49: Chapter 49 Physical Enhancement and Reporting

After the Chaos monster died, a series of golden text exploded in Richard's field of vision on the system panel:

[Killed Chaos Stitched Abomination × 1 — — Gained 1000 Experience Points.]

[Level Up! Congratulations, Adventurer! You have been promoted to a Level 6 Brand Warrior!]

[Obtained Free Attribute Point × 1.]

[Since this level-up was triggered by killing a high-tier Chaos monster, after allocating the attribute point, you will choose one from the following special enhancements (This enhancement is an organ enhancement, not a skill):]

[Heart Enhancement — — You will gain a second heart with strength far beyond that of a mortal, blood supply speed doubled, physical stamina recovery speed significantly increased, and resistance to blood loss and fatigue significantly enhanced.]

[Bone Enhancement — — Your entire skeleton will be reinforced into hardened bone with near-metal density, resistance to impact significantly increased, risk of fractures significantly reduced, and bone conduction force during melee attacks more efficient.]

Richard added the attribute point to Constitution, raising it from 7 to 8.

Then he thought about it carefully and chose Heart Enhancement.

Although Bone Enhancement was also powerful, having a second heart would greatly increase his survivability, which was the ability he wanted more.

The moment he chose, an unprecedented sharp pain exploded from the center of his chest.

This was a strong, sharp pain coming from inside his body, from the depths of his chest, as some substance continued to grow and strengthen within his body.

He knelt on one knee on the ground, supporting himself with both hands, panting heavily, cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the stone floor in sheets.

The heart in his chest beat twice.

No, that wasn't one beat; it was a heavy beat and a light beat, followed immediately by a second heavy beat.

Thump — — Thump — — Thump-thump — — Thump — — Thump-thump — — Bang! Bang! Bang!

Two different heart rhythms resonated in his chest simultaneously; one was the heartbeat he was familiar with, and the other was deeper, more powerful, as if a war drum was being beaten in the deepest part of his chest.

With every new heartbeat, an unprecedented warm current surged through his blood vessels, and that warm current was filled with a sense of power.

His muscle fibers tightened one by one in the warm current, and every cell felt like it had been injected with compressed energy.

His broken ribs recovered to a movable state within a dozen seconds.

The wound on his leg didn't hurt much anymore either; the place pierced by the trident was shrinking, and the bleeding had long since stopped.

He looked down at his hands; the veins on the back of his fists were more prominent than before.

Richard felt as if there were two drummers drumming in his chest, fighting for the beat at first, but soon they turned into the same rhythm, faster and louder.

When he stood up, he even felt that his ribs might have already healed by more than half.

"Richard, are you... okay?" Cecilia stood beside him, sword still in hand, the blade covered in dark purple mucus.

She looked at him with obvious concern; Richard's sudden kneeling and cold sweat were indeed abnormal.

But now he had stood up again, and he looked even more energetic than before he was injured; his wounds were healing visibly to the naked eye, and his breathing had stabilized.

"Don't worry, I'm better than ever right now."

Richard replied, his voice carrying a hint of excitement he hadn't even noticed himself.

The second heart was pumping blood at a rhythm he hadn't fully adapted to yet.

[Talent Unlocked: Second Heart.]

[In addition to your original heart, you possess a heart far stronger than a mortal's, accelerating blood supply and increasing vitality.]

The new panel unfolded quietly in his field of vision:

Class: Level 6 Brand Warrior (320 / 3200) Level 1 Blacksmith (15 / 100, can only gain experience through forging)

Strength: 11

Agility: 7

Constitution: 8

Intelligence: 5

Talent: [Second Heart] In addition to your original heart, you possess a heart far stronger than a mortal's, accelerating blood supply and increasing vitality.

Skills: [Powerful Strike lv2 (54 / 100)] [Appraisal lv1 (45 / 50)] [Polearm Mastery lv1 (85 / 100)] [Mortal Strike lv0 (25 / 50)] [Charge lv0 (30 / 50)] [Bloodthirsty Brand (Passive)] [Dwarf Forging lv0 (15 / 50)]

When they rescued Morpheus from the marble operating table, Jinbao only took one look before turning away, squatting in the corner and retching twice.

Morpheus was still alive; that was the only good news.

But his upper body had been cut open in several places by The Noblewoman with a scalpel, from his collarbone to his rib cage, each cut precisely following the muscle texture.

The edges of the cuts were sealed with some kind of hemostatic potion, preventing major bleeding, but the sight of the rolled-up wounds made one dare not look too long.

The most serious thing was his eyes; both eye sockets were empty, and the eyeballs had been completely removed.

Only two dark, hollow depressions remained, with uncleaned bloodstains and traces of disinfectant still lingering around the eye sockets.

The Noblewoman hadn't had time to put these eyeballs into a formalin jar, and they were found on the silver tray next to the operating table.

Two purple eyeballs lay intact on the silver tray covered with wet gauze, the pupils still retaining a faint magical reflection under the cold light.

The black cat carefully wrapped the eyeballs in a clean wet cloth and stuffed them into an empty potion bottle that Richard carried with him.

Jinbao and the black cat supported Morpheus from left and right, resting his arms on their shoulders.

Morpheus's feet dragged on the ground, his white hair covered with blood and stone dust, but he still had a weak breath, and his chest was still heaving.

Cecilia walked at the very back, guarding the rear, holding her sword tightly.

When they left the mansion, they didn't see any servants, as if everyone had disappeared.

The gray-white morning light spread from the direction of the horizon, shining on the white sand beach of Golden Island.

The palm trees outside the main entrance of the mansion still swayed in the sea breeze, and the white mist above the volcano was still curling upward; everything was as calm, beautiful, and peaceful as it was yesterday afternoon when they first walked into this building.

But Richard knew that there were countless corpses lying in this building now, and many innocent people had died tragically within it.

He didn't look back and hurried with the group to the Temple of Wealth.

The branch of the Temple of Wealth on Golden Island was a stone building much smaller than the branch in Blackwater City but equally sturdy, backed by the foot of the volcano, and built on a piece of obsidian rock terrace that had been manually leveled.

The holy emblem above the main entrance, a gold coin surrounded by wheat ears, reflected warm gold in the morning light.

Two tall golems stood at the entrance, the sapphires in their eye sockets lighting up with a cold alert light when they detected someone approaching.

In addition to the golems, there were several temple guards on duty.

Richard took out his adventurer badge and handed it to the guard, then explained their purpose in the shortest possible sentences.

Mansion dungeon, evil god worship, stitching, Chaos monster, and a critically injured person who needed treatment by a high-level priest.

The person who received them was not an ordinary priest, but a middle-aged female priest in a white robe with gold trim, whose status was clearly not ordinary.

She only looked at Morpheus's injuries once, then immediately had people carry him into the treatment room deep in the temple, and then used an emergency communication stone to notify the person in Charge of the temple on the island.