Father Vincent's leave was followed by a furious stare-off between the two brothers. Murray eventually broke the silence.
"Father Vincent is a good man, but don't blindly believe everything he said."
"Which part did he lie about?" Mir asked in a boiling tone.
"Not lying, exactly. He just didn't explain some crucial details. For example, he didn't tell you that Sunbreaker's Church is heavily factionalized. If you have grand ambitions, you better be a member of a faction that can realize your dreams, or at least has the potential to realize it. So every Transcender there, from the top-management down to barely influential priests, are always looking to recruit powerful Transcenders into their own faction.
"Now there's almost nobody inside the Church who does not belong to any factions. And recruiting Transcenders from outside is a risky investment, as most of them have ties to forces competing with the Church for resources. So the more desperate ones have set their sights on ordinary humans who show potential. They can 'assist' you primarily with little to no cost and then have you enter the Church, enter their faction, and serve them out of loyalty."
Mir wore a distinct look of befuddlement as he said, "Then why the hell did you push me into this pit?"
"For the benefits, of course. This kind of agreement isn't official. He can't force you to enter the Church when you turn 18 just because he invested in your growth. You and I have to work together with that diary and all the resources we can acquire. Naturally, you'll need access to more information and insight into the world of Transcenders. Besides..."
Murray trailed off, seeming unsure whether to finish what he wanted to say.
"Besides what?"
"Never mind, it's not that important. What I'm trying to say is that Father Vincent won't be able to force you to join his faction, or even the Church. So don't worry about this arrangement and use the little benefits he allows me to give you. It's not much anyway. There is no need to feel guilty."
"Well, you could've at least consulted me before planning all this, Murray," Mir said, still a little pissed.
"Oh come on, I knew you would've agreed either way," Murray said, rolling his eyes. Mir didn't quite like how Murray was taking his consent for granted. But he was also certain that Murray was correct. He would have agreed to the arrangement. His thirst for strength was as extreme as Murray's.
"Speaking of the diary, you haven't told Father Vincent about how exactly we're planning to utilize it, right? The Energy Refinement technique he's bringing for you should provide a cover to hide the fact that we actually want to use this diary to consolidate the viruses and earn a mutation. We're gonna have to use the refinement technique only if the diary fails."
Murray nodded. "Of course. Your plan itself isn't too far-fetched. If I reveal the news to him, there's a good chance that my next month's application to retain the diary in my possession will be denied. Technically It's a property of the Church now. They have that right."
"If we succeed in awakening the mutation, tssss..." Mir's imagination went wild. For ordinary humans like them, the biggest obstacle to the path of Transcendence was Energy Refinement techniques. If they could eliminate the need for these techniques, reaching the status of an Evolved Transcender would just be a matter of time.
Both brothers began to prepare from that very hour. With the priest's approval, Murray no longer needed to hide the valuable data provided from the Church. He could share it all with Mir.
For the first time in his life, Mir had access to the solid, uncensored information about mutations, abilities begotten from mutations, Energy Refinement Techniques, and a vast encyclopedia of mutated creatures. From research articles to statistical data sheets, videos, and simulations, the sheer volume and significance of the information was not lost on him.
While Murray spent his time eating voraciously, Mir immersed himself into studying the details of how to choose safer mutations, how to refine the energy generated from killing viruses, how the growth of Saturation rate affected the body and mind, and most interestingly– how Consolidations unlocked the 'Soulslot' where Soulbeasts were reared.
The days passed as fast as monsoon clouds. With the assurance of the Church and the occasional visits from the law enforcement station, their parents decided to return to their usual routine, opening their shop daily and taking repair commissions. But the three siblings were still prohibited from going out by themselves, not that any of them had a problem with that.
Murray didn't plan to go out before finishing the meat in his mutation pacakge and reaching 38% Infection Rate. Murin was just happy that she didn't have to go to school, and Mir was so enamoured with the Church's database that he didn't even leave his room these days. The information available there dwarfed almost every data portal open to public, be it by quality or quantity.
As his depth of knowledge about Transcenders grew, Mir made an impactful self-discovery.
As a bystander to duels between mutants, it was normal for every passionate youth to harbor dreams of gaining their own mutant abilities and dominating all opponents, every obstacle by using the abilities effectively. Soulbeast commandeering, in comparison, was a path chosen by cowards who didn't dare to face danger themselves.
Even a week ago, Mir would have agreed with that popular sentiment. But today, he was more inclined toward the path of Soulbeast commandeering than the path of mutation embodiment!
The reason behind his change of attitude was simple. One of his fundamental misconceptions about Soulbeasts had been cleared by a series of articles in the database. He used to believe that Soulbeasts were so rare that only the exceptionally powerful and active mutants in the wilds could hope to rear them. The rich aristocrats could buy the opportunity to rear a soulbeast, too. So this path was not something an ordinary human could pursue easily.
However, he now discovered that Soulbeasts weren't actually rare; being able to rear one was. The factors that made a mutant creature into a soulbeast weren't yet fully ascertained. But many patterns had been identified till now.
To qualify as a soulbeast, the mutant creature needed to be intelligent, both as a species and as an individual. So the smarter the species was, the higher the rate of Soulbeasts discovered among the species was. And the higher the success rate of a human bonding with it was.
Another factor that contributed to the birth of a Soulbeast was mutation. If a creature was highly mutated, it was likely to qualify as a Soulbeast too. This meant that there were a lot of Soulbeasts roaming the surface of the planet, thriving in the wild taboo zones. But so far, humans had discovered only two ways to make a Soulbeast submit to their mental commands. And only one of these methods– forcing the mutant beast to submit by battling it, had actually reached the general populace.
Mir had discovered the second method last night, during a deep dive into the layers of the database. And this newfound knowledge had birthed certain dangerous ideas in his head.
So when he met Murray this morning, he was not surprised to hear the conviction in his own voice as he proposed, "Murray, since I helped you take a shot at your first mutation, I need you to help me get my first Soulbeast."