Chapter 8 I Want to Become a Transcendent (Additional Chapter)

The attendant led everyone to the doorway of the room, curved their fingers, and knocked on the door, then hurriedly left.

A moment later, the door opened.

"Eleanor?" The one who opened the door was a young woman, about in her early twenties, with soft, fluffy, flaxen hair and a pure, pretty, and pleasant face, clearly another beauty.

Hey, why do I feel the need to say "another"? Aske wondered to himself.

"These two are..." Her voice elongated as her gaze fell on Aske and Peggy.

"This is the expert I told you about!" Eleanor said excitedly, "He has recruited me to join his team!"

"Really?" Nora also showed a surprised expression, "That indeed calls for a celebration. I'll go open the champagne, you guys come in first."

As everyone entered the room, they saw Nora's luxurious hotel suite, which was almost the size of a normal commoditized apartment, divided into two levels of nearly two hundred square meters. The upper level was the guest bedroom, and the lower level was the sitting room, furnished with sofas and tables and chairs in the ancient Solomon style, walls adorned with stone carvings, oil paintings, and tapestries depicting dragons. There was also a small bar in the center of the sitting room, the wine cabinet displayed neat rows of dark green bottles affixed with all sorts of exquisite labels.

Nora took out a bottle of wine from the cabinet, shook it vigorously a few times, then aimed it at Eleanor and popped the cork:

"Champagne attack!" she cried mischievously.

Eleanor quickly drew her shield from her back, blocking the spray of wine.

"That's no fun." Nora tossed the bottle in the garbage, "Your reaction speed keeps getting faster, Ellie."

"I have been beaten black and blue these past few days." Eleanor put away her shield, "How can I afford to not react quickly?"

"So, this is the big expert who beats you until your face swells every day?" Nora turned her gaze, smiling at Aske.

"Allow me to introduce myself." Aske reached out for a handshake, "I am Aske Lepeios Achilles, and I am planning to build my own team."

"Nora Valerius Lysinius." Nora introduced herself, stating a name from ancient Solomon lineage.

"I hear you graduated from Solomon City's St. Maria Theological College?" Aske got straight to the point, "A military nun?"

"Yes." The other side had specifically emphasized "currently forming a team", so Nora could guess Aske's intention and said with a smile, "The technique I used to heal Ellie should prove my professional capability."

"Healing needles? Or extraordinary ability?" Aske pursued the question.

"Healing needles." Nora was taken aback, then replied, "Ellie's injuries were mostly tissue contusions and internal bleeding from ruptured vessels, so I used a bi-peptide + platelet formulation + hemostatic gel for repair, and disinfected with 75% alcohol before injection."

"What about fractures?" Aske quickly shifted into interviewer mode, probing her further.

"First I'd use a sonic scopemeter to check the fracture status," Nora fluently replied, "If it's a comminuted fracture, emergency surgery is required to remove small fragments. Otherwise, it's a plaster splint and then a healing injection, with specific location and dosage depending on the injury."

"What if the damage was caused by extraordinary power?" Aske rolled out his final question.

This was evidently a more challenging question, and Nora furrowed her brow for a moment before answering:

"First, I would have to confirm whether any residual power remained in the body. If so, it has to be removed. After clearing, treatment depends on the symptoms."

"Besides healing, military nuns should also have mechanical maintenance courses," Aske remarked without agreement or disagreement, pressing on his questioning, "Can you repair firearms and transportation vehicles?"

"I can." Nora nodded.

"That's it." Aske concluded, "You have passed my interview, Miss Nora."

Eleanor clapped from the side.

"Thank you for your recognition, Mr. Aske." Nora said with a smile, "Now it's my turn to state what I seek."

"As you can see, we are currently a startup team," Aske spoke earnestly, "Although I have personally invested a thousand pounds into the team, the salary cannot be too high. What I can guarantee is that my team will not exceed 10 people, and everyone will receive the same compensation, so..."

"You misunderstand, Mr. Aske," Nora shook her head, "It's not the salary I care about. As you can see, thanks to my parents' generous funding, I am not lacking money in my life."

"So what is it that you need?" Aske asked.

"I wish to become a Transcendent," Nora solemnly declared.

For a moment, the room fell into complete silence. Eleanor's breathing seemed to quicken, and Peggy behind her crossed her arms, remaining silent. Aske looked at her for a while before asking,

"Why do you want to become a Transcendent?"

"Because Transcendents are very powerful," Nora said frankly. "Ever since I was little, I've had a dream to understand more of the world's mysteries. So I set a small goal for myself, to travel the whole world..."

"Do your parents support you in this?" Aske asked in surprise. Was this rich and beautiful young lady's character a bit unconventional? Was she like Columbus, who had loved adventure since childhood?

"Of course," Nora replied without hesitation. "I am the youngest daughter in the family, so running the family business will never fall to me."

I see. Aske nodded. In this world, it was common for the eldest son to inherit the family business, while the younger son or the youngest went out to seek adventure.

"So you want to become a Transcendent to be able to handle the dangers you'll encounter while traveling the world," Aske summarized. "Just to make sure, do you truly understand what it means to become a Transcendent?"

"It means I have to consume a special Magic Potion," Nora answered. "My father once brought me a Gene Preparation from the Church Court, but it can only greatly enhance Physical Power or Spiritual Power, it does not bring about the qualitative change of the Extraordinary trait itself, so I still prefer the Magic Potion route."

"But this also means transforming in the direction of becoming non-human," Aske reminded her.

"Non-human?" Nora showed a puzzled and confused expression, apparently her understanding of Transcendents was only superficial, while Peggy thought of what Aske had once told them, about the legend of Octavian turning into a Giant Dragon after death, being carried out by 40 Knights.

"I can help you become a Transcendent," Aske slowly said. "But as John Milton put it, you can never know how terrible Hell is until you truly fall into its depths. I can tell you the truth, but only after you sign a contract and join us."

"Alright," Nora hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded in agreement. The yearning to become a Transcendent overcame her fear of the unknown horrors that Aske had described.

Aske took out four pieces of parchment from his bag and laid them out in front of everyone. Nora and Eleanor picked them up and read them; they were standard mercenary service contracts, with the only difference being they stipulated uniform team salary disbursements, with each person receiving the same wage.

This also meant that Aske's team would always remain small-scale, for as soon as the number of members increased, there would be a need for management, and it was clear that management talents could not accept the same salary as the lowest level. In other words, when Aske said the team was "small but elite," he was serious.

Eleanor signed her name openly, two copies each. Nora hesitated for a moment because the contract did not stipulate the obligation to help her become a Transcendent. However, considering both Eastern and Western Churches' unanimously cautious attitude towards Transcendents, even if such a contract were signed, no official entity would endorse its binding force.

After pondering for a long time, she too finally signed her name.

"Very good," Aske put away the contract, "Now we can be frank with each other. Peggy?"

Peggy inwardly cursed, this guy indeed wants me to come out and reveal my identity. She hummed indifferently, took off her mask, removed her hood, and revealed her small head and the pale face under her black hair.

"I am a Transcendent," Peggy said coldly. "The Extraordinary Trait I currently possess is Flesh I."

"You are a Transcendent?" Nora asked in surprise. In her eyes, this short figure, who always wore a mask and a black robe, seemed more like Aske's attendant or servant, far from the imposing and awe-inspiring Transcendent she had imagined.

However, what shocked her even more came next. Peggy drew a Short Sword from the outside of her thigh and made a clean cut on her own neck, which was unprotected by Lock Armor, creating a gaping, blood-drenched slit. Nora couldn't help but scream, while Eleanor abruptly stood up.

With her throat and windpipe sliced open, exposing the terrifyingly red flesh, Peggy didn't fall down like someone on the verge of death, but stood erect on the spot. The flesh on both sides of the wound on her neck seemed to come to life, growing numerous tiny wriggling granulations that swiftly knitted together, returning her neck to its previous state in the blink of an eye.

"You! This is really... really..." Eleanor's mind went completely blank, momentarily unable to find an appropriate adjective. Nora, after being stunned for a moment, straightforwardly picked up the trash bin next to her and began to vomit into it, clutching her throat in disgust. This cruel and eerie scene was too intense a mental shock for her.

"Flesh I has the ability to heal quickly, making most fatal areas disappear," Aske introduced indifferently. "Flesh II eliminates all fatal areas completely, making the individual extremely hard to kill. At the same time, the body's flesh can transform at will, turning into sharp weapons or sturdy shields."

"Based on the Flesh Sequence's Extraordinary Bloodline routes, I know of two types," Aske turned to Peggy and continued, "Route I, continue to consume Magic Potions of Mind, Life Stealing, Shadow, and Illusion, ultimately merging into the Bloodline 'Blood Moon Hunter.' This Transcendent approaches the image of the vampires that are currently known across the continent, can control others' minds and thoughts, steal the Life Force of any living being, possess the ability for Invisibility and control over shadows, and can freely change their appearance and body features."

"Route II, continue to consume Magic Potions of Life Stealing, Rat, Night Bat, Plague, and Toxin, ultimately merging into the Bloodline 'Lord of Filth.' This Transcendent is closer to the traits of ancient vampires of legend, able to transform into or control rodents or bats, and spread plagues and toxins."

"Whichever route one follows, reaching the endpoint means transforming into a non-human. The higher the Level of the Transcendent, the less likely it is they can interbreed with humans to produce offspring. Ascending to the 10th Level means complete reproductive isolation from ordinary humans—no longer able to have children."

"Isn't that…" Nora exclaimed, her face filled with disbelief, "Doesn't that mean becoming a Transcendent will gradually lose the ability to reproduce normally?"

"There is one exception," Aske said. "Transcendents of Level 10 and above can freely control their Bloodline. After suppressing the Bloodline Ability to the lowest level, they can have children with another Level 10 Transcendent who has also suppressed their Bloodline Ability. The conflicting Bloodlines in the newborn will cancel each other out, so it is born without any Extraordinary Abilities, just an ordinary human, and will likely have a weak constitution prone to early death."

"At the end of the day, the process of becoming a Transcendent is one of non-humanization, like mixing other bloodlines into the pure human Bloodline until the resulting life form—can it still be considered human? Ancient Sirius has a mystical work called 'Theseus' Ship,' which specifically discusses the hidden knowledge of Extraordinary Bloodlines. If I have the chance, I will find it and show it to you."

Aske added one last comment as a conclusion to this introductory lecture on mysticism. Nora quickly drew a piece of paper and pen from the pocket on her chest and tremblingly noted down the name "Theseus' Ship."

"The path of the non-human," Eleanor muttered to herself in a low voice, her expression complex and unreadable.

"I've said what I can say at this stage. If after thinking it over, you still decide to become Transcendents, then come find me at this address." Aske handed over a note, which bore the address of his ancestral home, "Peggy, let's go."