Wanderer's Realm, somewhere...
[It can be considered overpowered if one views it from a mortal point of view. However, for Chaos Layer cultivators, it is simply considered as the basics. Chaos is the beginning and the end of everything, so everything else becomes trivial. Of course, that is only my understanding of it and I am far from having reached the top of what is known. Let alone going beyond.] I clicked my tongue in wonder and said. “A mountain behind the mountain, isn't it?”
[In a way, yes. I have shared with you what you needed to know, so, shall we proceed with the remodeling?] I sighed and said in a fake shy voice to tease her. “Please be gentle with me!”
[...] After a few seconds of silence, she spat. [Disgusting! Take off your clothes instead of acting as if I am going to assault you.] Wait! Something seemed wrong with she just said. “Did you just say that you wouldn't do anything to me and then ask me to take of my clothes? That... doesn't seem to make sense, does it?” I asked with doubts in my voice.
*Sigh* [Think about it for more than one second. I will use an energy so potent that it is supposed to make a human body explode. What do you think would happen to your clothes? Not that it matters since I will provide you later with something much better, so do what you want.] I nodded inwardly and replied. “That... seemed to make sense. So... Everything off?” [Everything off.]
Alright, I knew that I shouldn't feel shy about being naked in front of a fog like being who had probably lived for an uncountable amount of time, but I couldn't help it. Despite being quite good in the theory department, I had close to zero experience with the real thing after all. She's much older than your grandma Lucas, so it's gonna be fine. Think wrinkly and dry and you won't feel timid. I slapped myself gently a few times to distract myself from my embarrassment and then proceeded to take off all my clothes clumsily.
It did not take me too long to finish, as I did not wear many layers. Once I was done I asked Ali a question that just came to mind. “Ali, I'm curious. The remodeling of my body... Will it modify my looks? I mean, if I change too much, my family will have some trouble recognizing me.” [Good question. Actually, the changes will be numerous and yes, your looks will change. However, your body will only be refined not changed completely. Similar to a raw ore that is being polished. The metal is still the same metal, but it does look different. Even if one cultivate using the normal cultivation path, they would also refine their bodies. However, the changes will be more gradual and more or less effective depending on the cultivation scripture used. Unlike yours. The changes will be extremely abrupt which also means more pain.]
I then mumbled. “So I will change... That's interesting. I wonder what I will look like afterwards.” Noticing my interest, Ali said. [Here is a mirror to look at yourself before the transformation.] As she was speaking, a very tall but clear mirror suddenly appeared in front of me. As I was looking at the reflection inside it, I noticed the young Greek god looking at me. Well... maybe without the muscles... And the handsomeness... The full hair and the size... Actually the only thing that was reminiscent of a Greek god with my body was that I was human.... Pretty low bar I know, but you always have to deal with what you get. At least there was one part of my anatomy that was bigger than attractive hills of muscles, so it's not all bad. I would leave what it was to your imagination...
“Although I'm not particularly attractive, at least I'm not ugly either. *Sigh* Hopefully I'll be more handsome later. By the way, how long is it supposed to last?” I asked curious. [You will probably surprised. And it will last a few days. The exact time will depend on your body and your mental strength.] “So, a few days of pain, uh?” I mumbled. However, I slapped myself to refocus and said with conviction. “It doesn't matter how long it lasts. As long as it can change my life, destiny or whatever fate, I will succeed.” As I clenched my fists and readied myself mentally. “God, Buddha, Allah, Zeus, Superman, Naruto and anyone willing to listen! If you could help me pass through the pain of the remodeling then I would extremely grateful. I will pay for a Winrar license and even donate some money to the author of this novel! Please, please, please!” After a few moments of fervent praying, I opened my eyes and said to Ali. “I'm ready.”
The warm voice of the fog lady then resounded. [Brace yourself. It will hurt quite a bit, but the pain will equate to an even better reward in the end.] As I tried to calm my frayed nerves, I started to feel... something... it was a bit like a liquid coursing over my entire body. I'm gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine. I'm gonna be fine. Weird. I'm not feeling any p...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wh-what is... this... pain...? *Jaw clenching* FFFFUUUCCCKKKK!!! My skin felt like it was on fire, cut into thousands of pieces, torn off and so many other horribly painful sensations that I didn't even want to think about. I could feel my whole body clenching from the pain and my tears flowing out. I couldn't even breath and my mind started to get foggy. I needed to focus and not pass out. Focus. Not pass out.
After what felt like years, the pain started to become more bearable, as if my mind and body started to get used to it. Alright, if it was like this, then I would definitely make it. Although I still felt like I was burning alive while my body was torn to shreds, at least I didn't want to kill myself anymore to end the pain. Good job me!
While trying to cheer myself up, I could feel that the transformation was almost over. Great, I made it! Well, I thought so at least. And I was wrong. Like dead wrong. Literally in this case. [The first phase, which is the skin reinforcement, is over. Now we will start with the muscles. Brace yourself, it will hurt even more.] You're kidding Ali, right? Right? Tell me you're kidding, please.
GGGGGGAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! The modern idea of Superheros sucks because they are the perfect image of a society where there is no way to climb to the top unless you were born into power!... I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that. AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!! My body... fuck I'm gonna die. I don't want to die. Please make it stop... Please... Kill me... I can't stand it anymore... I... Too... Mu...
F... O... C...U... S... I... RE... FU... SE.... TO ACCE... ACCEPT THIS!!!! I... CAN DO IT!!! I could feel my thoughts starting to clear up bit by bit, the pain, similar to the first phase, becoming more and more bearable. It was as if I had the kind of mental breakthrough that was often depicted in those cultivation novel. Pain could be controlled. I chose to make it external. It did not affect me. I was impervious to the pain.
An indeterminate amount of time later, I felt the pain leaving me more and more. However, I couldn't find myself being happy since I could guess what was the next part... [Congratulation for passing successfully the second phase. Now, we will go onto the third phase targeted at the organs. Brace yourself, Lucas.] Oh shit, here we go again. Alright I should stop making all those internet references and focus on the current situation.
................. Eh? SHIT! I blanked out from the pain. God it is so PAINFUL!!!! WHY THE FUCK DID I CHOOSE TO DO THIS MOTHERFUCKING SHIT!!!! *Interlude* To the children in the audience, the violent language is used as a mean to get rid of some of the pain. Swearing while trying to absorb Chaos energy to remodel your body can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your own home.*End of interlude*
I... see... the... light... My mind felt like it was burning up and getting fuzzy. Focus Lucas! I didn't know if it was because of the previous two phases, but it didn't feel as violent as the others. Don't get me wrong! The pain was worst by many times. But my mind was starting to get used to the pain and although a part of me wanted to end my suffering by dying, there was a small part of me that wanted to continue the whole torture/strengthening thing. Like very small... Very very small... But it was there at least. It's something, I guessed.
Again, I could feel my own mind getting stronger and the pain starting to take less energy from it. I could even think about nonsense again. I had a kind of magical feeling, as if my mind was becoming different. Stronger and sturdier. Also, thinking took less energy than before and it was even more fluid. It was akin to an upgrade of my internal processor and Ram. That sounded weird, but that was the best way I could describe it.
As I was resisting the pain while musing about my upgraded mind, I heard Ali's voice resounding again. [You are doing great! One other phase done. Now onto the bones. Keep up the good work!] *Sigh* The bones... That's gonna sting a bit. I'm guessing the spinal chord should be inclu...
...[W...]...[WA...]...[UP!!!!]... [WAKE...]... [WAKE UP!!!!]... Eh?... Where am I?... Who... am I? AAAAAAAAHHHHHH TTTTHHHIIIIISSSS PPPPAAAAIIIINNNN!!! WWWWHHHHYYYY?????!!!!!! *Tears of blood flowing out* [HOLD ON LUCAS!!! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!] IT... HURT... TOO MUCH!!! I.. JUST COULDN'T!!! [DO YOU WANT TO KEEP LIVING A MEDIOCRE LIFE???!! THEN WHY DID YOU ACCEPT MY OFFER IN THE FIRST PLACE???!!! IF YOU DO NOT DO IT FOR YOURSELF THEN DO IT TO REPAY MY KINDNESS!!! DO IT FOR ME!!!]
A...Li... When my mind was starting to slip into darkness, an image of himself teasing that warm fog lady... Then a few questions came to my mind. If I couldn't even take that kind of pain, then why was I even trying to cultivate and reach the pinnacle of the Multiverse? Was I such a coward? Didn't I want to change and become a better and stronger person for myself and to help that funny partner? DID I FUCKING WANT TO CHANGE???? I, LUCAS, DECIDED TO BE THE BEST MAN, CULTIVATOR, FRIEND AND PARTNER I COULD BE AND I SWEAR THAT I WILL SUCCEED EVEN IF I HAVE TO BEAR EVEN MORE TERRIBLE PAIN!!!
As I firmed my will with my deep conviction, I could feel something changing inside me. Something to do with my mind. If earlier my mind was akin to a wall made of earth, then now it was akin to unbreakable steel. And although I could intellectually still feel the pain, it almost didn't affect me at all. As if I was only pricked by an uncountable number of small thorns. Not a pleasant sensation, I agree, but to the current me it was nothing.
As I was getting used to the pain for the fourth, and hopefully the last, time, I had more mind power to feel the change that my body was currently undergoing. It was honestly fascinating since the energy seemed to sublimate my whole body. I had a feeling of increasing power that was hard to define, akin to becoming a God.
While I felt entranced with my body's evolution, another indeterminate amount of time passed and the pain started to vanish. [There is only one last phase, which is the upgrade of your energy channels. It will hurt more than the previous phase, but you should be fine with your recent breakthrough in your sea of consciousness. Just in case, you should brace yourself.]
Like she said, I could feel myself able to resist a much higher pain than previously. It was almost magical (in a way I guess it was). Before I started I would have cried if I broke a bone and now I would probably feel nothing even if I was burned alive. Not that I wanted to experience that. I was neither a masochist nor suicidal. Although... Pain did help me breakthrough... No! I shouldn't think like that or I'd start wearing leather... Bad idea...
Mmmhh... I really hurt but it was bearable this time. How much did it hurt? Well, the kind of pain where your bones were constantly being broken. Almost crushed actually. To be honest, the scariest thing was not the pain but the fact that I could precisely quantify it... Nevermind! I'll just take it like a champ and stop thinking about the rest.
This time I was aware of the time passing by, and I felt extremely bored. After all, previously I was too busy with trying to hold my mind from disintegrating from the pain, while now I felt like it would never end. *Sigh* Let's just focus on my body. And focus I did. The changes happening were clearly visible to me, as if I gained a new sense, similar to the spiritual sense in those novels I read before. Details jumped to my attention, with many things destroyed and then recreated, radiating something more... primal maybe? I wasn't sure how to describe it better than that. Think powerful, noble and ancient.
When the changes and thus the pain ended, I heard Ali's voice again, but this time not to announce another round remodeling. [You did it Lucas! Congratulation for resisting the pain of the transformation. Although you were quite close to failure a few times, you did not give up and kept going, even having a huge breakthrough in your Mind power. This is amazing for someone who do not have any special affinity like you. To be honest, I had my doubts earlier. After all, even most geniuses trained to endure a enormous amount of pain would have failed when doing a remodeling. And that was the case even with their higher affinity which lessen the pain they have to bear. It is pretty much unbelievable that you made it. You can be proud of yourself.]
A kind of bittersweet feeling appeared in my heart, which prompted me to tell the fog lady. “You know, I feel like I should be mad at you for hiding so many things about it. Like the amount of pain involved, the number of phases needed and even what you just told me about being almost impossible to pass... But when I look inside myself I just can't. After all, I know myself pretty well and I know that if you'd told me all that, I'd have never accepted doing it because of fear and even if I did, I would have failed because of my loser mentality. That means that I'd have never undergone the great changes I have. And I'm only talking about my mind. Anyway, what I want to say...” I took a deep breath, looked solemnly towards her and did a respectful bow. “Thank you for everything Ali. I'll never forget what you did for me and I swear to do my best to do what you entrusted onto me.”
Ali then replied with what I could describe as a feeling of closeness and warmth. [You do not have to thank me, Lucas. I told you already. We are temporary partners, and hopefully we will become permanent ones in the future. Instead of talking about that topic, why don't you inspect your body's current state? I am certain that you will have a good surprise.]
A mirror then appeared in front of me and when I looked at myself, I couldn't help it. “Holy sh...”