Above The Sky
Chapter 87 - 87 83 Crystallized Thymus

87: Chapter 83 Crystallized Thymus 87: Chapter 83 Crystallized Thymus The storm outside the window was gradually fading, as the terrifying hurricane turned direction after crashing into the mountains.

The wind speed decreased, but the rainfall became even more bizarre.

It seemed that after the strong winds capable of lifting half of the Southern Sea into the sky had passed, the water that had been suspended in the sky was once again falling back to earth and the ocean.

Like meteors plummeting, large chunks of water clattered against the ground and rooftops, causing the stone-built houses to shake slightly.

“This is…”

Inside the house, squinting, Hiliard took off his dry outer garments.

He lifted his hand, and a golden Origin Quality light shone forth, followed by a casual slap on the house wall.

In an instant, the moaning house stopped shaking, and the sound of the wind and rain outside grew much fainter, as though several walls now separated them, dampening the noise layer by layer.

“Indeed extraordinary.”

Hiliard came beside Ian, bent down, and seriously observed the crystallized flesh and blood in the boy’s hand, and couldn’t help but sincerely praise, “This is really good stuff, a Second Energy Level Peak Magical Beast’s Origin Quality thymus fragment…

Ian, how did you come by this?

Without an injury close to fatal, it’s impossible to dislodge a Magical Beast’s thymus!”

“The thymus?” Ian was somewhat surprised upon hearing his teacher reveal the true nature of the crystallized flesh in his hand.

He looked down, gazing at the greenish-red flesh on the table, and marveled, “This is huge!”

The thymus is generally located below the thyroid gland and is a fragile, thin tissue.

It is one of the earliest maturing immune organs in the body of most creatures and is usually not large.

A thymus weighing several kilograms, like the one in Ian’s hand, could only possibly come from massive Magical Beasts like the Totem Master’s Crocodile Dragons.

The main function of the thymus is to produce hormones, catalyzing hematopoietic stem cells into primitive T cells (a kind of immune cell), a very important part of the biological immune system.

“It’s like this.”

After considering his words for a moment, Ian fully informed Hiliard about his journey to the tower, his help in launching the Alchemical Cannon with the assistance of the city’s guards, and his aid to Viscount Grant in repelling the Crocodile Dragon, “Fatal it was not, but I think the cannonball must have hit the Crocodile Dragon’s lungs.”

“…You can aim and fire a cannon?”

After listening, Hiliard’s expression became subtle.

He frowned, sizing up Ian, somewhat incredulously said, “Didn’t you say you’ve never operated or maintained an Alchemical Cannon firsthand under Elder Prude?”

“First actual operation, and you dare to take a risk!”

—Is it really that difficult?

Aiming, igniting, and firing, even a monkey can do it.

Although he thought this in his mind, Ian just honestly said, “Maybe I’m just smarter, I got it after watching?”

“Learn by watching, become an expert by doing, hit the target and you’re the master of masters — sounds just like the boasts of those old ruffian soldiers.”

With a slight shake of his head, the old knight was originally intending to reprimand Ian.

This kid, not realizing his own limits, dared to operate the cannon, to confront a Great Magical Beast at the peak of the Second Energy Level with a great chance to advance to the Third Energy Level?

To say he wasn’t afraid of death would be an understatement; even the knight himself wasn’t that bold back in the day!

Despite his anger, seeing Ian’s obedient and sensible face, his proper sitting posture, and his expectant eyes looking at him, Hiliard couldn’t bring himself to get angry and just sighed.

“It’s alright, you won anyway.”

He reached out his hand and ruffled the boy’s hair vigorously: “I guess you also understood the consequences of your actions and just made your own judgement.”

“But remember, if the situation is truly beyond your ability to contend, running away is the true act of bravery that’s required.”

After the boy softly agreed, Hiliard let go of his hand.

He sat at the table, beginning to further inspect Ian’s spoils of war in detail.

“The Swamp Crocodile Dragon’s immune capability is extremely strong, nearly impervious to most natural toxins and diseases.

Its thymus hormones can induce the maturation of several different powerful immune cells, and they are extraordinarily effective against tropical parasites and miasma.”

As he checked, Hiliard explained to Ian, “These are just the basics.

Upon reaching the Second Energy Level, the Crocodile Dragon’s thymus transforms into a fully developed Sublimation Organ, gradually converting into the crystallized flesh tissue that you have in your hand.”

“At that point, it does not merely regulate immune capability but can also interact with the heart, altering the composition of the blood.

This enables the blood to have some disinfecting ability while also significantly speeding up wound healing.”

“This Crocodile Dragon was close to the Third Energy Level.

Its internal organs were coalescing into a ‘Spirit State Elemental Structure.’ The Spirit State structure in this piece of thymus is very complete – that’s your biggest gain this time!”

“So it is…” Observing the greenish-red flesh on the table, Ian thought of the Crocodile Dragon invading Harrison Port, and the orange-red plasma that splattered under its scales when it was hit by the cannon.

Indeed, such minor wounds healed quickly.

Even the shot that hit a vital area and the sword strike by Viscount Grant that nearly severed a limb didn’t cause it to lose much blood or affect its ability to escape.

As for the Mud Shield that covered the entire body of the Crocodile Dragon, it was incredibly powerful, impervious even to the Electrothermal Cannon capable of firing supersonic projectiles.

As for cells and hormones mentioned by the teacher…

Given Terra Continent’s current level of technology, it would actually be strange if Hiliard didn’t know about cells and hormones.

Especially the art of Sublimators, which clearly deeply relates to biotechnological levels and could even involve advanced genetic manipulation.

“Hmm, it can serve as the Prime Material for your future Magic Medicine.”

Finally, Hiliard made a judgment, “The Swamp Crocodile Dragon has certain water attribute features as an earth-elemental Magical Beast.

Its innate ability, ‘Body of Fertile Soil,’ requires the control of both water and earth Origin Quality.

Otherwise, it cannot use mud as its shield.

This fits perfectly as a cover for your ‘Wavechant Legacy’.”

“Although for an ordinary Sublimator, using Second Energy Level Peak materials as a First Energy Level base might seem like an overkill, if you truly wish to embark on the path of ‘The Unyielding Fortress,’ such extra expenditure is necessary.”

The stronger it is, the costlier it becomes.

Turning his head to look at Ian, the old knight spoke half in narration and half as a warning, “And as compensation for the cost, when you are at the First Energy Level, you can make your Origin Quality have a distinct attribute.”

“This is both a gain and a risk.

If you were not a Spirit Energy User, merely an ordinary person, I would never let you take this extreme path.”

Origin Quality also has different attributes.

Just as humans live in different regions and have different physical traits, life itself varies.

Therefore, the Origin Quality each person refines naturally differs as well.

— In the ancient Terra mythology, the Heavenly Father’s breath, soul, flesh, and blood transformed into the Four Celestials and Four Wise Stars of the four corners of the sky.

The Four Celestials intertwined and mingled to create under the sky a world of Thousand Winds and Radiant Suns, Lands and Vast Seas, marking the origin of the four elements of wind, fire, earth, and water, and the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, as well as the four states of gas, plasma, solid, and liquid.

Different attributes of Origin Quality also have various strengthening effects on the human body.

Earth focuses on endurance and physical strength, water tends towards regeneration and longevity, wind excels in self-amplification and force dispersal, and fire has the most varied explosive power and destructive methods, but is also the most unstable.

Ian, being young and not often going out to work, was not significantly influenced by his environment.

However, having lived near the sea for nearly ten years, his natural Origin Quality tended towards water and wind.

Therefore, after refining his Origin Quality, his wounds healed quickly, and he was able to increase his strength.

However, attributes are neither innate nor absolute.

If Ian were to move to the vicinity of a volcano now, consume local food, and breathe volcanic smog, it wouldn’t take many months for his natural Origin Quality to shift towards fire and earth.

Compared to innate tendencies, personal choices are more critical—indeed, aren’t one’s attributes at birth also dependent on their parents’ choices?

“Distinct attribute Origin Quality, huh…

indeed very powerful, and very dangerous.”

Ian remembered clearly the many Sublimation fundamentals that Hiliard had taught him; he understood the essence of ‘attributes’ very well.

It’s about the interaction with nature.

The Swamp Crocodile Dragon is a Magical Beast primarily based on earth and water, and it will spend its entire life in the jungle’s swamp areas.

This is not just because it’s adapted to that environment but also because it can become stronger only in such environments.

Just like how a Crocodile Dragon entering a city can turn stone to mud, using both rocks and mud as its skin and shield—if it were in the swamps or deep in the mountains, how much more troublesome would it be?

In altering the natural environment, one also becomes more adapted to nature.

On the flip side, if a Crocodile Dragon were to fight in the sea, in snowy mountains or volcanic regions, it could exert at most thirty or forty percent of its full combat power.

Over time, it might even ‘starve’ to death there, unable to synthesize the special Origin Quality needed by various Sublimation organs in its body.

Therefore, even if a Crocodile Dragon must relocate, it would choose places like desert oases or coastal flats…

If these needs are not met, even if it survives by chance, its Bloodline will deteriorate, and its descendants will not inherit the Magical Beast’s Bloodline traits, gradually reverting to ordinary wild crocodiles.

‘The Unyielding Fortress’ is an Earth Attribute True Form Heritage.

If Ian were to use the Crocodile Dragon’s materials as the Prime Material of Magic Medicine, his Origin Quality would transform into the Earth Attribute, thereby improving his physical capabilities across the board and gaining an advantage in environments with mud and stone, making the Origin Quality in his body more active.

This is the advantage of attribute Origin Quality.

“The Earth Attribute is actually not too bad, as long as you’re on the planet, you can’t really be away from solid ground.”

Ian knew that risk accompanied opportunity, and power came with a price—having an attribute tendency that should appear at the Second Energy Level while still at the First Energy Level was an excellent early training opportunity.

In the future, when he advances to the Second Energy Level, he can quickly master many techniques that others would take much longer to learn, allowing him to accelerate significantly compared to others.

But the First Energy Level’s resistance to the environment is not nearly as strong as that of the Second Energy Level…

“It’s a matter of choices.” Ian was clear on this point: “At most, I’ll just stay a bit further away from the open sea.”

Being near the sea is actually not a big problem.

Sand Armor Apprentices could reduce their breathing frequency, and as long as they’re not too deep or too far from land, even if they can’t swim, they could walk back to shore from the seabed.

In any case.

The environment of Harrison Port is not extremely harsh, but it’s not entirely safe either.

Not to mention, if he could have even a hint of the Crocodile Dragon’s ability to summon mud and sand to protect his body after taking the Magic Potion, his safety and survival ability would greatly increase.

“Leave it to me to handle it.

Your current level of Alchemy is not yet capable of properly processing materials of such a high-grade Magical Beast.”

Hiliard patted the table, and Ian naturally had no objections.

In fact, it was his original intention.

He was perfectly capable of handling low-grade Demonic Beast Materials like those from a Reef-eater Otter with his current level of Alchemy, but not those from a Swamp Crocodile Dragon.

Mainly because he hadn’t learned to do so yet.

However, just as the old knight was about to put away the Crocodile Dragon’s Crystallized Thymus, Ian casually looked up at his teacher’s face and noticed something was amiss.

“Wait, teacher…”

Staring intently at Hiliard’s face, Ian furrowed his brow: “The wrinkles on your face…”