In the cave where the kobolds were residing, Zatiel was arranging some pieces of a fallen star above a giant rune formation on the ground, and a few meters away from him was Rax, waiting for his command.
He and Dante arrived three days ago to have a secure place where to perform the boy transformation into a Neo-Demon and improve the kobolds' training grounds.
The process of creating the Chaotic-Core went without a problem, and thanks to the fact that his body was made at the peak of Rank 0, the rate of growth of his abyss aura was impressive.
And due to his intelligence, bloodline, and strength of his soul, his affinity with the world's natural energy was top tier, and it could even prove its superiority above that of Elementals.
Right now, the boy was sitting along with some other kobolds, focusing on increasing his abyss aura and mastering his Rank Spell so that he could advance to Rank 1.
Ezequiel and Sophia had remained in the magic tower and were focusing on developing their Bloodline Heart to reach Peak Rank 1 and learn their new Rank Spell to advance to Rank 2.
Initially, the duo was in no rush to improve their Rank, and they were preparing to enter a long period of experimentation to increase their professions' skills. Still, when Zatiel informed them about the world war they will be participating in, they immediately focused on improving their power.
To advance to Rank 2, a Neo-Demon needs to have developed to 100% both of his hearts and have an abyss aura of 120 points.
Once those requirements are completed, the Neo-Demons must store their abyss aura inside their consciousness and then use it to perform a spell.
The spell learned will be very difficult to handle and too expensive to use in battle, but once they advance to Rank 2, this spell will become their new Rank Spell.
The formation that Zatiel was creating now was meant to build a space where the elemental chaos inside the pieces of fallen start will be contained, so those at Rank 1 could remain here and improve the speed of transformation of their Elemental Chaos Heart and increase their abyss aura.
The Middle World invasion will start in two years at the latest, and although it sounded like a lot of time, for individuals whose life span reaches more than half a millennium like a Rank 1 Neo-Demon, it was but a blink of an eye.
Zatiel planned to bring some of the kobolds with him during the invasion. Since he will be in a world where the entire planet will consider him an enemy, the only people he will trust to fight by his side are his race.
Although reaching the peak of Rank 1 will be too much to ask, with this formation, they will be able to complete the transformation of their Elemental Chaos Heart, and by that time, they will have the power to kill a Master level Rank 1 Magus quickly.
The Heavenly race has a mighty bloodline heritage, but as long a Neo-Demon has assimilated a Rank 3 bloodline, they should be able to defeat or at least equal them in a fight in the same Rank, and if their bloodline is at Rank 4, then they will be able to kill them.
At the end of the third day, Zatiel finally completed the formation, making a dome appear in which a greyish fog was contained.
"The formation is ready. From now on, all those at Rank 1 will be training inside it. The elemental chaos in those fallen stars will be depleted in approximately three months. When that happens, replace them with new ones." Zatiel handed Rax a small black platform.
This was the platform that Heinz had taken from the excavation zone, and Zatiel was asked to borrow it.
"Yes, Ancestor." Rax took the platform and gave a small roar.
As soon as he did, eighty-one kobolds started to walk toward the dome, displaying their impressive four-meter tall bodies and dragonborn appearance.
They all moved with complete order and as one, displaying the might of an extremely disciplined army.
Eighty-one Rank 1 life form could not be considered much since in the Aeternum Empire alone, those at Rank 1 could be counted in millions, but by the display of order and might that those Neo-Demons were giving, one could be sure that they could slaughter an opposite army in the same Rank, even if they were fighting an enemy ten times their number.
Zatiel was very satisfied with how the kobolds were behaving and signaled Rax so he would enter with the rest at the dome.
Rax performed a respectful bow before disappearing into the fog.
Zatiel looked in Dante's direction, and seeing the boy focus on his training, he smiled and went to a remote corner of the cave before adopting a meditative position.
His Elemental Chaos Heart and abyss aura have reached the boundaries to advance to Rank 2. Still, due to his bloodline, he not only needed to finish his Bloodline Heart but also increase the Sun Force up to the limit of Rank 1, which according to his calculation, was at one hundred and fifty points, and he had only reached ninety.
Before, he could only gradually increase the rate at which the heart and golden sun grew by eating Rank 2 creatures. There was a limit to how fast these two could absorb energy, and trying to use external methods to increase their speed was dangerous and could create flaws in his body.
Things were different now since the connecting created between his soul and the Elder Brain has allowed him to access a new strength system known as Mind Force.
Despite being a path of power as the Magi Path, to practice Mind Force, you normally have to be born with that ability since it is an inherent trait from a race.
Although it is not unique to them, the mind ruler race is the most notable user of this strength system, and some even think that the name of their race was due to this power.
By mastering Mind Force, you can perform all kinds of wonder, not only imitating the power of magic but going beyond, not being limited by the use of the natural energies of the world. If your mastery over it reached a certain point, you could even alter the laws.
But despite its marvelous power, mastering Mind Force is complicated, and any backlash could result in death. Instead of using energy like abyss aura or spirit force, it is fueled by one's mind and life force's internal magic.
Despite the wonders of Neo-Demons, they did not have the ability to train Mind Force, but Zatiel was channeling the magic of the Elder Brain and his life force to be able to use it.
Outside of the mind rulers' civilizations, those that use the Mind Force are known as Animus, and just like any path of power, it was divided into Ranks.
'Despite the elder brain being a Rank 3 life form, I can only use the power of a Rank 0 Animus since my brain itself can't use the magic of my mind, but as I advance and grow proficient in it, my brain should change and allow me to advance in the Ranks.'
Zatiel was beyond happy when he found out that he could use this type of power, as it was something that even with all the means at his disposal in his previous life, he was never able to use but continuously researched.
'Unlike the training of abyss aura, spells, or fighting tactics, I will not have any previous experience to guide me as I practice Mind Force. Let's see how talented I truly am!' Zatiel's eyes displayed immense pride and confidence in himself before closing.
Just like the Magi Path can divide into Elementium, Arcane, Bloodline, and Body-refinement, an Animus has several 'disciplines' they can follow, but they are not mutually exclusive from the others, and they even complement each other.
Zatiel was trying to use the mind discipline that focuses on biological transformation, alteration, and healing.
'Psychometabolism!' As he thought that word, Zatiel's mind focuses on a single thing.
The minutes passed, and nothing seemed to be happening, but if you could see Zatiel's body at a cellular level, you could see that it was acting almost ten times faster, and the speed continued growing.
His body metabolism was reaching a speed almost one hundred times faster than it normally would, and without opening his eyes, he takes cubes of meat almost one meter in diameter and starts to devour them at an impressive speed.
They were not made from Rank 1 life form, but from Rank 2, and usually, Zatiel would need an hour to digest it and let its energy reach his heart and improve its formation, but now the moment they disappeared inside his mouth, they were digested immediately and transformed into nutrients for his body.
'With this speed, only a few weeks will be necessary to reach the peak of Rank 1 and advance!' Although he tries to remain calm, Zatiel could not help but feel excited as he will be able to become a Rank 2 Neo-Demon before reaching thirty despite having to cover the energy needs of a Law Bloodline
