Chapter 79 - Business

Chu Shen and Lucas got to work. First they had to make a design for the prosthetic. Of course they couldn’t have it run off of a battery. This world didn’t have technology so if they weren’t around when its power went out then what would the poor old lady do?

She would return to being armless of course! So they started adapting it to run off of beast cores, just like Lucas did. Luckily both of them had experience with this so the work was done quickly and efficiently.

First the arm was put together along with motors and hydraulics to move everything. Then there was an indent on the upper part of the arm. Pressing the indent for ten seconds would reveal a small hole meant for the beast core. There was inscriptions placed on the bottom of the hole that channeled the cores energy.

Removing the metal bands around it holding the core in place, one could then replace it with another core. It could also be expanded an inch or two, allowing for more powerful beast cores to be loaded into the socket. After all, a beast core’s level was determined by how big it was though usually it was only an inch difference between levels.

Finally there was the attachment socket and nerve reader. Intercepting and understanding the electric signals sent by the brain to the non-existent arm, the prosthetic was able to understand exactly what to do. Of course, there was also the calibrations that needed to be done on sight.

Finished, Chu Shen and Lucas set out to the old lady’s house within the hour. Arriving they discovered the old lady wasn’t exaggerating when she said it was a wooden shack. It was a single room house that was made of basically twigs. It looked like a strong wind would blow it down.

The only source of fire to cook with a dented and rusty old kettle next to a campfire pit outside. Chu Shen sighed as he saw these miserable settings. Lucas shook his head as well.

The old lady had her back to us stirring whatever was cooking inside the kettle with her one hand. The other still had bandages on it. Chu Shen quickly got her attention by clearing his throat. “Ahem. Mam, we arrived like we said we would.”

The old lady quickly turned around and greeted them. “Ah yes! It’s the young benefactors. I apologize for not noticing you sooner.”

Lucas quickly waved his hand in front of him. “Please don’t be so formal. We were just helping out like any other human would do.”

She quickly shook her head. “That may be so but you still deserve respect. Not to mention you might be able to fix my arm. That is going far beyond what I deserve.”

“Cough, cough. Ling Xi, are those the young boys you told me about?” A hoa.r.s.e voice called out from inside the hut.

“Yes it is. Now be quiet, you need your rest.” The old lady, Lang Xi, quickly poked her head inside the hut and scolded. Obviously this was the sick person they needed to hire the doctor for.

“Come here boys, Cough Cough.” Chu Shen and Lucas walked in to see an elderly old man who looked to be in his late fifties lying on a blanket in the wooden hut. Bowing their heads respectfully, Chu Shen and Lucas stood beside the old man.

The old man tried to sit up but Ling Xi quickly held him down. “Stop moving! You need your rest!”

“No!” The old man shrugged her off of him. Looking at both of them for a couple seconds he nodded. “Please youngsters, tell me your names and how old you two are.”

“I am Chu Shen, 13 years old and this is Lucas Webil, fifteen years old.”

Lucas looked at Chu Shen. “I thought you were twelve.”

He shrugged. “I had my birthday two months ago.”

Lucas shook his head. “We’ll have to celebrate later then.”

A cough interrupted them. Looking back at the old man they both grinned sheepishly.

Ignoring the small outburst, the old man nodded. “And I am Lang Wen, you two youngsters have a bright future. Thank you for saving my wife and granddaughter’s lives. If not for you I would have lost them. If there is anything I can do let me know.”

“We will. Now we have what is needed to regain your arm. However, before it is perfected we need to run some tests, please step outside.” Chu Shen asked Lang Xi politely. They both went outside back to beside the cooking stew.

Lang Xi seemed hesitant at first before shrugging. Her instincts told her these kids wanted to help her. So she decided to trust them. Unwrapping the bandage, she exposed her cut off arm. Normally a person would still have scabs and tissue hanging out. However, Chu Shen gave her medicinal pills earlier that healed her arm in the hour they were apart.

It was considered quite fast for a pill and it cost forty silver to buy. Very expensive and a staple of any mercenary.. But to Chu Shen it was worth it since it would only take a couple days to earn it back. Otherwise how could they attach the prosthetic?

Taking the prosthetic he activated the socket and put it on the stump of Lang Xi. Unfortunately the arm had no fake skin and was pure metal. But it was still sleek and streamlined, making it look dangerous.

Lang Xi just looked at the metal arm for a second. It resembled her old arm exactly except that it was made of metal. She was puzzled at this outcome. What she was expecting was a medicine that could regrow her arm. This metal arm though…… She just really didn’t know what it was supposed to do.

“What exactly am I supposed to do now.” She asked with a questioning shrug. Then she stopped, frozen. When she opened her palm in a helpless gesture, she felt not one, but two hands moving. Looking down very slowly at the metal hand, it was in the same position as her other hand, though it was off by a couple inches.

Ling Xi just stared, frozen, at the metal arm. Tears slowly trickled down her cheek. She never truly thought that these young boys could actually give back her arm.

“All right then. Since we can confirm it works, let’s fine tune it shall we? First close your eyes and lift your left hand directly above your head. Now your other. Okay, let me adjust this hereeee……. Done. Okay try it again.”

“Now try moving your fingers. Just your pointer finger for now. Then the next one. Okay now make a fist.” It was decided that Lucas would do the calibration since he could control the internal systems and adjust them without tools.

Soon Lang Xi was moving her arm like normal. Lang Wen cried as well once they managed to show him his wife’s arm. Taking them aside, Lucas told them what they needed to do to keep it running.

“If it runs out then replace it with a beast core from a lightning attribute beast. Just press here and take out the old one and replace it with a new one. A cla.s.s 1 beast core will last a year and a cla.s.s 3 will last fifty years. The current one is a cla.s.s 2 that should last twenty years so don’t worry.”

Chu Shen and Lucas decided to say goodbye then. However, just as they were about to leave, Lang Wen stopped them.

“Wait a moment young fellows!”

Pausing they looked back at him with a questioning look. “What is it?” Lucas asked.

“I just wanted to ask you how much it cost you to make that arm and can you replace other limbs like eyes or legs.”

“About ten or twelve silver and an hour of work. We can also replace any limb including ears and the like” Lucas replied back.

Lang Wen nodded for a second before springing on them a question. “Ever thought about selling these metal limbs? I mean, this is a mercenary town. Over half the town has lost a limb of some kind even if it is only a finger. You could make a fortune.”