Endless Forest, Blood Tree grove, Adam's tent
Adam was currently in his lab, looking over two operating tables. Skinny and Chubby were laying on said tables, naked and unconscious. Various lab equipment could be seen in the room. Adam himself was wearing a pristine white apron which was coated with the same solution used on his silk robe. He was not wearing any gloves. He could not find any that were appropriate for his experiments. They were either too thick, made with leather, or made with silk, sacrificing some of his sense of touch, impeding his experiments.
'Zero, note down everything I say and keep visual records of anything happening starting from now.'
'Yes sir. Starting recording now.'
Adam spoke out loud while experimenting. A habit kept from his university years.
"This is Adam, family name omitted. Current date and time: Omitted. Experiment: Testing of blood fruits and their effects. Reference data on Endless forest, blood tree, for more information on the tree as well as its feeding habits and the fruits it produces."
He pauses to gather his thoughts, then continues. "Testing will be done during this experiment to determine the efficacy of the fruits under different variables. We will use subject #1, named Skinny, and subject #2, named Chubby to determine the efficacy as well as the potential of blood fruits healing abilities. Subject #1, throughout the experiment, will be exposed to the fruit in solid form while Subject #2 will be exposed to the fruit in liquid form. The goal is to determine if injection has a different effect from consumption."
He stops, staring blankly ahead, then continues."The age of the tree from which fruits originated is unknown. It is however considered young compared to other specimens in the grove. The age of the tree affects the effects of the fruit. It will still give us some data to reference in the future. While data may be inaccurate under certain circumstances, having something to use as a reference will be useful. The current fruits are considered, by common standards, of this world's population, as effective for middle-tier knights. Please reference Council data for information on knights. Subjects #1 and 2 are lower-tier knights, tier 2 to be specific. It will be taken into account during experiments. Results may be considered inaccurate due to said factor."
Adam turns to Elena, waiting at the side while watching him speak, curiosity in her gaze. He hands her his vibranium dagger and gestures at both men on the table.
"Elena, take my dagger and cut open their ribcage for me."
Elena got stunned for a second, then shrugs and starts cutting Skinny open. Adam was on the side, reaching under the table for multiple steel hooks attached to leather strips/ropes. The leather was made from tier 6 beasts, solid as can be.
Once Elena cut open Skinnys ribcage, Adam attached the hooks to the bones on each side of the sternum. Once properly secured, he reaches back under the table for a lever, which he pulls, causing the leather straps on both sides to tighten and slowly pull the ribcage open from the middle. Exposing the beating heart and lungs of skinny. He repeats the process for Chubby once Elena cut his ribcage open.
Satisfied, he takes the dagger from Elena's hands and throws it in a nearby sink to wipe later. He looks at Elena "Are you going to stay? I typically don't allow any non-involved parties but this experiment is not delicate or important, so I don't mind if you want to watch. You may learn something useful."
He thinks to himself for a moment and cuts off Elena, who was about to respond "Actually, stay. I might need you later. You see that wooden box over there? The one with the wheels." He points at a box similar in shape to a mop bucket, only larger. His attendant looks over at the object in question.
"Yeah that one, keep it near you. I might need to use it later. And here, take my shortsword as well." He picks up his shortsword from a nearby table and hands it to her.
"Now, stand near me and be ready for any instructions."
Elena, understanding that Adam's lost in his own world; doesn't even bother speaking, only standing near him ready.
"Test #1. We shall cut off a limb from subject #1. An arm as well as a leg to be precise. The goal is to set a baseline for the effects of a blood fruit on limb regeneration. Elena, if you would. Right arm and left leg. Start with the arm." He waves Elena over before adding "Oh, don't forget the bucket. Put the arm in there."
"Sure boss." She heads over to Skinny with the shortsword, pulling the bucket behind her. She looks at Adam "Ready, boss?"
Adam stops her. "Just a moment." He grabs a leather tourniquet, along with a wooden tray on which lay a scalpel and a blood fruit. The fruit looked like a peach, the single difference being its color. It was scarlet, with a few different shades of red at the bottom and top near the stem.
"Start with the arm first. And watch the blood. Even if he's unconscious, his heart is still pumping." Elena nods and positions herself away from the splash zone. She swipes the sword once, creating a smooth cut on the arm. So smooth the arm took a solid second before falling, denoting her skill with the sword. The arm fell in the bucket placed under beforehand.
Adam heads over to the arm, now a stump, with the leather tourniquet. The reason it is made of leather; beast leather to be exact, is due to its durability versus the muscle strength of knights. Anything lighter or less durable would snap when trying to put pressure on a knight's body.
The blood stopped pouring from the stump, thanks to the tourniquet. Adam then grabs his second dagger from a nearby table and cuts the blood fruit into four equal-sized pieces. Once done, he grabs the scalpel from the tray and bends over Skinny slightly.
"I will proceed with an incision, from Subject #1's torso, down to his mon pubis. The purpose is to gain access to his stomach." He speaks out loud.
He uses the scalpel also made from vibranium to cut along the previous opening. The new cut started from the bottom of the torso to the edge of the mon pubis. He pulls the skin open, with the help of the hooks, gaining access to his lower abdominal area, exposing all the organs.
"Test Subject #1 experienced lowered blood pressure due to blood loss from the severed limb. This increased heart rate pressure, along with the constricting of blood vessels. Something to note, as a possible variable in the following test." He pauses to gather his thoughts.
"I will proceed to create an opening in his stomach. The goal is to introduce a piece of blood fruit. Due to the Subject's unconsciousness, it is the only way to introduce the fruit to the Subject's body, except for injection, which will be performed on Subject #2. While the fruit will be unchewed and may cause slight problems, I believe it to be a non-issue or inconsequential, given test subject #1's status as a tier 2 knight. His status as a knight provides him with a sturdier body. This includes his metabolism as well. Please reference council data on knights' physical characteristics for more information. We expect test subject #1 to digest the piece speedily, given his current 'injured' status. I will now proceed with the incision. I will limit the size to prevent gastrointestinal fistula (stomach or intestinal contents spilling out due to abnormal opening) from occurring. Note: I have made sure that Subject #1 and #2 abstained from food the last 12 hours."
He pauses and looks over at Elena "You may want to cover your nose or restrict your sense of smell. The inside of a stomach does not smell nice."
Adam himself was wearing his mask/helmet to prevent anything from splashing on his face. The breathing enchantments on the helmet guarantee that whatever passes through will be filtered to an extent. The smell, in this case, will not pass through. He can decide to what extent smells filter if he injects his mana.
After warning his attendant, he ignored her and proceeded with the cut on Skinnys stomach. He did not make the incision too big. Just big enough to push through a piece of blood fruit. He may have to repeat it if he wants to feed another piece. But it's better than keeping the stomach open while the fruit starts healing. It may heal the hole, leaving some extra organ matter hanging from the stomach, creating more issues to deal with during his testing.
"Incision complete. Note that even without the blood fruit, the test subjects body started self-healing. While the speed is exceedingly slow and barely visible to the naked eye, it is nonetheless happening. But unlike the reports from the blood fruit, it is not regenerating the severed limb, only blood clotting. We predict scabbing (if we do not shape skin and muscles to prepare for prosthetics) and healing to occur at an accelerated rate compared to a regular human. Observations show self-healing to be helpless in regards to the ribcage's situation. It is however slowly acting upon the test subject's stomach. His abdominal muscles show contraction, seeking to close the incision and facilitate healing."
He looks up in thought for a moment before adding "My expectations for the blood fruit are mixed. I expect the body to not know where to divert and concentrate its healing, between the open ribcage or severed limb. Due to the ribcage, the situation may devolve into a mess. It's my mistake. I will be on standby, ready to cut or deal with any abnormal growth caused by the fruit. Due to this mistake, I will cancel the second part of limb regeneration testing. I will introduce two pieces of fruit instead. This is to compensate for the ribcage variable. I will now insert the fruit pieces."
Picking up one piece of fruit with long tweezers, he pushes the piece through the cut and deposits it directly in Skinny's stomach. He does the same with the second piece. Adam then pauses to observe the reaction the fruits will cause.
A few moments go by before Skinny's body starts twitching. Another few seconds of twitching before the reaction Adam's looking for starts happening.
"Currently observing test subject's body's reaction to the fruit. The test subject's severed limb is starting to slowly regrow itself. The opening on the thoracic cavity is starting to close itself as well. Rather than pull back the skin and bone, new growth is appearing. This is probably due to the hooks. I can see bone growing from the sternum, at the top, on both sides of the body, connecting and covering the exposed organs, leaving a box-like shape made of bone. Skin is also forming around the newly extended thoracic cage, enveloping the new bone growth. As for his missing limb, I can see its successful regeneration. The only observable difference is the skin tone; The skin resembles newly healed skin, slightly pale, instead of the test subject's regular pigmentation. Limb growth began from the bone. Once the skeletal arm and tendons finished their growth, muscle growth began along with blood vessels. Followed by the different layers of the integumentary system, in other words, the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. The skin grew layer by layer instead of all three layers concurrently. It is simply fascinating."
Adam walks around the table, entranced by the grotesque sight of Skinny's body going through forced healing and adaptation from the fruit.
While lost in thought, he waves Elena over "Elena, take care of his chest. Cut anything that's not supposed to be there."
Elena, unphased by the previous sights, picks up the used dagger from the sink and starts cutting off pieces of skin and bone from Skinny's chest, once again exposing his innards to the world. She's used to gory sights from Council missions on dying and infected worlds.
Once Adam regained his bearings, he started speaking again while observing Skinny's insides. "While healing can be considered successful, I can also see abnormal growth on the test subject's heart as well as muscles from under the skin. We can assume this is due to the subject's body's inability to handle the fruit's healing properties, causing tumor-like growth to appear."
He picks up his scalpel and cuts off a few of the growths. He placed them in an empty wooden tray; the tray itself absorbed any leaking blood from the organic matter. All the wooden utensils used in his lab were made from immortal tree wood. The tree was well known for its absorption and adaptive ability, making it a solid choice. He just needs to remember to burn them after usage, to prevent anything weird from growing.
He starts cutting open the growths while speaking out loud.
"The new growths, caused by the excess healing properties from the fruit, resemble soft tissue. A mix of muscle and fat to be precise. I assume that the body considers such growth the most harmless and safest to get rid of. Preventing possible problems from said growth. It lends credence to my assumption of the blood fruit acting as or being an enhanced version of embryonic stem cells. At least in capability and potential. I will now start testing regarding organ regeneration; I'll start with kidneys then proceed to the heart, and finally the brain. The final step is to find the line between life and death. How much of the heart and brain can I cut off before the test subject succumbs, regardless of healing properties. I will now cut a piece of the test subject's kidney while it is still connected. Ready for any adverse reaction."
And like this, for the next few hours, Adam conducts his various testing on Skinny and Chubby. So lost in his testing that he did not even bother keeping them alive in the end. When he finally regained his bearing, all that was left of them were multiple lumps of tissue mass growing all over their body with various pieces of their organs spread around. Along with his spotless white clothes and fully helmeted face, it created an eerie sight. Elena on the other hand had her clothes covered in blood. Her clothes were not treated like Adam's were.
Looking around the lab, he calls over the maid. Once inside, the maid pales slightly but otherwise remains stoic. Adam gestures at the mess "Drop their bodies, along with any piece of meat you can find in the buckets available. Hand the buckets over to the monkeys, they should understand what to do with the bodies." He pauses before adding.
"Make sure you bring back the wheels from the buckets. They don't grow on trees after all, unlike the bucket. You know, immortal tree and all..." He chuckles slightly, in a good mood. The room falls into an awkward silence. He coughs gently " Anyways, burn anything wooden you can find in the lab once you've taken care of the bodies."
Finished with his orders, he heads over to a sink to wash his hands, Elena following behind. She asks him "So boss...find anything interesting?"
Adam, in a good mood, responds "Interesting? That's an understatement. With the proper steps and handling, I, or anyone slightly competent, could grow body parts along with full bodies using nothing but those fruits and sufficient mana along with a good genetic sample. Whether those bodies can live and gain sentience is something I'll need to test to see. Typically you can expect some genetic instability or many other problems. But, I think that mana gives it that slight push, enabling the fruit to perform the impossible. Even back in my world, while we were proficient in nanotechnology to an extent, stem cell manipulation was still a subject of research despite our numerous discoveries using them. That was how I was able to clone my body. But my success could be attributed to an extreme stroke of luck. The number of failures I experienced, even with stem cells and the nanites, were too many to count."
At this point, he forgot about Elena and her question. He kept scrubbing his now clean hands while rambling "Obviously, with the help of the fruits, growing bodies, and whatnot would be redundant if you can just heal yourself to perfection. But if we can confirm where lifespan originates from, soul/mind or body, we can potentially prevent anyone important from dying of old age, with the help of the council heads of course. It is also unknown if the bodies will have the same strength as the originals, but I doubt it. Maybe only bloodline magi will keep their transformation, given they transform themselves on a genetic level. As opposed to magi or knights who only enhance/refine their human bodies rather than changing their base. Will the bloodline magi revert back to the first tier of transformation? will they retain their previous strength? I'll have to verify later."
Elena on the side looked at Adam for a while, looked at her still bloody clothes, then shrugged and left the room, leaving Adam alone with his rambling.
About an hour later, Adam could be seen sitting in his office still rambling to himself. He stops all of a sudden, eyes wide in an epiphany.
"Trees...blood fruits...knights. That's it! If I recall, there should be plants, trees, and whatnot that promote and enhance physical strength. Aurora should have some, but if I'm not mistaken they're less effective than ones found in cultivation worlds. If I can get an original species from a cultivation world, I could try to crossbreed it with the blood tree."
He starts pacing around the room. Gesticulating and speaking to himself. "If I can successfully crossbreed such a tree and plant its seed in anything with a strong physical body, could I grow a fruit using the body as a base to provide someone with the full strength of the body used? Or something close? Will it even be worth it? Given that there are already some plants that can help one cultivate their body? And how much of the body's strength will be lost in the process?"
He pauses for a second, then resumes his pacing "No, I'd have to test it. If I can use a high-tier or middle-tier knight, as a nutrient for the seed; I could potentially use the fruit produced to turn someone from a regular human or low-tier knight to a middle-tier or high-tier knight. I'd have to perform some tests and see how that translates when it comes to their bioelectric field. Will it also provide someone with said field without going through a normal breakthrough? Can their body even handle such a boost or will it just explode? What if I create a mixture using the fruit and regular blood fruits? Will it heal them as their body breaks down and allow them to survive and gain strength? I'll have to first breed the new tree species then see what happens. The time needed to grow the tree and fruit will have to be taken into account while crossbreeding. Also, will using beasts affect the potential gains and the fruit that will grow? Unlike the blood tree, where the fruit only heals, this one's goal will be to appropriate the body's strength. Will the origin change the result?"
He regains his bearings and mutters to himself. "Or maybe I should just sell the idea to the council heads. I'm not that proficient in botany after all. That, along with my idea of cloning should be enough to provide me with ownership of an elemental plane. That is if they didn't have such information in their database to begin with."
He continues "Either way, I confirmed that the fruits can indeed be used to accelerate and complete the merging of my heart and nanocore. I'll use the raven to contact principal Blue and see what I can gain with the data. I'll also ask him if he can check the world tree seed as well. While I know Fay's mother can do so, maybe I can avoid them for now if the principal can help." He then looks down at his bulging pants and chuckles.
"That's just like me...Getting turned on from experimenting...I wonder if the maid is back." He mutters while leaving his office.
Author's note: Yooo. First chapter where we see Adam performing some of his experiments. As you can see, even being smart doesn't stop you from making some mistakes. I tried to stay as scientifically accurate as possible when it comes to the terms used (google ftw). That's including some of the logic used as well. I will not detail every future experiment, only mention them in passing. Of course, if the results are deemed important to Adam's future path, then I may write down the experiment. This experiment, for example, will allow Adam to create clone bodies of anyone he can get DNA from. Of course, some complications may occur but who knows what'll happen. This will be important for his future travels and world infiltrations at the end of the story or in the sequel. You can probably guess how if you have common sense. The next chapter will feature his breakthrough and maybe a second meeting with principal blue. Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter.
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Lazy, Out!
