Building Mass Amidst Looming Danger

Ged inspected his newfound tattoo: a blood-red handprint glowing menacingly on his neck. Though its appearance was temporary, it would linger for days, marking him as a wanted criminal and ensuring instant recognition by Equalizers who crossed his path.

But things could be much worse.

Had he been home when the Equalizers arrived to leave their message, he might have faced imprisonment. Even worse, he could have his physique brutally downsized right at his doorstep. Staying at Trevor's had been an unexpected blessing, a small reprieve amid the mounting pressure.

Still, the tattoo's oppressive presence made every move he took feel more restricted, every plan tangled with variables he now had to consider.

"Damn it," he growled, slamming his fist against the wall. The force reverberated through the cave-like home. "It can't be helped. I'll have to delay a few things and lay low while this Arrest Tattoo fades."

His fist throbbed from the blow. If only he hadn't checked the Equalizers message, then he wouldn't be dealing with this.

"No," he muttered, exhaling sharply as he fought the doubt creeping in. "This is for the best. At least now I know they're after me."

But the timing gnawed at him.

"Why now?" His eyes narrowed. "Why didn't that bastard give me the Arrest Tattoo when I saw him the other day? What changed?"

Massaging his temples, Ged tried to piece together the fragments of suspicion swirling in his mind. The tattoo's faint glow reflected in the room's dim light, a reminder of Wattkinz's schemes. Slowly, his gaze sharpened, clarity cutting through his thoughts.

"Whatever Wattkinz is planning..." His voice dropped into a growl. "I'll get ahead of him. I'll make damn sure he doesn't get his way."

He moved to the fridge, packing its small contents into an empty bag before heading to the workout room. On the wall, his transmitter glowed softly, signaling a new message.

Ged picked up the transmitter stone and played the recording in his mind. The image of his old mentor, Gore, flickered to life.

"I've finished the preparations," Gore said bluntly. "It's time for us to meet again."

The message ended abruptly, leaving Ged staring at the stone with a frown. "Bad timing," he muttered. Quickly, he responded, explaining his situation with the Arrest Tattoo. Turning to the stone workout pod in the room, he shrank it to the size of his palm, tucked it into his bag, and headed to the sauna room to collect a bucket of molten lava.

As he prepared to leave, the transmitter hummed again, signaling a quick reply from Gore.

Ged raised an eyebrow. "What's the rush now?" he muttered, playing the message.

"You're a wanted felon? I don't care. This is important, Ged. Don't back out on me," Gore's voice echoed dismissively. "Let's meet tomorrow outside of town, that way we can avoid the Equalizers. There's someone I want you to meet. He is a tailor, and will take your body measurements. I'll fill you in on the rest of the details later." A series of resonant coordinates etched themselves into Ged's mind.

"A tailor?" Ged frowned, unease flickering across his face. What task could be so urgent that Gore was willing to risk meeting him, despite the danger of his Arrest Tattoo? The thought left Ged suspicious, but he couldn't imagine Gore collaborating with the Equalizers.

After a brief hesitation, he sent a reply to finalize the meeting.

With his bag slung over his shoulder, he locked the door and set off for Trevor's.

As he stepped inside, a faint current of narcotic fumes wafted into his nostrils, causing him to frown.

He was well aware of Trevor's habits.

Trevor liked to unwind at the end of a workday. His drug use was common knowledge, and in the underground, it was almost expected.

But with everything going on right now, Ged didn't like it. He saw people who were so eager to reduce themselves to such a state as weak.

Trevor sat slumped in a lounge chair, his eyes glowing with a mystical purple hue as he stared blankly into space, a clear pipe dangling loosely from his fingers.

"Trevor, I'm back." Ged's voice cut through the haze as he stepped into the room, narrowing his eyes at the pipe. "Is now really the best time for this?"

Trevor looked up, his expression unfocused, but he met Ged's glare head-on. For once, he didn't waver under Ged's stern gaze, responding with an unusual sense of detachment.

Ged sighed, rubbing his temple. "In the future, don't smoke inside. It's bad for the Eagle Spawn," he said, his tone firm.

Trevor shrugged and lazily put the pipe away. "Sure. Whatever." His eyes eventually settled on Ged's neck, narrowing as he noticed the tattoo.

"What's that? A new tattoo?" Trevor asked, his voice tinged with curiosity and mild concern.

"Just a superficial threat from my brother," Ged replied curtly. He grabbed a small thumb-sized bag of Eagle Paint from the lounge table. Saying good night to Trevor, he headed toward the main wall where the structural Eagle engraving was displayed.

Squeezing the bag, Ged applied the Eagle Paint to the wall. His arm glowed faintly blue as he channeled core energy into the paint. The wall's Eagle engraving expanded, casting its protective glow over the natural cave beneath the house. Ged reinforced the cave's entrance with a sturdy doorway, then expanded the structure further, creating a sauna and a workout chamber.

For most, capturing a young cave with Eagle Paint was an impossible task. Natural caves were prone to shifting, making them nearly impossible to secure. However, with the cave still immature and growing within Trevor's home, this was a rare and achievable opportunity.

Stepping into the newly integrated cave, Ged reached into his abdomen and began arranging the various Eagle Spawn he had collected during his spelunking trips.

He spread itchy Eagle Spawn moss across the ground, its irritant properties heightening the tension in the cave's atmosphere. Next, he placed several volcano-shaped Eagle Spawn creatures throughout the space. These peculiar entities emitted a sulfurous stench, filling the cave with a putrid odor.

Afterward, Ged emptied the remainder of his cave spelunking findings onto the floor, consisting of an assortment of body parts from various creatures. He then picked up the malformed Eagle Spawn one by one and began grafting the limbs and appendages onto their twisted bodies. With precise, deliberate movements, he sliced and heated the flesh, working methodically like a mad scientist to create a trio of bizarre and grotesque creatures.

One Spawn was grafted with oversized limbs from the mushroom creature Ged had fought earlier, making it comically and absurdly disproportionate. Another had the body of a rabbit fused with insect legs; it tried to hop but couldn't and kept falling over. The last was missing half its limbs and helplessly ran in endless circles.

Ged sighed as he surveyed his handiwork. "Maybe I should've used the mushroom's torso. Who cares if it rebelled? At least it might have been more functional than these three."

Despite their ugly appearances, the trio, combined with the environmental Eagle Spawn, seemed to influence the cave's maturation. The poisonous red hue of the cave walls began to fade slightly, while the Eagle Spawn inside grew visibly more aggressive, their movements increasingly frenzied and chaotic.

"At least something I'm doing is working," Ged muttered, attempting to lift his spirits. Although he had observed many professional rearing facilities, his own hands-on experience was minimal. With only limited knowledge to guide him, he knew he was relying on guesswork and taking risks with his experiments.

Satisfied for now, Ged turned his attention to setting up his workout room. For feeding the Eagle Spawn, he had heard that post workout mass waste was the best thing.

Placing the workout pod in the chamber, Ged pulled ten kilograms of stone from the compartment in his abs. He stared at the mass in his hands, his expression grim. Unless he skipped his workouts and complied with the Equalizers' demands to downsize his physique, he would be forced to live a life on the edge.

If he chose this path, his life would be spent forever on the run, with his ties to the underground almost certainly cemented.

With a sharp exhale, Ged popped three of the stones into his mouth, crunching down with only a moment of hesitation. The sound of grinding rock echoed through the chamber.

"Now isn't the time for hesitation," he muttered, sneering at his fleeting weakness.

From his abs, Ged retrieved a stack of vials and injected Blue Water into his bicep. His eyes flared with vibrant blue light as the drug surged through him. Almost immediately, hallucinations of Blue Rain flooded his senses. The storm raged within the workout room, its intensity far beyond what he could manage.

Ged's mind's shadow moved too slowly to contain the torrent. A single droplet escaped and hit the floor.

drip.

The world blurred for less than a fraction of a second. In that instant, Ged floated down a silver river, drawn inexorably toward a colossal blue sphere suspended in an endless void.

He snapped back to reality, his mind's shadow sealing the storm just in time, preserving his sanity. Experts believed the sphere's overwhelming vividness was the primary cause of Blue Water Madness among users.

A single bead of sweat rolled down Ged's brow as he stared at the contained storm of droplets swirling above him. His breath came shallow, uneven.

"The peak of existence..." he murmured. "I actually saw it."

Stories about the massive blue sphere rushed through his mind. Other Blue Water users had spoken of it, calling it the "absolute," the force that defined all things. Ged had dismissed their claims as the ravings of drug addicts, the unreliable whispers of madness.

But now, the vision unsettled him deeply. For the first time, he understood the meaning behind their words. He felt as though he'd glimpsed something beyond his control, a realization that filled him with unease.

"It seems 15 vials is my limit..." he muttered, his voice barely steady.

Exhaling sharply, Ged tried to push the vision from his mind. White steam began to rise from his skin, the heat signaling that his body was ready to workout.

Swallowing the last of the stone, Ged stepped into the workout pod and began his routine. He performed bent-over rock rows and rock curls, each set pushing him to failure after two rounds of twelve.

When he stepped out of the pod, his arms looked visibly larger, having gained nearly nine kilograms of mass. Only faint wisps of steam remained as the workout's effects began to fade.

Instead of heading to the steam room, Ged walked into the main natural cave chamber. He let the Eagle Spawn feed on the residual mass waste still clinging to his body. The creatures' agitation seemed to lessen as they absorbed the leftover energy, their movements momentarily soothed. But as soon as the final wisps of steam vanished, their frenzied shaking resumed with renewed vigor.

"Good," Ged muttered, nodding at the response. Returning to the sauna, he retrieved the bucket of lava and poured it into a small hole. Though the heat remained hot right now, after the session it would soon turn cold. Without connecting the cave to the planet's geothermal pipeline, he would need to make frequent trips to his home for refills. However, given the scrutiny surrounding his current living situation, he had no choice but to make do with what he had.

As the room filled with steam, Ged began the muscle ability routine for "Digging Hands," refueling the heat in his core. Reflecting briefly on his earlier fight with the mushroom creature, he decided to also work on the routine for "Stalactite Sword," focusing on increasing the blade's length and sharpening its stone-like edges.

Pain surged through his forearm muscles. His flesh turned crimson, streaked with blood from the grueling procedure, but Ged pressed on. Training the same muscle group two days in a row was a major injury risk and could easily render the muscles unusable for a lengthy recovery. The demands of the ability, which required mass waste to generate the stalactites, placed an even greater burden on his already stressed forearms.

Still, Ged was under too much pressure to stop. He needed to be combat-ready if he was going to survive his current predicament.

After painstaking effort, two knife-sized stalactites formed beneath the skin of his forearms, signifying a small success from the workout as he carved the final lines into his aching muscles.

Both forearms were now in shambles, the flesh swollen and raw. Ged grimaced, knowing he would need at least two days to recover from this reckless workout.

Even with his knives, Ged couldn't shake the dread of his situation.

Seeking clarity and answers, he pulled out the clay tablet bearing the conscription notice and began to read.

Scheduled for his birthday, the tablet outlined the first of many planned raids by the Golden Suns against the Cumulus Gang. It detailed possible cave fortresses and the rewards for participating in the large-scale conflict.

The rewards were enticing: highly coveted celestial rocks, mythical celestial treasures, rare upgrades to his strength routines, high-grade workout pods, and even the promise of mentorship under the Boss himself.

Ged studied the list, feeling a flicker of excitement despite himself. The potential prizes were tempting, and all he needed to do was bring back the heads of Cumulus Gang members to claim them.

But with tensions looming and his place within the Golden Suns uncertain, he set the conscription notice aside for now.

Next, Ged pulled out the two tablets Resh had given him during their last meeting. After postponing the workouts the previous day, he finally resolved to prioritize his strength, realizing he could no longer afford to delay. Fearing he might not have another day to prepare, he committed to getting stronger immediately.

The workouts, called "Peg" and "Grapple," were designed to work in tandem. Activating "Peg" allowed the user to place a marker in space using their Soul Sprout. By following with "Grapple," they could propel themselves to the marker with great speed. Reactivating "Peg" would move it to a new location, but only one peg could exist at a time.

Pouring another bucket of water into the sauna to create steam, Ged began carving the "Peg" pattern into his glute muscles. With the remaining steam, he worked on "Grapple," etching its constellation-like design into his lower back muscles.

Satisfied with his progress, Ged cleared the steam from the room. Pulling out a small bit of bedding, he settled in for the night. Despite the uncomfortable surroundings, the long day had exhausted him enough to ensure a deep, untroubled sleep.

Ged's Current Workout

 - Pectorals (chest) - "Rock Flys": Lowest level strength workout for chest.

 - Latissimus Dorsi (mid back) - strength

 - Rhomboid (back) - "Bent Over Rock Rows": Lowest level strength workout for back.

 - Trapezius (traps) - "Digging Hands": Allows the user to burrow into the ground and create tunnels for easy underground traversal.

 - Spinal Erector (lower back) - "Grapple": Allows the user to pull themselves to the peg with quick speeds.

 - Biceps - "Rock Curls": Lowest level strength workout for biceps.

 - Triceps (under arm) - strength

 - Forearms - "Stalactite Sword": Allows the user to create stone like swords in their forearms storing up to five in each.

 - Deltoids (shoulders) - strength

 - Abs - "Storage": Stores up to 50 kg of space and upgrades as the individual's total mass increases.

 - hamstrings - strength

 - Glutes - "Peg": Allows the user to set up a singular "peg" using their soul strand so that they may grapple to it later.

 - Quads - "Rock Squats": Lowest level strength workout for quads.

 - Calves - "Goat Walk": Allows one to traverse difficult terrain as if it were flat land."