Chapter 81: Research Lab

Chapter 81: Chapter 81: Research Lab

With Crescent Slash officially locked into his status interface, Eric’s combat triad was finally complete: Advanced Swordsmanship for razor-sharp martial fundamentals, Shadow Steps for elusive movements and positioning, and Crescent Slash for pressurized mid-range lethality.

Layered over his dense starlight-refined mana and the continuous stamina recovery of the *Ring of Tranquility*, his practical combat output had effectively doubled since stepping off the transport cruiser in Sena.

Thoroughly pleased with his gains, Eric returned to Dormitory Building 17, finished off a steaming plate of peppered beef skewers in the communal dining hall, and unlocked the heavy door of Room 401.

*BZZZZ-CHIME.*

His smartband flared against his wrist with an alert:

[RESEARCH LOGISTICS: OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION]

Independent Laboratory Requisition: APPROVED

Assigned Facility: Research Building 1 (RB-1)

Location: 5th Floor, Room 508

Operational Readiness: Tomorrow at 10:00 AM

Credentials Active: Log in to the CRI Central Researcher Portal to track requisitions, subsidized material grants, and formal dissertation submissions.

"Two good news in a single day," Eric grinned, collapsing onto his plush mattress with a quiet, breathless laugh. "Professor Sonia really delivered on her word."

With an authorized laboratory bay under his personal credentials, the road toward funding Coal’s evolution and scouting a second contracted beast had finally opened up.

The institutional budget would front the initial costs of his experimentation under the departmental research grant. Every verified formula and peer-reviewed paper he submitted to the verification board would directly convert into cold, hard merit points.

"Still a long grind ahead," Eric murmured, rolling back onto his feet. "No slacking off now."

He sat cross-legged on the woven rug, pulled down the linen shades, and initiated the *Seven Star Mana Circulation*. The tranquil night slipped by as celestial starlight mana hummed through his meridians, steadily pushing his core closer to the Soldier Level 3 bottleneck.

*PING.*

The morning chronometer chimed softly at nine o’clock.

On his wrist terminal, a follow-up dispatch materialized:

`[Facility Prep: COMPLETE. Room 508 access assigned to Student Token #8841-E.]`

"Time to see what CRI considers a starter lab," Eric said, slipping into his crisp charcoal scholar uniform.

With a gentle mental pulse, he summoned Coal to his leather pauldron. The crow shook out his glossy obsidian flight feathers, letting out a sharp, resonant trill as they stepped out into the cool morning air.

Riding a campus scooter down the cobblestone boulevard to Research Building 1, Eric took the humming brass lift directly to the fifth floor.

Unlike the chaotic top floor where Professor Sonia conducted high-volatility evolution experiments amidst shattered glassware and sulfur soot, the fifth level was remarkably serene and orderly. Polished white marble tiles stretched beneath soft alchemical lighting, flanked by heavy reinforced alloy doors labeled with neat brass plaques.

Walking down the west corridor, he stopped before Room 508.

Eric tapped his silver student ID against the glowing runic scanner.

*CLICK.*

The heavy hydraulic bolts slid back with a crisp hiss, and the pressurized door swung open smoothly.

"Sweet..." Eric stepped over the threshold, his dark eyes widening in pure delight.

Calling it a basic workspace was an institutional understatement. Room 508 was a modern, mid-sized biological laboratory designed comfortably for three senior researchers.

Reinforced alloy workstations lined the perimeter, equipped with precise mana-density meters, temperature-controlled distillation crucibles, spectral microscopes, and sterile glass containment pods.

Toward the rear lay an environmental storage vault. Stepping through the heavy glass partition, Eric felt a sharp, preservation-grade drop in atmospheric temperature. Shelves upon shelves of vacuum-sealed canisters held preserved herbs, powdered monster carapaces, dried elemental glands, and pristine botanical saps.

Yet the section that made Eric’s jaw drop was the vault’s security safe.

Behind thick panes of reinforced runic glass sat neat, velvet-lined drawers stacked with glowing crystalline minerals:

"Holy shit..." Eric breathed, leaning in until his nose almost pressed against the cold glass.

There were at least twenty authentic Captain-rank mana stones, their faceted surfaces pulsing with blinding, compressed radiance. Beside them rested more than two hundred Peak Soldier-rank stones, flanked by over a thousand Mortal-rank stones sorted meticulously by their levels.

A veritable fortune in raw cultivation fuel, sitting entirely within arm’s reach.

Eric took a sharp, shuddering breath, shaking his head with a wry grimace.

"Calm down, Eric. These are institutional assets meant strictly for experimental synthesis, not private midnight snacks... Though, honestly, who’s going to notice if a few low-tier soldier stones slip into my pocket anyway?"

He cleared his throat with a guilty cough, pushing the devious thoughts from his mind, and secured the vault latch before locking the primary lab door behind him.

Taking a seat at the ergonomic swivel chair before the central terminal, Eric authenticated his student credentials.

The holographic monitor flared to life, projecting the vast, categorized database of the CRI Biological Registry, encompassing every indigenous species cataloged across the continent of Valoria.

His inaugural research paper couldn’t be some convoluted, high-tier beast project. To maximize academic impact and build immediate institutional credibility, the project needed to be accessible, cost-effective, and reproducible, something commoner tamers, frontier militia, and civilian breeders could adopt overnight.

"The greatest impact comes from lifting the floor, not chasing the ceiling," Eric murmured, his dark eyes glittering with sharp calculation. "Turning a weak, bottom-tier beast into a viable combatant yields the highest return on investment."

He filtered the directory by baseline potential, setting the threshold to the absolute bottom of the food chain.

After skimming past common field rodents and ditch frogs, a familiar species caught his eye:

SPECIES RECORD: VALORIAN

[Green Caterpillar]

Base Potential: Rank F

Classification: Insectile

Innate Element: None

Documented Evolution Paths:

- Fireyfly (Rank E | Insectile | Fire)

- Mistyfly (Rank E | Insectile | Water)

- Windyfly (Rank E | Insectile | Wind)

- Dustyfly (Rank E | Insectile | Earth)

Academic Consensus: Biological dead end. Fragile, low mana capacity, devoid of offensive combat utility.

Eric stared at the screen, letting out a dry, incredulous chuckle.

"Fireyfly? Mistyfly? Dustyfly? Who on earth approved these naming conventions? A toddler?"

He shook his head, leaning back in his swivel chair with a sharp smirk. Every documented evolution path stopped dead at Rank E, fragile, decorative insects barely useful for garden maintenance or basic perimeter scouting. The entire academic establishment considered the Green Caterpillar a total biological dead end.

"Let’s see what the experts missed," Eric whispered softly.

He closed his eyes, engaged his spiritual tether, and mentally commanded:

*Infinity Beast System: Myriad Beast Encyclopedia... analyze Green Caterpillar!*