Chapter 14: Surprise and Transformation

Zeke and Katherine headed back to the room with the subjects. They were still screaming. Katherine and Zeke were also carrying a tweezer and a scalpel each. The tweezers and the scalpels in their hands looked ethereal and it wasif they were not tools but works of art. Katherine and Zeke were very careful while carrying them.

The tools were a part of the Soul Set. It was the only equipment that made it possible for researchers to work directly with souls without having a Soul Affinity. It was also one of the conditions for a lab to be graded as an S grade lab. Along with the average Grade of other equipment reaching B Grade. 

Using them was a delicate task that required skill and precision. But that wasn't a problem for Zeke. They walked up to the subjects. 

[I still don't understand why the past me thought of this as something difficult. To be really honest, the recipe for Sanguine Tears of Demonic Angels was so simple that it is a miracle that the result was an EX Grade elixir.]

"You sure you can do this? We don't have time for second chances."

"Yeah. This won't be the first time that I have dissected a soul."

"But only if we count other Zeke's memories. In this life, it will be your first time dissecting a soul." 

"Let's begin. You keep the Soul Vials ready. Did you label them?

"Yeah, I did. Two of them belong to you and the other two are Cass's. I've also marked them with 'A' and 'D' so you know who the soul belongs to."

"Thanks."

Then Zeke took the tweezer and very gently inserted it inside the unmarked Demon's forehead. it was very strange. Although the tweezer was clearly sticking inside the Demon's forehead, there was no blood. It was as if the tweezers hadn't penetrated his forehead at all. 

Zeke looked as if he was blindly searching for something. He suddenly gripped the tweezers hard and slowly pulled them out. When they came out, the tweezers were grabbing a shimmering blob of light. It was the Demon's soul. or at least a part of it.

Then Zeke grabbed the scalpel with his other hand and slowly sliced a piece off the soul before letting it go. The soul returned to the Demon's body and he passed out. Seeing Zeke succeed, Katherine uncorked a vial marked with a 'C' and 'D'. Zeke carefully put the split soul inside the vial and Katherine corked it back. 

They repeated this procedure with the other subjects. Now the difficult part began. They took the vials to another room with a machine resembling a huge centrifuge. The machine was another part of the Soul Set, the Soul Processor. They opened the hatch and placed the four vials inside.

Unlike a normal centrifuge, where it would work automatically, one had to fine-tune the settings and make changes as the souls were being processed. They also had another goal. To infuse mana into the souls so that it would be easier for the slimes to consume them.

A few hours later, they were done. They also saved the settings that they had made throughout the process. As long as the souls belonged to the same beings and were of the same portions, they could just use these saved settings to process the souls.

The next morning, Cass was still silent. He said that he needed time to deal with it. Alexi increased the intensity of their training. He increased the Gs until it was hard for them to even breathe saying that he was increasing their pain tolerance. 

Gradually they fell into a routine. Training with Alexi in the morning - school/studying - torturing the subjects - lunch- studying/torturing the subjects even more - dinner - more training- sleep. A year passed like this.

Nothing much had changed in this year. The Ashbourne brothers had become even more famous in school after Zeke, who rarely appeared in school, defeated a Lvl.5 Player in a public duel. The school's reaction was very lukewarm. Some of the old teachers just laughed and commented, 'Like father, like son.'

Nephilim Pharmaceuticals released two new potions in the Breath Series. They were Breath of Strength and Breath of Speed. If the previous potions increased the efficiency of cultivation, these increased battle power. To say that the public went bonkers over them would be a huge understatement.

Some in the military even wanted to forcefully cease all rights to these potions, but an order came from above to cease all actions against Nephilim pharmaceuticals. Now, Nephilim Pharmaceuticals had a store in almost every city of the Federation. Their operations had expanded greatly. 

At the house, Zeke was in the lab with Katherine. They were feeding the last of the subjects' souls to the slimes. When the slimes finished devouring the souls, they started glowing. The glowing slimes shrunk about 50% in size before they stopped glowing.

The new slimes looked the same except that they had an aura that they didn't have before. The slimes had completed their second mutation, from Blood Core Slimes into Blood Soul Slimes. They called a few appraisers to check the slimes' levels. The slimes were at Lvl.150, meaning that they would have to hurry up. 

If they messed the timing up, they would waste all the effort that had gone into this. They carried the slimes into two separate rooms so that they wouldn't interfere with each other during the next step. Inside each of the rooms, were two grotesque-looking balls of slime and flesh. They were the Angels and Demons, or at least what had become of them after they had injected the last batch of slime bodies into them. 

They put the slimes in the middle of the two balls of flesh and then sealed the rooms. They then flooded the room with mana. The slimes greedily sucked in the mana along with their bodies. The slimes' bodies started shrinking rapidly but the slime wanted more.

As if sensing something, the slimes created two tentacles with their leftover bodies and pulled the balls towards them. They absorbed the balls without any problems. Now, only marble-sized cores that resembled rubies were left. 

"Quickly seal those cores into two S Grade vials."

Alexi had joined them at some point and was ready with a vial in his hand. Zeke unsealed the rooms and Katherine and Alexi each entered a room and sealed the cores in a vial. 

They then put the vials with the cores into a mana insulation box. Now, they just had to wait. According to Zeke's calculations, the potion would be ready in about 24 hours. That was perfect for him and Cass because their birthday was just two days later. 

A day passed but the cores were still the same. Zeke started getting anxious. Ten hours passed and the cores finally had a reaction. They started struggling because of the lack of mana. Slimes no matter their kind, needed mana to reform their bodies.

The cores started evaporating. The vapours had nowhere to escape and started condensing into a liquid at the bottom of the vial. When only a small bit of the core was left, it would devour the condensed liquid. Every time this cycle was completed, the condensed liquid would get clearer. 

Twelve hours later, the liquid had become transparent. The core shrunk to the size of a lemon seed and finally collapsed, adding a hint of deep red to the transparent liquid. Sanguine Tears of Demonic Angels had been successfully brewed. 

Zeke and Cass had been observing the changes for the past ten hours. When the changes stopped happening, Zeke hugged Cass.

"It's done. We just need to consume them. Our Awakening will begin in approximately two hours."

The two picked up their respective vials. They then uncorked and clinked the vials.

"Cheers, lil bro."

"Cheers, you doofus. See you on the other side."

They then drank the elixir and went to a different location. It was a private location with a small building. The building only had two rooms. The rooms were similar to the ones where the slimes had undergone their evolution but much stronger. Powerful wards had been placed to prevent outside disturbance. 

They both sat in their respective rooms, drank A Grade nutrition potions and meditated, awaiting their Awakening. Two hours soon passed but they were unaware of it.

-In Zeke's Room-

Zeke was awakened by a System Notification.

"Neo-Human has met the prerequisites. Initiating the First Ascension Trial."

The concentrated mana in the room underwent a slight change, became more violent and rushed inside Zeke's body. Although painful, the process was a bit too easy for him. He suddenly got another System notification.

"Error! The concentration of Aether is insufficient. Increasing the concentration of Aether."

Something in the mana changed. It transformed from diluted Aether to pure Aether. Zeke suddenly felt as if his blood had become shattered glass, tearing his body apart from the inside. Tiny cuts formed all over his body and he started bleeding. He still gritted his teeth and endured.

The Aether used those cuts and started entering his body even faster. He lost all sense of time and began hypnotising himself that this was just a test of his will. His throat had gone sore from all the screaming. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, a sound came from within his body. It was the sound of a lock unlocking.

After his body produced the sound, the pure Aether formed a cocoon around his body. Inside the cocoon, he felt as if his body was burning. He started bleeding from all of his orifices. He slowly curled up in a fetal position and his body began changing fundamentally. 

Cass was going through the exact same thing in his room, or what was left of it. When the cocoons were formed, the Aether had torn the building apart, leaving only two cocoons made of Aether floating in the air. This made Alexi and Katherine very worried.

Just as they were about to take action to cover it up, their battle instincts suddenly flared up. They took battle positions, determined to protect the cocoons even if it was the last thing that they did. A voice came from behind them.

"Great battle instincts. From how you are protecting those cocoons, fascinating things they are, you two must be Alexi Ivanovich and Katherine Reed. Don't worry, if I wanted to kill you,"

He released he aura for a moment before taking it back. At that moment, Katherine and Alexi knew that they were only breathing right now because this man willed them to. 

"you would be dead without knowing what hit you."

They finally looked at the man carefully. He was a mountain of a man at 2.1 meters and very wide shoulders. He had green eyes that were filled with wisdom and tanned skin. He was wearing an indigo three-piece suit. Still, his muscles were visible through his clothes but not in a bad way. He had salt and pepper hair and a well-groomed beard. 

"Who are you? How do you know our names? And why are you here?"

"Do they not teach manners to kids these days? Sheesh!"

His aura and expression became serious.

"Listen carefully, little girl. Your grandfather wasn't even swimming in his father's balls when I was already dominating the Federation. Also, I can squash you two like bugs so show me some respect. But I'll be kind enough to answer your questions. I know your names because who wouldn't know the names of Nephilim Pharmaceuticals's owners?

By the way, good work with that. Those potions are a godsend for low Grade Players. I am here for the Ashbourne boys. I have some business with them. As for my name, it is Leonel Vitali."

Alexi felt that the name was familiar, but couldn't remember where he had heard it. so he simply asked, "Who?"

The Leonel was surprised. 

"Do they seriously not teach anything in school these days? I'll have to talk to Dean about this."

At this moment, Katherine stuttered in a very respectful tone. If she was right, the man had the full right to reprimand her the way that he did.

"Sir Ma-Mad Immortal?"

"Although you lack manners, you have some common sense. Yes, I am Mad Immortal. But why does he not know my name?"

"It's not his fault, Sir. You are mostly mentioned as Mad Immortal even during school lessons."

"So I will have to talk to Dean about this. Anyway, what the hell is going on here? Why are the two brats in cocoons made of pure Aether? Isn't this their first Ascension Trial?"

"We are as clueless as you. But may I ask, what business do you have with the boys?"

"That child, Isabelle, made the right choice entrusting you with them. Still trying to protect them even after knowing my identity. But as I told you, I have no intention of hurting them, or you for that matter. I just want to bring them back home."

"Home? And you knew Isabelle?"

"No I didn't know Isabelle but I wish that I did. You see, those boys, they are my descendants."

"What!"

"I was just as surprised as you are. My descendants carry a Life Sigil in their blood. It's a skill I created due to my strong vitality. Cough, anyways, I can sense those Life Sigils so I know whenever a descendant of mine is born. The purer bloodline they carry, the easier it is for me to sense them. At the same time, if the bloodline is too diluted, the Life Sigil would go into dormancy.

About two and a half years ago, I suddenly got a very faint signal of two Life Sigils from this area. I was very confused, because there are only 20 people with pure enough bloodlines left and none of them recently had a child, let alone two. So I did some digging into the family tree and after more than two years lo and behold, I found Isabelle Morningstar. But she had already died. 

Her sole next of kin were her twin sons, Castiel and Ezekiel Ashbourne. So I came to meet them today on their birthday, but I sensed a disturbance in the mana and found you two. You don't need to worry about the mana disturbance, I have already covered it up."

Alexi and Katherine's brains short-circuited. Why hadn't Zeke told them this? Did he even know it himself? And what was going on with this insane combination of bloodlines? Some of the strongest bloodlines from three different races? Was this a novel?

[Yes. Yes, it is a novel.]

While this was going outside, the situation inside the cocoons had changed. 

Zeke and Cass's bodies began dissolving into a sludge. Once they had completely become sludge, they began devouring Aether like starving beasts. After some time, their bodies began to reform. First their organs, then nerves, bones, muscles, skin and hair. Once their bodies had completely formed, the cocoon was also devoured by the bodies. 

As soon as the cocoons were gone, they gently landed on the ground with a pair of wings covering them. They opened their eyes and let out a sigh.

At that moment something happened. Every Angel and Demon in existence heard that sigh. To them, it was as gentle as a baby's laughter and as ferocious as a dragon's roar at the same time.

At that moment, every Angel and Demon, no matter their rank, felt fear from the very core of their bloodlines. It was even more overpowering than the hate that they felt for each other. But the ones who caused this phenomenon were blissfully ignorant of it. 

Alexi gave them both a pair of pants, which they wore quickly. He then examined the changes that they had gone through. They had tanned skin that glowed with a subtle radiant glow. Their eyes had golden irises with hints of amethyst flecks. They had a single, faint iridescent line between their eyebrows, just above the bridge of their noses.

Their hair had grown to their waists. They were still ash grey with platinum blonde streaks, but the tips had turned into a deep purple. Finally, they had a pair of leathery wings behind them. The wings were a mix of deep purple and a very subdued golden. 

Then, Zeke spoke, "Hey guys, who is this?"

"This is Sir Mad Immortal, your great something Grandfather."

"What did you just say?"

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Author's Note:

Hey guys, I hope you like the novel.

Although the chapter is late, I made up for it by increasing the length.

The boys have finally completed their transformation so tell me your thoughts about it. Also, what do you think about Mad Immortal? Was it too much too add him right now?

The official art will take some time because, one, I don't know any illustrators. And two, I am broke. But I would love to see your fan art. Who knows, maybe I'll choose the official art from them. 

I will not be posting another chapter today because I am tired af. 

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

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

I have already uploaded the race description of Sol Angels and Ash Demons on Discord. I will also post the description of the Neo-Nephilims there so do check it out.

Join our community on Discord for sneak peeks of future chapters, exclusive content, 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.

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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