Ocean Master

"Our topic of discussion today is the Centaur".

Lead Anatomist Craban's voice was loud as she addressed the dozens of anatomists that were floating before her in the main anatomy lab.

This time, hidden mechanical mechanisms in the main lab were activated as huge metallic chains extended down from the ceiling, bringing down and holding the gigantic body of a deadly predator in place for examination.

This extremely huge mutated beast had the upper body of a regular variant human and the lower body and legs of a magic horse.

"This is the Centaur". Doctor Craban continued.

"This is a huge predator whose specific genus, phylum, and species have been debated a lot of times in heated arguments between anatomists".

"Most variant humans believe that the powerful Centaur is a variant human, just a highly divergent one like the snowmen. While of course, mutated beasts believe that the powerful Centaur is one of them".

"Both sides have arguments…"

Clang!

"I'm sorry madam, I'm sorry for coming in late".

A miniaturized Sebastian opened the door with a yank as he rapidly swam inside the main lab while repeatedly apologizing in the direction of the giant crab.

Once he discovered through his electroreceptors that the lead anatomist didn't have too much of an adverse reaction, not that crabs could really reveal any facial expression, he finally relaxed and went to the back of the group.

He came late, so it was only right that he stayed at the very back of the group though he was a junior anatomist. 

After settling down in his position, he flipped the manual that was before him open with his fin. 

->Journals on the mighty Centaur<-

While Sebastian focused on this journal, all the stares finally subsided.

"Ahem, as I was saying, both sides have arguments that justify their claims that Centaurs belong to this species or the other".

"The only problem is that neither of them has concrete proof to silence the discoveries of the other. Centaurs have qualities that associate them with both variant humans and beasts, so none of the arguments are wrong".

"Well, today, we won't be engaging in this argument".

"As you can see, our exploration army encountered a rare Centaur during one of their patrols. The intelligent beast tried to evade their control range, but the army succeeded in killing it after sacrificing a lot".

"This is a purple tier Centaur which makes it an even more valuable research material. Unfortunately, we have to work with a diminished version of it".

"The mana core and other exciting organs in it have already been harvested and taken away by the higherups. We are only left to experiment with this, but I promise that this would be a highly fulfilling experiment".

"Centaurs are the perfect predator. They have outstanding speed, powerful offensive power with their mighty horse legs, and frightening endurance".

"They are not at the top of the food chain but they are close".

"So, anatomists, cherish this opportunity and treat it as a passion project".

"Kronon, take control of the control systems and merge 5 mecha-worktables. Make sure they are big enough to accommodate the Centaur".

"Miniman, take remote control of the processing supercomputer".

"Fig, Berthen, Goose, you 3 shall be my immediate dissection assistants".

"All junior anatomists, including J.C, will be our assistants. As I said, take this serious as a passion project and you'll get a lot of experience".

"Get me my cutting gear".

Doctor Craban didn't need cutting knives, her sharp claws already took care of that, she just needed her specialized cutting gear to complement them.

Sebastian already knew long ago that this lead anatomist was an orange tier predator. It may not seem much to the current him, but it was still impressive.

Once everyone was ready, and the apprentice anatomists were watching attentively like hawks, the dissection commenced with Doctor Craban personally taking the lead.

For a beast as rare and exceptional as a Centaur, this doctor was not ready to give the pleasure of cutting its flesh open to another.

Once the cutting started, every single anatomist in the lab soon became engrossed in the activity as the originally powerful Centaur body was cut till it became bare, exposing all its internals to the anatomists.

The beast was already dead, so they didn't need to be as careful as before when cutting. Once the beast was open, Doctor Craban took the lead, examining all its organs while explaining her discoveries to the anatomists.

After cutting another fleshy portion of the Centaur's internals open, Doctor Craban stopped to briefly explain a discovery to her anatomists.

"These are mana veins in its muscle fibers".

"These are a special type of beast adaptation that most beasts who focus on a battle style revolving around endurance mutate as they grow".

"They act as parasites. By living inside the muscle fibers of the beast, they get to take physical nutrients as the beast devours the prey, acting as an energy converter that changes physical nutrients to usable mana and stores them".

"This stored mana can come in handy in a tough battle, enabling the beast to remain fighting for a long time even after the opponent may have already exhausted all his mana reserves".

"More advanced versions of this adaptation can enable endurance-oriented beasts to achieve even more spectacular feats, but I've never worked on them".

Slash!

The Doctor cut the fleshy leg of the Centaur open next.

"This is the magic spring balance adaptation. It acts as a shock absolver, enabling the Centaur to deliver devastating kicks at enemies while absolving all the shock and preventing it from suffering counter damage".

"In essence, it is like the lancer mech configuration of the clown army".

"Most powerful predators who have this adaptation across their body are mostly immune to the effects of damage-reflection skills".

While they observed, developed hypotheses, and experimented on them on the spot, the listening anatomists jotted into their brains with serious expressions.

Through the massive processing supercomputer, massive calculations, theoretical doubts, and probability calculations were completed in seconds. This made sure that time was used as efficiently as possible.

In the afternoon, Doctor Craban ordered an hour's rest for all the anatomists after going hours straight, dissecting and studying the Centaur.

By this time, Sebastian and every other anatomist already had an extensive understanding of this mutated beast. Their knowledge about its body structure was even more than what a typical Centaur knew about itself already.

Sebastian was confident now that if he ever had to face a Centaur in battle, it would be like playing a game while already knowing the cheat code.

He did not doubt that any Centaur of the purple tier and below would only face a humiliating thrashing against him in battle. This knowledge could also prove extremely useful if he ever had to face a Red tier Centaur.

He was not ready to face Red tier predators in battle yet, but with an advantage like this, who knew if he could succeed in pulling off a miracle.

He didn't make this a goal though. Having experienced them more than once, he was one of the few purple tier predators who knew the real horror of getting to face a Red tier predator in battle.

Unless they were up against Black tier predators or powerful trump card warships of the variant humans, Red tier predators were unstoppable.

Despite this, the knowledge that he gained was extremely important.

This highlighted just one of the numerous benefits that Sebastian stood to gain working as an anatomist. He never regretted his choice, in his opinion, his time in this period was being well-spent.

An hour later, the dissection and experimental session resumed but just 45 minutes later, an emergency came that needed Doctor Craban's input.

A high-ranking military clownfish suffered terrible injuries in battle, the clownfish was already being operated on and the giant crab's input was needed.

Instantly, the session came to an end and Doctor Craban left.

For the rest of the day, till 4:00 pm came, Sebastian engaged in his own tiny experiments and observations with prior knowledge of the Centaur that he learned through Doctor Craban.

After the first day at work well-spent, he finally returned to his residential quarters. This would be his schedule for the foreseeable future until he was confident that the time was right to act.

Patience was a virtue that often-yielded massive benefits.. He already experienced this personally, so he was content with being patient.