Chapter 83: Martial Generals
As night fell over Tempest City, a deep, heavy quiet settled within the stone residential quarters of Saint Jarden’s Cathedral.
The scorching desert winds outside cooled into a crisp breeze, carrying the faint scent of incense from the grand nave.
In his private quarters, Commander Trojan sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor.
The heavy linen bandages wrapping his chest were already loose, stained with a faint, melting frost from General Tagar’s lingering aura.
Before him on a low wooden stool sat the three divine vials, their fluids casting a radiant, liquid-gold glow against the dark walls.
Perched silently on the wooden frame of the open window, a tiny, inconspicuous sun-fly sat perfectly still, its translucent wings shimmering with a microscopic trace of crimson divine energy.
Through its multi-faceted vision, Roy watched.
He was there to observe and help if need be.
Trojan took a deep breath, his knuckles whitening as he reached for the first container: the 3rd-Grade Sun Purifying Elixir.
"For the glory of Lord Varanus!" he chanted.
He uncorked it and downed the burning gold liquid in a single gulp.
The effect was instantaneous and violent. Trojan’s jaw snapped shut as a wave of pure, unadulterated thermal energy exploded from his stomach.
The lingering permafrost frost-mana from Tagar’s axe strike—which had been stubbornly freezing his internal channels—was instantly turned to steam.
White vapor hissed violently out of Trojan’s pores, tearing his bandages to shreds.
"Arghhh" he staggered back for a second.
His sun-bloodline trait ignited, his mana reserves violently expanding ten folds over, stretching his internal mana channels to their absolute limits as raw, solar pressure filled the room.
[Ding!]
The status window flickered before Roy’s eyes.
[Your Dedicated Follower ’ Trojan’ has digested the blessing ’3rd Grade Sun Purifying Elixir]
[Subject’s Active Skill has evolved]
[Active Skill: Burning Blood -> Crimson Calamity]
’Hmmm a skill evolution?’ Roy was left stunned by the process, but he continued his observation.
Without a second’s pause, he grabbed the 2nd-Grade Titan Bone-Tempering Marrow Elixir.
He swallowed the thick, heavy silver paste.
As the marrow entered his system, a deep, metallic groaning sound resonated from within Trojan’s body.
The elixir flooded his skeletal structure, fusing a dense kinetic alloy into his very marrow.
The intense, explosive recoil from his newly expanded sun mana was instantly absorbed by his changing biology.
His ribs, his spine, and his joints thickened and hardened, creating a flawless, near-indestructible physical chassis that could withstand the back-breaking pressure of his own high-tier explosive skills.
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Trojan’ has digested the blessing ’Titan Bone-Tempering Marrow Elixir’]
Finally, Trojan gripped the 2nd-Grade Evolution Advancement Elixir.
The moment the silver, mercury-like liquid slid down his throat, the entire room lost gravity.
The loose splinters and shredded bandages on the floor began to float into the air.
Trojan’s mana cores violently imploded, pulling all his expanded sun mana and dense kinetic force into a single, microscopic point before detonating outward in a silent shockwave of pure power.
[Reporting.....]
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Trojan’ has digested the blessing ’2nd Grade Evolution Advancement Elixir’]
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Trojan’ will now evolve into the next cultivation realm]
[Subject has awakened his third mana core]
[Evolution will now begin]
[Enlightment Phase: Middle-Stage]
[Cultivation Status: Martial General]
"Arrggggggggghh" Trojan roared.
His bottleneck didn’t just break; it was completely erased.
His aura transitioned from the volatile, sharp energy of a Master into the deep, commanding, and absolute gravity of a Martial General.
A crown of golden solar fire briefly flickered above his head before sinking deep into his heart.
Trojan opened his eyes, two miniature suns burning in his pupils.
He exhaled a long breath of pure heat, bowing his head toward the window where the sun-fly sat.
"Praise be to the God of Beasts," he whispered, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, heavy bass.
"It went well" Roy couldn’t but smile, satisfied by the fact that there was no need for him to intervene.
"Let’s check out Brenda next"
The sun-fly took flight, dissolving into a stream of red data particles that seamlessly reassembled on the windowsill of another chamber across the courtyard.
Inside her room, Alpha Brenda was already stripped of her heavy outer armor, wearing only her leather combat wrappings.
Her sharp canine ears were pinned back, and her tail twitched with wild, untamed adrenaline.
The three vials before her reflected in her amber, predatory eyes.
"For the glory of the God of Beast" she declared.
She didn’t hesitate.
She grabbed the 3rd-Grade Feral Beast-King Essence first, popping the cork with her fangs and tilting her head back.
The dark crimson, pulsating orb slid down her throat, and Brenda instantly collapsed forward, her claws digging deep gouges into the solid stone floor as she let out a muffled, feral shriek.
Her beastman bloodline went into a state of hyper-drive.
Deep genetic markers, dormant for generations, violently awakened.
Her tusked jaw widened, her muscles tearing and re-knitting at a visible pace as a dark, suffocating pressure—the Tyrant Wild Pressure—flooded the bedroom, causing the very air to taste like iron and blood.
A mysterious stone emerged from her forehead, flickering in crimson hue.
"It see Brenda has awakened some quite interesting" Roy giggled, his observation was cut off by the flickering status window.
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Brenda’ has digested the blessing ’3rd Grade Feral Beast-King Essence’]
[Subject has awakened a new bloodline: Spectral Tyrant Beast-King Hyena]
[Subject has awakened a new skill]
[Active Skill: Beast Dominator]
Gritting her teeth through the agony of the divine mutation, she snatched the 2nd-Grade Titan Bone-Tempering Marrow Elixir and forced it down.
The silver paste instantly stabilized her shifting form.
Her claws grew longer, darker, and gleamed with a dense, metallic sheen, turning into natural weapons capable of rending enchanted steel.
The kinetic alloy fused with her lupine bones, providing the structural density needed to support her newly augmented, monstrous musculature.
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Brenda’ has digested the blessing ’2nd Grace Titan Bone-Tempering Marrow Elixir’]
Finally, breathing heavily, her fur glistening with sweat and raw mana, she drank the 2nd-Grade Evolution Advancement Elixir.
The silver mercury liquid act as the ultimate spark.
The raw, predatory chaos of her mutated beast-king bloodline was instantly brought to heel, compressed, and forced up the evolutionary ladder.
[Reporting.....]
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Brenda’ has digested the blessing ’2nd Grade Evolution Advancement Elixir’]
[Your Dedicated Follower ’Brenda’ will now evolve into the next cultivation realm]
[Subject has awakened his third mana core]
[Evolution will now begin]
[Enlightment Phase: Initial-Stage]
[Cultivation Status: Martial General]
Her mana cores shattered its mortal chains.
The suffocating, wild pressure she radiated suddenly multiplied, stabilizing into the undisputed, absolute aura of a Martial General.
[Reporting....]
Brenda threw her head back, a silent, acoustic shockwave of a huntress’s roar ripping through the room, rattling the windowpane right beneath the hidden sun-fly.
She dropped to all fours, her amber eyes glowing with a terrifying, primal intelligence.
The apex predator of the Tempest Forest had officially ascended.