Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia, together with all the members of the kobold race worked tirelessly to reconstruct the tunnel that connected with the cave under this mountain. Kobolds were known for their abilities in mining and excavation and with their spells, Zatiel and the other two were able to remove tons of earth, but even so, making a tunnel that long was very hard, especially taking in consideration that they had to make sure it will remain stable for years to come and big enough that even a grown dragon could pass through it.
After a week of hard work they finally managed to reach the area that Rax mentioned, it was one kilometer long and 100 meters tall, just like the old kobold said, and although it was completely dark, kobolds have night vision.
Once they reached this place, they kept working, after all, this place was inclined to collapse, so they continue removing all the loose earth until a solid surface was all that remained and Zatiel used some basic earth spell to compress it, making sure it will stay that way before generating an immense pillar that connects from the ground to the ceilings.
Once this part was completed Zatiel started to work on some runes, and the rest of the kobolds together with Sophia and Ezequiel continue expanding and solidifying the foundation of the cave generating little tunnels that will connect to the surface and will allow air to enter this place.
By the time they ended, this underground place was a 1.4-kilometer long and 120 meters tall with a 20-meter wide tunnel that connected to the surface, the earth on the wall was extremely compact and a metallic shine was in them, pillars grow up from the earth connected to the ceiling, it was by all standards a suitable living place.
But it was not over. Once Zatiel saw the work on the earth was finished, he started to inscribe runes all around the place, filling the walls with inscriptions of beautiful color, and it included everything, even the passage to the surface. These runes made the wall extremely sturdy to the point it could resist the attack of a rank 1 being without problems and most importantly if the consciousness of anyone reached the area covered by them, the only thing they would see was some rocks covering everything. The center of this rune formation was in a corner of this cave and as long a rank 1 being injected all his energy for half a day it will work without a problem for a week.
"Rax, we have finished, bring the Arachne here, and tell all of them to go up to the surface and not go down unless they are called," Zatiel assessed the place and after making sure it would work, he gave an order to the old kobold.
"Yes, leader. You hear him, all of you must remain on the surface and stay there no matter what," Rax was serious as he gave the order and all the kobolds left the place, even Kylo who had Tao in his arms left. After making sure they all retired, he reached for the Archenee and brought him to Zatiel.
This poor creature has lived in hell this past month, due to his vitality as a rank 1 being, his extremities and injuries were healing continuously but every time it happens a kobold came and once again beat him to the point he was about to die before ripping apart his growing extremities. It reached the point that the poor Archenee had already given up on life and the only thing he wanted was to die, which was reflected in his unfocused eyes. Still, no one felt sorry for him, as the hate of the kobolds was immense and every time they harmed him they did with a smile on their faces.
Zatiel put the Arachne over the runes and initiated the ritual. And just like with Erick, due to the target being a rank 1 life form, the monstrous abyss mouth formed again.
The moment it appeared, Rax felt immense fear coming from his blood, due to his enhancement in his atavism, his bloodline was able to improve his sense and it was telling him that the thing in front of him was a monster beyond anything he could imagine, his will had made great progress but even so, his body was trembling and he could not help but distancing himself from the disgusting mouth until he was 500 meter away and yet the fear was still present almost paralyzing him and forcing him to roar so his courage could return.
Sophia and Ezequiel saw the reaction of the old kobold and were surprised, even now the pressure they felt from the thing in front of them was great but still, even when they were at rank 0 their reaction was not that exaggerated.
"It is normal, what we are seeing in front of us is a true part of the consciousness of the abyss that has reached the Magi World. Before, you two were not too affected because the nature of the core can be considered a sort of child of the Abyss, so it didn't target you and all you had to withstand was a collateral effect of his presence, but to Rax is different, he can be considered a dragon by this point and to the Abyss, dragons are a delicious meal so his reaction is normal and if his will was not strong enough, he would have passed out or worse," Zatiel saw the old kobold sweating cold from the fear, but he just continued with the ritual.
The disgusting and deformed mouth opened to the point all the twisted teeth could be seen and with a single gulp, it devoured the Arachne before it spit out an immense amount of liquid abyss aura and disappeared.
When the abyss' consciousness vanished, Rax almost crumbled to the ground, and he was still shaking. After a couple of minutes, he was able to get himself together and walked out to Zatiel.
"I'm sorry, leader, for that shameful reaction," Rax was truly disappointed with his actions, after his power up and the enhancement in his will he was starting to think that he was truly strong but when he saw that 'thing', he realized that he was being foolish.
"Don't worry, the fact that you were able to remain in this place was more than good enough. This was one of the reasons I didn't want the rest of your race to be present. If they interact with it, with their current power and will, they would probably be traumatized and their minds will be affected," Rax nodded, but still, now the desire for a greater power burned inside him, and Zatiel was happy with the defiant attitude of the old kobold.
"Ok, let's begin, the process takes a great determination and willpower but with the abilities you showed during your transformation, this will prove no problem for you but remain focused at all times."
Rax nodded before entering the runes and adopting a meditative position. Zatiel separated a small part of the abyss aura and started the process of the Chaotic Core creation.
Rax felt a great pressure in his consciousness and pain in his mind, but compared with what he had to withstand from the burning blood technique, this was more than bearable, so after a couple of hours, the fourth Neo-Demon opened his eyes.
Rax's height reached 2.7 meters and his scales took a metallic luster resembling obsidian metal, his muscles swelled up tremendously but still, they fit perfectly with his body, not hindering his movements at all, his eyes turned red and dragon horns appeared on his head. Right now the old appearance of Rax had disappeared, and he looked like an adult Dragonborn in the prime of his life with all the cells of his body filled with vitality, and he felt powerful energy running through his body, improving all of his aspects, even his blood, the sensation was so exhilarating he could not help but release all his power and pressure of his magnetic force field.
Zatiel, Ezequiel and Sophia did not feel anything from this, after all, they were Rank 1 Neo-Demons with a powerful assimilated bloodline but if a rank 1 Novice Magus were to feel it, they will be shocked as the power was more than any peak rank 0 could hope to achieve even if they were dragons.
After waiting for Rax to get used to his new power, Zatiel spoke again, "Now all you need to do is learn a rank spell and you will advance to rank 1. I will give you a very powerful Path Technique known as 'Ux Bahamuti', this contains a series battle techniques and spells that are divided in Aspect of Heart, that concentrate in powerful spells and martial arts, Aspect of Wing, that concentrate in complete control over your body and speed, and finally Aspect of Mind that assists to improve the power of your consciousness and resistance to all type of curses and damage to your soul. I have other techniques that are equally efficient but due to your draconic bloodline, this one is most suitable," Zatiel used the core and transferred all the information to Rax, and even though the transference of information was fast, it still took a long time to finish because this path technique was so powerful that was efficient even when someone reaches the level of laws.
Rax could not believe the power of this technique, because when he went through the last level it had some descriptions that refer to have spells that could destroy an entire continent, and although the temptation of going through it entirely was great, he knows what he needs to do first and choose one of the spells the technique says is the most suitable to become a rank spell and begins learning it.
As Rax was training, Zatiel saw how the other two reacted, and he chuckled. Ezequiel was unfazed as always, but Sophia already started to make faces.
She knows that anything that earns the term powerful from Zatiel is amazing, so of course, she wanted one, but she didn't ask as she wanted to be given one just like with Rax.
"Stop making that face, I will give you two a path like that as well. I just obtained them recently, that is why I am only giving them to you now, but it isn't useful if you use rank 0, as the major function before rank 1 in this technique is of choosing a rank spell and the one I gave you two, is equally powerful to the ones in here. For you little EZ, the technique is named 'Dawn Titan Mual-Tar' and for Sophia is will be 'Sanguis Draconis Flumine', just like 'Ux Bahamuti', they are divided into spells and battle arts, complete control over your body and speed, and enhancing your consciousness and the resistance of your soul. No matter what your combat style is, the three aspects are important so trained well," Zatiel transferred the information to Ezequiel and Sophia, and the moment they got this Path Techniques, they also were surprised and without waiting they started to train.
"Not even a thank you, you unruly bastards!"
Sophia and Ezequiel heard him, but the techniques were so amazing that they just ignored him, and although Rax wouldn't dare to do that, he was so focused so he didn't listen.
Seeing them, Zatiel just shakes his head and smiles, and he also sits down and starts to train.
'In my previous life I was a master of necromancy and death spells, It will be foolish to give them away, and the most efficient Path Technique for that will be 'Aumvor Sempiternus', although I will not have a bloodline that helps me, with my talent as a Neo-Demon and experience it will be more than enough. Still, I will have to create a Path Technique from zero that can be used together with my bloodline, it will be difficult, but I am sure I can do it' Zatiel knows it will be extremely difficult to create a path technique with his current abilities.
Most Path Techniques are made by powerful individuals that have reached a level of power that allows them to enter in contact with the laws, and by analyzing special life-forms or singularities that happen in the universe, they can obtain inspiration from them and create these techniques, so for a rank 1 being, trying to create one was supposed to be impossible, but Zatiel's confidence did not diminish at all.
After a couple of hours Zatiel, Ezequiel, and Sophia wake up from their meditation as they felt a spike in energy near them, it was Rax that had managed to learn his rank spell and was advancing to rank 1.
