guess my handsomeness is not there yet.' Felix chuckled in his mind while sipping from his glass of champagne as nothing happened.
He knew that what she did wasn't intentional as the path next to his table was truly the shortest of them all to the bathroom.
Plus, she wasn't childish to provoke him like this for no reason.
She was elected as the captain of earthling's team in Felix's previous life due to her serious attitude and maturity.
Of course, that was merely the cherry on top as the real reason was her leadership, overwhelming strength, and astonishing demonstration in the World's competition.
Currently, Felix didn't know her exact integration but he was certain that she was at minimum a lesser purity in the 1st stage of replacement.
For her to be in such a high integration percentage only meant that her affinity rating was above 75% and she was integrating with large amounts each phase.
However, the exact data about her wasn't shared by her or the Russian Goverment.
The only thing which they announced proudly was Slyvia's successful bloodline replacement with an epic tier 2 one, a month ago.
This actually made her the first one to pull it off in the world as the rest of the bloodliners at that point in time weren't ready to replace their bloodline even if they were at origin purity.
Adding everything to her breathtaking beauty only resulted in her being respected and sought by most bloodliners, males and females alike.
Meanwhile, in the eyes of Felix, Slyvia being the first one to reach the 1st stage of replacement amounted to nothing.
The number of 1st stage bloodliners that he had killed had far surpassed the number of attendance in this banquet.
As for her beauty? With a goddess living in his mind, she appeared the same as any girl. Thus, he didn't have any thoughts of wasting his time chasing her down even though he had a crush on her in his previous life.
Alas, his nonchalance to the entire interaction had just made the interested captains in approaching him, forgo those thoughts and just carry on interacting with each other.
They knew that if it was them, they would have at least gestured for Slyivia to take a seat.
But, he didn't budge from his place. If he treated Slyvia, the current number one bloodliner in the world like that, why would he bother to treat them any better?
Just like this, Slyvia did Felix a favor unbeknownst to both of them, letting him enjoy his upcoming food in peace.
After having enough of feasting his eyes on the beauties, wearing their homeland cultural dresses, Felix switched his sight to the dazzling males, wearing suits or tuxedos.
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Since he was as straight as a pole, he merely checked their mutations to pass time until his food get served.
'He is truly big.' Felix's eyes couldn't help but land on a giant bald-headed man, who reached two-meters and a half in height, towering over everyone in the banquet.
Unlike his terrifying size, he had an abashed smile as he conversed with a couple of girls, who didn't even reach his waist.
'Damn, no wonder they nicknamed him as the Colossal of China.' He mused.
He then switched his sight from him to a slender man with long ash-grey hair, reaching his waist. Looking at his gentle visage as he conversed and laughed with multiple captains, Felix's memory was refreshed at his identity.
His nickname on the internet was quite easy to remember...The Maestro of England!
"William something I believe? Yeah, he is a sound Elementalist.' Felix rested his hand on his chin as bits of memories about this man resurfaced in his mind.
Just as Felix wanted to check another one, he suddenly cringed at the thought of his nickname given to him by the internet.
While Slyvia, the captain of the Russian team was nicknamed on the internet as The Ice Queen of Russia due to her ice element and cold treatment to most people.
And the other two due to unique characteristics about them, Felix had gotten the worst nickname anyone could think of.
The moment Felix noticed how the people were referring to him on the internet after the national finals, he never stepped a foot in it again. He would rather not get nicknamed than get a shitty and cringy one.
Thankfully, he was saved from thinking about it as the waiters brought him the dishes and the bottle of wine after only ten minutes.
"Guten Appetit." The waiter said after placing down the dishes on the table.
"Thank you."
Without further ado, Felix emptied his mind and focused on seething his hunger by finishing off a dish after another.
Even though he was eating quite fast, his table manners were impeccable.
The captains, who were still glancing at Felix from time to time didn't show any mocking or weird reaction to him eating in a banquet.
After all, that was the god damn meaning of it. An elaborate and formal meal for many people.
As Felix reached his 4th and last dish, Slyvia exited from the bathroom and walked towards the open hall, choosing the same path again.
Felix didn't notice her coming from behind him, as his mind was entrapped by the food's deliciousness.
Thus, he got quite surprised when he smelt her enticing perfume as she walked right next to him with her black high heels, not making a single sound in this noisy hall.
After lifting his head, he was met an enchanting view of her exposed pale back due to the design of black dress.
Yet, Felix wasn't enchanted by this alone but by the two breathtaking butterfly-like wings attached slightly above her rear.
herself in bedsheets while in a curbed position.
Seeing how cute she appeared, Felix went and kissed her on the lips before whispering, "I will go back to reality and won't be returning for the next week or two weeks."
"Mmm." Hearing so, Nora merely made acknowledgment sound without opening her eyes.
After he received a response, Felix didn't bother to get out of bed as he logged out straight away.
Tststst!
A few moments later, the VR Pod opened up while emitting smoke outside of the lid.
Felix disconnected the nutrition needle from his bloodstream and the tube that was attached to his willy.
After getting out, he immediately went for a morning shower, which lasted 15 minutes. Then, he called for room service to bring him his breakfast and leave it in front of the door.
"Morning, guys." He called in a relaxed manner while gazing from the window at the breathtaking view of the sun slightly above the sky of Berlin.
"Morning." Asna yawned in her bed as she responded.
"Good morning." The Jörmungandr answered gently while sipping coffee from a mug and watching series on TV.
It seemed like either Asna had influenced him the past few days, or he was slowly adapting to modern life.
"If I get lucky with Lady Sphinx's essence, I will be making a breakthrough to the 1st stage of replacement today," Felix informed them with an eager expression.
He was expecting the 4 bloodline bottles to arrive today, as three days had gone by since he gave Bodidi the coordination of this room.
"Finally, you will get rid of this snake's bloodline." Asna fired shots while brushing her teeth.
Hearing so, Felix knitted his eyebrows as he remembered something he ignored for a quite long time now, "Elder, what's going to happen to you if I replace your entire bloodline?"
"Oh, don't worry about me." The Jörmungandr smiled faintly, "Nothing will affect my consciousness."
Felix found it a bit hard to believe as the only reason that the Jörmungandr woke up was due to reaching 99% in integration.
Thus, there was no way for Jörmungandr's consciousness not to be related to the bloodline.
However, just as Felix wanted to question the Jörmungandr about it, he heard him say, "The moment I woke up and saw how your bloodline integration system is all about, I split my tiny consciousness and placed a part in your human bloodline. So don't worry, as long as you don't die, I am not going anywhere."
"I am glad you did so."
Felix's worries evaporated immediately at his clarification. He knew that Jörmungandr's means were completely off the charts.
So it wasn't that hard to believe his words.
Felix looked at the time and noticed that there were still a couple of hours before Bodidi brings him his bottles. Thus, he decided to go for another round of practicing his inner manipulation.
So far, he was almost about to shave off a full second. However, the medium-grade stones he consumed to achieve so were in the hundreds, leaving him with only a couple more before running out.
Thankfully, Felix anticipated so and bought another 1k from the Fuzzia shop after purchasing the four bottles. Now, they were coming as well in one single delivery.
...
4 hours later...
Bodidi brought Felix his stuff and took off.
If the hotel's room weren't just a bedroom and a bathroom, Felix would have asked Bodidi to stay and wait for him until he finishes the filtration process.
So he could hand him the bottles and send them to Looby.
But, Felix couldn't risk letting Bodidi see what he was doing with the bloodlines. He trusts him not to be nosy and but not to keep his secrets.
After getting the delivery, Felix prepared everything needed for the replacement next to him while he was sitting on the carpet.
He lifted the first bloodline bottle that belonged to The Ebon Desert Lion and started to withdraw the content until the large needle was filled to the brim.
Felix flicked the needle tip once before placing it on his chest. He took a deep breath and penetrated his heart with it.
Without waiting a split second, he injected everything inside and repeated the same process until the entire bottle was emptied.
After doing so, he said with a hopeful tone, "Asna, it's your turn."
This was the moment of truth that would decide Felix's entire 1st stage speed of advancement.
The four bottles were all tier 5 epic rank, just like he was using with the Jörmungandr. So far, Felix never got less than 12% from using only four bottles.
Felix honestly was hoping to be just getting the same without lowering it any further.
Too bad the first bloodline results didn't put a smile on his face as Asna informed him that she found only 3%.
Felix didn't stress on it that much as he still had three more bottles. Alas, the 2nd one turned out to be empty.
Then, the 3rd one came, and still nothing! Felix was left with one bottle, and 3% essence gathered in total!
His heart had already sunk to the bottom of the abyss.
Still, it was attached to one final string that might pull it up. Felix's hand was shaking as he held into that string.
He looked at the empty last bottle in his hand and said while gritting his teeth, "Please just 1%."
He was waiting for Asna's news, and he felt like every second was taking forever to pass by.
After waiting for merely three seconds, Asna informed him while yawning, "I found 7% in this one and some memories about the Sphinx."
Hearing so, Felix couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
This 7% might have just pushed the total to 10%, which was quite a shitty result considering that he was using such high tiered bloodlines.
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But Felix wasn't complaining that much as he would take 10% anytime without batting a blink.
The fact that the Sphinx was a chimera of 4 species truly scared the shit out of him, making him assume the worse.
Thankfully, 10% was still manageable.
"Good work Asna." Felix nodded his head in appreciation before requesting, "Please continue holding into those memories to yourself for now."
Felix felt like it was better to see the memories linearly as he did with the Jörmungandr's memories.
The history might not be complete, but he would at least get a better view than just watching random pieces of memories without knowing which one was earlier than the other.
Asna voiced her agreement and followed it with a question, "Are you going to use 10% all at once or just 1%?"
"I will go for 10%." Felix smiled as he clarified, "With the elder's bloodline having the biggest percentage, I doubt that I will be feeling the same hellish pain that I went through after 50% anymore."
He grinned as he beamed the four filtered bottles, leaving only a new bottle with the 10% Sphinx bloodline. "Plus, using 10% all at once is probably going to give me a useful mutation unlike before."
Felix always desired a mutation from a primogenitor's body.
The Jörmungandr's mutation only made him appear stunning and dashing. But Felix believed that was a wasted opportunity.
Hardworking bloodliners, who always strive for the best, never replace a bloodline with lower than 15%.
First, this gives them a straightway new passive, replacing the old one.
Second, with such a high percentage used, they were bound to receive a useful mutation that could be even better than an active or passive ability!
For example, Claws morphing ability consume elemental energy each second, draining the bloodliner of a well-needed resource.
However, those with mutations receive the same claws with the same strengths and weaknesses without losing a single ounce of their energy!
This mutation could actually turn permanent if the bloodliner received an ability related to those claws and decided to etch that said ability in his 1% bloodline.
This, of course, would make him stronger than his peers without mutations.
Adam and Noah, the first ones to reach origin purity, took a month's break to prepare themselves for integrating 15%+ all at once.
Felix heard from Olivia that both of them succeeded yesterday in doing so. He still didn't check on their mutations, but they must have gotten something good from how Olivia sounded.
Speaking of Olivia, she was actually already in origin purity, but she still didn't ask Felix to hand her the tier 2 epic bloodline that he bought for her.
It was clear that she wasn't ready yet.
Felix didn't rush her as he knew that it was better to prepare and integrate a lot at once, then replace the bloodline for the sake of replacing it by using 1% or such.
If Felix wasn't scared shitless of integrating a whopping 15% at once, he would have waited as well until he gathered that amount.
Alas, Felix's difficulty integrating with 10% at once was probably the same as integrating with 20% or more for the others.
That amount was already too much to handle, even for Felix. He didn't want to get greedy lest he ends up getting killed just because of adding 1%.
"Old snake come and watch him get tortured with me; you will love it!" Asna's loud voice traveled wide and far in the consciousness space like yelling at her neighbor.
"Tell him to hold for ten minutes." The Jörmungandr shouted at well, "The episode is about to end."
"Felix, the old snake..."
"F*ck, I can hear him, stop yelling in my mind." Felix replied in irritation while rubbing his temples.
Though he was annoyed and eager to start, Felix did plan to wait 10 minutes obediently without voicing a single complaint.
He was glad that the Jörmungandr was interested in series and movies.
Heck, he would be glad if he got interested in anything actually. As long as he gives up on seeking death.
10 minutes later...
"Go ahead, child."
Hearing the Jörmungandr's elderly voice, Felix snapped his eyes wide open as he took the needle, which was already filled with the Sphinx's bloodline, and stabbed his heart with it, injecting everything within his bloodstream.
Without delay, Felix drunk the four pain relief potions first, followed by the double percentage potion, which allows him to experience half the pain.
After doing so, Felix waited patiently for the pain to set in. Since the hotel's room wasn't really that soundproof, Felix put a leather belt in his mouth and bit on it.
Seconds went by, then minutes...Asna and the Jörmungandr were sitting on one couch, each holding a bucket of popcorn. One was flavored with Caramel and the other had a purplish fluid on top of it.
However, they weren't eating it as their eyes were fixated on Felix. Asna was looking at him in eagerness and sadistic joy while the Jörmungandr was observing him in curiosity.
Both of them soon shared the same entertained expression after seeing Felix's face get twisted like a rope as he bit on the thick leather belt with all of his strength.
Mmmmmmm!!!!!!!
Asna was a bit disappointed by not hearing him scream with his high-pitched voice like a little girl instead of him just letting out muffed out noises.
However, looking at his watery eyes and snort running down his nose was more than enough to get her in a good mood for an entire week.
After a couple of minutes...
"Oh? he is receiving the first mutation."
Intrigued, the Jörmungandr said as he noticed Felix's spring green hair with purplish tips was getting completely reshaped from its roots.
The color was changed to sunflower blonde with some random locks turning wholly pitch-black. This led Felix to have some tips in blonde while some in black.
However, this sense of chaos and erraticness gave a peculiar sense of harmony in the eyes of Asna and the Jörmungandr. The feeling was the same one that Felix experienced when he first saw the Sphinx.
Yet still, the hair mutation wasn't over yet as surprisingly even its strands' straightness was turned into being slightly wavy, with the hair's never growing thickness, Felix started to resemble a lion with a fluffy golden mane!
Thankfully, the hair stopped growing after almost burying his entire head in it.
This blocked Asna and the Jörmungandr from seeing his unsightly expression but they could guess that he wasn't doing well by how loud his muffed noises got.
As they assumed, Felix's eyes started to bleed buckets, forcing him to close them shut while holding into them tightly with his hands.
He kept rolling on the carpet, spreading his blood all over the place, making a mess. Yet, Felix didn't seem to care about anything as the only thing that was on his mind was the agony of having his eyes forcefully getting changed.
That's right!
Even his violet serpent-like eyes weren't spared, as his slits were enlarged to the maximum before getting reshaped from thin slits into a triangle with sharp endings, resembling two pyramids! One was straight and the other upside down!
Just like the pupil of the Sphinx, they were golden in color instead of black!
After this process finished, his irises color was switched gradually from violet to pitch-black, appearing as darkness reigning over two golden shimmering pyramids.
However, this scene couldn't help but get stained with blood, as by the time the mutation finished, Felix's eyes were completely red.
Fa-tshh!...Mmmmmmmm!!!
The moment the 2nd mutation ended, the 3rd one followed after, making Felix want to scream at the top of his voice.
Who could blame him though?
A huge bulge was starting to emerge slightly above his rear, appearing like something was trying to push its way out forcefully.
Unfortunately, that exactly what happened as Felix's skin finally couldn't take it anymore and ruptured wide open, letting out a long bloody stained tail!
Asna raised an eyebrow in surprise at the sight, as the tail wasn't serpent-like but actually resembled a lion's tail!
Its golden fur could be seen from its unstained patches. Most importantly, the end of the tail bulgier and bushier. Just like his hair, the fur of this bulge was black, contrasting with its golden color.
Whoosh Whoosh!
The instant the tail reached one meter in length it stopped growing and began to flail aimlessly without control.
It seemed like its nerves were already wired to the nervous system, making Felix's agitation and agony move it like that.
Fortunately for Felix? Not a single mutation appeared after this one as the replacement process was about to finish.
Unlike the other integrations, this one was the messiest of them all as the entire room was painted with drops of blood!
Walls, bedsheets, carpet, and even the ceiling weren't spared!
All of this due to his stained tail hurling blood in every direction. God knows how long it would take for the hotel's staff to clean up this mess.
Fortunately, the golden tail started to relax its movement until it remained still just like its owner, who landed on his back after the feeling of nothingness assault his being.
That feeling had marked the end of the replacement process.
'Finally...' Felix managed to let out only a soft sigh of relief before his eyelids were closed shut.
In the end, he couldn't handle the exhaustion and relaxed his muscles, making him lose consciousness instantly.
"Ahh, nothing beats the old days of seeing him getting tortured without worrying that he might end up dying."
Gratified and content, Asna stretched her arms behind her back as she stood up from the couch. She was planning to head back to her mansion and continue her sleep.
Seeing that Felix was lying on the ground like a corpse, the Jörmungandr lost interest and teleported to his bedroom.
...
12 hours later...
Argh!
A soft groan escaped from Felix's lips as he woke up to the nasty feeling of having every inch of his body pricking him due to the aftermath of using such a large percentage to replace with.
Thankfully, he wasn't as weak as in his earlier days, making his body not get wholly ruined and on the border of crippleness.
Thus, he moved his hands slightly next to him, trying to find the rejuvenation potions.
Alas, he completely forgot that he was rolling on the carpet and not remaining in his position where he placed the potions.
After touching here and there without finding anything, he realized it as well.
'Damn it.' Exhausted, Felix attempted to open his eyelids, but they felt as heavy as a brick.
Still, with enough persistence, he managed to open them slightly, letting him see everything in red due to the stagnated blood blocking his sight.
However, unlike the last time during awakening, where his vision was hazy and confusing, everything appeared clear as crystal in his eyes!
It's like he was looking through red glasses!
This made him pretty confused, but he didn't bother addressing it now, as the only thing in his sight were the bottles lying on the carpet a couple of meters away from him.
Seeing that the distance would be hell to reach in his messed up condition, Felix decided to give up on them and use his revitalization passive.
Without further ado, he activated his corruption aura and let his body absorb the poison and heal up back in shape.
While his energy was being consumed like there was no tomorrow, his body was getting healed even quicker than using rejuvenation potions.
Felix never bothered to use his passive before, as the moment he got it, he was already past 50% in his integration.
After it, his head was starting to hurt due to Jörmungandr's oppressiveness. Felix couldn't activate abilities when his head was about to split into half by that nasty headache.
Thus, he used rejuvenation potions until now, when the headache wasn't a problem anymore.
30 seconds later...
Crack! Crack!...
The moment Felix tried to stand up after feeling alright again, every pressured joint in his body started making noises, relieving their stiffness.
Feeling comfortable, Felix took it on himself to stretch the remaining joints while walking towards the bathroom.
He wanted to clean up his eyes first as he might be able to see clearly, but everything appeared in red even his overgrown hair, which was impossible to miss.
After reaching the sink, Felix opened the tap and cleaned his hands first from the blood.
Then, he brought his face near the sink before starting to smack it over and over again with water while simultaneously running his hands on it, trying to remove the stagnated blood in a thorough manner.
His eyes bled way too much compared to the last time. This took some effort to finally clean them and let Felix's vision return to normal.
The first thing Felix did after regaining his sight was lifting his head and see his reflection in the mirror. He wanted to see how the mutations appeared.
Immediately after seeing his golden triangle-like eyes and overgrown deep yellow hair mixed with pitch-black locks, a satisfied smile emerged on his face.
He got to admit that he preferred this appearance way more than the first one, especially the darkened irises with their golden triangle-like pupil.
He noticed before that the Sphinx had those eyes and he was quite fascinated by them.
"Ah, I need a haircut again." Felix sighed exasperatedly while holding his hair with both hands, keeping it away from blocking his face.
If he let go, his head would be completely buried down to his neck.
"There must be something else right?" Still holding his hair, Felix looked underneath him and didn't notice any mutation on his front.
However, the moment he turned his head and saw the golden tail touching the ground motionlessly akin to a dead snake, his eyebrows couldn't help but start to twitch.
He always expected that he might get a tail mutation from the Sphinx, but he didn't think it would be from the lion species!
He assumed that since the Sphinx tail was serpent-like, he would also be getting a furless serpent's tail.
He actually wanted the serpent tail since he received one as well in his 2nd stage of replacement in his previous life.
The tail he received made rattling noises that had a small chance of messing with the senses of his foes.
Yet, looking at the golden tail with its bushy end, Felix didn't know if it had a hidden ability like that.
Honestly, he was hoping that it had, as those were the three mutations that he obtained.
So far he didn't notice any benefits from them besides making him look extra dashing just like the Jörmungandr's bloodline!
Felix didn't f*cking use 10% all at once to be extra handsome!