Preparation [4]

It wasn't immediately a painful situation. The discomfort came first.

The fluid was surprisingly viscous. Well, it looked viscous, but Gio never expected it to feel viscous. 

He felt the gel entering his body and he felt it traveling through his bloodstream as something thicker than blood. It went down to his fingertips and then back up his arm, traveling his natural pathways until it reached his heart.

That was where the pain began.

Ba-dum!

His heart beat so powerfully that he thought it was going to rip out of his chest.

"Khhh…!"

He immediately gritted his teeth as his wrists pushed against the shackles holding him still. The stabbing pain in his chest had an obvious cause.

The serum's basis was beast blood. The theory behind it was that beasts had naturally powerful bodies whose characteristics could be absorbed through Bloodline Sequences, therefore, there must've been a way to use those same effects to do a one-time permanent enhancement on the body. 

What existed in Gio's body now was the blood of several mutated beasts with powerful bodies that had been combined and neutralized through the use of several binding agents. It was only natural for such a substance to be both volatile and hostile. 

Large amounts of energy spread through Gio's body with every beat of his heart. He could feel the energy of the serum reaching past his bloodstream, oozing into the rest of his body and coating all of his systems.

Each wave that spread from his heart made him feel that same stabbing feeling in his chest like he was being run through by a spear. Every single time the energy latched onto an organ, a muscle, or a nerve, there was a spike of pain in that area that he was forced to cope with. 

All of those pain spikes happened one after another in short succession, so even if they were isolated bursts of agony, it felt like one massive wave for Gio. 

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to breathe long breaths. His lungs felt like they were going to burst, but he knew he needed to keep breathing. 

'This…Aether…!'

He would never mistake the feeling of Aether in his body. There was nothing else that felt remotely the same. 

No wonder only experienced Sequencers could absorb it!

Their bodies naturally had more defense against the effects of Aether after so much training. It took a much larger amount to actually injure them. 

To them, this level of Aether could go completely unnoticed. They probably didn't even realize that the primary source of the serum's power was Aether. 

But for an untrained person like Gio, or even someone who'd only just received their Bloodline Sequence, this level of Aether was deadly. Those who survived with only some injuries were either lucky or had insane potential. 

Gio…

There was a time when Gio thought he didn't have either of those qualities. 

The current him, however, knew that in this world where even the best Sequences could be bought with money, the gap created by potential could always be surmounted.

And, the current him already knew how to deal with an Aether outburst in the body.

"Huu…"

It was a shaky breath, but he took it to calm himself down. The pain made it hard to concentrate, but he had to visualize the inside of his body.

He pictured his anatomy and drew into that picture the energy that was now flowing through his systems. He allowed the picture in his mind to move and change according to the changes in his body until the two lined up completely. 

It was just a visualization in his mind, sure, but it showed him exactly where he needed to focus. 

The concept of focusing inside the body wasn't invented alongside Aether Cores, but alongside Sequences instead.

For humans to learn how many Sequence slots they had, and for them to see what their Resistances and Weaknesses were, they had to first learn how to look inside the body. 

It was a natural ability humanity developed, but one that had to be practiced. For most, until they had been a Sequencer for a very long time, that picture remained extremely vague. 

Gio studied the human body so much that he could go for a degree in medicine. The image in his mind was much clearer, and since he already had practice, he knew what to do with it as well. 

He imagined that his body was a world of its own. He was the God of that world, using his ethereal hands to control its functions. 

He pushed those hands forward and touched the Aether in his bloodstream. He felt it react in the real world, sending a spike of pain up his arm. 

"Huu…"

He took another shaky breath to keep himself from screaming in pain and continued.

'I have to…create the core…'

He didn't plan to do it any time soon, but there wouldn't be a better time than this. Creating the Aether Core would both stabilize the transformation and boost its effects.

Plus, Aether that came to him like this, in a much more natural way, would be far better for the creation process than Aether he took from shards like he originally planned. 

'There's a cavity.'

There was a cavity in the sternum between the lungs and below the heart. That was where the Aether Core went. It was a completely spherical core that seemingly floated in that cavity without any connection to the rest of the body, but in reality, it was directly connected to the heart and its systems. 

It was easiest to explain the process in more fantastical terms, but it really was grounded.

In essence, it was a natural process of the body trying to filter the Aether into the only place where it could safely hold it, albeit temporarily. That was in the so-called "Housing" area where the Original Gene was located. 

Almost like controlling the extremities through nervous response, one could subtly guide the Aether's path into a different location nearby. When it arrived, it was affected by a pull similar to gravity and forced to form into a sphere. That sphere would then be forced to connect to the heart's systems as the body tried to rationalize its existence.

The odd thing was that nothing in this process removed the negative effects of Aether. It only gathered all of the energy in a single location. 

But the key was already within that process.

Aether and the body rejected each other naturally. The properties of Aether were known to corrode human organs and muscle tissue. 

However, if one could trick both Aether and the body into believing they were harmonious…

Aether had a property of adaptation that allowed it to flow through the entire universe without being affected by or affecting anything unless it was touched directly. 

In the same way, the human body had a property of adaptation that allowed it to grow and evolve through external stimuli. 

When Aether was compressed into a solid state, it directly adapted and changed its properties so that it would be able to flow freely again. 

And when the human body saw Aether as a positive force, it could find plenty of ways to utilize the energy to improve, even if direct absorption wasn't an option.

Aether Shards were condensed through the same principle. They powered the world so efficiently because Aether itself adapted and changed to smoothly release itself back into the world, providing a constant and stable source of energy if that flow could be directed.

The Aether Core's outer shell was made of Aether that practically became one with the body, but all of the remaining Aether within was constantly being funneled through the bloodstream so it could be expelled. 

It couldn't use the natural openings in the human body like pores since it was traveling through blood vessels and veins, leaving it to circulate through the body as a part of the bloodstream until it did find a way out.

The answer to its search was the power used by Sequencers when they fought. 

Nevertheless, the functions of the Aether Core could be explored once it had actually been formed.

At the moment, Gio was still strapped to that chair, doing his best to guide the energy of Aether to the cavity where he needed it to stay.

It didn't sound like a short process, and it certainly wasn't one.

Whether it be the pain that came from the serum's positive effects, the pain that came from its negative effects, or the tedious process of creating a core, none of them would end soon.

This would be a long, long battle for the young and ambitious hero.