Chapter 86: Physical Enhancement and Future Prospects
Grandmaster Byrmellir explained to his disciple about the possible permanent effects of the Divine Water that was most probably happening within him.
"You were awarded a very high-grade version of the Divine Water that was fished from the real depths of the Cosmos, so the possibility that you would get the same sort of permanent benefits is very high. Mostly in the form of increased comprehension, so in the long term, it was even better than the things that you obtain as a temporal boost."
Arcturus nodded as he was digesting the information that he obtained from the Grandmaster Byrmellir he was feeling rather eager hearing about the prospect of the permanently increased comprehensive capabilities after drinking the Divine Water.
"They are investing a lot in me... or is it just because of you status within the Eternal Empire?"
The young Asuryani Highborne asked as he looked at his master, who looked at him after hearing this question with a peculiar look on his face.
"Partially both... certainly, my status made the Imperial High Command reconsider the extent of the reward they were going to give you for the mission, but at the same time, it was also part of the investment into your personal growth.
While you are not part of the Imperial Military, and there is a high possibility that you won\'t even be, the Empire still wants to tie you into its sphere of influence."
That sounded rather logical because Arcturus was aware of his very high talent, fast growth, and predisposition for greatness, which he wasn\'t exaggerating at all. In the end, he was someone with the Super-High Risk Primal Psyker Ability, so the probability of advancing to the Beyonder Realm was around 99%.
People with the Super-High Risk Primal Psyker Abilitie were destined for greatness.
So, he had very high value for the government of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya. The Phoenix Empire was always on the lookout for people with very high talent, and they were always keen on cultivating such talents.
"There are many things on which the Eternal Imperium cannot use its soldiery, and they are forced to depend on their secret services or intermediaries. But not many of the Star Mercenaries or Bounty Hunters are of Asuryani origin because for the Asuryani, being Star Mercenary or Bounty Hunter is rather humiliating, and they are disdainful of such occupations.
In many cases, the Empire needs the services or rather, they need to use the intermediaries, but due to the fundamental nature of the Empire, which banned the heavy majority of operations from the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild on their territories, the government and military are rather limited in their action and possibilities and rarely young promising Asuryani are going down on this way."
He understood the sentiments and reasons behind this behavior.
The Eternal Empire essentially banned the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild from an operation on their territory because they didn\'t trust anyone who wasn\'t a citizen of the Empire.
And on the top, most of the Star Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters were rather unsavory characters; many of them were actually criminals, and some were just one step away from being classified as criminals.
Yet this was also creating certain problems for the Phoenix Nation, as the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild were rather powerful and influential, and when the Imperium needed to do something in the other part of the galaxy or perhaps even in one of the different galaxies, they were strictly limited in their choices.
Especially when it came to situations where they couldn\'t use their very own people and needed some sort of intermediary.
And because the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild were banned from operating within the territory of the Eternal Empire, the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild not only didn\'t take any request from the Empire, but they also banned their members from accepting the tasks from the Phoenix Empire under severe penalties.
In that situation, the Empire was in a very problematic situation that didn\'t have an optimal solution for them, aside from the one, of course, where they would lift the ban on the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild, but that was impossible.
Arcturus knew that the Phoenix Empire would never lift the ban on the Star Mercenary Association and Bounty Hunter Guild, as that would allow an influx of people into the territory of the Empire.
So, the only possibility for the Eternal Empire was to cultivate its own people, who would be Star Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters who would act as intermediaries of the Eternal Empire when they were needed, like in the situation right now.
"Rather smart of them... still, it is a strategy in the long run, and not many people would even choose for their career in the first place, though that is also something that I can greatly capitalize on later on the way."
Arcturus remarked as his master agreed with the sentiment as he knew that the Imperial High Command was hoping that Arcturus would grow into a powerful Professional who would continue on his career as a Star Mercenary and Bounty Hunter to be useful in the future.
In certain regards, it would be extremely helpful to have someone like that in the services of the Eternal Empire because they could then carry out some missions in the different galaxies or surrounding dwarf galaxies much more easily compared to now.
Now, when such things were either outright impossible or their investment far outweighed the gains that the Empire could obtain.
"Are you planning to take the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum today?"
Taking the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum and advancing to the Delta-Grade Warrior was the last thing on Arcturus\'s to-do list that he needed to do before he departed for the Planet Asurya from his current location.
"Yeah... the last thing on the list before I will be leaving this place behind. In truth, while part of me is rather reluctant as I got used to the place, I am rather eager to visit the Throne World of the Empire."
When he finished with the advancing to the Delta-Grade Warrior after injecting the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum, he would be setting course onto the Planet Asurya in the core of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya.
"Then I will leave you alone for the time being, tomorrow I will be entering the seclusion on my planet so that this dojo would be closed down."
Grandmaster Byrmellir was planning to enter the seclusion to recuperate from his injuries on his personal planet, not in here. While the dojo was rather a nice place, in the end, it was still a place located at the military facility, and his personal planet was far more suitable.
Thus the dojo would be closed down, most probably permanently, as he wouldn\'t be really returning back here.
When Arcturus returned back to his quarters of the dojo, he looked around the room for the last because this was most probably the last time he saw this place. He was aware that once the Grandmaster Byrmellir recuperated from his injuries, he wouldn\'t be really returning here.
There was nothing of importance that would draw his attention to his place. He knew that he was spending time here only because the Alaric Star Domain was a relatively quiet place of the Frontier Star Segment, and there were not many incursions or problems.
As the Frontier Star Segment was within the Chronus Expanse Star Region, there were not many particularly powerful factions in this part of space.
The Chronus Expanse Star Region was notorious for being full of many nations, but not any of them were particularly powerful, so the Empire that was slowly expanding beyond the Frontier Star Segment didn\'t need to fear of strong resistance or some exceedingly powerful foes.
He then took out the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum that was also gifted to him by the High Command of the Imperial Military as he stabbed the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum into his right hand and injected the content of the serum into his bloodstream.
Compared to the Epsilon-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum that he used some time ago, the effects of the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum were relatively slow from the start, but that was just promotion.
After several minutes, Arcturus felt pain like almost never before when it was clear that the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum was doing its job and working hand-in-hand with the nanomachines from the Neural Extranet Terminal Gene Implants that were in his entire being.
It was clear that this Genetic Enhancement Serum was specifically made for the Highborne Asuryani and Asuryani of the Eternal Empire in general because of the great synergy between the Genetic Enhancement Serum and the Neural Extranet Terminal Gene Implants, judging on the behavioral patterns of the nanomachines that were helping to accelerate the process of the physical strengthening.
Even the process of the "upgrade" was much faster compared to the time when he took the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum. Even though the pain was still very high, the feeling of his body being broken apart and rebuilt with the help of the Gene ENhancement Serum wasn\'t anything pleasant.
As unfortunate as it was, the option to mitigate the pain by turning off the pain receptors in all cases wasn\'t ending well for the stupid people who attempted to do so. In most cases, they would end crippled or dead.
Arcturus didn\'t really know what was the worst situation.
Soon enough, the process was being finished rather quickly, as he internally marveled at the quality of the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum that was made specifically for the Highborne Asuryani in mind.
It had different effects and different realms.
Obviously, the physical strengthening from the Genetic Enhancement Serums wasn\'t as good as the good old body refining and training, but it was much faster. Not to mention, the top-notch Genetic Enhancement Serums were designed to be all-rounders, giving a tremendous boost to the Physique of the users.
Of course, even though they couldn\'t compare to a few top-notch body tempering methods that the Warriors had been using since immemorial, some things couldn\'t be replicated by technology, no matter how advanced and superior the technology was.
Still, for the Arcturus\'s needs, the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum was far more than enough, as he was highly satisfied with the results of the Delta-Grade Genetic Enhancement Serum when he advanced to the Delta-Grade Warrior.
Aside from the growth in all of his physical parameters and increasement in the healing factor, which was always greatly welcomed. His regeneration factor was one of the most important things in his arsenal because that ensured his continuous survival.
With his rather strong fear of death, it was paramount that he had a powerful healing factor that could heal his injuries. At the same time, Arcturus was rather a battle maniac, so the stronger his healing factor was, the longer he could fight in any battle.
He had to admit that he obtained far more than he could have ever predicted from the missions against the Orks and Mind Flayers during their siege of the Alaric Star Domain, as the rewards from the Imperial High Command of the Imperial Military were far more than just generous.
That would be a rather severe underdetermination of the things that they gave him.
At the same time, Arcturus was also aware of the fact that there was an unspoken debt between him and the nation of which he was a citizen. While he wasn\'t really patriotic because he was in this nation only for a few months, he knew how to pay his debts.
He always paid his debts.
And having a powerful background like the Eternal Empire of the Asurya was certainly a welcomed thing, especially in this cruel world where power reigned supreme.
Might makes right.
As they liked to say.
"I should be packing my things... the journey to the core worlds of the Eternal Empire would take a few weeks at the normal speed through the Hyperspace."
Arcturus wasn\'t going to burn the precious fuel pointlessly as he wasn\'t in a hurry to arrive at the core worlds of the Eternal Empire of the Asurya, which was located in an entirely different Star Region.
The Throne World of the Empire was located in the depths of the Phoenix Star Region, that was where the heart and soul of the Phoneix Nation existed and where his journey was taking him as the part of his story.
"Yeah... to the new beginnings..."
He stood up and went to say goodbye to the Grandmaster Byrmellir as this would be the last time he saw the old man whom he came to see as his family, for the next ten years or so...
"Allons-y..."