Drip. Drip. Drip.
Eren cut his index finger, letting the blood flow.
The Array Formation absorbed each drop of blood, repeating the process over and over. The blood transformed into bloodline energy, keeping its purity while amplifying it. This amplified energy spread throughout Anfang via the grand-scale array formation.
Eren recalled how he became a half-blood while pondering over how to fulfill Anfang World Will's wish.
Unlike Demonmir or JJ Edgar, who had somehow managed to become one despite the rejection of two genetic makeups, Eren's transformation was linked to the Elder Ichor bloodline synthesized within Reen. If Demonmir and Edgar's transformations had demonic origins, Eren's transformation was based on something much more primal. Something that could be linked with the Existential Concepts that governed the boundless cosmos.
Elder Ichor. This unique bloodline could mutate upon being harnessed the right way, acting as a bridge between distinct genetic makeups. It altered the Beast Contract Spell, enabling something considered impossible by regular Rankers.
Using this aspect of the Elder Ichor bloodline, Eren planned to transform almost half of the Rankers into half-bloods. Many Rankers, including Sages, had used the Beast Contract Spell to enhance their abilities. Eren's Beast Contract Spell, which he had cast on the entire world, aimed to expose these individuals to the Elder Ichor's bloodline energy, altering their prior contracts.
One also considered the influence of Eren's renowned and groundbreaking White Raven potions. A vast majority of Rankers all across Anfang had consumed the White Raven potions containing traces of Eren's transformed blood. Once in someone else's veins, the Elder Ichor bloodline changed its traits, preventing anyone from acquiring it in its original form.
However small the residue of the Elder Ichor in the bodies of regular White Raven potion users, exposure to the Beast Contract Spell's bloodline energy meant their bodies would change rapidly. There was a high chance, over 95%, that these users would become half-bloods.
For the users of the Beast Scroll Spell who had not yet consumed the White Raven potions, exposure to the Elder Ichor's bloodline energy also happened. Their likelihood of becoming half-bloods was somewhat lower, around a 65% conversion rate.
The Beast Contract Spell marks a person's body with a beast tattoo using beast blood, the beastly essence remaining separate from the user's body. Yet, with the introduction of the Elder Ichor's bloodline energy, this beast blood was bound to merge with the spell users' very existence as Rankers.
The Elder Ichor, functioning as a primer, would facilitate the fusion of the two different genetic makeups. Those who fail to merge properly might lose control over their Beast Contract Spell, or the spell would vanish on its own. In the worst-case scenario, these Rankers would face severe injury or even death.
Eren had not thoroughly tested the Array Formation or the "test subjects" to ascertain how many would survive the transformation process or how efficient the Array Formation was in producing newly turned half-bloods. The estimated percentage of half-blood conversions was only derived from theoretical assumptions.
Some experiments needed to be performed only once. Plus, Eren just didn't care how many of the Rankers were converted into half-bloods as long as it got the job done.
As for why Eren aimed to convert almost half the Rankers into half-bloods?
This question would soon be answered.
***
"Aaaaaaah!"
A Sage in Zavir's group cried all of a sudden after the global Beast Scroll Spell got activated. The others were shocked. Fearful and confused, they looked at him because of his screech only to find him lying on the ground, writhing in pain and agony that had befell him from seemingly nowhere.
This Sage's name was Rahtor and he was dispatched to the battlefield by the Anfang Alliance. It seemed that the exposure to Elder Ichor's bloodline energy had caused something drastic to Rahtor's constitution.
Sage Rahtor was the user of the Beast Contract Spell. It had developed alongside his Ranking Journey, turning S-Rank when he became a Sage. However, it seemed that the transformation caused by the bloodline energy had nothing to do with Ranks and one's individual might. All of the living beings who had had access to Beast Contract Spell were prone to go through such transformations.
Sage Rahtor's body started partially shape-shifting as the blood of his contracted beast fused with his own. The beast blood was integrating with his existence and turning him into a half-blood.
Sage Rahtor's body couldn't deal with this drastic change quietly. It tried to resist, wanting to keep its original genetic makeup intact. However, the more the beast's blood was suppressed the more it caused heavy side effects on Sage Rahtor's body.
His skin appeared to melt, resembling a liquid exposed to extreme heat. Internally, his vital organs were under strain, unable to handle the rapid transformation.
"Rahtor… what is happening to you?"
Sage Zavir asked Rahtor with dread and vigilance in his eyes. Even though it might have looked like Sage Zavir had asked Rahtor thinking of his well-being, the former did not dare to go near Rahtor. It seemed that Zavir thought that the problem happening with Rahtor was contagious. He didn't want to be subjected to the same fate as his colleague.
"Aaaaaaaaargh!"
Sage Rahtor could only respond to Zavir's questions with screams and more screams. By this point, Rahtor's eyes had turned beastly and his mana signatures had also changed drastically. It was as if Rahtor's Individuality as a Ranker itself was at stake as he went through with the transformation.
It didn't take long for Sage Rahtor to exhibit beastly features all over his body. Zavir and the rest could tell that these beastly features were not because of any spell or artifact but Rahtor's new-normal state.
"This…" Sage Zavir was lost for words when he realized what was happening to Sage Rahtor. "He… he… it can't be. This is the worst," Zavir mumbled to himself as he looked at his colleague's situation.
"What? What do you mean? What is happening to Rahtor?" Hansen panicked after hearing Zavir's words.
Sage Rahtor's kept screaming as he tried to deal with the internal bodily turmoil that was caused by Eren's actions. Similar screams were heard from other directions as well, indicating the fact that the situation with Sage Rahtor was not an isolated incident.
"Rahtor… he is turning into a half-blood! They all are!"
