BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Two weeks passed as the group traveled eastward toward the lake. The journey had been easier than they all expected, thanks to Mickey's bugs scouting ahead and Aaron's slimes patrolling their flanks and rear, allowing them to avoid most encounters.

Still, that didn't mean the journey had been simple. In fact, Erik counted nearly a thousand thaids killed. That helped him to get experience points, and he leveled up once, but most importantly, the weaker ones served as training experience for the group.

Aside from that, during their travel, each member of the group, including Erik, focused on their training.

It was only possible for two reasons: the first was thanks to Erik's Hydra's heads, which allowed him to train and keep alert at the same time, and the second was the clones.

They acted as mounts but also as bodyguards, so they paid attention to the surroundings whenever Aaron and Mickey trained.

Each member of the group got the fifteen neural links Erik told them to get for their new powers, which meant that Amber, Emily, and Mira got around the five hundred strength point mark, with Emily and Mira getting more dexterity since they focused on that.

Of course, they got 15 neural links in total, which wasn't hard with Erik's technique.

Erik learned many years ago that someone's preferences and lifestyle, or fighting style, influenced their attributes whenever they got new neural links. That explained why Mira and Emily got dexterity. They needed it to use their ranged weapons.

Amber, instead, got more strength than dexterity, since she was used to melee fighting, but hers was a more balanced distribution than the other two girls.

As for the others, their attributes went around three hundred strength points. It was not enough for solo survival on Mur, but a significant improvement nonetheless.

The scenery changed as they traveled. The forest gave way to more open terrain, which was a sign they were getting closer to water. At some point, they got close enough to the lake to see it in the far distance.

"Look!" Erik pointed ahead, to the large body of water in the middle of the forest. "That's the Vermillion Lake."

<System, why is it called Vermillion Lake?> Erik asked. The lake was rather normal, and there was nothing resembling the color red, as the name suggested.

[I can't tell, but if I have to make an assumption, I would say because of the color at sunset.]

<Or because the lake was bathed in blood once.>

Maybe it had to do with some kind of component inside the water that made it look like it was red during certain hours, or maybe it was a name given by the blackguards to warn their members about what the water would be painted off if they were so stupid as to approach it.

If that was the case, it meant the blackguards didn't visit this lab, since they wouldn't have been able to enter the water or even approach them.

Regardless, it wasn't important, since Erik and his group had to go search around that lake in either case.

The group paused at a clearing about two kilometers from the shore, far enough to avoid any kind of creature living in those cursed waters or stopping there to drink, but close enough for them to observe the lake and scout it.

"We'll make camp here," Erik said, dismounting from his clone. The others followed suit. They were worn out and stiff from the long journey, but the clones were the most tired of them all. They needed to rest.

Maintaining a high level of awareness over such a long distance was an exhausting affair. Even if Aaron's slimes and Mickey's bugs helped with scouting, everyone still had to be ready for battle at any moment.

Furthermore, the intensive neural link training sessions they didn't shy away from during their journey had sapped their mental as well as physical stamina.

From the continuous Mana consumption needed to keep their forms, even Erik's clones—which had carried them for most of the trip—showed symptoms of fatigue.

Erik looked around. The spot looked perfect for setting up camp—it was on higher ground. They could see in all directions, and there was a stream nearby for fresh water. He looked at Martha, agreeing that was the right place.

"I'll handle the main structure; you focus on defenses."

Martha was tired, as much as Erik was, at least, but she didn't shy away from the task.

She gave him a smile and flexed her fingers. At least that was a way to release a bit of stress. "I've been practicing. You'll see something special."

Erik channeled mana. The ground trembled as roots spread beneath their feet. He grew his usual giant tree-tower.

Meanwhile, Martha walked around the edges of their soon-to-be camp. She stopped every few steps to touch the ground, making new trees grow into a protective wall.

She guided the branches to weave together, creating a fence-like barrier made entirely of the forest's natural colossal trees intertwined among themselves. They were tall, but not as much as Erik's giant tree.

"This barrier won't keep out the most powerful thaids," Martha said as she wiped dirt from her hands, "but it will keep away most creatures and warn us if anything tries to break in."

The shelter was completed not long after. Erik made sure to make as many rooms as possible but to leave the tree's walls as thick as he could. He had separate sleeping areas, storage spaces for supplies, and a central gathering space. Even if he was not going to use this place for long, soon someone else would.

Either the clones or Becker's troops. It was clear they were going to come here once things settled on Mannard. With all these breakthroughs in power, things were going to change.

People with multiple brain crystal powers were bound to have survived. And what would happen if these people had kids? For now, there was no news, but in a hundred years?

Reclaiming Mur might not be such an impossible task in the future. While Erik wanted nothing to do with humans anymore, that didn't mean he had to be a prick. The more of these safe havens there were in this cursed place, the better it would be.

The group later assembled in this sort of common area.

"We've made good progress," Erik said, "but the real problems will start tomorrow. The Silverline corporation's facility should be somewhere along the lake shore, but its exact location is a mystery."

The problem was that he saw nothing in the distance, but the lab might have been hiding in the surrounding forest, just outside view.