours of its generation. The weapon is powered by a Hydrogen fuel cell which provides a standard usage life of 6 months. It is chambered in a 10x50mm case-less cartridge and fires Armour piercing bullets as a standard. It has a magazine capacity of 100 rounds. It uses a rotating breech electronic pulse action, with a cyclic fire rate of 900 rounds per minute. The rifle can also attach a gas operated electronic primed 30x71mm grenade launcher under the barrel, with a firing rate of 15 rounds per minute and a magazine capacity of 4+1 shots.

TSAR-77E is constructed largely from an ultra-light alloy precision metal stampings, with a titanium aluminium alloy outer casing and high-impact, temperature resistant plastics for many of its internal parts. It is fully sealed against external corrosion factors, dirt and moisture and its electronics are hardened against electromagnetic radiation. With the magazine and other equipment attached, it weighs in at around 8 kilos.

Effective firing range: 700 metres

Price: 400,000 CP

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The TSAR-77E was a new generation of rifles, which had a sleek and flat design. It was designed as an alternative to bulky assault rifles. As technology advanced, assault rifles needed to be more deadly to cope with the better armours being produced, there were only two things that could be done to make a rifle stronger, first increase its calibre and second make the propellant more explosive. But these also had their limits and soon, regular rifles reached the limits of their size and power. You could only make them so big before they reached the class of auto cannons and were impossible to use by a single person. This gun however, eliminated the need of gunpowder, working like a miniature rail-gun, and could be held by single person just like a regular assault rifle, but was much more powerful and compact. Add had already tested it against many monsters, and it had slaughtered many A ranks with relative ease. The only short comings with it were the hefty price of its ammunition, and the frequent overheating of the weapon.

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