Chapter 25 – Oh Queen!
The two boxes emitted a faint, otherworldly light, yet the feeling of each one was worlds apart — same as their designs.
Cassius's eyes darted between them for a moment, then he opened both at once with a wisp of crimson essence.
And there they were.
The Perfect Body Potion sat nestled comfortably inside its box, the golden-crimson liquid churning with mesmerising light inside the flask. Looking at it, Cassius had this strange sensation of watching a river flowing upstream — flowing, flowing and turning endlessly.
His eyes glazed, mysterious thoughts and understanding whispering through his mind. Then it was gone. He snapped back a second later, blinking.
"Well, damn…"
He shook his head, finding it strange but deeply thrilling.
Sighing, he peeled his eyes from the Potion and shifted to the other box.
No liquid this time. It was a highly condensed essence trapped inside a flask — crimson, with shining stars churning within — carrying the Stats Points.
He wondered briefly which to use first, but the choice was obvious.
"Stats Points first." He decided, remembering the description. Perfect Body Potion and intense pain went hand in hand.
Wiser to get stronger first, however little.
Nothing was negligible at this point.
[Wise choice.] Ananke said, nodding in approval. [Considering what you are about to go through, the pain is inevitable. And it will certainly be horrific.]
A beat of silence. Then, in an almost inaudible tone…
[Will you be alright?]
The Goddess regretted the words the instant they left her, surprised at herself for showing any care at all.
'When did this start?' She wondered, unable to trace where this unwelcome feeling had sprouted from.
Had watching him get beaten like a pitiful animal by his siblings for three days done this to her?
She didn't know. And if Cassius noticed, he gave no indication, answering with his usual sarcasm.
She exhaled in quiet relief.
"Will I be alright?" He echoed, grimacing. "My Queen, I have been tortured by those demonic siblings for three days straight, barely sleeping! My head…damn my head, even talking about it makes it ache. Damn them both!"
[It will probably be worse than that.] Her tone was amused, watching this side of him.
Her Blessed only truly lost his temper when the subject involved the twins.
"Then so be it." Cassius said, without hesitation.
Days of unending pain did have some benefits. He was still reluctant — afraid, even — but this was the opportunity to close the gap between him and the Main Characters for good.
He would not hesitate over temporary pain.
With that, Cassius took the Stats Points flask, popped the lid, tilted his head back, and drank it in one go.
It tasted strange. Like lemon, yet not quite.
The effect was immediate the moment it hit his throat. A warm sensation bubbled from his heart and spread through his body like fire through a dry forest.
There was no pain, just a sigh of contentment as his body straightened.
It was over in seconds. He summoned his attributes.
[STR: 23 (+3); AGL: 22 (+2); CONS: 30 (+6); PER: 27 (+2); CHA: 40; Essence: 50]
[Stat Points Available: 10]
Most of his attributes had nudged upward during three days of training. Constitution leading, thanks to the countless times his body had been broken and healed by the twins.
'And it's Constitution I need to invest in if I want to survive what's coming.'
With no hesitation, he dumped all 10 points into Constitution, bringing it from 30 to 40, and felt the crackle and reinforcement of his bones, his muscles tightening and hardening, his internals going through the same process.
Cassius let out a thick, steamy breath as everything settled. He raised his right arm and clenched it into a fist. Veins bulged, and a faint but visible shockwave erupted from the motion.
He smiled.
"Now I'm ready."
Gingerly, he picked up the Perfect Body Potion flask and opened it. The scent — heavenly, sweet, thick like musk — hit his nose like a physical wall. Cassius closed his eyes, blood roaring in thunderous delight.
[Quick!] Ananke warned. [The properties of the Potion degrade the longer it's exposed to air!]
That was all he needed. He cursed his own foolishness and drank without any mental preparation whatsoever.
The regret was immediate and harrowing.
Cassius's body spasmed violently, eyes and mouth blown wide as blood began seeping from both. Not just from them…his whole body was bleeding, the blood dark and reeking of something rotten.
He opened his mouth to scream. No sound came out. He had no choice but to writhe inside the bathtub like a snake caught in sinking mud — sinking, still sinking.
His flesh darkened and peeled off. His nails cracked and fell away. His hair followed. The pain was unlike anything he had ever experienced, his insides feeling like a hellish thing had been let loose inside him, wrecking everything with no mercy and no end.
Ananke watched with a body that was faintly shaking, as if she were feeling it too. She bit her lip and muttered words of consolation to a man who could not hear them.
The process continued for a few more minutes, minutes where Cassius was reduced to something between bones and scraps of flesh.
By any account, he was dead.
He was no longer breathing. Heart completely stopped with almost no blood remaining. He looked like something left for Vorn to admire through his death-filled Gate.
For a moment, Ananke felt the link between her and Cassius waver, on the edge of being severed.
The fear she felt in that moment was unlike anything she had ever known.
But only for a moment.
Because immediately after…
BADUM—!
Cassius was reborn.
His skin exploded outward, then sealed itself back onto his body as if invisible hands were doing meticulous, extraordinary work. Everything else followed.
The process was methodical. And by the end of it…
Cassius was back. Better, even.
So much better that Ananke's worried eyes went wide at the sight of him.
[Oh, by the cursed thread…]
"GASP!!"
Cassius's eyes — the whites impossibly clean, the red of his pupils a red that had no business existing, the contrast jarring yet made for gods to covet — snapped open.
His body jolted upright in the same breath.
Pain exploded everywhere from the reckless movement.
"Queen's eyes!" He cursed, gripping his head, then wrapping his arms around himself in a tight hug as the phantom pain of the process still clung to him.
He trembled like a man abandoned in freezing hell, cursing again and again, until everything stopped as a panel appeared in front of him.
[You have ingested the Perfect Body Potion.]
[Your body has been enhanced, and its Potential has been unravelled.]
A brief pause. Then…
[Congratulations. You have awakened an Innate.]
Everything went still. The world felt muted. Cassius's red eyes locked onto the notification, the pain forgotten entirely.
[Innate: Snake of Adaptability]
'Oh, Queen above…'
—End of Chapter 25—