Genetic Engineer in a Tamer's World

The moment the miraculous restoration of his body was complete, Kale gasped for breath with a violent, involuntary jerk of his lungs. The sound was a ragged, wet noise that echoed off the cavern’s charred volcanic walls.

He felt the sudden influx of air rushing into his throat, a primal reaction to the suffocation he had just endured.

He hurriedly clamped his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide with a sudden spike of alarm. He remembered the toxic, superheated fumes that had been scorching his membranes just seconds before his collapse.

He expected the inhalation to be a death sentence, a final searing blow to his mended internal organs.

However, to his immense surprise, the air did not fill his lungs with a scorching or corrosive sensation. While the atmosphere remained thick with the scent of sulfur and minerals, it felt remarkably cool as it passed through his windpipe.

It was as if a specialised filter had been placed over his respiratory system.

Kale slowly lowered his hand, his fingers trembling slightly as he looked down at his body. He was stunned by the sight of his own skin, which was now pristine and beautifully healed.

There was no trace of the blackened char or the horrific blisters that had been eating his flesh alive.

It was as if the environmental catastrophe he had just survived had never happened at all. His white coat was still somewhat singed and stained with ash, but the body beneath it was remarkably healthy.

He felt a surge of vitality through his Beast Force pathways that felt denser than ever before.

He turned his gaze toward Neo, noting that a shimmering, orange halo currently surrounded the creature. The Nemesis Hydra was actively absorbing the extreme radiant heat from a 15-meter radius, acting as a biological heat sink for its master.

The creature’s scales were a vibrant, pulsing orange.

Most shocking of all was the fact that Kale barely felt the ambient temperature of the molten river now. Yes, it was still extremely uncomfortable, and he could feel sweat beginning to pour down his neck and chest in heavy rivulets.

But compared to the previous gut-wrenching pain, this was nothing.

Only then did he take a moment to properly read through the barrage of system notifications hanging at the corner of his retina. The blue text flickered with a steady light, confirming the breakthroughs that had saved his life at the precipice of biological cessation.

[The Nemesis Hydra has successfully unlocked the dormant Partial Transformation Trait.]

[Host has gained new Ability: Flame Resistance (lv1)]

Neo let out a soft, satisfied trill and stopped using the active flame absorption ability. The intense orange glow of its scales dimmed slightly, though they remained a warm, sunset hue. The creature hopped onto Kale’s shoulder with a light and practised grace.

All three heads of the Hydra immediately leaned in, rubbing their wedge-shaped skulls against Kale’s messy green hair. The creature was vibrating with a sense of pure, unadulterated joy. Through their shared bond, Kale could feel that Neo was overjoyed that its master was fine.

The beast’s relief was a physical weight in Kale’s mind, a wave of affection that washed away the lingering trauma of the fall. Neo had been terrified of losing the person who had manifested its existence, and the successful transformation was a testament to that bond.

Kale’s eyes shone with a mix of pride and analytical interest as he looked at the hot orange scales of Neo. The draconic features were still there, but they were now adapted for this hellish crucible. He reached up and gently stroked the central head, feeling the warmth.

”Good job, buddy,” Kale whispered, his voice gaining strength with every word. ”You really saved me again, didn’t you? And you actually managed to unlock that transformation trait when it mattered most. You are proving to be quite the investment.”

”You’re really one in a trillion, Neo,” he added with a rare, genuine smile. ”And I don’t think anyone in this world, not even the Grandmasters of the capital, could argue with that fact. We have successfully survived a 90% probability of death.”

He turned his attention back to the description of the Flame Resistance ability displayed by the system. The level one status suggested that it was a developing trait, one that was not yet reaching its true potential. He began to run the numbers through his mind.

”This skill’s level must be connected to Neo’s affinity with flames,” Kale thought to himself. ”The more powerful Neo’s flame affinity or his elemental control becomes, the more this Flame Resistance will improve. It might even turn into something far more powerful.”

He theorised that if Neo reached a 100% affinity with fire, the shared resistance would likely evolve into total immunity or maybe....

It was a provoking thought that reaffirmed his Elemental Resonance Project.

He needed to find more fire-based catalysts to feed this growth.

Now that the heat of the magma was no longer roasting him alive or shattering his focus, Kale stood up on the small stone island. He spread his Hexarion senses wide, closing his eyes to block out the blinding orange glare of the subterranean chamber.

He took in all the details of the environment, his mind mapping the area with surgical precision. The place was entirely a slow but steadily flowing river of scorching magma. The viscous fluid moved with a heavy, rhythmic pulse that vibrated through the stone beneath his boots.

Bubbles would often burst out from the surface of the river, spitting out even hotter pockets of toxic gas. These gas pockets had been generated beneath the flow by the intense pressure of the deep earth. They hissed as they escaped, creating small plumes of grey smoke.

The river flowed in one primary direction, following a slightly downward slope that led deeper into the Buried Reaches. This suggested that they were still descending, moving further away from the surface and closer to the heart of the Beast Tomb.

Small, charred stone islands existed amidst that crawling river, scattered like discarded pebbles in a stream of fire. Each island had a radius of about 4 to 5 meters, offering just enough space for a reprieve from the molten rock.

Kale found himself feeling somewhat relaxed, which was a strange sensation given the hellish scenery. He checked his internal danger sense, but surprisingly, he did not feel any immediate sense of danger coming from anywhere in the vicinity.

The army of salamanders was gone.

He looked towards Neo, seeking a second opinion from the creature’s superior predatory instincts. The Hydra also nodded in agreement from all three heads, its six golden eyes scanning the banks of the river.

It felt no sense of danger from anywhere nearby.

The absence of the Flame Salamanders was a variable Kale had to consider. Perhaps the jump into the river had taken them beyond the territory of the pack, or the salamanders were unable to follow them into this specific layer of the molten flow.

Kale stood in deep contemplation for a long while, his gaze eventually drifting upwards toward the black cliff from which he had jumped. The precipice was a jagged, unreachable line of darkness far above, illuminated only by the fountains of falling lava.

It would be wrong to say that the whole situation didn’t spook him out. The absolute isolation of this depth was beginning to press against his mind. He was concerned by the logistical nightmare of his return.

In the end, he gritted his teeth, his resolve hardening as he faced the reality of their position. Just like how he could not climb up the 100-meter hole he had initially dropped through to reach the Beast Tomb, he also could not climb back up the cliff.

The rock was too slick with heat, and the vertical distance was too great for his current physical stats. He was trapped on a conveyor belt of liquid fire, and the only path forward was to follow the river toward the inner sanctum of the Flame Salamander.

He turned his thoughts inward, addressing the mechanical entity that had been his silent companion through every crisis. He needed a tactical solution for navigating the viscous magma without relying purely on jumping from one unstable island to another.

”System,” Kale asked, his mental voice sharp and focused. ”Do we have the materials necessary within our current storage to build a boat? Something that can withstand the thermal stress of this magma river for a prolonged period of time?”

He waited, his heart steady as the system processed the inventory of materials he had gathered. He thought of the rare beast parts, the enchanted wood from the Greenroot Guild, and the various minerals he had procured from the Association’s labs.

The system waited for a short duration, its analytical subroutines running through thousands of structural simulations.

The blue windows flickered with a steady light as the compatibility of the materials with the environment was verified against the local mana density.

Eventually, the mechanical voice responded with a single word of affirmation.

[Yes.]