Foresight, Courage, and Ambition

"That was a splendid battle. Even though you are a newly advanced Shifter, possessing only the strength of a Tier 3 Developer, you managed to take down that Tier 4 Frenzy Beast. I am seeing the uses of your family's Unranked Skill. It raises one's survival rate." Wunris Marble said; a formless force spread out from him as the centre, gushing into the body of the dead Ring Worm, lifting its massive body.

Wunris Marble made it float towards him, inspecting its carcass, prying it open for all the Administrators to see. Before checking anything else, he pried its heart open, fishing out a tiny orange crystal from within. Inspecting it for a couple of seconds, he gave his verdict.

"The energy stored within this Heart Crystal seems to have been forcefully absorbed, damaging all the nerves in the Ring Worm's body, leading to them bursting from the excessive stress."

Mysterious symbols flashed to life around Ankrakhen Light, burrowing into the flesh of the worm, in places where the melting bone spikes were lodged. They flashed around the bone spikes, before drifting towards Henrietta, finally dissipating after some time.

Ankrakhen Light nodded, seemingly in thought as he gazed at Henrietta, "There doesn't seem to be any corruption in Henrietta's body. The bone spikes seem to come with a filtering effect, filtering out all the corruption in the worm's body and absorbing only the pure energy."

Jyovic Bone looked at Ankrakhen Light, a trace amount of sweat on his forehead, 'It has just been a minute and he has already gleaned so much information into the inner workings of Bone Devour; as expected of the Unranked Skill created by Rhachis Ancestor Light.'

Jyovic Bone kept silent, allowing for the Administrators to discuss. Ankrakhen Light broke out of his thoughts, looking at Henrietta who seemed a tad younger, having a slight rosiness to her cheeks. "Has the energy you absorbed from the Ring Worm assimilated into your Heart Crystal?"

"Yes, sir; it has perfectly fused into mine. Please inspect it." Henrietta showed her back to him, allowing him to place his hand on the region where her heart existed. Mysterious symbols flashed to life as they seeped into her skin, emerging out on the other side, forming the shape of a heart.

Through his action, the heart split into two halves, revealing a tiny orange crystal lodged within the walls, a little below the Aortic Valve. It seemed to have suddenly gained some mass, constricting the surrounding cardiac muscles.

"Do you feel any pain with the sudden increase in its size?" Ankrakhen Light questioned, using his Unranked Skill to determine that the energy she absorbed had perfectly fused into her Heart Crystal.

"I feel a slight suffocating feeling in my chest but it's only temporary, nothing to worry about. My cardiac muscles will adapt to the changes soon." Henrietta said. She picked up the small orange crystal that Wunris Marble had fished out from the heart of the Ring Worm, holding it in her left hand.

She raised her right hand, making the skin and muscles over it part away, revealing her bones that shone with a pale orange lustre. She extended her indeed finger bone, making it touch the small orange crystal. In a matter of seconds, the small orange crystal disappeared, seemingly dissolved before being absorbed into her index finger bone.

From the tip of the bone, traces of black emerged, corroding the bone, making it melt while releasing a foul odour. It extended all the way till the end of her index finger, stopping. After observing for a moment, Henrietta broke the bone away, carefully holding the edge where it was white, not daring to touch the corroding region.

She allowed Ankrakhen Light to observe it as it hovered in the air before his face; mysterious symbols flashed to life, entering it one after the other. As one hand of his still rested on Henrietta's back, Ankrakhen Light observed, finally concluding, "There seems to be no problem. All the side-effects have been eliminated while the strengths are complementary to one another. At Tier 4, Shifter level, there are no problems."

"Next," Ankrakhen Light gazed at Jyovic Bone, intending for him to continue. Seeing his gaze, Jyovic felt a tinge of surprise, nodding as if he had expected such an outcome beforehand. He looked at Wunris Marble, "Sir, if you may."

"Sure," Wunris Marble nodded, placing his hand on the ground, emitting dense fluctuations of power. In the meantime, Jyovic Bone raised his hand, revealing his aura towards the soldiers who had rushed out of the walls. Each of them were Warriors at Tier 4, Shifters that were stronger than Henrietta, numbering in the dozens. There were also three Ground Controllers flying above them, looking ready to mince their foes.

Seeing Jyovic Bone's signal, and feeling his aura, the soldiers were visibly surprised. One of the Ground Controllers nodded at the others, telling them to contact their higher-ups while he flew towards them. They had been separated by a distance of more than a kilometre but the Ground Controller appeared before them within a couple of seconds, producing a vapour cone in the air along his wake.

"I am Ankrakhen Light, Head Administrator, Aristocracy Governing Board. We plan to use the Ring Worms for our testing purposes." Ankrakhen Light waved his hand, motioning for Wunris Marble to continue with his actions.

The man placed a hand over his ears, hearing the radio transmission as he performed a slight bow, "Sir, the higher-ups have given the green signal. I will take my leave now." Saying his piece, the Ground Controller flew back, controlling his speed to be within limits of the speed of sound.

The ground parted, revealing a dense cluster of Ring Worms that presented a nauseating sight, but none of the people present frowned at such a sight, seemingly used to them on a regular basis. The Ring Worms were alarmed when the sunlight fell on them, confusing them for an instant.

Antira Light and the other two Administrators jumped into the hole, heading towards the Ring Worms, creating sonic booms that rattled the parted ground. Before they could react, Antira reached towards a Ring Worm, the one that was 10 times bigger than her. Wrapping her hands around its body, Antira moved her hands, throwing the Ring Worm to the air with little effort.

When it flew above ground, Wunris Marble waved his hands, showing slight signs of strain as he threw the Ring Worm near Jyovic Bone. Within a second, at least 7 other Ring Worms flew to the air; Wunris Marble was about to move them, but he retracted his hands when he saw Jyovic Bone taking action.

"Watch carefully, Henrietta. You can also use Bone Devour in such a manner." Saying so, his body flashed, appearing above the head of the Ring Worm. With a slight stomp, he shattered its head, standing above its body. The muscled on his toes wriggled as the Ring Worm deflated like a balloon.

Simultaneously, Jyovic Bone raised his hands, making the flesh and blood seem into his bones, making them grow in size, forming an armour of bone that covered his hands. Without any change to his fingers, small fragments flew, penetrating the bodies of the Ring Worms that were in the air.

There was a slight tremor on their bodies as thin needles appeared all across their bodies, emerging out as they grew, forming a bone armour that covered their entire body. As if they were statues, there were no signs of movement from them as Jyovic Bone sent a cue to Wunris Marble.

Sighing, Wunris Marble waved his hands, making the Ring Worms covered in bone armour to fall before Ankrakhen Light. Even after falling to the ground, they showed no signs of movement, looking rigid like statues.

"Using the energy stored in their Heart Crystals, the bone fragments I inserted into their bodies grow rapidly, forming numerous spikes that grow out of its skeletal frame, locking its body from both the outside and the inside. If you know the skeletal structure of the Frenzy Beast you are targeting, it would be even easier. Just form overgrowths on their joints; you can restrict their movements easily." Jyovic Bone explained, though it looked like his explanation was directed at Henrietta.

"As a Shifter, that maximum I can do is change their structures a little. It also takes time for the change to take effect. Only Transformers can effectively make use of this tactic." Henrietta retorted, pausing as she looked at Jyovic bone, following his gaze that fell on the Ring Worm he stood upon. Henrietta suddenly understood what he had implied with his previous action.

Suppose she needed to attack but lacked the energy to do so, she could just borrow the energy from the muscle mass of a dead Frenzy Beast, using it to shoot bone spikes like a machine gun. This way, she could jump from one dead body to another, actively killing her foes without expending her energy. If she lacked energy, she could just absorb them from a dead body.

Moreover, the regeneration effect and the ability to filter the corrosion from the energy stored in the Frenzy Beasts practically guaranteed her survival unless she faced a foe that could kill her in one hit.

'I see, so this is the true power of the Unranked Skill, Bone Devour. Father has pondered through a lot while creating this Unranked Skill.' Henrietta unconsciously attached a respectful form of address to Jyovic Bone. She then noticed Wunris Marble signalling for the soldiers to take care of the rest of the Ring Worms.

"It's done," Ankrakhen Light shook hands with Jyovic Bone, "All the data we need has been acquired. We'll send them to Ancestor Light; once he approves it, your family will get official Aristocratic status."

"Thank you," Jyovic Bone said, a rare smile appeared on his face. Henrietta too followed suit, performing a curt bow.

Wunris Marble said, after some thought, his expression one of confusion, "I remember you possessing an unfinished version of Bone Devour during the Flying Throne Raid. But, you now possess the perfected Unranked Skill. How is that possible?"

"This is another aspect I incorporated into the Unranked Skill. When implanted, the superior version will devour and replace the inferior version. Therefore, if we manage to strengthen the Unranked Skill, all the family members would be able to upgrade themselves with it. Even as we speak, the family members who had used the previous faulty versions are now being implanted with the perfected version." Jyovic Bone said.

"Foresight, Courage, and Ambition; I must say, you are one interesting fellow." Wunris Marble said. Ankrakhen Light then led everyone back to the city walls, entering after a round of inspection. It was night by the time Henrietta and Jyovic Bone reached the Bone family mansion.