Chapter 15: Experiment no. 1

Elias thought of an absurd possibility. If he could merge the dragon bones with anything, what if he tried it on himself?

It was a dangerous notion that could lead to his death if anything went wrong.

He might die before even starting his true journey. Was it right to take such a risk without sufficient testing? He knew it was foolish, but this time, he wanted to be foolish.

With his weak and frail body, he couldn't even have climbed the pillar if there hadn't been an interference that gave him a free pass, thanks to the pillar's laws.

He was scared. He could even feel his heartbeat rising as he thought of changing his body. Was he still going to be human if he did that? Or was he going to become a monster?

His mind was filled with thoughts related to things that could go wrong, especially since there was not enough information.

"To think that I could still feel scared after going through all that." He could see that his hands were trembling slightly.

He had made up his mind. He couldn't take these bones down to test them. Moreover, there wasn't any other living being here for trial and error.

The only living material that was present for testing, was himself. He was like a crazy scientist that was trying to test his experimental drugs on himself, something that even Dreke Asbborn would never have tried.

Unfortunately, he didn't think that he had any other choice. He couldn't take these bones down. He wasn't strong enough. If he left them behind, then he might never be able to get them.

How long was he going to take to find some divine materials like this? His body was already broken multiple times before, and it was simply the beginning.

Even in trials, he had almost gone crazy to pass it. Every step of the way, he had to come across death. Could he afford to be scared of it? He didn't want to believe it.

"Merge the Bones of Ancient Dragon with myself," Elias said, tapping his chest lightly.

.............

Materials selected for merger: Elias Ashborn, Bones of the Ancient Dragon

Material Compatibility: 50 Percent

Merger Success Probability: 57 Percent

Would you like to proceed?

.............

Elias took a deep breath. There was no going back once he confirmed the merger. This was his last opportunity to change his mind.

His instincts screamed at him to give up, especially since the success probability was barely above the halfway mark.

"Proceed." Elias closed his eyes and agreed.

The moment he gave permission, the process began. Unlike before, he wasn't pushed back by the storm that appeared around the bones. Instead, he was at its core.

The bones of the ancient dragon became more condensed, as they were previously much larger than Elias's body. They flew straight toward him.

The wind surrounding Elias started cutting his skin, making him scream like a beast. It was as if someone had made a long vertical cut across his arm from shoulder to wrist.

The bones of the ancient dragon flew inside his body through the opening and started merging with his original bones. Even as his skin was sliced, he wasn't bleeding, as if his blood were perfectly still.

He was like a patient completely awake while undergoing surgery without anesthesia. He could feel everything, even the slightest cut.

He felt excruciating pain, as though every cell in his body was being torn apart and reassembled. The sensation was unbearable. He wanted to scream, claw at his skin, do anything to escape the torment, but he couldn't even twitch a finger.

Once his arms completed the merger, the wounds healed on their own, and larger cuts appeared across the rest of his body, with more bones flying toward him.

Time lost all meaning. It could have been seconds, minutes, or an eternity that he spent trapped in that pain.

He had thought he couldn't experience worse pain than he felt in the awakening trial, but every second proved him wrong. Even outside the trial, he was still a test subject. The only difference was that he was a crazy scientist as well.

Although he didn't know how much time had passed, he was certain that it was much longer than the extraction process. Fortunately, he was on top of the pillar. Even if he screamed at the top of his lungs, no one could hear him.

He didn't have to hide his pain anymore. He didn't have to hold it back, and hide it from the world. He could let out all his agony and pain through his beastly roar.

Throughout the entire process, Elias didn't lose consciousness. He wanted to see everything. He wanted to see the complete process, especially the end of this experiment.

Even if he was going to die here, he wanted to die knowing what happened. He didn't want to die while unconscious.

Moreover, he was the scientist that was experimenting with merger ability. As a scientist, he wanted to know every valuable data point that he could gather, especially since this wasn't the last time he was going to use this ability.

This was just the beginning for him.. a beginning of his eventual transformation into a calamity that devoured everything.

After what felt like an eternity, the storm around him finally disappeared. The last cut on his forehead also healed. There were no bones left to merge. The merger had been completed successfully, and the pain was finally over.

Normally, after a surgery, one could still feel the pain. But Elias couldn't feel even the slightest trace of anything as he fell on his back, exhausted.

It was as if everything that he had witnessed just now, including him brushing past death, had been nothing but an illusion. However, only he knew that there was nothing fake about it.

It was simply the effects of the merger. Lying on his back, he looked at the blood red sky. There was no smile on his lips, nor was he celebrating his first step into evolution or his survival.

There was only one sentence that escaped his lips, as he gasped for breath, "Experiment no. 1, successful."