Chapter 11: The Second Ingredient and the System 1

Zeke hurriedly made his way to the lab. After they had released the second potion, they approached the military for a permit to build an S Grade lab. Surprisingly, the military was more than happy to grant them one but only if they changed the discount on the plants from 60% to 65%.

After they got the permit, the rest was easy. With their capital, it only took 4 months to build the lab. Zeke entered the lab and found Katherine and Alexi waiting for him. 

They took him to a secret room in the lab. In the room, there were four unconscious humanoid creatures. Two of them had had beautiful purple-hued skin. They had a pair of leathery wings and sharp horns each and their hair was ash grey. They were Ash Demons. 

The other two had glowing skin, a pair of feathery golden wings, and platinum blonde hair. They were Sol Angels. both of them also should have had a halo behind them but they would only manifest when they were awake. 

"Are you sure they are Lvl.100?"

"Yeah. I confirmed it with ten of our appraisers."

"I can finally start the second stage of the preparation."

The Null Slimes had mutated into Blood Core Slimes about six months ago. He was just waiting for Alexi to capture the Angels and Demons. 

"So, what do you plan to do now?"

"You won't like it."

"I know. So tell me your plans beforehand."

"Right now the Blood Core Slimes are Lvl.101. As I already told you, slimes devour their bodies at Lvl.150 and 300. I need the slimes to devour not just their bodies but also one Angel and one Demon each. 

But they won't just devour foreign bodies even if they share similar bloodlines. That's where the bodies that we have saved up come in. I will inject those bodies into the Angels' and Demons' hearts every day. The process will be very painful for them but that's not a bad thing. 

Even the pain has a purpose. While we inject all the slime bodies that we have collected into them, we need to cut small pieces from their souls and feed them to the slimes. The pain will stimulate their souls, making it easier for us to do our job."

Katherine flinched a little when she saw how indifferent Zeke had been while talking about the torturous process. It was as if he didn't see the Angels and Demons as living beings. It wasn't that she wanted to show them mercy, but that she was worried about Zeke being too indifferent to life. 

What she didn't know was that he had experimented on many living beings of many different races. Many of them had been awake during the experiments and he was used to their screams of pain. To him, it didn't matter as long as he could achieve his goals. 

[Why would I not be indifferent to ingredients? Do you care about chickens' lives before eating them? As for the vegans, you guys should really read about the impact of large-scale avocado farming before eating another one. But hey, it's your life and I don't care how you live it.]

Alexi got a call about another ingredient that they were looking for and left to deal with it. Zeke and Katherine carried them to an operating room. There were four beds there with enchanted shackles. The shackles would drain the mana of anybody they were used on as long as they were Lvl.200 and below and use it as fuel to function. 

Each bed had five shackles, one for each limb and one responsible for keeping the head from moving. The room resembled a torture dungeon more than it did an operating room but Zeke had personally designed it for the sole purpose of preparing the second ingredient. 

They put the Angels and Demons and the beds and shackled them. They made sure to double-check each shackle. A few minutes later, the enchantments on the shackles started glowing. This meant that the shackles had started draining the mana from the test subjects.

[Calling them test subjects is better than saying Angels and Demons every time.]

After an hour the subjects woke up, only to find themselves in the shackles. They instantly tried to break free but were unable to do so. In fact, the more they struggled, the more mana was drained by the shackles. When they realised this, they became enraged, especially the Demons. 

"You human bastards, release me this instant. My mother is a Demon Marchioness and she won't let you go."

"You know, I would be scared if that were true but we both know that it isn't. You didn't have a Noble Crest on you, so either you're lying or worse, your mother doesn't give a shit about you." 

The other Demon calmed down after he heard what Zeke said. For some reason, this human seemed to know about how their society worked. He was the same as the other demon, a bastard with no Noble Crest. And something felt off about the human child so he chose to remain silent.

The Angels were observing Zeke. They both had Life Affinity and could sense the dormant bloodlines inside him. Another reason that they could sense the bloodlines was that the bloodlines had become a lot more active due to the blood and bone soup cubes. 

"Why do I sense our noble bloodline inside you? No wait, it's just not our blood, I also sense the bloodline of those disgusting demons but that shouldn't be possible. You abomination! How are you even alive? The Thrones must be notified of your existence. I- "

"Now, now. No need to get so rude. The situation of my bloodlines is for me to know and for you to guess. And as far as the Thrones are concerned, how would you tell them? You are not even the grunts in this war. Meeting even a Power is almost impossible for you. You know what, I liked you guys more when you were silent."

Zeke walked over to a drawer took out four leather belts and tied them around the subjects' mouths so that only muffled screams were audible from them. 

"Hmm, much better."

While all this was happening, Cass was still in school. Zeke had simply chosen not to go. Katherine had explained his situation to the school board and told them that he had already completed the theoretical curriculum of the twelfth grade. They conducted an exam for Zeke to assess the veracity of her words. He passed the exam with a 100% score. 

After that they allowed him to skip school until he unlocked the System. Cass, on the other hand, was attending a very important class. This class was taught by Mrs Carter, an old woman with a lot of experience as a teacher. 

"What is the System? Is it sentient? Alive? What are its motives? There are many questions about the System's origins but the truth is that we don't have any concrete answers, only speculations. 

The most widely accepted truth is that the System is a manifestation of the Universal Will. It acts as a guide for all of the universe's inhabitants. 

Some call it the Heavenly Dao's Incarnation, which means the same thing. Many cults see the System as an omnipotent deity and worship it. All in all, these are still speculations so keep an open mind with information regarding the System. 

That's enough about the System's origins. You all are either nine years old or very close to it. You will awaken the System in just a year and it will help you a lot if you know some of these details. 

First, you will unlock the System on your tenth birthday at the time when you were born, down to the exact second. You will go through a process known as Awakening. It is best advised to sit in a room with concentrated attributeless mana. 

During the Awakening, you will undergo your first Ascension Trial. As the name suggests, it is a trial by the System, to see if you are worthy of ascending to the next rank. For the Neo-Humans, the first trial is the same. Mana will turn into a very diluted Aether and rush into your body. 

Don't think that the Olden Humans survived pure Aether so you can do it too because that information is incorrect. They didn't survive the infusion of pure Aether into their bodies, they just survived its presence in the atmosphere and even then, more than half the population died. 

The process is very painful as it will slightly change your genetic structure granting you the ability to wield mana. Well, to be precise, it does not change your genetic structure but awakens certain dormant parts of it.

When Players have kids, the genes responsible for the ability to wield mana in them are dormant for some unknown reason. The diluted Aether awakens those genes hence the name. 

You should start increasing your pain tolerance. Technically, you can't fail the first Ascension Trial but it will determine your potential. If you can hold on until it ends naturally, you can awaken your true potential. Otherwise no matter of a genius you are, you will never be able to live up to your full potential.

But that is not the only reason for not being able to live up to your full potential. Some people have dormant bloodlines. For eg. One of your ancestors was a Demi-Human, but due to the dilution of the bloodline, you are now a Neo-Human. The bloodline didn't disappear. It just became so dormant that it is impossible for it to awaken on its own during the Awakening. 

These dormant bloodlines need certain catalysts so that they can awaken. These catalysts are best consumed before Awakening. They bring the bloodlines on the cusp of awakening and the diluted Aether does the rest of the job. 

After you have completed the first trial, you will be able to see the System's interface. There are five windows/tabs in the interface. The Status Window, the Skill Window, the Oath Window, the Achievement Window, and the Conversion Window. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note:

Hey guys, I hope you like the novel.

Before some of you get triggered by the ingredient thing, please try to understand that this is just future Ezekiel's opinion. There is no judgment, no right or wrong here, just his personal opinion. I think everybody, even fictional characters are entitled to their personal opinions. 

And we see another side of Zeke's personality. Tell me your thoughts about it.

Leave reviews and comments because I love it when you guys interact with me.

Shout-out to @Suctiom and @romance_guy for being one of the first five members of the Discord server.

Join our community on Discord for sneak peeks of future chapters, and other stuff. I actively come online to chat with you guys. The first five members get a shout-out in the next ten chapters.

https://discord.com/invite/Gc97rsw37R

I'm happy to announce that this book now supports voting.

So gimme them Power Stones.

Thanks for the support guys.

See you next time