In the simple room of the infirmary, the bed's window glowed with the light of the morning sun. Its rays illuminated the entire room, falling upon a youngster who appeared to be about fifteen years old. His blue eyes sparkled like gems under the sunlight. He sat at the edge of the bed, one arm missing, while the other gripped the bed frame tightly.
His expression was twisted, a mixture of pain and fatigue, revealing that he had been enduring this agony for some time and was utterly exhausted. Yet, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly shattered and nearly breaking the bed frame under his grip, he persevered.
His left shoulder first turned red and bulged slightly, as if a snake were writhing beneath the skin, trying to emerge. The bulge grew larger and larger, and with every increase in size, the pain intensified.
'God damn it! You said it would just hurt a little…' He cursed under his breath, almost regretting his decision from just moments ago.
'...but this killer move... I can't figure out how it works exactly...' His thoughts were scattered as he endured varying levels of pain whenever the stump on his left shoulder grew larger or shifted from its place.
'...ugh... well, it's normal for me not to get it... I barely understand how 'Fire Fly' works, and that's only... a rank one killer move... this should be a rank three killer move, considering it's capable of generating a whole limb out of nothing, right?'
'Either way, it's not a rank one killer move, that much I can tell. Anyway, I need to talk to this idiot alone, but I doubt her grandfather will leave us unsupervised without a more convincing answer from me. I need to finish this quickly so we can go and find her...' As his thoughts raced, he suddenly felt less pressure at the stump as it unexpectedly shrank slightly, bringing some relief.
'...oh? It's actually getting a little bearable...!!!' He didn't finish the thought before the bulge moved again.
"...Ahhhhh!!!" He couldn't take it anymore and screamed at the top of his lungs. He was confident in his pain tolerance; after all, enduring pain was all he had done in his previous life. But a sudden change caught him off guard. He didn't know what had happened exactly, it all happened too fast, and he was too overwhelmed by the pain to pay attention.
...
Just moments ago.
In the simple infirmary room, three people stood beside the fifteen-year-old boy. An elderly man with emerald eyes and messy green hair exuded elegance and grace despite his aged appearance. A young girl with long yellow hair, a flat nose, and round brown eyes stood nearby. Her body had yet to develop fully, but despite her above-average height, she too appeared around fifteen.
The final person was the one most focused on the boy sitting on the bed. Before the scream, these were his thoughts: 'It should be big enough now. All I need to do is activate that Gu worm... but... how is this kid holding out this long...? Even when I used these killer moves on Kui Lang back then, he couldn't hold himself together, before I activated the second half. Heh... that's some impressive mental fortitude you've got there. But I'd start to get worried if you can handle even this...'
'Water Essence, go!' He didn't wait any longer. With a thought, a jet stream shot from within his aperture toward a cluster of six to seven Gu worms dancing around one another. The stream wasn't his own primeval essence but was actually a Gu worm, the Water Essence Gu.
The Water Essence Gu hovered above the cluster for a moment. All kinds of colors shimmered across its watery surface. Three Gu worms then came closer and entered deep inside it; and then, after a second or two, a small stream separated from the Gu and vanished. The three Gu worms that entered didn't come out after that.
That stream reappeared in his right hand, small enough to form a ring around his index finger.
He aimed the finger at the boy, who was still writhing in pain, unaware of what was happening. The stream of water traveled to his fingertip, and just as the boy's expression slightly relaxed, the water shot out and landed on the stump of his left shoulder.
A moment earlier, the room had been silent. But once the water landed on the stump, a sudden change occurred. The forming stump expanded and swelled—and then, in less than a second, it exploded.
"...Ahhhhh!!!" The boy let out a scream, one from unbearable pain.
The other two in the room saw it clearly. It wasn't an explosion per se, something had burst out of the stump, ripping it apart as it emerged into the light, sending pieces of flesh flying across the room. Yet, as if anticipating this, the Gu Master acted immediately. A sphere of water formed, capturing the blood and flesh before they could land on the furniture, walls, or floor.
What emerged from the stump resembled a tree branch; thin and fragile at first, but it soon thickened at the base, tapering slightly at the end. As it grew to the length of the boy's arm, it branched out into five smaller offshoots of roughly equal length—fingers.
At the same time, the boy's scream faded. His face turned pale, his cheekbones jutted out, and his body looked emaciated, as though he hadn't eaten in months.
"Good job, Rue Bu. A lot of people would have fainted by now, making my 'Stealing Essence' much less effective. You can rest now, you'll need it. As Elder Chen Ning mentioned, I'm not a healing specialist. My Growing Branch killer move alone isn't sufficient, it'd take nearly a month to regrow a new limb on its own, and that's the minimum. It depends on the limb's size, really."
"So I had to supplement it. The Stealing Essence killer move doesn't literally steal anything, it simply forces the 'branch' to absorb nourishment faster and in greater amounts. I did try to fuse the two moves into a stronger healing technique, but the results were unsatisfactory. Too many problems and conflicts between the Gu worms. In the end, it was more effective to keep them separate, or start over and create a completely new killer move."
"...Ugh, thank you... Elder Lin Lou, for the explanation..." Ma Rue Bu managed to thank him hoarsely as he lay back on the bed.
'...I feel so exhausted... and why are you... explaining this now..." He no longer felt like speaking, even though he wanted to ask Lin Lou something. He glanced at the 'branch.' It was already about the same length and thickness as his right arm, but he couldn't feel it. It was still moving on its own; growing, shifting, the branches overlapping each other every passing second, and he had no control over it.
Fortunately, Lin Lou answered his unspoken concern. "You don't need to thank me. I've already been paid generously," he said, glancing at Chen Ning. "If anything, you should thank Elder Chen Ning. And don't worry about the lack of control for now. As I said, my killer move isn't perfect. It'll take about twelve hours for the branch to regrow your bones, blood vessels, muscles, and flesh. After a day or so, you won't feel any difference compared to your right arm. I'll leave the rest to the mortal physicians. They'll care for you until your arm fully develops." His last sentence came from behind the curtain as he exited the room.
The room was silent for a while after he left; they were either tired, stunned, or surprised at how "easy" that was.
"...Uhh... Elder Lin Lou forgot about that…" The young girl, Lin Chen Huan, was the first to break the silence, pointing at the bubble of water containing Ma Rue Bu's flesh and blood, still hovering above the bed directly over his head.
"Hmm... Don't worry, Little Huan. This flesh and blood originally belonged to Rue Bu, and since Elder Lin Lou didn't take it with him, it must still be connected to Rue Bu, and he's using it to 'feed' the arm... Truly incredible... Nothing ever goes to waste with him... His attainments in water and wood are truly... Maybe if he looked at our..." Lin Chen Ning's thoughts wandered as he began mumbling aloud but managed to catch himself before saying something foolish in front of the two students.
"Haha, since Elder Lin Lou said you should rest, it's better to follow his instructions. Don't get out of bed today, and when you feel better, you can come with Little Huan to the Chen residence to have a chat with me... Little Huan, keep an eye on him, okay?" Surprisingly, Lin Chen Ning didn't rush into any agreement with Ma Rue Bu, allowing him to rest first. After both of them nodded, he exited the room as well.
Lin Chen Huan was about to speak, but noticed that Ma Rue Bu had already fallen asleep.
"Uhhh... Is it really that tiring? I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to give back the..." She suddenly covered her mouth with her hands and glanced around to see if anyone had heard her. Thankfully, the room was empty, and she let out a sigh of relief.
...
Ma Rue Bu awoke in a dimly lit room. The only light sources were a candle on the desk beside the bed and the moonlight filtering through the window above his head. He sat up and stretched his arms, feeling the fatigue from that morning ease slightly. He didn't even notice it at first, but his left arm was nearly fully recovered. The skin was a little paler, but he could feel and move it freely again.
'Hmm... That's amazing... I can lose a limb and grow it back just like that... And that was just a rank three killer move? How powerful would a rank four or five be... They must be even more incredible... Able to regrow it instantly, right? ...What about rank six... This world is truly amazing. Or maybe...'
He reconsidered.
'It's only amazing for Gu Masters, and especially talented individuals. Most humans are probably too busy just making a living... trying to survive... to enjoy such magical abilities... I used to be one of those people... I bet there were people in that world who thought it was amazing too... Like the Holy Knights or those mages who came to kill us... But they would never care about the lives of normal people like us... Or maybe... maybe they did, but why would they bother making things easier for us? Haha, that would be a real waste...'
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts, and got out of bed. There, he found Lin Chen Huan curled up on a small stool like a cat, fast asleep.
"Wake up!" he barked, shaking her with his newly regrown hand, jolting her awake.
"...Uhhh... Rue Bu... Mast..." She was still dazed and about to say something foolish when Ma Rue Bu quickly clamped his hand over her mouth and whispered.
"Shut the fuck up. Lead the way—we need to find her." He stressed the last word, and Lin Chen Huan understood immediately. She nodded and led the way.