Chapter 28: [28] : A Prosthetic of Doom, Nerve Sync

Bram stared at Declan like he had just grown a second head.

The old mechanist stood behind his heavy iron workbench. The stump of his left shoulder twitched slightly.

Two massive automatic crossbow turrets were still tracking Declan, humming with a deadly mechanical precision.

"Fix my arm?" Bram let out a harsh and barking laugh that echoed off the smooth stone walls of the scrap cave.

"You have no idea about what you are saying? I am missing a whole limb, boy. I do not need a bandage. I need flesh and bone."

"Or at least a highly advanced cybernetic prosthetic crafted from refined Ascendant tier metals. Do you have one of those in your pocket?"

"Not exactly." Declan said.

But he had something far better.

He did not move from his spot. He opened his system interface and scrolled through his digital storage.

He had looted a ton of garbage over the last few hours. Most of it was useless. But he did remember picking up a specific drop from a random elite monster near the gorge.

"I have this." Declan said.

He reached out his hand. A heavy and jagged chunk of gray stone materialized in his palm. It dropped with a loud thud onto the rocky floor because it was too heavy to hold casually.

[Target Information]

↳ Name: Gargoyle Claw

↳ Tier: Forged

↳ Description: A severed hand from a Stone Gargoyle. It is completely rigid, incredibly heavy, and entirely useless as a weapon. Mostly sold to vendors for scrap rock.

Bram looked at the rock on the floor. Then he looked back up at Declan. His wild gray eyebrows twitched.

"A rock." Bram said flatly. "You want to attach a rock to my shoulder. Get out of my cave before I let the turrets turn you into a pincushion."

"It is not just a rock." Declan said. "It is raw material. You are a mechanist, right? You should know that materials can be upgraded."

"I know exactly how the Grid works." Bram spat. "You can dump a few Origin Points into a sword to make it sharper. You can reinforce a shield."

The old man couldn’t allowed himself to be schooled by a young boy.

"You cannot turn a chunk of rigid monster stone into a fully articulated and functional human arm. The physics engine literally does not allow it. The item would shatter before it even reached a plus five enhancement."

"Things have changed, the rules of the Grid do not apply to me." Declan said.

He wanted to show the old guy that has been staying in a cave his entire existence.

He did not wait for Bram to argue. Declan pointed his finger at the heavy stone claw on the floor.

He accessed his Origin Point balance. He had a massive hoard of points sitting there from the boss kill and Sloane’s aggressive auction house sales.

"System." Declan commanded in his mind. "Enhance the Gargoyle Claw. Push it to plus twenty. Do not stop for the warning labels."

[System Enhancement Initiated]

↳ Gargoyle Claw +1... +5...

A bright white light erupted from the floor. It illuminated the dark cave and cast long shadows against the walls.

The familiar red warning box flashed in Declan’s vision, screaming about maximum safety thresholds and structural collapse.

Declan’s SSS Rank talent completely ignored it.

[Talent: Boundless Enhancement activated. Cap removed.]

↳ Gargoyle Claw +6... +15... +19...

Bram took a step back. He raised his remaining hand to shield his eyes from the blinding glare. "What are you doing?! It is going to explode!"

"Relax." Declan said calmly.

The light shifted from bright white to a deep and pulsing crimson. The heavy gray stone of the Gargoyle Claw began to melt. It lost its rigid and jagged edges.

The stone flowed like liquid mercury, twisting and folding in on itself.

[Gargoyle Claw has reached +20.]

[Triggering Conceptual Mutation...]

The light faded.

Sitting on the floor was no longer a piece of rock. It was a fully formed and articulated mechanical arm.

It was made of a dark and matte black alloy that seemed to absorb the light around it. The joints were seamless. The fingers ended in sharp and elegant points.

It looked like a piece of high tech military hardware from a hundred years in the future.

Declan looked at the floating stat screen.

[Item Information]

↳ Name: Obsidian Prosthetic of the Sovereign +20

↳ Tier: Forged (Double Mutated)

↳ Trait Unlocked: Nerve Sync

↳ Functionality: This material has become completely malleable and adaptive. Upon contact with a host severed nerve endings, it will instantly synchronize with their nervous system. Grants superhuman strength to the attached limb and permanently nullifies all phantom pain.

Declan picked up the metal arm. It was surprisingly light. He tossed it onto Bram’s iron workbench. It landed with a heavy metallic clank.

"Check it out." Declan said.

Bram stared at the dark metal arm. His jaw was slack.

He looked at the perfect joints, the smooth plating, and the sheer impossible reality of what was sitting on his table.

"This violates every law of digital forging." Bram whispered.

He reached out with his right hand and touched the dark metal. "It feels warm. Like it is alive."

"Put it on." Declan repeated. "Or I can take it back and leave you here to play with your crossbows in the dark."

Bram did not hesitate. He was a master artificer. The temptation of such an impossible piece of machinery was way too high.

He unbuckled the heavy leather strap of his apron and pulled his tunic down, exposing the scarred stump of his left shoulder.

He grabbed the obsidian arm and pressed the open socket directly against his skin.

There was a sharp and mechanical click.

The dark metal instantly reacted. It turned fluid for a fraction of a second, wrapping around Bram’s shoulder and fusing perfectly with his skin.

Tiny tendrils of black alloy dug into his flesh, connecting directly to his nervous system.

Bram gasped loudly and dropped to his knees. He grabbed the workbench with his right hand to steady himself.

"Hey! Did you just kill the NPC?" Kendra’s voice suddenly echoed from the tunnel entrance.

She had finally caught up. She walked into the cave just in time to see the old man collapse.

She followed Declan all the way here.

She had an easy ride since Declan had taken care of all the monsters along the way.

"He is fine." Declan said, surprised at her sudden entrance.

Bram slowly stood up. He was not panting from pain. He was breathing heavily from sheer shock. He looked at his left side.

The arm hung perfectly at his side. He twitched his shoulder. The black metal arm moved.

He focused on his hand. The sharp and elegant fingers flexed open and closed in a smooth fluid motion.

There was no lag. There was no mechanical whirring sound. It moved exactly like a real arm.

"The pain." Bram whispered, his eyes wide. "The phantom pain. It has been burning my shoulder for three years. It is completely gone."

Bram reached over to the table and picked up the heavy iron wrench he had threatened Declan with earlier. He held it in his new black metal hand. He squeezed.

The thick iron wrench groaned, bent, and then snapped cleanly in half like a dry twig.

Bram dropped the broken pieces of metal. He looked at Declan. The hostility and annoyance were completely gone from his eyes. They were replaced by absolute awe.

"You bypassed the server hard coding." Bram said. "You did not just enhance an item. You rewrote its conceptual purpose."

"I told you I do not play by the rules." Declan said. He crossed his arms over his black duster.

"I have something that needs you. The Iron Bastion. It is a permanent safe zone. I have tens of thousands of Origin Points, mountains of raw iron, and absolutely zero automated defenses."

"I need turrets. I need walls. I need someone who knows how to build them."

Bram walked around the workbench. He did not look at the turrets. He did not look at his junk pile.

He walked straight up to Declan and dropped to one knee, bowing his head.

"My forge is yours, Grid walker." Bram said solemnly. "I swear fealty to your banner. Point me to the raw materials, and I will make your city untouchable."

Kendra let out a low whistle from the doorway. "Did he just recruit a Level 30 Master NPC by throwing a rock at him?"

"Oh, he mutated the rock first." Kendra pointed out herself.

"Alright." Declan said. "Since everyone is ready. Pack up whatever tools you need from this cave. We are leaving."

"I have a lot of heavy machinery here." Bram said as he stood up, admiring his new arm again. "It will take several trips to haul it all back to the surface. The path through the Hollows is crawling with beasts."

Declan smiled. He held up his right hand. The dark silver Ring of the Void Hoarder caught the dim light of the cave.

He still had this teleporting ring.

"We are not walking." Declan said. "Everyone, brace for impact. I will take the whole room."