Back in his cramped room within Steelhold, Han Sen stoked the small furnace. He filled a battered pot with water and tossed in the shimmering golden claws and carapace pieces. This was the crudest method, boiling the Sacred Blood material to extract whatever precious gene essence remained. It would take hours, maybe days.
Covering the pot, he pulled the obsidian crystal from his pocket. He turned it over and over in his hands, the trapped galaxies within its depths swirling hypnotically. But it yielded no secrets. Frustrated, his gaze drifted to the corner cage where a sickly Scaled Lizard, no bigger than a house cat, lay listless. He'd caught it weeks ago when its common-tier flesh still offered minuscule gene points. Now, starved and forgotten, it was barely breathing.
An idea sparked. Roughly pulling the lizard from the cage, he hesitated only a second before pushing the crystal against its slack jaws. To his shock, the creature reacted. A rasping tongue lashed out, snatching the crystal into its mouth. It gulped convulsively.
Definitely not inert, Han Sen thought, stunned.
The effect was immediate. The near-dead lizard thrashed in his grip, its dull green scales seeming to darken even as he watched. Its eyes snapped open, clouded with a sudden, feral energy. It twisted, needle-sharp claws raking at his hand. He dropped it back into the reinforced cage.
He sat cross-legged before the cage, heart pounding. He watched the lizard transform. Lethargy vanished. It hurled itself against the bars with renewed, terrifying strength, its scales deepening to a venomous emerald, claws elongating into wickedly curved hooks. The dull clang of the cage metal became frantic. Han Sen barely registered the rich, savory aroma beginning to seep from the boiling pot. His stomach growled, hollow and demanding, but his eyes stayed locked on the cage.
Twenty hours? Twenty-four? He lost track of time, consumed by the creature's metamorphosis. Then came the sound – a sharp, metallic TWANG! One of the cage's thick iron bars snapped. The lizard's head, now armored in dense, dark scales and sporting jagged fangs, shoved through the gap, its obsidian eyes fixed on Han Sen with predatory hunger.
A surge of awe and avarice warred in his chest. It worked! He lunged, dagger flashing from his belt. Before the mutated creature could fully escape, he drove the blade deep into its exposed underbelly, twisting savagely. The lizard convulsed once, then went still.
<< HUNT COMPLETE: PRIMAL-TIER SCALED LIZARD. >>
<< SOUL BEAST: NONE ACQUIRED. >>
*<< CONSUME FLESH TO ABSORB: 0-10 PRIMAL GENES. >>*
The phantom voice confirmed it. Han Sen staggered back, breath catching in his throat. "Primal… Primal-tier…" The words were a disbelieving whisper. The crystal hadn't just healed it. It had evolved it. From Common to Primal in less than a day. The implications were staggering, terrifying. Could it go further? To Mutant? To… Sacred Blood? The thought was almost too immense to grasp.
Elation exploded through him. He scrambled forward, ignoring the gore, slicing open the lizard's stomach. His fingers closed around the familiar, smooth surface of the obsidian crystal. He yanked it free, heedless of the viscera, and pressed it to his lips in a fervent, almost reverent kiss. He wiped it clean, holding it like the most precious relic in existence.
The Golden Beetle… it became Sacred Blood because of this. This crystal… it's a key. A key to evolution itself. His hands trembled violently. He bit his tongue hard, the sharp pain confirming this wasn't some desperate hallucination. This was real. This changed everything.
It took monumental effort to finally stow the crystal away, tucking it deep into a hidden pouch sewn into his worn trousers. Only then did the potent aroma from the pot fully register. His stomach roared. He snatched a bowl, ladled the shimmering, golden broth – now fragrant like the richest bone marrow – and gulped it down, burning his tongue in his haste. Warmth, deeper and more potent than before, spread through him.
*<< CONSUMED: SACRED BLOOD CARAPACE ESSENCE. SACRED GENE +1 >>*
Eight. Eight Sacred Genes pulsed within him. The crude boiling hadn't extracted everything – far from it – but it was enough. More than he'd ever dreamed possible.
Then he remembered the other prize. The Soul Beast. He focused inward, pulling up his status.
<< HAN SEN >>
<< STATUS: UNEVOLVED >>
<< TIER: NULL >>
<< LIFESPAN: 200 UNITS >>
<< EVOLUTION REQUIREMENT: 100 STANDARD GENE POINTS >>
<< CURRENT GENES: 79 STANDARD / 8 SACRED >>
<< SOUL BEASTS: SACRED BLOOD - GOLDEN CARAPACE (ARMOR) >>
Armor type. A fierce grin spread across his face. Let's see it.
He willed the beast soul forth. A streak of pure, liquid gold shot from the ether – the spectral form of the Golden Beetle. It didn't attack. It flowed. Striking his chest, it dissolved into a wave of shimmering aurum that raced over his body. It coated him head to toe in an instant, cool at first, then molding seamlessly to his form.
The armor that solidified was breathtaking. Not clunky plate, but a masterpiece of biomechanical artistry. Sleek, overlapping plates flowed like molten metal over hardened muscle. Gothic arches met aerodynamic curves. It encased him completely, a second skin of living gold, leaving only the barest slivers of articulation at joints – echoes of the beetle's own structural vulnerabilities, the armor's only potential weak points.
He flexed. No weight. No restriction. Only a surging sense of power and agility, as if the armor amplified his very being. It gleamed under the dim room light, less like gaudy decoration, more like the hardened carapace of a divine predator. It had the imposing presence of legendary crusader plate fused with the lethal grace of a predatory insect. It was, quite simply, power made manifest.
"Sacred Blood…" Han Sen breathed, his voice muffled slightly within the helm. He ran a gauntleted hand over the articulated forearm. The sheer, unadulterated quality was staggering. He'd watched enviously for months as others strutted in their Primal-tier armors – functional, often ugly things cobbled from beast hides and reinforced bone. This… this was forged by gods. It wasn't just protection; it was a declaration. And it was his.