Time passed without end as Eve pondered how to increase her personal power going forward. The Prison Plane, and even Tal Mor were only temporary stops in her journey. She was currently powerful in the domain run by Wilson, but she didn’t plan on staying here forever.

What if the next place I arrive at has a completely different power structure? Eve thought. One that is run by something without sapience, a robotic System without a soul. Even worse, one of those Cultivation Worlds with murder-happy madmen running amuck for the vaguest slight!

Eve shook her head to focus her mind back on track. She needed to ensure that wherever she ended up, surviving and thriving were possible. To that end, she took a look at her full Status in the new format created with a long session of trial and error. No matter who asked, she would never admit to being bored during the current power leveling session.

Status [Full] was the new trick Eve attempted to use.

The new method of viewing her Status allowed compressing multiple pages of information into a singular viewing screen. It brought back fond memories to Eve of smart home holographic display screens. Granted, it was still a work in progress, but she felt she was moving in the right direction.

What do you think, Nota? Eve asked her knowledge devouring companion.

In theory, we should plan for mainly two scenarios. Nota replied.

One with Mana and one without. Eve said.

Exactly. There shouldn’t be any place without mana now that the Rune of Shroud is functional. However, just because there shouldn’t be… Nota paused.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t. So, reinforce the basic parameters of my body first then? Eve said.

Carbon nanotubes, flexible metal skin, elimination of weak points like eyes, nose, ears, toes, and so forth. Double up by enchanting everything. I’ve been watching the old movies from your mind that are now stored in Eternal Memory. Nota said with a chuckle. I must admit, even without Mana your fictional stories contained a great deal of valid information on them.

Eve shrugged and replied. I suspect that my brother and his companions had quite a bit to do with that.

Be that as it may, the concept of ‘cultivating’ power is very valid. Like, dare I say, a certain plant growing into a monster, there is no reason your body cannot do the same. Witch’s Dust should memorize each upgrade you do seamlessly integrating them into a whole. It will also have the benefit of being able to operate in both extremes. If there is no Mana and something stops the Shroud from working then you will still have the nano-machine functions to fall back on. Nota said.

The only downside is for Witch’s Dust to ‘remember’ a new set of my body, I have to die. Eve said with a grimace. I strongly suspect there is something in the Talisman that prevents the madness of non-existence from affecting me.

No pain, no gain isn’t that what your old Sarge always said? Nota countered.

“Just because he was right doesn’t mean I want to do it,” Eve grumbled.

Skin before Blood. Muscles before Bones. Organs last. Nota said with a smug tone. Once the basics are down, you can focus on the Nerves before finally the Brain.

Eve crafted a comfortable chair out of paper before starting the exhaustive process of reworking her physical form. It was no coincidence the things Nota spoke sounded like some madman’s novel on Cultivating. Those terms in fact were likely based on real-world knowledge from other worlds that had drifted to Earth before the portals opened.

The term ‘Skin’ was actually a bit of a misnomer. The skin was the largest organ in the body, but it was also the first area to be refined. Eve took a pain-blocking potion from Kudzu in order to layer her skin with a fine-meshed weave of metal. Between the subcutaneous tissue and the dermis, she layered the first full-body coating of Braeön. The metal was a little-known substance considered the strongest on Earth as well as being the most flexible, and able to be molded like putty with proper heating. Eve actually had no clue about the formula used as it was an industrial secret back on Earth. However, spending one-third of the Soul Slots gained from the Cardinal’s bounty easily got the information from the System.

Probably isn’t worth asking why the System has information from Earth. Eve thought. Although it likely means contact has been made in the last few years. I wouldn’t put it past Wilson to steal any information that might help defend his own reality.

The process was over relatively quick with Witch’s Dust playing the role of both doctor and metallurgist polymer layering guru. Eve took a deep breath after the ‘Skin’ forging finished before creating a duplicate of the fire trap in front of her chair. With a few short breaths to mentally prepare, she leaped through the fiery death-trap disintegrating into ash.

Moments after dying, Talisman of Dust III activated reforming her new body with the additional layers of forged ‘Skin’ added. Eve’s eyes had a dead look as she realized it would take a minimum of seven more deaths before even the most basic full-body upgrade was finished. She dreaded focusing on how to die in the most efficient manner.

Just think of the power. Eve thought to psych herself up. Extra-dimensional Eve, no mana, no problem!

Sitting back down in her chair, she got back to work. As a former medical student, Eve was quite familiar with Blood. Before traveling to another dimension she had been aiming for a doctorate in medicine after all. Her passion for artificial blood crept a few of her friends out, but she was more than willing to explain the massive potential benefits.

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Blood, in its natural form, was composed of the watery substance known as plasma. Eve knew that anyone who had donated plasma before would recognize the three components. Red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets made up the holy trinity of blood.

White blood cells are part of the body’s immune system created to destroy viruses and bacteria, as well as pathogens that cause infection. They are the eternal guardians, silently ensuring that their charges don’t die from something simple like dirt or grass. On the other hand, platelets form clots to prevent bleeding from cuts and other small wounds. The reason a paper cut isn’t lethal, is platelets like small machines prevent a minor cut from turning into a lethal wound.

Finally, RBCs alone account for more than 90% of the total elements in the blood. These aptly named cells transport oxygen and carbon dioxide via blood vessels known as arteries and veins. RBCs are disc-shaped with a large surface area for absorbing and releasing oxygen. They do not have a nucleus in the center but instead contain a complex molecule, hemoglobin, that collects and releases oxygen.

Eve knew that artificial blood had several advantages over pure human blood. First and foremost, designer blood like she planned to create would be inherently superior to normal red blood. Utilizing the quicksilver liquid that formed when a copious amount of dust was centralized, she altered her blood creating a mimicry of the natural method. Her veins pumped out red replacing it with silver in two distinct functions.

Silver Sentinel units took the place of White Bood Cells. Like the Hunter-Killer units of ancient empires, their core functionality was to remove anything that wasn’t ‘natural’ in Eve’s body. Within moments of making the change, she felt as if her body was operating like a smooth machine. It was akin to when gunked-up gears were cleaned and greased with perfect accuracy.

With success came further changes. Eve re-organized Silver Carrier units to take the place of Red Blood Cells. Taking inspiration from the aircraft carriers of the old Earth navy, each of the Carrier units was given a personal escort of Sentinels to make sure that delivering the vital gases of life had no error.

As for platelets, Eve axed those useless things allowing for more space to be dedicated to Sentinel and Carrier units respectively. Platelets and clotting, in general, were utterly pointless as Witch’s Dust would patch a minor wound faster while also cleaning the area. There was no point in wasting space on an outdated format like platelets.

Eve finished remaking her blood and the feeling of breathing deep was intoxicating. However, the thrill of remaking her very body was short-lived as she turned to the Eve-Incineration Unit with dead fish eyes. Leaping through the fire trap in front of her chair was a jarring moment once more as Talisman of Dust III reformed her body, again.

After her body reformed once more, Eve’s expression was even more wretched.

Two more times before the strain is too much. Eve thought as she sat down once again.

With that limit in mind Eve moved quickly she paid the remaining Soul Slots of the Cardinal’s bounty for two separate pieces of information. The first on artificial muscles, and the second on nano-carbon tube fiber bones. Muscles, in essence, were thousands of elastic fibers bundled tightly together. Each bundle is wrapped in a thin transparent membrane. With appropriate stimulation the muscle either tenses or relaxes, allowing for the feats of physical acuity many species can perform.

With that in mind, Eve purchased information related to graphite weaved muscle fibers. The concept was nothing new, but the ability of the fibers to respond was superior to mere meat. Utilizing a specific electrical charge through aligned atomic bonding the speed of contraction and relaxation was infinitely superior to normal human muscles. Witch’s Dust wove the new fibers throughout Eve’s body replacing meat with translucent superiority.

Eve decided to replace her Bones at the same time as her Muscles. It had nothing to do with only wanting to kill herself merely one more time, instead of two.

Perhaps I should be worried that I only thought of it now? Eve thought with a macabre grin. Granted, I don’t usually think of how to ‘kill’ myself in the most efficient manner, so there is that.

Nano-carbon tube fiber bones were well known on Earth before Eve left. They were actually considered superior to normal bones, although having no marrow made them worthless without extensive effort. Since she had already replaced her ‘blood’ and since the new quicksilver blood didn’t require marrow at all her bones were the easiest to upgrade.

With a second potion, specifically attuned to her new physiology, Eve found that replacing her bones was effortless. Witch’s Dust seemed to intrinsically understand what she was aiming to achieve smoothly accelerating the process of body modification now from start to finish.

With both Muscles and Bones completed after a few paltry hours, Eve took a deep breath before leaping to her doom yet again.

As Talisman of Dust III reformed her body once more a delicate shudder went through Eve’s form. She shut the fire-trap down with a swift mental thought before collapsing into the chair once more.

There appears to be a mental strain with dying in rapid succession. Eve thought staring into the brightly lit room. Best to spread out dying over a good chunk of time in the future.

As she rose from her chair, Eve started to move through the basic Kata’s she was familiar with gently turning her body to the new specifications. There was a slight weight increase with the new skin, but a slight weight decrease with the alteration of bones and muscles. Overall, she suspected her total body weight had shifted down by a good portion.

I should totally market body cultivation as the path to weight loss. Eve thought with a grin as she moved through the motions of lethal unarmed forms.

After finishing her fifth set of forms a sense of massive pressure descended like the air had gained weight beyond measure.

Eve looked askance at the Daedric Doorway before quickly realizing this was something outside the dungeon. Spatial Step brought her out of the dungeon cutting off the flow of experience. Another step took her outside into the pure desert, even as Ohm appeared directly beside her.

“What’s wrong?” Ohm said looking around warily.

“Spatial breach, something is cutting through the Dust,” Eve said tersely as she watched a tiny spot expand in the massive Primordial Dust cloud above the Prison Plane. She had often wondered how powerful Tier Seven could be. Moments after the breach formed, Ohm demonstrated it was a cut above her current power.

From within the breach, a massive lance of power descended on a clearly untargeted course towards the two of them. Eve watched as Ohm took a single look at the descending energy before clenching his hand with a grunt. The immense energy lance was snuffed out like a candle could be pinched. There were no runes, no fluctuations of power, no demonstration of might.

One moment there was a giant spaceship laser, and the next, nothing.

As he glared further into the spatial breach Eve took the delay to say, “That was awesome.”

Ohm didn’t respond but she could see the ghost of a smile flicker across his serious façade.

“Do you think it was deliberate?” Ohm asked casually as a starship exited the breach before starting to fall.

“No. The feeling of the energy gave the sensation of cauterizing a wound. I suspect they were firing to seal the breach on their end even as they dove inside.” Eve said respectfully.

Ohm’s eyes lit up as he said, “True heroes, then?”

“Truly dead heroes unless we intervene. I suspect their ship has taken quite a bit of damage in the passage through.” Eve said critically.

“I hear there was a massive deposit of wealth recently into the Adventurer’s Guild,” Ohm said causing Eve’s eyebrow to twitch.

“Indeed?” Eve said unconcerned she would admit nothing!

“Indeed. A small reminder that favors can be exchanged for tax-free status with any City Lord.” Ohm said as he turned back to enter into the Dungeon.

“Ugh,” Eve said with a grimace as she floated up towards the falling starship. “Magical IRS, even worse than the real one.”