Chapter 355: …I really need to get used to this.

"AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"

Lucian felt every single muscle fiber being ripped apart and rebuilt again, returning with even more density than what had already changed significantly.

His shoulders, back, chest, legs, forearms, even the smaller muscles around his fingers and neck, nothing was spared.

And then—

After the muscles, it was the bones.

"NGH—!"

Lucian collapsed onto his side as his femur compressed, then, he actually felt it, his body’s internal structure changing, marrow burning, his ribs tightening, becoming stronger and then—

His skull.

"AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Lucian grabbed his head, the pain was something he had never felt before.

Then, the pressure built behind his face, his jaw shifted, it was a very, very slight movement, a millimetre here, another there. There was a subtle change in his cheekbones, his nasal structure corrected itself, even his teeth shifted a little.

Every tiny imperfection in his body repaired itself.

Then, his skin started burning.

"AAAAGGGGHH!! FUCK—FUCK—FUCK—FUCK!!!"

It felt like acid.

Then Lucian felt the outermost layer of skin being torn open, every dead cell, old damage, minute scar, little imperfection that most couldn’t even see—

Everything his regeneration previously tolerated because it wasn’t harmful—

It was all gone because his body suddenly decided it was unacceptable.

New, smoother, clearer, perfectly healthy skin formed beneath.

After the skin came his hair follicles, his scalp tingled as his hair darkened, becoming thicker and even healthier, every individual strand seemed stronger.

And then—

His senses exploded.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!"

Lucian screamed as his hands immediately flew to his ears.

Too loud.

Everything was too fucking loud.

His own heartbeat, his breathing, the rubbing of his clothes against his skin, everything was too loud. Lucian even heard a small stone move half a millimetre because of the sheer energy his body was releasing.

Lucian’s head snapped toward it, so fast that his neck snapped and then regenerated.

His vision blurred.

No, not blurred, the opposite. Everything became so clear that his brain couldn’t process it. Lucian stared at the wall and could see individual grains in the stone, hairline fractures, dust floating through the air, tiny particles moving through crimson light.

He could see much, much, much farther into darkness than he previously could. The edges of his vision sharpened, the depth expanded. His mind was processing everything so quickly that it felt like the very reality around him slowed down.

Lucian squeezed his eyes shut to not feel overwhelmed when his entire body was in agonising pain.

A mistake.

Because losing his vision made everything else worse.

Sound rushed in.

Water.

Somewhere far, far away, beyond the chamber.

A pipe maybe?

No.

Maybe underground water flowing through rock.

Then he heard footsteps.

Lucian’s eyes opened out of pure instinct.

Someone was walking.

He immediately looked towards the direction, then, he realised it.

They weren’t nearby.

They were... far, far away.

And as the sound continued overwhelming him, smell hit him next.

Lucian practically gagged.

Blood, old stone, dust, metal, moisture, demonic residue, his own sweat, old Vampire blood somewhere in here, something chemical inside the formations, even the faint scent left behind by whoever had entered this chamber before him.

"Aggghhhh....

Turn off..."

He groaned as he pressed his palms over his ears even tighter.

"Turn the fuck off..."

It didn’t work.

THUMP

His Heart kept beating, every wave made everything worse.

Then, something else happened, something new.

Emotion.

No, not emotion per se, it was... a pull.

Desire.

Several of them, coming from far away. So far he couldn’t even identify who they belonged to.

But he could feel it.

The desire.

The desperate wish of someone somewhere to finish whatever they were doing and leave.

A sharp desire to feed.

Someone else’s desire for another person.

Lucian could, at some level, sense desire before too, but that desire was directed at him. This was... something entirely different.

"Okay..."

Lucian breathed heavily.

This was... too much.

He needed to calm down, he needed to control it all. So with his mind overwhelmed by his senses, Lucian activated Red Quiet and... killed everything.

It was all still happening, his body was still changing, he just... forced his mind to separate itself from it.

That was the only way he could survive this and be in a state to even understand what was happening.

Then, Lucian took slow breaths. He was still on all fours, that certainly wasn’t good, so he tried standing.

He gently pushed the floor with his palm.

And—

BOOOM

The stone exploded and Lucian’s body shot upward.

"What the—!"

He realised he had straightened his legs so hard that his body launched itself several meters into the air, his head was about to hit the ceiling.

Lucian instinctively used telekinesis to stop himself.

Bad idea.

The moment he reached for his Demonic Energy, that ridiculously dense... thing answered.

WHOOOOM

Black-violet Energy erupted around him, Lucian’s eyes widened as a telekinetic force that should have gently stabilized him blasted outward, breaking an entire section of the floor into pieces, while Lucian’s body slammed into one of the pillars.

BOOOOM

The ancient pillar cracked.

Lucian stared at it in silence and then—

"...oops?"

He blinked in shock.

His body then fell to the ground, only there was no pain. Lucian touched his shoulder, there was nothing, no injury, not even a bruise.

He looked at the pillar he just broke.

This was an ancient pillar of a hidden chamber, made from some of the strongest materials, his body tore through it and... there was not even a scratch...

"...what is happening?"

Lucian was very confused.

He then took a small pause, then, he tried to stand again, this time, he was very, very careful and finally managed to stand up.

When he straightened himself, the balance felt wrong.

It wasn’t bad...

Just... too good.

He could register even the smallest shift in weight, his muscles reacted to it before he could even understand it.

Lucian lifted one hand and closed his fist.

Whoosh

He could practically hear the movement.

He stopped.

Then he slowly opened his fingers, then closed them again.

Slowly, very, very carefully.

His muscles obeyed his instructions very, very precisely.

It felt... incredibly different.

Lucian then looked at a loose stone on the ground, it was the size of a basketball. He bent down and picked it up.

He didn’t even feel any weight. It was as if he was lifting a small cotton ball.

Definitely weird.

He unconsciously tossed the stone up, thinking it would act like cotton would, slowly move in the air, then slowly come back and—

BOOM

The stone sunk into the ceiling above.

And Lucian—

"...I really need to get used to this."