Super Gene

”Are you okay?” The Queen looked at the wound on Han Sen’s back in fright.

From shoulder to waist, his back had been sliced entirely open. The gash was so deep, his spine was visible.

On Han Sen’s neck, there was another wound that oozed blood. Fortunately for him, it wasn’t so deep as to touch the bone or windpipe. If the raven had been allowed to go any deeper, he’d most likely have been decapitated.

The wounds were scary to look at, but the blood loss wasn’t too severe. Han Sen’s Ice Skin allowed him to control his body, whereas his Heresy Mantra allowed him to control his blood flow. If it weren’t for those talents, he’d most likely have bled out and died.

”I can hold it,” Han Sen hissed from his gritted teeth. His back was in agony, and he knew he had a damaged spine. But fortunately, it wasn’t too bad. If he had been a second slower with his jump, his spine would have been shredded and nothing could have saved his life.

The Queen retrieved some medicine from her satchel and applied it to his wounds, which made Han Sen cry out in pain.

Then, all of a sudden, a screech pierced the air. The black raven, tangled and restrained by the vines, didn’t look so fearsome as it once did. The ends of the vines were spiked, and they drove themselves deep into the raven’s body. The vines seemed alive, as if they had a thirst for the raven’s blood. As they absorbed the scarlet, the vines themselves turned a deep shade of red.

The dried-up vines writhed with renewed vigor, and they started to grow longer and larger than before.

Caw! Caw!

The black raven called out twice. Its body contorted and twisted as plumes of feathers puffed out to dress the air like snowfall. With great strength, the raven squirmed its way free from the clutch of the vines and took off into the air in fear. It was gone for good.

Han Sen froze when he saw that. He did not expect the raven to be strong enough to escape the grasp of the vines.

After the raven escaped, the gourd vines retreated, wrapping their way around the bones just as they were earlier. The vines that had turned red now became yellow like before, as well. However, many of them started to sprout green leaves.

The gourd in Han Sen’s hand continued to pulsate, but this sensation did not disappear like it had before. Han Sen held onto it, unsure whether or not life existed inside it.

If it contained something like the blood crystal wasps, Han Sen would rather discard it right now. But because he was unsure, he wasn’t willing to let go of some potential treasure just yet.

Aside from the strange beating pulse, nothing in particular stood out. As he fingered it, his eyes drifted to the raven’s feathers that now carpeted the ground.

The black feathers of the raven were of its outer-coat. It wasn’t a great number that had fallen, but there were around thirty. Each feather was about one foot long. He reached to grab one and his eyes lit up.

The black feathers belonged to a super creature and did not look normal. Rather than enabling flight, they were more like weapons the raven could employ.

Every feather was like steel, and it was frightening to simply hold.

”This cannot be the treasure the raven dropped.” Han Sen told the Queen to gather up all the black feathers for him.

After an accurate count, there were thirty-six feathers. It was a number that could be evenly split. With each feather being the same size, Han Sen considered the possibility of crafting a fan with them.

Han Sen’s back was in terrible pain. He looked at the Queen and said, ”How about you try out the sturdiness of the feathers?”

The Queen nodded. She drew her sacred-blood beast soul sword and chopped one of the feathers with a direct hit. Nothing. Not a single scratch was left upon it.

”This really is some good stuff!” Han Sen looked happy. If he managed to modify the feathers a certain way, he’d be able to craft a new type of bolt. If he used them alongside his peacock crossbow, he might be able to slay a super creature with them.

”How about we split them up evenly? Eighteen feathers each,” Han Sen suggested to the Queen.

”It is useless for me to own a bunch of silly feathers. You can have them all.” The Queen passed all of the feathers to Han Sen.

Earlier, the Queen took notice of the strange crossbow Han Sen had used to fire at the red-cloud donkey. Strangely enough, it looked quite similar to the Deadeye Peacock. The Queen was starting to wonder if the crossbow was the peacock’s beast soul.

Han Sen was certainly not going to admit anything on such a subject, so the Queen didn’t ask. If Han Sen wanted those feathers, it’d be to make bolts. Such bolts and a crossbow would come in handy for the slaying of super creatures, so she preferred not saying anything and simply giving all of the feathers to Han Sen outright.

Han Sen gave the Queen a strange look as he accepted all the feathers.

He believed from the way the Queen looked back at him that she knew there was something up with his new crossbow. Yet she hadn’t said a word about it. Her giving him all the feathers just made him confused.

”We have to leave while the raven is gone. If the donkey returns, our escape will be difficult with you unable to run due to your injury.” After the Queen said this, she picked Han Sen up and supported him in his descent down the rest of the mountain.

Han Sen was being carried on the Queen’s back. He felt incredibly privileged and cared for, for this was the first time anyone else had helped him in such a way. The fact that it was a woman made him feel odd, however.

Luckily enough, no more dangers arose during their time on the road. They managed to descend the mountain without interruptions. The Queen summoned an elephant ride and took Han Sen to the nearest shelter so he could return to the Alliance and recover. His wounds were incredibly grievous, and healing would not come quick or easy with only medicine.

But he didn’t return to the Alliance, in the end. He had the silver fox, and it was better than any potion or remedy the Alliance could provide. Therefore, there was no reason to return.

Han Sen continued thinking about the gourd, as well. He did not want to return to the Alliance yet, because he did not want to leave the gourd unattended.

He went straight to the silver fox and it immediately approached Han Sen to lick his wounds. It was as strange as ever, to watch the wounds seal up with each passing lick. Even the damaged bones straightened, their gashes filling in.

With Han Sen’s wounds recovering, the Queen booked another room so they could live there temporarily. After leaving his room, Han Sen pulled out the gourd and presented it to the silver fox, so he might determine if it was good or bad.

Examining the gourd, the silver fox looked upon it strangely. It continued to observe the gourd closely, circling it and sniffing it every way it could.

Han Sen looked at the gourd for a while, as well. But soon after, the silver fox just turned around and went to sleep on the carpet.

”Hey, you better tell me what this thing is.” From the silver fox’s behavior, he could not tell whether the gourd was a good thing or a bad thing.

But the silver fox just remained sleeping on the carpet, ignoring the commands of his master. Han Sen knew the silver fox wasn’t human, and it would not understand the complex lexicon of the human language, so he stopped talking.