Chapter 397: Specimen

The underground facility became more unsettling the more Elara looked around.

Machines hummed quietly behind reinforced glass. Strange fluids circulated through transparent pipes, while monitors displayed readings that meant absolutely nothing to her. Most disturbing were the containment chambers that held all kinds of creatures.

Her attention remained fixated on Mark.

Whatever secrets Greg was keeping down here could wait.

Right now, their monster-like companion was the only thing that mattered.

Dr Elias Smith stood beside the reinforced examination table, surrounded by an assortment of equipment that looked more appropriate for a laboratory than a medical room. Scanners, mana readers, needles, small mechanical arms, and several devices Elara couldn’t even identify were positioned around Mark.

Elias carefully ran his hands across Mark’s arms, chest, and shoulders, checking the strange changes in his body. Every few seconds, he would stop to examine something more closely before moving on.

"How long has he been like this?"

"Since the Gate."

"Fascinating."

Elias suddenly grabbed the edge of Mark’s shirt.

Elara’s expression hardened.

"Hey."

He ignored her.

With surprising speed, Elias ripped the clothing away, exposing Mark’s muscular body. There was no hesitation in his movements. To him, Mark wasn’t a person lying on the table.

He was a specimen.

Kaela grimaced.

"Could you at least pretend to be normal?"

Elias didn’t even seem to hear her.

He was fascinated.

His eyes followed every subtle movement beneath Mark’s skin as his muscles occasionally shifted in ways that no normal human body should have been capable of.

"His musculature is changing in real time."

He moved a scanner over Mark’s chest.

"Mana circulation is unstable, but not collapsing. His body is rebuilding damaged tissue without following conventional biological patterns."

The scanner emitted a series of soft beeps.

A monitor immediately began displaying dozens of readings.

Elias’s eyes widened.

"His mana core isn’t behaving like a Titled’s."

Greg watched quietly from nearby.

"Can you stabilise him?"

"Temporarily."

Elias adjusted several machines before positioning a thin injector against Mark’s side. A controlled stream of mana entered his body, one that the Dr could control with his machinery.

Mark suddenly convulsed.

Elara stepped forward out of concern.

"Don’t touch him."

Elias’s voice was suddenly far more serious than before.

"His body is reacting to external interference."

The dark green energy surged beneath Mark’s skin.

For a moment, the veins across his arms seemed to glow with that unnatural energy. His muscles tightened, his fingers curled, and his entire body trembled against the restraints.

Then, slowly, the energy faded.

His breathing steadied, and the violent twitching diminished.

Elias watched the monitors carefully, his fingers moving rapidly across the controls.

"There."

He adjusted another control.

"His condition is stabilising."

Elara released a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.

Elias continued monitoring him for several seconds before speaking again.

"There is something else you should understand."

Elara looked toward him.

"What?"

He picked up another scanner and moved it across Mark’s chest.

"Monsterification is the process by which human DNA becomes corrupted by monster DNA. Beastification follows essentially the same principle, except that the foreign genetic material originates from beasts."

Kaela frowned.

"You’re saying humans can turn into monsters?"

"Not naturally, under ordinary circumstances."

Elias tapped several readings on the screen.

"The Blessing drug can induce either process when the appropriate source material is used. Monster DNA can trigger Monsterification. Beast DNA can trigger Beastification. We’ve tested variations of both."

His expression became noticeably darker.

"None of the results have been stable."

Elara’s eyes narrowed.

"And Mark?"

Elias stared at the readings.

"Mark appears to be doing something I haven’t seen before."

He pointed towards the monitor.

"He’s experiencing Monsterification, but then his body is reverting toward a human-like condition."

Kaela’s expression tightened.

"Reverting?"

"Yes."

Elias looked almost excited by the discovery.

"His body becomes more monstrous when it encounters something it cannot immediately handle. Then, once the threat has been adapted to, some of those changes recede while others remain. It’s almost as though his body is deciding which alterations are necessary and which are no longer required."

He paused.

"He’s almost stable."

The word immediately caught both women’s attention.

Elara’s expression hardened.

"Almost?"

Elias glanced at her.

"Yes."

"What does that mean?"

Elias looked back at Mark.

"It means his body has found a temporary balance, but it does not mean the process has stopped."

His tired eyes remained fixed on the readings.

"Whatever is happening inside him will continue."

He paused.

"The problem is that I don’t know what the final result will be."

Elara stared at Mark, her concern deepening.

"Can you stop the transformations?"

Elias’s expression changed.

"No."

That answer came immediately.

"This is beyond me and the usual effects of induced Monsterfication. I can suppress some of the symptoms, but even I don’t understand what he is."

Kaela frowned.

"What do you mean, you don’t understand?"

"I mean exactly that."

Elias pointed toward Mark.

"This isn’t simply an ability. His body appears to be responding to environmental stimuli and permanently changing itself to survive them. And this will only continue to happen."

He looked toward the machines surrounding Mark.

"Every extreme experience becomes another piece of information for his body. Heat. Pressure. Physical trauma. Mana. Stress. Anything that threatens him can potentially trigger another adaptation."

Kaela’s expression became more serious.

"So he’s going to keep changing."

"Yes."

Elias stared at the monitor.

"And I can’t tell you where those changes will lead."

Elara’s jaw tightened.

"What does that mean for him?"

"Pain."

Elias said it matter-of-factly.

"Extreme pain, fits, memory loss, confusion, and even temporary loss of motor control are just some of the likely effects. There may be periods where he doesn’t recognise the people around him."

Elara’s eyes darkened.

Elias studied the readings and continued bluntly.

"He’s transforming in real time, and is erasing his past self in the process. Whatever he’s becoming isn’t something I can predict yet."

For the first time, there was something almost disappointing in his voice.

"I could perform more tests and perhaps determine-"

"No."

Elara shut him down immediately.

Kaela nodded.

"Definitely no."

Elias looked between them.

For the first time, he seemed genuinely confused.

"You don’t want to know or try to control what’s happening to him?"

"We want Mark alive."

Elara’s voice was firm, and she definitely didn’t trust the mad scientist monitoring his condition.

"That’s enough."

Elias stared at her for several seconds before shrugging.

"Fair enough."

Then his attention shifted from Mark to the two of them, his tired eyes suddenly becoming much more focused.

"Although..."

He looked them over carefully.

"You two are interesting."

Elias walked toward them with a creepy smile.

"Two A Rank Titled."

His eyes moved over Elara first.

"One possesses an extraordinary amount of untapped potential."

Elara didn’t like where this was going.

Elias continued.

"Your ability to manipulate mana is unusual. With sufficient development, I suspect your potential could eventually rival some of the strongest known Titled."

He then turned toward Kaela.

"And then there’s you."

Kaela’s smile faded slightly.

"You’ve changed."

The words made her pause.

Even Greg had noticed it.

Something about Kaela was different.

Her aura no longer behaved the way it had before, and whatever strange enlightenment she had experienced inside the collapsing Gate had altered her more than even she realised.

Elias stared at her with open fascination, even stepping closer.

Kaela raised a hand.

"Yeah... I’m going to stop you right there."

Elias frowned.

"Would either of you like to be assessed again?"

"No."

Kaela answered immediately, and Elara didn’t even hesitate.

"Absolutely not."

Elias looked genuinely disappointed.

"I could learn a great deal from-"

"No."

Both women answered simultaneously.

Kaela folded her arms.

"You’ve got a creepy laboratory full of floating monsters and whatever the hell those things are. I’m not getting inside one of your machines."

Elara nodded.

"We came here for Mark."

Greg sighed quietly.

"I assumed that would be the answer."

Elias looked disappointed, but eventually accepted it.

"Fine, fine."

He returned to his equipment.

"But I do have something else for the lot of you."

That immediately caught their attention...