Armonia Pendray, Ilverios, and Richard Hertz gazed at each other strangely as they stood before Amber in the real world. She was wearing her lab coat over her sexy office women's wear and was smiling as she stared at the trio, who had just heard something so outlandish that their brains failed to catch up for a short while.
"So you're saying… that you managed to detach some parts of that bastard's bloodline permanently, and they can fuse with others to grant them a portion of his power without any backlash?" Ilverios repeated incredulously.
"In essence, though the aspects chose to detach themselves without any input on my part. Once I found a way to communicate with them, they shared their desire for a better host, one that would fulfill their criteria." Amber clarified with a grin.
"I have heard about those bloodlines and Lineage stuff from the guild. To be honest, I was quite shocked to learn that the world had such hidden monsters, but it has provided me and my family great research with the permission of Brother Draco, as such I am indebted to him." Armonia began.
He then folded his arms behind his back coolly. "I do not want to die before I can repay him, nor do I want to remain dependent on external help to defend my person. My and my family's intellectual contribution to this world is paramount! Without us, the NuSmoothie would never exist!"
"We had to sell ourselves to various powers in an awkward balance so that we could remain safe, but it won't hold once we unleash our new product that was inspired by Brother Draco. As such, I required enough power to protect myself and what's mine at any cost, so count me in." Armonia stated with a confident smile.
Ilverios seemed surprised. "You guys have developed something new? You can always put a mission in Supernatural and have the Superior Lords break their backs to defend you. On account of your affiliation with Draco and Eva, the two new darlings of the organization, I doubt they would play any underhanded tricks."
Amber agreed to this. "They even moved to help us during our lowest point, the hearing. It would have been far more beneficial - on the surface - to team up with the others to take us down, but they didn't. Supernatural has proven themselves somewhat capable."
Armonia seemed hesitant, but nodded eventually. "I shall discuss it with my people... but my point still stands. In this world, the one person that you will always be able to rely on is yourself!"
Ilverios took this with a grain of salt before turning back to Amber. "I am also interested in increasing my power. After all, from what Draco taught us about Control, to reach Tier 4, we absolutely need this bloodline element, even a little."
"However, I'd like to know some specifics. Exactly which part of the bloodline are we to fuse with?"
Armonia heard this and also focused, wondering with curiosity as to what Amber had in store for them. The woman smiled and nodded, showing them three vials with different shades of brown mass.
"The three aspects that have split off are Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, Houyi, the Divine Archer and Xingtian, the Immortal Battle God. According to the list of criteria they have set for their successors, as well as taking into account for personality and compatibility, you three are the best candidates."
Amber put her hand to her chin as she added. "In fact, you are leagues above the next best candidates. Looking at the data alone, it's as if you were born to inherit one."
Richard, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke up. "A choice of three, A choice to be made by we, A choice with a guarantee, So to whom will what be?"
Armonia and Ilverios quickly whipped out notepads to jot the lines down with feverish expressions. Amber's smile became crooked for a bit as she parsed the 'question', but quickly regained her professional composure.
"Sun Wukong chose Armonia, Houyi chose Ilverios and Xingtian chose you, Richard. Here are the list of abilities we have gleaned from them, or they have reported themselves." Amber answered as she handed each one of them a clipboard with a paper on it.
As Sun Wukong's inheritor, Armonia would gain the Monkey King physique, which would allow him to gain great physical strength, speed, and endurance, as well as perfect elemental affinities.
He would also benefit from the Monkey King's Intellect, which would allow him to become a genius at anything he did. He would be able to obtain enlightenment in all fields of study with ease, able to divine new theories for his studies without bottleneck.
Most importantly, he would be able to use a Noble Energy variant called Internal Force, as Buddha had once been his master and taught him how to cultivate when Pangu and co had still been around.
All of this was, of course, referring to not just inside the game, but outside as well.
Reading through the list, Armonia's breathing became heavy.
This… wasn't this just perfect for him?!
Not only would he gain the physical strength to fight, but his already grand intellect would be further fortified, allowing him to make new discoveries!
There were many more things on the list, but just the first three had completely sold Armonia to the idea. Now, his mind turned into that of a junkie who was waiting for the needle to pierce into his arm and give him that fix.
As Houyi's inheritor, Ilverios would gain the Eye of God, allowing his vision to expand infinitely. In other words, his eyes would become like sniper scopes, only with infinite magnification!
He would also gain the Space Tear, Fatal Strike, and Sure Shot abilities permanently!
Space Tear allowed him to fire his arrows through the fold of space itself, remaining undetected until it came out to strike its target. It also allowed him to strike his target from anywhere in the world.
Fatal Strike made it such that anywhere his arrows struck would become a fatal wound, poisoned with Void Energy that would prevent it from healing easily. One must either block those arrows or dodge them, for being hit was not an option.
Sure Shot was pretty obvious, it fortified the inheritor's accuracy. No matter if you were John Wick or a Stormtrooper, your arrows would always be on point.
Finally, he would gain the Divine Bow and Holy Arrows, which were all conjured from Bloodline Energy. Every shot from those two was equivalent to a nuclear blast, and the drain was heavy!
Seeing this, Ilverios began to pant. As a Wood Elf, archery was a thing of art to him, not just his profession. From his gene, right down to the core of his soul, everything was screaming for him to assimilate this bloodline and achieve the perfection he sought in life.
As for Richard, he also scanned through his list. Xingtian's first ability would be his Dual War Axes, which were like Houyi's Divine Bow and Holy Arrows, or Sun Wukong's Somersault Cloud and Jingu Staff.
They were ultimate weapons manifested from Bloodline Energy that when used, drained it rapidly but granted insane levels of destructive power. Don't forget, these beings were regarded as Gods in myths and legends due to their power, so do not expect a simple strike when they made a move.
Secondly, the Immortal Battle God granted his inheritor pure battle strength. It wasn't just a boost in damage and defense, but when he made a kill, the inheritor would become a bit stronger permanently. The inheritor could also enter a berserk state and retain their mental faculties while enjoying a free boost. This one drained Bloodline Energy though.
Finally, Xingtian granted his inheritor immortality and partial invincibility. One would never age from the moment they assimilated him, and they would become hard to kill, gaining a healing factor no weaker than Deadpool. Unless you could vaporize all his cells at once, good luck ending him.
And that wasn't the end of it, yet the stoic Richard was already feeling his body buzz. His eyes were glowing green as his mind was filled with desire. This was exactly the kind of power he was pursuing ever since that day he declared to be his own master.
Seeing that the trio could not wait to get their hands on the bloodlines, Amber smiled. "Please enter those experimental pods, so that I can initiate the process."
The three did not hesitate to enter. The pods closed and flooded with grayish fluid containing endless nanobots. The fluid was clear, and it felt like a breeze to the skin rather than liquid.
It did not irritate the eyes or any other sensitive organs, feeling like one was lying in a meadow while the breeze was tickling their skin.
"Inject the substance." Amber commanded.
Soon, a brownish mass was inserted into the gray liquid, quickly being gathered into the bodies of the three. Armonia and co were surprised that they were not put under, as they expected this to be dangerous or at least hurt a bit, so they gritted their teeth in preparation.
However, there was none of that. Rather, the moment the brownish mass entered their blood stream, it instantly penetrated their bones and merged with their core marrow.
Some too merged with the lines of their hearts, while the rest coated their brains and nerve endings. The only thing the three felt was endless power coursing through them, their blood roaring like a river inside their bodies.
Their forms were rebuilt, slowly shedding different parts one by one for stronger and more fortified versions. Amber made sure to monitor these changes intensely, recording everything, so she could later study it in more detail. The scientist was curious understand how exactly those bloodlines rebuilt bodies.
If they could crack the method, they could replicate it using other substances outside the bloodlines themselves, which would be a grand step for humanity.
In a matter of half an hour, the rebuilding process came to an end. Armonia, Ilverios, and Richard had lived through it without much pain, unlike Draco who had been in utter agony and had even died for a short while when he had undergone it, a few hundred meters away from where they were currently at. This was because his bloodline potency was too high, not to mention his bloodline had been sealed shortly after his birth.
Armonia, Richard, and Ilverios had relatively sturdy bodies thanks to their genes/scientific background, unlike Draco who after regressing had started out as a nude chicken, before evolving into one in plate mail.
Whatever the case, the three manifested some changes.
Armonia's white hair grew slightly and became spikier, his shark teeth became slightly longer, and his tanned skin became fairer. In other words, his physical attraction grew by a stage, and his height even increased slightly. He still retained a compact form, but his musculature underneath his clothing was absolutely perfect.
Ilverios retained his dark skin, his tall and shapely body, as well as his chiseled face showing his sternness. However, his brown eyes had become golden, with a crosshair embedded in each of them, while hair grew out on his scalp that was silky smooth, reaching his shoulders.
His body had also expanded slightly m becoming much more buff and manly compared to before. After all, to pull the string of the kind of bows he would be using henceforth require immense strength.
Richard manifested the least changes physically. He only became slightly taller and much more buff, but his body became more streamlined. He was originally built like a blacksmith, but now he had an air of brutality to him. Not to mention, his green eyes had become scarlet. Anyone who stared into those eyes would feel an indomitable will to fight radiating from them.
Amber clapped her hands to gain their attention as the trio marveled at their changes and the power they felt coursing through them.
"So, gentlemen, how does it feel?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"I feel amazing. I can feel the Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth particles around me, and it feels like I can harness them to perform different actions at will." Armonia replied.
"My eyes see everything, from the instruments before to the very molecules that make them up. I can pick them out one by one." Tunder explained solemnly.
"An ax in hand, a will to fight, the truth I understand, is that this is right!" Richard replied as he manifested a set of Dual War Axes and started flourishing them.
