A/N:
This is a warning.
This chapter contains graphic content that includes torture. If you have a problem with that, I have provided a very short summary of the chapter at the end.
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After Cass reached home and had lunch, he got a message from Zeke, 'Come to the lab.'
He went to the lab and saw that Zeke was waiting for him.
"What's up?"
"Uncle Alexi brought the second ingredient. And now we have to start with the preparation."
He led Cass to the room with the subjects. Cass flinched when he saw the subjects gagged and tied up to the beds.
"Zeke, what is going on? Why are they tied up like that? Don't tell me you're going to...torture them?"
"Unfortunately, yes. And I'm not the only one. You are going to help me torture them."
"I will do no such thing. I already put up with almost bleeding to death every day because I trust you. I still don't know our endgame here and now you want me to torture another living being. You say that they are ingredients, but ingredients to what?"
"You will unders-"
"Yeah, I know what you are going to say. But I don't want to understand anything in the future. I want to know now. Or you can forget anything about me consuming whatever that they are ingredients for. You are my brother and even though we are just kids, I trust you with my life. But trust is a two-way street. You have to stop treating me like a baby and tell me the truth."
Zeke sighed. He knew that he had crossed a line he couldn't come back from but he had no other choice. He would not let anyone stop him from protecting his family, even if it was his brother. But he also knew that Cass was right. Unlike him, Cass didn't have memories of the future and was just a kid.
Asking him to torture somebody, even if it was the enemy, was wrong. Katherine, Alexi and he had decided to keep everything from Cass as long as they could. But he would have to tell him some things now if he wanted Cass to cooperate.
"Alright, I'll tell you. But before that tell me, did Mrs Carter give the lesson about the System?"
"Yeah, just today. But what has that got to do with anything?"
"Everything. She must have told you guys about dormant bloodlines, right?"
"Yeah, she did. Wait, do we have dormant bloodlines? I remember you saying something about Angels and Demons when we started bleeding on those slime cores. Do we have two dormant bloodlines?"
"I won't get into the details, but yeah. We have two dormant bloodlines. Mom and Dad had the dormant bloodlines of Sol Angels and Ash Demons respectively."
"Then how are we alive? Aren't Angels and Demons supposed to be mortal enemies or something? From what I've heard, their hate for each other is so deep that it is engraved in their very genes."
"Although very pure, the bloodlines inside us are also very dormant. They are suppressed by our Neo-Human bloodline. The red cubes that we have been consuming every day for the past two years are specially designed to slightly awaken them for a short time.
The elixir that I'm brewing will fuse them with our Neo-Human bloodline and create a new bloodline for us. But we need to consume the elixir before we go through the first Trial."
"But why do we need to torture? Aren't there any other options? What if we don't awaken our bloodlines? And where did you even get the recipe for an elixir?"
"I got the recipe from Dad's journal. He knew about the bloodlines and created the recipe for us. The journal was enchanted to burn after it was read. And there are no other options. If we don't consume the elixir, we will die. The diluted Aether will simulate the bloodlines and they will start fighting with each other. We will be torn apart from the inside."
Although he hated it, Zeke lied to his brother for his own sake. It wasn't just their futures but also the Federation's future at stake here. If they didn't succeed, the consequences would be catastrophic. Although some might think that it was very arrogant of Zeke to think that only he and his brother would be able to save the Federation, it wasn't.
His brother only took less than 150 years to become an SS Grade Player. He, on the other hand, was a S Grade Player when he died. It wasn't that he had less potential than Cass, he was just always busy with his research.
"Even if we somehow survive and awaken these bloodlines, the Angel and Demon races would be notified of our existence and come for us. We would be labelled as abominations and killed brutally. Then they would go after our friends and families. "
This part wasn't a lie. Even in his past/alternate life, the Demon Race only wanted him to join them after they knew about his talent. If they were to find out about them earlier, they would no doubt go through some of the worst tortures known to man. Their bodies and souls would be mutilated until even death would be nothing but a sweet release.
"Also, torture isn't our intention, just a by-product. So, even though I know that you don't want to do this and I'm sorry, but we need to get to work. So are you with me?"
Cass was silent. He understood why they had to do it. He understood the consequences if they didn't. What he didn't understand was his brother's indifference. It was as if torturing another living being was just another Wednesday for him. 'I'll confront him later on. Right now, I hope I can do this.'
"Let's do this."
"Great. Wear a lab coat, glasses, gloves and mask. After that, I will guide you through the process."
Cass did as he was told. Zeke then motioned for him to follow him. They walked to one of the beds. A demon was shackled on the bed. Zeke pushed a table trolley with some tools on it near the bed. Apart from the tools, there were four syringes filled with slime bodies with a slight red hue. Two of the syringes were marked by a 'C'.
"First, I will make a slit on their chests so that we can access their hearts."
He picked up a scalpel. It was a C Grade weapon and it was incredibly sharp. He only had to apply slight pressure to cut the Demon's skin. Soon, he created a slit and used a tool to open the wound. The Demon was awake and had started screaming through the gag.
"Now insert one of the marked syringes in the centre of the heart and inject the slime body."
Although Cass felt like throwing up, he controlled himself and did as he was told. He picked up a marked syringe and inserted it in the centre of the Demon's heart. He then injected the slime body inside and took the syringe out. Zeke put his gloved hand inside the wound and massaged the heart for about a minute before taking it back out and removing the tool that kept the wound open. He then poured a healing potion over the wound. He then took a marker and wrote the letter 'C' on his forehead.
The Demon had started convulsing and screaming. One could even see his veins through his skin. His heart had begun pumping the slime body containing a tiny trace of Sol Angel's blood along with his blood throughout his body. The tiny trace of Angel's blood was torturing his body from the inside. And this was just the first batch of the slime bodies. One couldn't even imagine the pain that the Demons would suffer with the last batch that had the strongest concentration of Angel blood in them.
They did the same thing with the other Demon The only difference was that they used an unmarked syringe and didn't write anything on his forehead.
"Now we will do the procedure on the Angels. but there will be some differences. Instead of the heart, we will inject the slime body into their spines. In the vertebra where their wings take root to be precise. this vertebra contains about 95% of their bone marrow."
The Angels started screaming when they heard what Zeke said. The vertebra where their wings took root was a very sensitive and vulnerable place for them. It was covered by two layers of protective bone. Even the thought was too terrifying for them and they were almost emotionless.
Zeke made a slit across an Angel's spine. He then used a tool to open the wound, making the spine visible. He could see that although the wings emerged from different spots on the Angel's back, they all took root in a single vertebra. He picked up a bone saw from the table. It used mana crystals as fuel so even a person without mana could easily use it. He turned it on and sawed off the two protective bones on the vertebra.
The Angel started screaming even more, but Zeke ignored it. He then put down the saw and picked up a bone drill from the table. It was the same as the saw and used mana crystals as its fuel. He attached the thinnest bit to it and drilled a hole in the vertebra.
"Insert the remaining marked syringe into the hole and inject the slime body inside the bone marrow."
Cass picked up the marked syringe and inserted it into the hole. He felt the syringe needle penetrate something soft and spongy. It was the Angel's bone marrow. He then injected the slime body inside the bone marrow before taking it out. The Angel let out a scream that he didn't even think was possible to produce. Zeke took an empty syringe and filled it up with blood regeneration potion. He injected that into the bone marrow and removed the tool that was keeping the wound open. He then poured a healing potion on the wound and wrote the letter 'C' on the Angel's neck.
Similar to the Demons, the tiny trace of Demon blood in the slime body was torturing the Angel from the inside. This made Zeke wonder why the two races hated each other to this extent. Even a trace of the other's bloodline in their mana-drained bodies elicited such a reaction.
[I have asked dumb Realm_Weaver to post the story about their hatred on that Discord server of his. So if you want to know more about it go and check it out.]
The other Angel, witnessing this howled in anguish. He had somehow managed to tear the leather belt apart with his teeth.
"You will burn for your crimes. My kind will take revenge for us on you abominations once they know about you and what you have done."
"Unfortunately for you, they won't ever know."
He didn't even bother to gag the Angel again and repeated the procedure on him. The only difference was that they used an unmarked syringe and didn't write anything on his neck.
After they were done, Cass couldn't hold it any longer and rushed toward the bathroom. He threw up in the toilet until nothing came out. He took a shower and then locked himself inside his room. Zeke knew that it was a very traumatic experience for Cass and he needed some time to process everything.
He met up with Katherine so that they could proceed with the next step.
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A very brief summary for those who couldn't read it:
Zeke tells Cass about the preparation of the second ingredients and how that would lead to torture. Cass refuses to partake in the torture and they have a small argument. Zeke tells Cass about their bloodlines and the elixir. He then lies to Cass that if they don't consume the elixir, they will die. He also tells him that even if they somehow survive, the Angels and Demons will find out about them and brutally kill not just them but also their friends and family.
Cass finally agrees to the torture and his involvement in it. They then proceed with the procedure. After they are done, Cass throws up and locks himself up in his room. Zeke, understanding that Cass needs some time to deal with the traumatic experience he just went through, meets up with Katherine so that they can proceed with the next step.
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Author's Note:
Hey guys, I hope you like the novel.
i will post another chapter later today.
What do you think about Cass's situation?
Tell me your thoughts about the System.
Leave reviews and comments because I love it when you guys interact with me.
Shout-out to @Suctiom, @romance_guy and @ASURA for being some of the first five members of the Discord server.
I have uploaded the race description of Sol Angels and Ash Demons on Discord.
Join our community on Discord for sneak peeks of future chapters, exclusive content, and other stuff. I actively come online to chat with you guys. The first five members get a shout-out in the next ten chapters.
https://discord.com/invite/Gc97rsw37R
I'm happy to announce that this book now supports voting.
So gimme them Power Stones.
Thanks for the support guys.
See you next time