It took hours.
Eighteen long hours of slow transformation to finally finish my evolution.
But it was all worth it.
When all my skin had turned opaque, and all my muscles had regained their former glory, I was a Human again.
Lesser Humans, after all, had an evolution process that usually spanned years. They naturally became Humans as they aged, therefore the process of evolution was not like a certain video game and anime where they glowed white and transformed.
I had simply skipped all those years by using mana to force my body into transforming. The people of this world had yet to discover such a thing as they refused to put resources into researching this phenomenon.
The wizards would simply say that they weren't doctors. They did not care.
Only a few actually did the research and were curious enough to question why some humans who were sickly when they were young grew up to be powerful mana users in the future.
Thus, after eighteen hours of gruelling meditation and manipulation of mana, I stood up, wobbly.
I felt brand new, like a newborn baby. Every part of me seemed to have been cleansed. There was not a single blemish, scar, or mark on my body.
It was pure and exquisite.
I looked at my body in the mirror. An unfamiliar reflection stared back at me. It was Caelum's face, but for some reason, I could see a hint of myself in his features.
"Could this be the influence of my spirit?" I wondered to myself.
Perhaps as I grew in this body, it would slowly morph to match my soul. I did not know what effects merging a different soul with a different body had, after all. I never thought this could happen, so I made no mention of it.
From what I could observe, however, was that a merged body and spirit clearly had deeper ties than I realised. They were even capable of influencing each other.
Ambrosya Black and Caelum Phricius had merged, but it seemed like I was the stronger, more overpowering presence.
I had my thoughts, and Caelum's memories were nowhere to be seen. Caelum still had his face, but it was slowly becoming influenced by mine.
It was interesting.
I looked out the window of my cabin. A new day shone through it. It was the day of the entrance exams.
...
"By the gods," I gasped in pure and unadulterated awe at what I now saw.
The Mana Metropolis of Aelthrie was indeed worthy of its title. It was a cityscape as far as my eyes could see, spanning a sizeable chunk of land and littering it with metal structures gilded with blue lights. With Mana Vision, the city truly looked alive to me. The blue lines that snaked across the city were like blood vessels, plentiful and pulsating with huge amounts of energy.
Arcs of electric-like mana flashed within the city's generators, and a special mana wind blew through the streets. The atmosphere of the entire city was conducive to meditation.
There was just so much mana.
This was the city that killed Emerallia the fastest. And I loved it. The tragedy that this place would inevitably cause would be a sight to see.
It was a sprawling metropolis powered by steam and mana. The lowest class in this place used steam, while the highest of the high tapped into the purest and densest of mana crystals for their everyday needs. No sight of medieval mechanisms or any of such primitive creations were present here.
If there were, then such a number was small and reserved only for the poorest of the poor.
—Passengers and crew, please prepare for landing. Passengers and crew, please prepare for landing... Landing procedures will begin in 85 minutes. Landing procedures...
The sound of the intercom with the signature muffled voice breathing out of it rang in my ears. A surge of excitement coursed through me as I fiddled with the ring on my finger.
"Today's the day," I flexed my entire body. I was brimming with strength.
I felt like I could run a marathon and then some.
I wished that the zeppelin would land faster.
...
I disembarked from the zeppelin and found myself barely able to figure out where I was supposed to go. In my hands were the bags that I carried with me after receiving them from the conveyor belt. They were much lighter than before.
A clear indication of my changed strength.
I looked around the place and found an escalator going down to the ground floor of the airport. It wasn't your typical escalator, though.
Floating platforms suspended in the air by mana and steel were moving along without rest. A light blue hue emanated from beneath each platform. It was like a maglev escalator with flashy neon lights.
I took a hesitant step onto the escalator and my eyes sparkled. Just this simple mechanism was already so mesmerising despite it being similar to Earth.
Now, everything in this city was akin to modern Earth but adapted in mana technology. That was how I crafted this city to be. And I had a feeling then that I would never get tired of this place even if the years were to pass.
In fact, I would probably miss it as I did for Gobble when it inevitably falls to the calamities to come.
"Haah," My initially joyful mood was overcome with a rage that refused to die down.
Perhaps, if I was strong enough, I could keep this city alive. Safe from all disasters. It could be my base camp.
An effective base camp at that, since it contained a lot of secrets that would all go to waste if it were ruined.
With these thoughts in mind, I exited the airport and prepared to board one of the available taxis.
My eyes glittered when I saw a certain vehicle. I had an inkling that I knew the person driving it.
It was a mana car. A high-end one, might I add. This service was going to cost me a bit, but I didn't mind, if it was for the connection I might develop.
That, and I wanted to experience the luxuries of this world before the dire circumstances prevented me.