Zatiel looked at the Abyss Aura and started to meditate on the spot to heal his depleted spirit.
Once all of the bodies were converted into the Abyss Aura, the consciousness of the Abyss started to retreat. Zatiel didn't say anything and just watched as the chaotic pressure soon vanished.
"It's time to begin."
Zatiel manipulated the array runes again to split the Abyss Aura into two parts, one big and one small.
"That should be enough for little EZ."
After that was completed, Zatiel walked to the center of the array, and stopped 1 meter aways from the biggest orb of Abyss Aura, adopting a meditation position.
After a couple of minutes, Zatiel started to manipulate the Abyss Aura again. The liquid started to turn into threads that moved into his body. It started to enter inside him from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.
If any other life form not having reached rank 1 were to do that, allowing such a high concentration of Abyss Aura to enter his body, they will die in the best case scenario, and if they were to survive miraculously, they will transform into a mindless killing machine which is even inferior to a common Mane.
Here is where the second most important information became useful. The transformation into the strongest life form that exists, the one that resulted in millions of years of research even with the abilities of a Being of Laws, and it was only possible thanks to the help he got from the ones he called 'Greyish bastards'.
The transformation into a Neo-Demon!
Neo-demons are an artificial race that was created to be the perfect soldier, having abilities way superior to demons and racial traits so powerful that even titans, the race with one of the most powerful bloodlines created by the universe, would feel envy.
Although Zatiel was very excited, he could not allow himself to be distracted, after all, even with the help of the array runes, manipulating the Abyss Aura inside his body was extremely difficult and complex, and he constantly had to withstand the impact of the chaotic influence that the aura was releasing.
As the Abyss Aura was entering his body, all of it started to concentrate on his heart. This is the most crucial part, the formation of the Chaotic Core.
The Chaotic Core is the basic source of power for all the Neo-Demons. It is what allows the body of the carrier to make the transformation and not only give them access to a myriad of incredible abilities, but also it is the most important part a Neo-Demon has to nurture if it wants to keep becoming more and more powerful and ascend through the higher ranks.
The Chaotic Core is made from thousands of minuscule runes which are in turn made from pure Abyss Aura. The runes were so minute that it was impossible for the current Zatiel to inscribe them.
But this is where his always useful companion started to work.
"A.I chip, commence the construction of the Chaotic Core," Zatiel commanded his companion as he was withstanding the horrifying pain that threatened to destroy his consciousness.
[Bip.. initiating the creation of the Chaotic Core...
Estimated time to finish is two hours and a half.
The Host must withstand the impact of the Abyss Aura at all times inside his consciousness or it will result in severe backlash and possible death.]
'Two hours and a half, a child's game!' Zatiel's face showed resolution and he closed his eyes and stopped making any sound or expression, behaving as if the head-splitting pain didn't even exist.
As the minutes passed by, the Chaotic Core was beginning to become more and more complete. The runes started to connect with each other and a mysterious glow was appearing in it.
Once more than 50% of the Core was completed, it started to spin. Using the arteries connected to the heart, it was pumping the Abyss Aura to the rest of his body.
Every time the Core rotated, more and more of the Abyss Aura was filling his body. It was nurturing it and making it incredibly powerful. Soon Zatiel's body started to grow and his hair began to turn into an ash color.
With every single rotation of the Core, the body was being constantly nurtured by the Abyss Aura, and as for the innate chaotic nature that affects the consciousness of any being because of the Abyss Aura, the core was constantly compressing it and keeping it inside itself.
As the Chaotic Core kept rotating, Zatiel started to relax since now the ability of the core to suppress the chaotic pressure was taking effect.
After the two and a half hours were done, the Chaotic Core was finally completed. It was like a sun, constantly rotating and releasing energy. It was truly a wonderful sight to see.
Zatiel started to get up with his now two-meter body, a handsome face, and a muscular constitution. He moved little by little trying to get accustomed to his newfound increase in power.
'A.I. Chip, show me the state of my body.'
[Bip.. scanning host...
Race: Neo-Demon
Strength: 4.7
Physique: 5.4
Speed: 4.2
Abyss Aura:7.1]
'Excellent! I can barely be considered to be in the beginning of the infant stage of a Neo-Demon and I am already so powerful, and now thanks to the Chaotic Core's ability to transform the energy of the body into the Abyss Aura, I can finally start using my Abyssal Spells.´
Zatiel's excitement was understandable, after all, even if we don't count his Abyss Aura, his physical attributes are amazing. Since 4 points is a threshold that no mortal can surpass even if they use the most amazing breathing technique in the world. Reaching it was only possible for the ones that combine arcane knowledge and body experimentation like some body-refinement apprentice magus.
'My Abyss Aura is currently as powerful as the Spirit force of a rank 3 apprentice magi, and this is just the beginning. Truly worthy of being the race that I spend so much energy creating. Now that I have finished my transformation, it is time for that little kid.'
Zatiel inhaled with all his strength and gave an extremely loud shout.
"LITTLE EZ, COME HERE!" Zatiel could not help but laugh at his childish attitude.
'Well, what is the point of being strong if you do not enjoy yourself when you are in a good mood.'
While Zatiel was thinking, Ezequiel was already arriving at the array runes, and the first thing that caught his attention, was a black orb made of liquid that gave him a terrifying feeling.
But when he saw Zatiel, he was startled. After all, it was not more than 6 hours the last time he saw him and there was already such a huge difference, and especially the feeling he was having was that his master was much more powerful now.
"Master, what happened to you?" Ezequiel could not help but ask.
"You will find out soon enough. Little EZ, what I am about to give you now is a path to become someone truly powerful in the universe and being able to truly break the shackles. But I have to warn you, this process is extremely dangerous. If at any moment your will weakens, what awaits you is nothing but death."
Ezequiel didn't answer immediately but his remaining eye was shining with a resolution to take anything that comes in his way and a desire to the path of true power.
'A good seed indeed, this kid will have no problem in withstanding this,' Zatiel thought as he looked at the boy with pride.
"Sit down and focus at all times. Remember to always maintain your concentration. I will begin now," Zatiel says as he started to manipulate the Abyss Aura.
Although this amount of Abyss Aura was smaller than the one Zatiel used, the initial power of the Chaotic Core has to be enough to carry out the transformation into a Neo-Demon but not so strong that it will kill its bearer because they are not powerful enough to sustain such a huge amount of energy.
So the weaker the individual is, the smaller the Chaotic Core is at the beginning. Actually, the amount which Ezequiel needed was much less than this but Zatiel was going to use a part of the Aura to regenerate his hand and eye.
The Abyss Aura started to enter Ezequiel, and he could feel the searing pain from having the liquid enter his body and the chaotic pressure that threatened to make him crazy.
But one of the reasons why Zatiel picked him was due to his monstrous will. It helped him maintain sobriety and keep going.
Zatiel was not wasting any time either. Using the rune array and the A.I. Chip, he was constantly monitoring the Abyss Aura and creating a Chaotic Core in Ezequiel's heart.
If you could see the runes that created the Chaotic Core inside Ezequiel, you could realize that there were some small differences in comparison with the ones in Zatiel. The reason was that Zatiel's Core was a Primordialis-Core made to be the origin of every single other Chaotic Core that will exist and thus making Zatiel the ancestor of every single Neo-Demons that will be born.
Ezequiel's Core was a Genus-Core meaning a core made for the descendants. The difference in the abilities between the two cores is almost null, after all, Ezequiel was a direct descendant.
But when he has kids, those children will be born as Neo-Demons with Genus-Core in their hearts and their potential will depend on the strength of their parents.
The most important thing about the Primordials-Core is that it will make any Neo-Demons have an inherent desire to serve him.
Ezequiel's process took just about an hour, and when he was finished, his body was completely different. He was now almost 1.5 meters tall, with white hair, and his body had just the right amount of muscle necessary to be able to use his maximum speed.
"Well done, how do you feel?"
"I feel powerful!" Ezequiel could not help but get excited as he felt the immense strength running through his body.
"Is normal to get excited but remember little EZ.." Zatiel's face got serious as he got to this point and Ezequiel didn't dare to not pay attention. "... we are too weak right now, and there are millions of people that could kill us, so never reveal anything related to the Chaotic Core." As Zatiel spoke the last phrase, he used his Primordiales-Core to make those words as an order that Ezequiel could not disobey.
Although restricting Ezequiel didn't feel good, especially knowing the loyalty of the little boy, the information of the Chaotic Core and the Neo-Demons was so important that it will doom them if the wrong people find out just how special they are.
Ezequiel felt quite weird as he heard the command and felt as if something was ingrained in his heart ensuring that he would never speak to anyone about the Core. Of course, even without the command, he would not do it, at least not consciously. After all, even though he was technically a child, his years as an assassin taught him that having wealth without power is a sin.
Seeing the expression in Ezequiel's eyes, Zatiel nodded.
"Well, it is time to leave this place, but before we do that, it's time for some payback," Zatiel said as he looked in the direction of a certain magical beast.
