Chapter 15: New Objective

Hearing a huge explosion, Ch'en began to run toward the sound while I was carrying an unconscious oni to the nearest medical facility before heading in the same direction.

(I know she’s panicking because the explosion likely came from the L.G.D. headquarters, but leaving me alone with this guy is a bit much, don’t you think?)

After leaving the oni in the care of the medical staff, I tried a technique from an anime: air foothold. I used the same technique I employed when fighting Talulah to freeze water in the air and make it float with air. It was a long shot, but if it worked, it worked.

Now, I was climbing on top of the L.G.D. headquarters and saw Mephisto, surprisingly alongside Faust, who I thought would be attacking somewhere else. The differences from the game were challenging for me because, although I knew the timeline would differ from the original, I at least hoped that the main points would remain the same.

What surprised me was who faced both of them: Amiya, Rosa, Hoshiguma, and Swire. I wondered why Swire and Hoshiguma were there. Nonetheless, I recognized this as a diversion since the explosion earlier could have been caused by W, Talulah, or maybe even Crownslayer, though I doubted it was her. As for Skullshattered, I had already captured him, so it wasn’t him.

However, the explosion wasn’t at the headquarters but at what appeared to be a normal building. I could see Ch'en below, ordering some people, probably to put out the fire. To assist her, I grabbed an Originium and proceeded to create a crude 'rain' of ice to slowly melt and help with the flames.

If that was the case, they probably aimed for Misha, but I thought she was supposed to be in the Rhodes Island temporary office.

As I pondered this, I spotted a huge fire in the direction of the Rhodes Island temporary office.

(I hate it when my random thoughts turn out to be right.)

Thinking quickly, I moved as fast as I could through the air using the ice foothold. When I used the scope of my railgun, I was shocked to see Crownslayer carrying Misha while Talulah walked away. Although I wanted to give chase, I needed to prioritize the wounded, so I headed to the Rhodes Island temporary office to help those in need.

I gradually healed the injured operators, particularly those with severe burns. Even though I had absorbed a small amount of Originium, Talulah's firepower was strong. At least there had been no deaths so far, which was fortunate—perhaps I had arrived just as they attacked. Regardless, I needed to focus on healing.

"ALISIA, STOP IT ALREADY! HE IS TOO FAR GONE."

"What do you mean? He’s still breathing! I can heal him!"

Suddenly, my hand was grabbed. I turned to see the man I was trying to save slowly shaking his head as his hand fell limp.

"NO, GODDAMN IT! YOU CAN STILL BREATHE!"

I concentrated harder on his wounds, but then I felt a sharp slap. I looked up to see Shining, pointing at another wounded person.

"Medics should focus on the living."

Her words were cold but accurate. Feeling bitter, I slowly walked toward the others, focusing on healing them as the sky began to brighten.

"You can take a rest, Alisia."

I moved toward the dead bodies, carefully storing them despite my exhaustion. I wondered if my healing was inadequate, even with Mephisto’s art enhancing it.

After finishing the healing, I headed toward the medical facility, but a hand grabbed my shoulder. I turned to see Nearl, her face filled with concern.

"Alisia, take a rest. You’ve done all you can; we will continue this later."

Ignoring her, I entered the medical facility and resumed healing the patients. I noticed some Reunion members were present as well, which made me question whether there was infighting, but I continued to heal everyone.

Eventually, I spotted Amiya, Kal'tsit, and the Doctor standing in front of the medical facility. Looking around, I saw medical staff sleeping all over the place. Amiya slowly took both of my hands, staring at my face with a worried expression.

"Alisia, please take a rest."

"Fine, Amiya. I will take a break. Doctor, please take care of the rest."

I didn't know why I suddenly felt compelled to call the Doctor, but no one stopped me as I walked toward the temporary dorm to get some sleep.

Amiya, Kal'tsit, and Doctor watched Alisia leave. Even Doctor, who didn't know everything, could tell that Alisia was at her breaking point. He turned to Kal'tsit, but she simply sighed and patted Amiya on the head.

"It's okay, Amiya. That's just how she is, so let's leave it at that. As for you, Doktah, I know you have questions, but it's better to discuss this in private since it's still a big secret for now."

After saying that, Kal'tsit slowly led Doctor into a private room, ensuring that no one was around. She gazed at him, clearly annoyed to be alone with him, but eventually let out another sigh.

"I just noticed some crucial information, and I'd rather not talk about it, but since Alisia requested to be placed under your command or Amiya's, I think you should know. I was planning to leave Alisia under your supervision. Understood?"

_Hearing this, Doctor nodded slowly as Kal'tsit took a seat. Just then, Mon3tr opened the door and dragged in Blaze, who had been eavesdropping outside.

"If you want to know, that's fine, but it means you will be placed under Doktah's command alongside Alisia, replacing Pith. If you're still interested, take a seat next to Doctor."

Blaze sat down as Mon3tr stood guard outside the door. Kal'tsit then pulled out a small piece of paper and placed it on the table for both Blaze and Doctor to see.

"Oh, brace yourselves when you see this. I've kept it a secret so no one knows yet. To explain it simply, this is the result of Originium in Alisia's blood since she arrived here."

Blaze and Doctor took a deep breath as they looked at the paper. Blaze's expression turned horrified, while Doctor, still unsure if this was normal due to his amnesia, gauged the severity of the situation from Blaze's reaction. The paper indicated a level of 7.5 u/L.

"Doctor Kal'tsit, what is this?"

"Yeah, Blaze, this is not normal. You could say she has surpassed the safe limit. While her body can still handle it, her mind seems to be struggling. Alisia is becoming increasingly unstable, and I’m not sure if it’s due to the high levels of Originium in her blood. I will make sure she expels it once she wakes up."

"Expel it?"

"Oh, you're still unaware, Doktah. Alisia has the power to control Originium to a certain extent. She can absorb and even create Originium from her body."

Upon hearing this, Doctor expressed surprise. From what he had learned, Originium was a dangerous substance, yet it was necessary for controlling art and serving as an energy source, which explained why many people were infected with Oripathy. Slowly, it began to make sense to him.

"That explains everything, but if she calls it Originium Saint, then..."

"She apparently awakened that power at the age of 12 and has been absorbing Originium from her patients all this time. However, she always expels it. I don't know why she hasn't expelled any during this major operation. According to Ace, she becomes stronger the more Originium is inside her, but I can't say for sure. From what I've seen, she seems to trust you, even though you two just met and don’t know each other well."

Kal'tsit stared at Doctor with a cold gaze, while Blaze, finally coming out of her shock, turned her attention to Kal'tsit.

"Doctor Kal'tsit, I did notice that Alisia wasn't doing well. Is this the reason?"

"I don’t know. We still haven't made any breakthroughs, even after examining and researching her body for two years. Either she knows something because it's her body, or there’s something else we still don’t understand."

Hearing this, Blaze slowly walked toward the door, but Kal'tsit stopped her.

"I can guess what you're planning to do, but I don’t think Alisia will answer you honestly. From what I’ve observed, she’s still wary right now. You should either talk to her with Doctor or find a way to lower her guard enough for her to reveal it herself, since she can be quite oblivious."

As they contemplated this, they suddenly heard from one of the medical staff that Alisia was missing from her room, causing the three to panic.

I was standing on top of the L.G.D headquarters, the tallest building around, reflecting on my recent experiments. I finally understand why Mephisto's art hasn't been effective. While it does enhance my healing abilities, it requires the target to have Originium within them. Unfortunately, most of the people I treated yesterday had little to no Originium left because I cured them.

Now, I'm experimenting with something new since I've just unlocked my third skill. I didn't notice it until now, but the effect is quite surprising.

Originium Boost
Passive effect: Whenever you use Verbesserung or Umwandlung school art on your body, there’s a small chance to further enhance its effects.
When this skill is active, it converts the Originium in your blood into ammunition, heightening your reflexes and speeding up your reaction time. The more Originium you have, the greater the boost. However, once the skill ends, you may randomly experience one of the following effects: your second talent will be inactive for (amount of Originium used) days, you will have an insatiable hunger for raw, unprocessed Originium for (amount of Originium used) days, or your body will radiate Oripathy for (amount of Originium used) days.

This skill is quite frightening, but it’s typical for the third skill of every operator. With this ability, I feel I won’t need to worry about my lack of combat experience. As long as I avoid making any incredibly foolish decisions, I should be fine.

With this skill, I wonder if my class is now a specialist. My first skill enhances my Originium power, my second skill enhances my Originium Art, and my third skill enhances my body. If the game mechanics still apply, I feel I will rely heavily on the first and second skills since I often fight at long range.

I'm at least glad this isn't like the game, where I can only use one skill at a time. If I activate my third skill while fighting in melee, I can combine all three skills simultaneously, utilizing both sweat and art. Now that I think about it, I feel like I’m a fighter sub-class.

Reflecting on this, I remember that Saria isn’t a fighter sub-class, though one of her skins resembles one. It reminds me that in Arknights, sometimes a class doesn’t define a character. For instance, there's a mechanic who is an Elite Operator but acts like a harsh boss, making him seem much tankier than Patriot.

I also recall the joke about Closure. Although she is a mechanic, she serves as the Rhodes Island accountant, and there’s even an official video that pokes fun at her for this. I remember her trying to haggle for clothes made of Originium.

While I was lost in thought, I looked down and saw Rhodes Island operators walking around. Amiya had a panicked expression, and I wondered what had happened.

It was the perfect time to test my third skill, so I activated it and dove from the top of the L.G.D headquarters, aiming for the area near Amiya but not directly at her.

As I used the skill, it felt like the world was slowing down, but it drained my Originium at an alarming rate of 0.01u/L per second. Unless I had a significant amount of Originium in my body, I could only use this skill for a short time.

Before landing, I attempted a superhero landing, thinking it would look cool, but the impact created a small shockwave around me.

"Uhh... Kal'tsit, sorry."

I didn't know why I said that when I saw Kal'tsit with a vein on her forehead. I instinctively went into a dogeza position, not thinking of anything else. I wondered if this was the effect of heightened reflexes, but I knew I should turn off the third skill now.

I checked my Originium levels: 0.5u/L left, surprisingly down from 7.7u/L. Wait, the total was supposed to be 720 seconds, but it felt longer. If this were the real world, I think it would be called AIWS? Still, did I fall that far?

It is the tallest building, but I didn't think it would take that long...

Something doesn’t add up. Either the draining rate has increased, or the more I do, the faster it drains. I feel like I need to test this more.

"Alisia."

I looked at Kal'tsit and realized I had been lost in my thoughts, forgetting that I was being lectured. She seemed to want to say something, but after taking my blood, she fell silent.