flicker!! flicker!!
The ceiling lightstones flickered unevenly, casting broken and unstable shadows across Lia's pale face as the faint hum of some artifacts echoed inside a sealed laboratory room.
Slowly, painfully, her eyes opened in thin slits, and the first thing she felt was the cold bite of metal restraints digging into her wrists and ankles as she instinctively tried to move.
Even though she wanted to sit up, her body refused to respond, and only then did she realise that she was tightly strapped to the bed beneath her, unable to move even an inch.
There was no colour left on her face anymore, and her cheeks were sunken deeply into her skull, making the sharp outline of her bones visible beneath her stretched skin.
Her body looked fragile, almost dead, as if she had been starved for weeks, and every shallow breath she took seemed to cost her more strength than she could afford.
Two men stood beside the bed, both completely calm as they watched her awaken, as if her suffering was nothing more than a routine observation.
One of them wore a strange smoke-resistant mask and thick waterproof clothing, and in his hand was a peculiar metallic pin attached to a transparent bottle filled with a glowing teal-blue liquid.
A flexible pipe connected the bottle to the pin, and in the middle of the pipe was an inflated section fitted with a valve, clearly designed to control the pressure of whatever substance was being injected into Lia's body.
"Amazzing," the masked man said in a pleased tone as he slowly pumped the liquid into her veins, carefully watching the reaction on the monitoring runes around the bed.
"She is the only subject who has taken the essence this well so far."
The second man standing beside him looked visibly uneasy, his eyes darting between Lia's trembling body and the glowing instruments around her.
He was clearly new here, and after hesitating for a moment, he finally asked in a low voice, "Um... what does the essence do to the rest of the subjects?"
The masked man did not stop pumping as he answered casually, as if describing weather conditions.
"Well, some of them died while puking their guts out, some went completely insane and turned into crazed monsters, and a few just melted out of existence without any warning."
The newcomer swallowed hard, but the masked man continued without pause.
"Only humans showed the highest degree of adaptation to the Veil essence, since they do not possess strong bloodlines that resist it."
Then he turned his head slightly and looked directly at Lia. His tone was almost amused, and a subtle smile bloomed, which was visible past the mask since the wrinkles near his temples tightened slowly.
"And this girl," he said, "had the least amount of so-called good gene sequence among all the subjects, she is a commoner after all, and mysteriously she hasn't even awakened yet, even after reaching the age of 15"
"Oh... crazy," the newcomer muttered, his hands trembling slightly as he listened, the reality of the place finally sinking in.
He had been transferred here recently, and compared to this division, his previous assigned division now felt like child's play.
Without saying anything else, the masked man turned around and gestured for him to follow, and both of them walked out of the room, leaving Lia alone in the suffering of the veil essence.
They stepped into a wider lobby filled with strange devices and rune-etched walls, and only then did the masked man remove his face covering.
The newcomer stiffened as a badly burned face was revealed beneath the mask, the skin twisted and scarred in a way that made it difficult to tell where flesh ended, and damage began.
Still, the newcomer did not flinch or react outwardly, and only a single drop of sweat slid down his forehead as he forced his expression to remain neutral.
He knew better than to provoke someone like this.
"So," he asked carefully, "how did you obtain the essence?"
The burned man looked at him with a cold, distant gaze before answering.
"About thirteen years ago, when we had just discovered the Veil, one of the elders entered that realm through the gate."
"Several days passed without any sign of him, and then one day he came back intact but completely insane, his mind was twisted into something we could not understand."
"He had seen things and felt things that we, the residents of Aris, were never meant to perceive."
The burned man paused briefly before continuing.
"He was being hunted by massive undetectable creatures that lived beyond the Veil, but the cult leader realised it too late."
"The elder ran toward the north while muttering nonsense, and those creatures followed him by mysterious means, hunting him relentlessly."
"We could never even see the shape or what powers these creatures used to hunt the elder, and why they never entered any cities and just remained on no man's land"
"When the cult leader finally understood the situation, he gathered a force and, with help from our allies in the north, began searching for traces of those creatures."
"Wherever those things went, carnage followed, although fortunately they remained in no-man's-land for most of the time."
"The cult leader knew things were spiralling out of control, so he summoned demons to assist in the search."
"The hunt lasted many days until one of the creatures was found dead on the outskirts of the Riverdale Empire by one of our divisions."
"The Veil essence," he concluded, "is the diluted blood of that creature."
The newcomer's face turned pale with horror.
"Who killed it?" he asked.
The burned man shook his head. "Nobody knows."
"And the elder?" the newcomer pressed.
"He was never found," the burned man replied flatly. "And the rest of the creatures were never seen again."
***
No man's land near the outskirts of the Klemberd Empire...
In the no-man's-land far away, a long carved path stretched between massive forests, serving as the primary trade route used by merchants travelling from the north to the southern territories.
It was the most practical option available, unless one was willing to cross the jagged mountains of the Dragon Empire or the arid deserts of the Skybreak Empire.
For mortals, choices in this world were limited, and this route was one of the few that allowed survival.
Naturally, multi-race settlements and inns had formed along key junctions of the path, providing rest for travellers, merchants, and escorts.
William stood at a distance in front of one such settlement, his arms crossed loosely over his chest as the wind ruffled his blue hair.
He observed the area calmly, his eyes scanning the movement of people and carriages with quiet focus.
"System," he said, "claims all the talents and affinities of Amorphous."
Since the Mark of Slave had been placed on Amorphous, the demon had no free will left and could not resist.
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[ Ding!! You have gained the talent: Shapeshifting (S) ]
[ Ding!! You have gained Ice Affinity (SS) ]
[ Ding!! Ice Affinity (SS) is going redundant ]
William let out a tired sigh.
"This again," he muttered under his breath.
This was the second time an affinity had gone redundant, the first being when Ethan awakened Light affinity while William already possessed Absolute-rank Light affinity gained through Leila.
"Sigh... what does redundant even mean?" William asked irritably. "Do you delete it?"
[Nope. I archive them.]
"Oh, don't play word games," William snapped. "Just tell me if they are useful."
[Yes. They are.]
"Then what are they used for?"
[You will not like the answer, so I will tell you later when I feel you are ready.]
"Just eat shit, system."
[Funny. Hearing your voice makes me feel like I am already eating shit.]
William ignored the insult and turned his attention back to the settlement.
Activating the shapeshifting talent, his body shifted smoothly, bones and flesh rearranging without pain as his appearance changed into Ethan's form.
As for why Ethan specifically?
Well, Ethan was supposed to be lucky, and right now, William needed every bit of luck he could muster for what he was about to do.