'To grow only to decay… to decay only to serve as a catalyst for growth…'
As more and more new cells formed in his body, Amon felt his body flooded and filled with Life and Death aether. As this happened, a sort of enlightenment seemed to occur.
'My two gifts have unmatched affinity for one another… that's most likely how I managed to be reborn—through their synergy.'
'What I decay, I can use to grow, and what I grow will sublimate through decay, forming a beautiful cycle of ascension.'
On his left hand, beautiful runic tattoos of gold and white appeared, and on his right, primal tattoos made of jagged lines of red, black, and dark green emerged. Life and Death aether flowed through both, and as this happened, his body seemed to reach a limit.
BANG!
All his Necros and Genesis cells finished forming, and his Life and Death aether settled.
With his eyes closed, he basked in the feeling his new cells gave him and the two new aether types he'd gained. It was like he'd gained two new and different innate aether types made of attributed aether.
He wasn't sure, but this was probably an impossibly rare and sought-after phenomenon. How terrifying would someone with a fire affinity be if they had cells that could produce innate fire-attributed aether? They'd be monsters.
Amon wasn't sure of his affinities yet, but as an Undead, he was sure he at least had a minor affinity to death. This plus his new titles told him this step he'd just taken would likely be a major boon in the future.
'Do you know what those tattoos are?'
The tattoos had dimmed, barely noticeable to the naked eye, though Amon could see them as clear as day.
[I'm not sure, Father, but… this may be a blessing. From a god.]
For a moment, they were both silent.
[But it could also be from the strange lineage you formed after becoming an undead. Its abilities are still unknown to you.]
Amon exhaled a breath.
'I see, interesting. We'll deal with all of that when we get out. For now, I'll focus on the task at hand.'
He stood up.
'The Gate.'
***
A streak of white zipped through the lands of moss and stone of the cave, zapping past dozens of miles every second as its speed was unmatched.
'I really need to find clothes,' thought Amon with a slight frown.
He ran through the cave, stopping every once in a while to find underground networks full of beasts and undead that he promptly killed before continuing.
After a while, he stopped, having thought of something. He looked down and his gaze narrowed as he bent down and ripped off a patch of moss from the ground. There, he saw a simple arrangement of stone, seemingly made naturally and over time by earthquakes and other natural events.
His gaze further narrowed and he focused, trying to sense the ebbs and flows of aether.
'As expected…'
For some reason, the atmospheric aether didn't flow through the floor and instead was rejected and gathered on its surface, forming the strange green moss over time.
'The ground I'm standing on is the gate itself. I'm going to assume that to open it, I'll need to head to the center of this cave, but with its size… it'll take a few weeks of non-stop running… it's fine.'
He sighed and stood up.
'On the other hand, this moss should be pretty valuable since it was naturally and directly made out of aether.'
Without much else, he began to scan around, looking for the path to the cave's center.
***
[On Earth]
Within a grand room resembling a dojo, two youths knelt in front of a man.
One of them was a girl with long white hair and jade white skin, so white in fact she didn't look human. Her eyes were a chariot swirl of gold and red, and the presence she held was otherworldly. Her robes of pure white only accentuated this. Her features were sharp yet soft beyond belief, and her gaze was as charming as it was intimidating. Her face itself seemed to be carved and adored by the gods themselves.
Sat beside her was a young man. He had short gray hair that shone with a white starry light and light blue pupils that seemed as calm yet as dangerous as an ocean. His figure leaned on the smaller side, yet his compact and refined muscles were obvious for all to see despite the robes of white and blue he wore.
"It has been three hours."
In front of them was a tall and imposing man. His figure was bulky and rippled with thick and tempered muscles, each covered with a seemingly endless amount of glowing golden runes. His hair was black just like his beard and his eyes dark blue as his aura was reminiscent of an approaching storm.
Imposing, threatening, and mighty.
His gaze was stern as he looked at two of his three disciples.
"It has been three hours since I've sent the summoning letter to your junior brother. Where is he?" he asked, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"…"
The two remained quiet, looking away in shame and embarrassment.
"So after all these years, you two still haven't spoken to him. You've left him alone to rot in his own powerlessness. I see."
His gaze was so penetrating that it seemed to pierce beyond their flesh and look at their very souls.
"You were too ashamed. You were too afraid to face him." The man sighed. "And now, your youngest brother is most likely dead."
These words seemed to wake them out of their stupor as they looked at the man with widened gazes, both trembling in disbelief.
Seeing this, the man frowned, disgusted and disappointed.
"So you care now?"
"Master, please!" the girl shouted out. "What happened?!"
He sneered and turned back.
"I can't sense his aether signature on the planet nor can I sense his soul."
He walked away, leaving his disciples to bask in this heart-shattering piece of news.