However, as Adrian was about to get in, Seraphina grabbed the back of his collar and pulled him back. The rest stopped in their tracks by themselves.
"What?" Adrian retorted.
"The ritual, I’ll have to do it alone," Seraphina replied to Adrian’s question.
"Why do you-"
"It’s not open for discussion," Seraphina said, shaking her head firmly. "This ritual is incredibly delicate. The slightest fluctuation in the mana stream could have catastrophic consequences.
She continued, "Considering your ntal state, your reactions might complicate things. Besides, we only have one chance to get it right. That’s why I need to do it alone."
Adrian wasn’t convinced by the explanation, but since he knew nothing about the ritual, he decided to step back and let Seraphina do her thing. With that, she and Fenris entered the cold storage alone, and the waiting ga began.
"Now then... let’s begin," Seraphina mumbled, drawing a summoning circle.
***
Twelve hours later...
It was the dead of the night, yet there was no sign of Seraphina or anyone else coming out of the storage. The rest of the group had already dozed off waiting for them, but Adrian had no sleep in his eyes.
He was worried about the ritual and what would happen if it failed. The thought of losing A’Mila was unbearable, but the prospect of losing Fenris also filled him with dread.
That thought scared him and made him second-guess his decision to let Fenris undergo such a risky procedure. However, it was too late to regret the decision.
But it still caused him so anxiety, mainly because he didn’t want to disturb others with his issues.
At tis, Adrian considered knocking on the door or finding so way to know what was happening within. However, recalling Seraphina’s warning about the delicacy of the process, he chose not to interfere. Resolute, he decided to stay put and wait for Seraphina.
’What do you an?’
’You’ve been reading their minds?’
Adrian sighed. He was aware of Lucina’s ability to read minds. After all, it was the thod they used to communicate. But he had always assud her powers were limited to him alone because of their unique bond.
However, it seed that with his recent evolution, her abilities had expanded as well. She could now peek into anyone’s mind as long as they didn’t leave Adrian’s line of sight, or so she explained it to him.
Her newfound ability left Adrian pondering the implications of such an extraordinary developnt. If his organs could evolve independently, they could quickly beco a curse or blessing.
Adrian was pleased with how Lucina had changed, but he was also worried. What if his other organs evolved and beca independent?
Lucina’s developnt was helpful to him, but that might not be true for his other organs. At the end of the day, he had killed monsters to get these organs.
Logically, they should be hostile to him, and there was no way to know how they would behave once they evolved. They might even start malfunctioning to make things difficult for him.
Adrian chuckled at the thought of an internal rebellion within his body. The sight of the organs fighting for dominance didn’t scare him one bit and made him laugh. Lucina seed to get what Adrian was laughing about and promptly swore her allegiance to him.
’Thanks, Lucina. I believe in you.’
As the two were talking, the doors to the storage room swung open, and Seraphina stepped out. A blast of cold air rushed in, waking everyone up. While confused at first, they quickly got up, eager to see what had happened.
Adrian looked at Seraphina, trying to gauge the result by her expression, but he couldn’t know anything. Even Lucina tried, only to fail.
"So? How did it go-"
No sooner had Adrian said those words than soone else charged from the room and jumped at him. Things happened so quickly that Adrian had no ti to react. He fell to the kitchen floor with sothing heavy lying on top of him.
As he looked down, his eyes widened in surprise. A muscular woman with dark skin was sitting on top of him, staring right into his eyes. She had pristine white hair and wolf-like ears perched atop her head, twitching slightly as she took in the noises around her.
The gaping wound in her chest was covered with a scar, and whiskers dotted her cheeks. But there was no mistaking it... it was A’Mila.
Just like Seraphina had told them, Fenris and A’Mila had rged to form a new body for them to live together in. The new A’Mila had features of Fenris, but it was definitely her.
Adrian raised his hand to touch her and see if it was real. But when Fenris or A’Mila noticed it, she imdiately grabbed his hand and placed it on her head.
Her hair was definitely like Fenris’s fur, and it made Adrian feel a bit emotional.
"She’s still figuring out how to live with the rged souls," Seraphina comnted, looking tired as if a vampire had sucked all the blood out of her. "But rember, she’s not exactly A’Mila or Fenris anymore. She’s soone new, carrying their mories, abilities and everything."
"Thank you," A’Mila replied, getting off Adrian and looking at all of them. "For saving ."
No sooner did she say that than the girls jumped her. No one wanted her thanks; they were simply happy to have her back, but then she said sothing that confused everyone.
A’Mila didn’t wish to be called the sa anymore. As odd as it sounded, it made sense. After all, Seraphina explicitly told them it was a rebirth, not a resurrection. As soone new, she wanted her own identity.
"I’m Aris..." Aris said hesitatingly, wondering what their reaction would be.
"Hmm..." Adrian mumbled. "That sounds like a nice na. Welco back, Aris."
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