Master Bob had brought with him a limited number of the new-production serums.
Most of these were intended strictly for research, but he had quietly set aside three doses. Or, as he put it with a grin that was only half-joking, "borrowed" them before the Allied paperwork could catch up.
"Just enough to verify how far your bloodline kan be pushed. Let us assess their effect on you," the frog hybrid said, rubbing his webbed hands together with excitent.
Minutes later, Ery took his place on the reinforced examination chair. Runes lit up as the chair locked into its diagnostic configuration. Dozens of tubes extended like chanical vines, connecting to his arms, chest, and temples. The machinery instantly humd to life.
His blood was drawn first-multiple vials filling in rapid sequence. So would be stored as reference baselines; others would be used for imdiate comparative analysis against the purified serum.
Lines of data flickered into existence above the central console.
[Ery Ambrose]
[Bloodline Gene - Royal Twilight Fey]
[Gene Classification - Mythical Bloodline]
[Bloodline Limit: Rank 9]
[Current Rank Rank 7 - Fey Paragon]
[Royal Fey Gene Essence - 65%]
Master Bob's large amphibian eyes widened with delight.
"Ahhh... the best of genes indeed."
The last ti they had analyzed Ery's bloodline-two decades ago, before he lost in the Tartarus Realm-his purity had been at 48%. Seventeen percent in that tifra was astonishing. Even two breakthroughs in the Grand Magus realm rarely produced improvents at this magnitude.
"What in the worlds did you eat over there?" Bob muttered, scrolling through the comparative charts with a mix of disbelief and fascination.
Ery knew the answer wasn't simple. He had gained 4% during his ntal awakening while fighting the Red Demon in Valeryn. Another 4% ca with his Grand Magus breakthrough. But the bulk... the extraordinary 9% jump ca from during his ti at the Leviathan's world beast belly-its strange, primordial atmosphere, combined with his second cosmic breakthrough, the environnt had essentially reforged him.
A chanical hiss signaled readiness.
Bob lifted a crystalline syringe filled with shimring golden fluid."All right, first injection. Directly into the heart. Brace yourself."
The needle pierced cleanly through flesh and bone as the serum was delivered into the core of Ery's circulatory system.
Heat erupted instantly.
It began as a pulse-sharp, rhythmic-and then rapidly escalated into a burning flood. His veins brightened beneath his skin, glowing faintly as if molten tal flowed through them. Ery gritted his teeth. For soone of his realm, pain ant little, but this heat... this intensity grew by the second, climbing beyond anything the first serum had caused in the past.
Within a minute, his entire body felt like a forge held at maximum output.
Notifications flashed across the monitors:
[Your bloodline has entered a purifying state]
[Gene structures reorganizing]
[Royal Twilight Fey gene essence increasing]
[66%...]
[67%...]
[68%]
[Battle Power Increased]
[Soul Force Strengthened]
A three-percent increase from a single dose.
Ery inhaled sharply. "Again," he uttered through controlled breaths. "Give the second."
"Already?" Bob blinked. "You sure?"
Ery nodded.
The second dose slid into the sa port. This ti, the reaction was far more violent. His skin cracked faintly along the arms and shoulders as internal pressure surged. Energy vapor seeped from him in waves, distorting the air and triggering alarms. Students in the surrounding labs were quickly evacuated as machinery detected escalating levels of unstable power.
Master Bob himself retreated to a safe distance. Only Kayelin remained, her silver fey runes blossoming into a protective do that contained the spiritual shockwaves.
Ery exhaled through clenched teeth, forcing his will to anchor the torrent inside him.
[Your bloodline has entered a purifying state]
[Royal Twilight Fey gene essence increasing]
[69%...]
[69%]
[Battle Power Increased]
[Soul Force Strengthened]
The second shot only yielded a one-percent increase, confirming what Ery had suspected: His body had already developed significant resistance to the serum's potency at this level of purity.
"Should we administer another?" Bob asked cautiously.
Ery shook his head. His focus was no longer on the percentage increase, but on the turbulence inside his own body. The mont his bloodline finished purifying, he sensed it-an almost violent surge pulsing through his limbs, bones, and core. Every muscle fiber felt denser, every breath deeper. It was as if every strand of his being had been reforged, tightened, and heightened. But along with that newfound strength ca sothing else—a deeper, more primal stirring.
The Devouring Beast within him.Its presence had grown noticeably stronger, its hunger sharper. The creature stirred restlessly, reacting to the sudden enhancent in Ery's essence. He needed ti to restrain it, to reassert his will before pushing any further.
A few minutes later, once the internal turbulence had settled, Ery opened his eyes. The room was silent; every researcher and assistant was staring at him with a mix of curiosity and awe.
"It's a remarkable serum," Ery said, steadying his breathing. "Truly excellent."
Master Bob, as the lead researcher, tried to hide the excitent in his voice. "Just satisfactory for now. Give so ti-once I analyze your kurrent blood samples, I'm konfident I can craft a specialized variant. Sothing tailored to your precise gene structure. That should push you several more percentage points."
"I'm sure you can," Ery replied.
He was far from disappointed. A total increase of four percent was beyond what he had hoped for. And when Kayelin joined the project with her samples, the elixirs would beco even more potent. He needed another thirteen percent. Once he reached eighty, he could challenge the threshold into Rank 8. That would place him among the highest echelons of the half-blood supres, comparable to King Alduin of the Zodiac faction.
"What will you do with the last dose?" Bob asked.
Ery fell silent.
His first thought was his daughter Shinta, but the Ouroboros princess had already consud a few doses in recent years-one of the key reasons behind her explosive growth in strength. Giving her another would bring diminishing returns.
Kayelin was also a candidate, but her lion-lineage-closely tied to the tiger branch-had minimal overlap with the serum's sampled gene records. The effect on her would be significantly reduced.
For maximum impact, the dose needed to go to soone in the Magus Realm.
A na surfaced almost imdiately.
Later that day...
One figure arrived at the gene center, clutching her cloak nervously.
"Brother Ery... I am scared," her wolf ears lowering slightly. "There is no need to be," he reassured her. "I will be here the entire ti."
Over the past weeks, Glita had imrsed herself in academy halls, studying half-blood heritage, assisting at the Utopia Zodiac Center, and integrating into new communities. She was earnest, hardworking, and rapidly becoming an integral part of the faction. Ery had observed her progress closely. If anyone could make full use of this dose, it was her.
"Are you absolutely certain about this?" Bob asked.
"Yes," Ery replied firmly
The gene master blinked once, then smirked in amusent.
"Then you should know... the last vial of this serum was auctioned for ninety-five million spirit stones." Ery froze."It's what?!"
Bob's laughter echoed through the lab.
And the procedure began.
XXXXXX
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