A week later, Hisashi can be seen fiddling with many alchemy equipment. Beside him is a spider hanging upside down. It has been days since he last came to the dungeon room where he fetched Seolim's complete research notes and where he met Matie the Spider.
Unexpectedly, after she has finished eating the plant Hisashi conjured, the spider stood there quietly, and later on, it follows Hisashi's commands as if it understands him. Of course, for the experiments, she also did well as she willingly offers herself like she knows what to do.
"Thankfully, it didn't take a month to find the right material ratio. They also have it on the dungeon and some on the town."
He doesn't feel bad about torturing and hurting the spider, but he also doesn't feel good. In his mind, the only thought was that he has to finish what Seolim set out to do. He also wasn't a philanthropist wanting to help him… but someone wanting to do something interesting before fully leaving the place.
To lessen her suffering though, Hisashi always casts 3 different healing spells as it wasn't his strongest suit. His first healing spell can easily heal stabs and slashes or reconnect body parts but not outright return a missing body part.
He can do that if given a long time by increasing his mana output but it was less efficient.
Many hours of experiments later, he was now standing in the lobby with many green circular balls in his hands. As he holds it, he looks at Matie and raises his eyebrows.
"I would've congratulated Seolim for kickstarting this but there's no more of your species left, doesn't it? His research model is too inefficient for practical use. I only made about a hundred with a single sternum."
As he said so, puts one in the middle of his fingers and pinches it before immediately throwing it to the ground. After only a second, the small green ball the size of a candy produces roots that claw themselves on the ground before growing into a full-on apple tree.
The reason why, it's because that was the seed that Hisashi used as a catalyst and main host for the small green balls which he calls "Growth Bead".
Seeing the full final result for the first time, Hisashi was satisfied. Not only did it look like a real apple tree, but it was also bigger and the fruits were bigger too. As for the taste, it tastes good compared to the normal apples they sell everywhere but compared to the one he eats and the original one in the dungeon, he spits it out.
The research and experiments were entertaining enough for him but the results weren't up to his standards and expectations. With that, he looks at some of the other results which were the same as the first one before storing it all.
"I should prepare for the Ruin hunting. I feel like their easier to find given their larger numbers but I don't think all of them got something useful given that they are easier to loot. Still, worth a try before I come to the Han. I heard that their country's state gets worse every year."
He said to himself before looking at the spider who started eating at the huge, grown plants. He plans to release it in the wild after the experiments which he now will be able to fulfill.
With that, Hisashi left the dungeon with all his belongings with some of the books that he deemed useful. He also threw some Growth Bead on the bushy entrance stairs before setting Matie free. He wants to reactivate all the traps that the dungeon originally has but he has no idea or practical knowledge to pull such a thing off.
…
"Papa, Happy Father's Day!" Aime said to her father as she gave him a wrapped gift. Her father gives her a smile before gladly opening it. The next he saw was a drawing of her and her father together. Looking at the painting, her father starts to tear up which confuses Aime.
"Father… Is my painting bad? The old teacher told me that it was great! Did he tease me again?! Hmph!" She grumpily said before hugging her father's waist. Her father just laughs before caressing her hair and head.
"No. Quite contrary. It's beautiful. Thank you, Aime." Her father said before Aime looks at him with the biggest smile on her face.
"You swear?" "I do."
"You're welcome, Papa!" Aime said as she hugs her father tight, prompting him to go kneel to her level to hug her too.
That was a couple of weeks ago. It was the best memory he had for a long time. However, just a few days ago, a few weeks after Hisashi left the dungeon, he finds his daughter dead. No, to be more accurate… He finds her destroyed.
Destroyed as in a thing, as Aime wasn't a real child but a doll that looks like one. Normally, there was no problem and most of the people close to the two know the truth. However, when one of Aime's friends learns about this, he was terrified as he has a fear of dolls and persuaded the others to help him destroy Aime, which they did.
They all held bats, sticks, and whatever they can to hurt her before leaving her in the mountains. Now, her father was kneeling on a tree where they used to play a lot as a doll covers him from the rain.
"Destroy her! She's a freak!" One of the kids screams as he hits her with a paddle.
"Yeah! She's not even a human!" Another scream while all the others continue with their sadistic behaviors.
Meanwhile, Aime just kept on defending herself even with some of her fingers or body parts coming off, revealing a synthetic body. Her cries were overwhelmed by their insult and her pain was ignored by their fear and hatred, even when she did nothing wrong.
"I have fixed her but why isn't she waking up?! WHY?! WHY?! I served this f*cking country! That work caused me to lose my family! And now, they took it again?! NO! I wouldn't let them." The old man said as tears fell from his eyes.
Consumed by rage and anger, he gets home with the doll that was with him earlier. As he went to his bedroom, he puts his hand under the bed before throwing it effortlessly on the other side. Underneath it, is a stone floor but when he punched it, a hole reveals it as a long box greets him.
"I will kill you all for taking my precious daughter from me. Not just the kids, but their parents, their family, anyone involved in raising them, as well as the guy that caused all of this… Hisashi!"
As he said that, he opens the box which reveals a shiny Geom sword.