Chapter 69: Metamorphosis
How long has it been since Hugo was captured by the mad Forever King?
That, he did not know.
After a while, the passage of time became meaningless, especially with his sense of sight being taken from him and the fact that he drifted in and out of consciousness for the most of it.
In his time being imprisoned, Joseph had done many things to him... many deranged and traumatizing things which included physical and mental torture that he did not wish to recall in the slightest.
And yet, while the experiments he was enduring were indeed painful and perilous, they were also an important lesson. as they helped him set his mind straight and forget about his other problems.
The only thing that mattered now was escape.
However, Hugo could not do that. The restraining machine that he was placed inside of was of the Transcendent rank, which meant that he couldn't break it.
Furthermore, he could not transform because his aspect abilities were sealed due to sorcery...
His connection to the Spell was also cut, making it so he couldn't manifest his runes, memories and echoes in the physical realm..
Nevertheless... he still had access to his soul sea.
The vast labyrinth of his soul had become a sanctuary for Hugo, where he found solace and comfort in its corridors.
When he first entered it, he had the idea that he could enter DNA chambers and clear them so that he could get something useful...
However, he had failed to consider one important thing...
The function that allowed the omnitrix to generate miniature trials was currently inactive as his soul and the DNA chambers themselves were not corrupted at all.
That was because the Omnitrix was currently linked to the Primus of this nightmare, which was not corrupted and thus his soul bore no trace of corruption.
And so the DNA chambers were simply locked, limiting him to a single playlist composed of twenty aliens, with the remaining ten being locked.
And so, he did the only thing he could do.
He simply sat and waited.
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Hugo sat on one of the ever-changing platforms of his soul maze observing the entire landscape shift and reconfigure moment by moment, with new pathways forming and novel shapes emerging here and there.
'What a beautiful place... Its a shame that I'm the owner of it...'
Hugo thought with a peaceful expression on his face...
He was tired... so tired...
He wished for this nightmare to end already...
And yet he could not afford to give up yet.
'I still have to prove to Sunny and Nephis that I'm the Superior divine aspect wielder, of course.'
He smiled, thinking about what his friends would think if they saw him now.
Would they be dissapointed or impressed by his adevntures?
Knowing sunny, he probably was fighting against saints as a mere awakened somewhere in the dream realm while nephis was challenging some unholy Titan, proclaiming things like "If that is my will than who dares to stop me?"
While Cassie... Well he was not sure what the beautiful seer does in her free time so he could not tell but she was probably alongside nephis and sunny right now.
Just as he thought that, something bright suddenly flickered past his eyes...
In one of the perpetually shifting hallways, a fleeting human silhouette composed of pure light appeared. It was so brief and rapid it might have been an illusion and yet, that was all it took to draw Hugo's attention.
Jumping off the ledge, he walked toward the light.
---
Seven days had passed since Dr. Joseph had captured Hugo.
The Paragon of Purity remained within his soul sea, immersed in the glow of his six radiant omni-cores.
He was... pursuing the light.
The faint glimmer he had barely glimpsed had captivated him entirely, compelling him to devote every conscious moment to finding it.
It was his only way, after all.
his only salvation...
---
Seven more days passed.
Today marked the fourteenth day since his captivity, and yet He was still searching for the light.
His soul was straining slightly. After all, no Awakened was meant to spend this much time in their soul sea.
---
Exactly one month had passed since his capture.
Hugo had lost touch with concepts like common sense and even his goal of escape.
Instead he had committed himself entirely to a single purpose: finding the light, as if enthralled by it.
He could feel his body in the waking world being experimented on, with that psychopath constantly injecting foreign substances into him, gruesomely changing his body.
And yet, it did not matter.
As long as Hugo found the light, all of his worries would vanish...
The endless maze of his soul sea extended as far as the eye can see, almost if they were endless but that did not make navigation impossible.
Locating something within it was not impossible, either. He simply needed to search more diligently.
And just then, Hugo saw it.
A small sphere of white light standing at the edge of one of the platforms and as Hugo approached it, the Omnitrix on his hand suddenly emitted a beautiful green light responding to its presence.
and the voice command function, which hadn't been deactivated due to it being a part of an attribute, activated.
[Anomaly detected]
[Type: Spirit body, origin: Heart God, classification: sentient relic]
Hugo stared confusedly at the sphere of light, then asked in a tired voice:
"What is the meaning of this?"
The Omnitrix lingered for a moment before answering:
[Accessing database...]
[Information found]
[Article 68, Server 7: The gods had many descendants and followers walking the path of ascension, and to aid them in their ascent they created a myriad of noble creatures that were not fully sentient, posssesing no will of their own and fully reliant on their master's existence. Shadow God created the incomplete Shadow creatures connected to the cores of his chosen ones, Storm Goddess created the mighty leviathans which grew with their master, War Goddess created golems which kept their master alive at all cost, Beast Goddess created the symbiotes which bonded with its master to augment their powers, Sun God created the sun maggots which showed the light to his chosen few, and lastly Heart God created the wraiths, the specters, and spirit bodies which forever changed the existence of his chosen ones. However, the gods were not the only ones who created such creatures, for the daemons too had replicated this process for their own benefit, which resulted in the creation of reflections by the Daemon of Imagination, the whispers by the Daemon of Dread, the darkness leeches by the Daemon of Destiny and many others.]
Hugo rubbed his chin, absorbing this new information.
He had learned much from the Omnitrix's extensive archives, particularly regarding the gods and noble creatures and So far, this knowledge had aided him in adapting to his transformations and deepening his understanding of what it truly meant to become a noble creature.
And this too was a valuable piece of information, as it explained the nature of the thing in his soul...
'Wait, incomplete shadows... like Sunny's?'
It seemed that Sunny possessed incomplete shadows, or incomplete noble creatures to be specific, through his divine aspect like the stone saint and that shadow serpent of his.
"But why is such a creature in my sou—" he suddenly paused, remembering something...
'The spirit seed!'
How could he have forgotten about it? After all, it was the key that helped him and the Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore escape without fighting Gunlaug and his men.
The same Echo which had a connection to the Heart God and had also absorbed thousands of souls alongside Gunlaug's body during its strange evolution. And now, months later, it seems that the spirit seed had reappeared, changed and evolved into something else entirely.
But this raised another question.
"Omnitrix, can I use those incomplete creatures or whatever they're called despite not having an aspect related to the god who created them?"
The Omnitrix answered rapidly this time:
[Yes. The Omnitrix is a tool containing the essence of everything that has existed and will exist, thus it is the ultimate bridge between all creatures.]
It seemed that he had discovered a new ability granted by his divine aspect. the ability to bind incomplete creatures to his Omnitrix.
'So Shadows, leviathans, symbiotes, golems, specters, wraiths, spirit bodies, sun maggots, reflections, darkness leeches, and much more...'
It was truly astounding... this newfound ability of his and fortunately, he had discovered it when he needed it most.
"Then can you bind this thing to me right now?"
[Yes]
"The cost?"
[Your spirit, or in your case, your spirit core.]
"Ah right..." Hugo mumbled.
He was somewhat unique considering that he possessed a spirit core rather than a simple spirit.
A while ago, during his time traversing the White Desert, Azarax and Eurys shared some intriguing insight with him regarding the path of ascension such as the components making up a being which were the soul, the Source then the body, functioning as the vessel of the soul and the mind that served the conduit connecting them and than there was the spirit, the engine enabling this process which represented the "I" and the "will".
Lastly, there was the shadow, which was the death of a creature.
All five components are essential for anyone walking the path of ascension...
But Huo was unlike other people walking the path of ascension.
His spirit possessed a Spirit Core, forged from omni-energy during the harrowing experiments of the First Nightmare crucible. What that truly meant, however, he did not yet understand.
This was because he had not yet reached the higher ranks—Transcendent, Supreme, and Sacred—where the spirit becomes a significant factor.
'If this helps me escape now but hinders my ascension later... then I cannot do it...'
But than again, beggars can't be choosers.
Hesitating, he asked the Omnitrix again:
"Can you explain the process?"
[The process of binding the spirit body is by simply fusing it with your spirit. Meaning the spirit body will become your spirit and grow alongside you. However, if it is destroyed then your spirit will crumble as well.]
'So that's what it meant...'
He sighed. It was certainly a gamble, and a big one, But if it meant escape then he should do it nonetheless.
"Start the process, Omnitrix."
The Omnitrix paused for a moment, then said:
[As you wish]
Then Hugo clutched his chest as he felt unparalleled agony in the depths of his vast soul.
His spirit core, which had been dormant untill now, emerged from his omni cores descending gradually and gently toward the white sphere of light...
The two orbs circled each other briefly, spinning rapidly before drawing closer to each other. Then After a moment of spinning, they collided.
And Hugo felt his very essence, the piece that contained the "I" and the "self," shake as it was being transformed into something new entirely.
It was such a profound change that even the most powerful of creatures would have had to use all of their will to retain their sense of self... However, Surprisingly enough, Hugo did not feel that alienated by this process.
Aside from the agony, it was quite a familiar sensation. This was because Hugo had undergone changes to his body, soul, and spirit numerous times already whenever he used the Omnitrix.
His flaw, which changed the "I" subtly each time, also played a role, allowing him to retain his identity easier than anyone else.
Consequently, Hugo not only endured the transformation of his spirit but also mastered it, ensuring the Spirit Body could never act against his will.
As the orbs fully merged into a blend of green, blue, and gold, the pain finally ceased and Hugo sensed the alteration brought by his new existence.
''Strange... Am I so bland that even the literal transformation of my identity leaves me this unaffected?'
It was quite depressing after all. As if having a personality written by a. Third rate fanfic author...
Brushing the thought aside, he looked at the mass of colors above him.
Then he heard the voice of the Spell resound in his ears.
[You have received a Spirit Body].