Transformation

Lock drifted in the deep comfort of the void. He finally felt at peace. The agonizing pain was gone, and he could finally relax. 

"This.. This isn't so bad.." He muttered as he slowly fell asleep. 

The void matter, on the other hand, slowly clustered together and formed a figure. The figure resembled a woman. 

"Do you wish to sleep now?" The figure spoke with a gentle, soothing voice. 

Lock kept silent as his consciousness started to dim out. Right now, he only wanted to rest. He wanted the pain to stop and finally got it. Why would he want to go back? 

Then an image of the old blacksmith flashed through his mind. Then came Estevan and his mother. Was it really ok to stop now?

Nay.

Light slowly crawled back onto Lock's dead eyes as a flame ignited inside him once more. He has gotten too far to give up now. 

Death, death can have him when it's his time, but that time isn't now. 

"I see," the void said in a gentle tone as it gently caressed his cracked skin. A wave of dark energy traveled through his body like waves. To Lock, it felt like a mother embracing her child. 

"How.. comforting.." Lock muttered before his consciousness was engulfed by a blinding light. 

***

Valentine paced around in panic as she tried her best to revive the dead boy at the table. Moments after her last experiment, her device suddenly showed a flat line. 

"Shit! Not now! I'm this close to reaching my desired outcome!!" Valentine screamed in distress.

She wanted to see how far a human body can go, and the chance was already in her palm, but somehow she managed to slip up!

Valentine sent electric shocks to Lock's body.  However, the shock just bounced away due to his body's resistance to it. 

"FUCK!" Valentine screamed in annoyance as she raised the charge higher.  She was about to shock Lock again when a sudden pressure fell on her. 

She immediately collapsed and plummeted to the ground, breaking her glasses. Still, she didn't take her eyes off them even for a moment. 

The answer was being unveiled before her very eyes. How can she miss this opportunity? 

Slowly, black energy appeared out of thin air and started to seep into Lock's body. The energy destroyed the contraptions and slowly ate through the table. 

After a while, the chaotic energy started to enter Lock's body like it was being sucked in. That energy started to patch up the damage done to his body. 

The cracks and crevices on his once-smooth skin were reattaching themselves with unbelievable speed. His hair started regrowing, and his bloodied eyes were engulfed in void energy before a pair of dark red eyes took their place.

In just the span of a few minutes, his injuries were fully healed, and a steady pulse appeared on Valentine's machine. 

She sat there in anticipation as Lock slowly opened his eyes.  However, unlike before, his eyes that were supposed to be as dark as the night had a slight tinge of red hidden in it. 

Those same eyes gleamed in the dark, which gave off a feeling of danger and unease. Valentine couldn't care less, though. 

Lock looked around groggily as memories started coming back. He only sighed in relief as he realized that the procedure was finally over. 

He sat down and immediately realized that his vision was far sharper and the world seemed more colorful to him.  It was akin to looking at a magnifying glass. 

"Perhaps one of the effects of the tempering?" He thought.  If someone were to see him, they wouldn't believe that he just underwent a crazy operation. 

His smaller frame back then was nowhere to be seen. He had lean and solid muscles bulging in his body, and his black hair had a beautiful glow to it. His reddish-black eye only made him look even better. 

After checking out his newly acquired muscles, he hopped down, but in contrast to what he expected, he flew up, hitting the ceiling. He proceeded to fall down with a large thud, cracking the floor. 

'What the hell?' Lock thought in confusion as he slowly stood up. 

The first thing he noticed was that he was definitely taller. Before the operation, he could barely see the apparatuses above the tall cabinets. That cannot be said now.

'How much taller did I grow?' Lock thought in amazement. 

Without wasting any time, he made his way to a mirror, and what he saw made him gasp. His figure looked almost unrealistic. dark red eyes, dark shiny hair, a tall frame, and muscles that looked like they were sculpted. 

Symmetry and proportion at their finest. He quite literally had the body of a god. 

'What the fuck happened to me? Is this really me?' He thought with a mix of confusion and awe.

'I mean, look at that six pack.' Lock thought as he touched his solid abdomen. 

'Oops, my narcissistic side is showing.'

On the corner of his eye, he noticed another figure and leisurely looked at the slumped Valentine. She wore the same obsessed look that children give their birthday presents. 

Lock couldn't care less and decided to wear clothes before leaving the building. He didn't want to stay in that torture chamber even for one more second. 

On his way out, he checked his status and got another dose of shock. 

<Status> 

Name: Lock 

Age: sixteen and eight months old.

Species: Human

Affinity: Void

Talent: N/A 

Condition: healthy and energetic 

Stats: 

STRENGTH: 21.3

SPD/AGI: 21.1

DEXTERITY: 20.8

CONSTITUTION: 27.8

CHARM: 10

SPIRIT: 14.5

MAGIC: 10

SKILLS [+]

"What the shit!? Look at those stats!" Lock blurted it out. The increase in stats was astonishing. To think his power increased this much in a mere month of training! 

'Well, it was a pretty hellish training. I wouldn't even wish that to my enemy,' he thought as he shivered remembering the past events. 

'But I almost died for real. The path to power is indeed hard, but power is of no use to me if i'm already dead.' Lock thought as he sighed. 

It didn't take long before he saw the familiar light of the sun. Without further ado, he sprinted out with tremendous speed, even cracking the floor on his dash. 

The wind never felt any better. The sun touching his skin made him feel very relaxed and free. He slowly sat down and laid on the grass for a while. 

He had dearly missed the feeling of the earth touching his skin. The chirps of the bird, the fluttering of the grass and... the sound of an arrow..?

Lock burst open his eye as he nimbly stood up and dashed away. The arrow hit the ground he was lying on a while ago, sending chunks of dirt everywhere. 

Lock squinted his eye in astonishment as he observed another arrow making its way to him. He stood there unfazed as the arrow neared him. If someone saw him, they would think he froze at the sight of danger. 

But that couldn't be more wrong. Lock stood there without any fear, not because he knew the arrow couldn't hurt him but because the arrow was too slow. 

To Lock's vision, the arrow looked like it was moving at a slower pace. It's almost like an untrained boxer giving a punch with only power and no speed. 

"Slow.." Lock said as he tilted his head to the side, making the arrow miss him by an inch. 

"Come out, master, you're not fooling anyone." Lock said with a roll of his eyes.

A shadow darted out of a tree a few meters away from Lock and landed in front of him. The shadow was Estevan, wearing his usual carefree stance. 

"Mann way to ruin the fun," he said like a child. 

Lock only facepalmed internally as he watched his master try to be adorable. It was not working too well, to say the least. 

Estevan circled him a few times with a serious expression and let out a heavy sigh. 

"She sure did a number on you," Estevan said. 

Lock was surprised to hear this, considering the void personally healed all his injuries. When he saw himself in the mirror, he saw no scars or signs of his one month of torture. 

"Boy, I've lived for far longer than you have.  I have my ways of knowing if a person has suffered enough.  Scars may heal, but the spirit doesn't."  Estevan said in a guilty tone.  He was after all the one who introduced Lock to this training. 

Lock only kept silent as he gave a reassuring gaze to Estevan. Elves had an innate ability to converse with the spirits of the world.  This includes the earth, trees, wind.  It was enough to know how much had happened while he was down there. 

Estevan only braced himself and turned back.

"Come, your training awaits." 

***

<Status> 

Name: Lock 

Age: sixteen and eight months old.

Species: Human

Affinity: Void

Talent: N/A 

Condition: healthy and energetic 

Stats: 

STRENGTH: 21.3

SPD/AGI: 21.1

DEXTERITY: 20.8

CONSTITUTION: 27.8

CHARM: 10

SPIRIT: 14.5

MAGIC: 10

SKILLS [+]