It was a calm yet busy seven days, hardly what you'd call peaceful. The Project Abyssal Species Modification had gotten on track. Both warhammer ogre specimens had survived the initial testing phase.
Felix was still unsure about their current life form – whether they were half-undead or dark species. However, one thing was certain: these warhammer ogre specimens were undergoing massive transformations under the influence of negative elements!
During these seven days, Felix spent an hour each day at the Lake of Clarity "fishing". From the third day, he distinctly felt a prying gaze locked onto him.
For some reason, the assassins lurking in the shadows hadn't made their move. Although he never saw these hidden assassins, Felix trusted his instincts. This intuition of being watched was something even ordinary people possessed, let alone someone with his innate psychic strength as a spellcaster!
This was a test of endurance. It was all about who would give up first!
An obvious trap, a ploy laid out plainly before the Brotherhood's assassins. Now, it was a waiting game to see who would lose patience first!
As a target, Felix had plenty of patience. His life mattered to him, and he could wait and endure.
He doubted the assassins could do the same, watching over him every day. If he were in their shoes, Felix reckoned he could last at most half a month. After that, nerves would either go haywire or weaken. He felt quite confident about his own patience level, so he guessed the Brotherhood assassin might not be much stronger in this regard.
Felix could wait for a month or two, if necessary.
The week-long elemental erosion was nothing short of hellish torture for the two warhammer ogres. These towering, burly creatures, standing over three meters twenty and hefty in build, lost over a hundred pounds in these seven days!
However, the effects of elemental stimulation were evident. Losing their fatty bulk, their limbs and abdomens were now distinctly muscular.
Negative elements inherently stimulated muscle tissue more than other elements, a fact evident in the creatures of hell.
Demons were essentially muscle-bound beings, and even a lowly hellhound boasted solid muscles. In this aspect, angels were somewhat lacking. Not to mention the female angels, who lacked muscle definition, the few muscular male angels couldn't change the overall picture. Compared to the formidable demons, both in size and appearance, they were outclassed!
Felix had recently discovered that negative elements had a much stronger effect on muscles. Whether his dark species modification plan for the ogre specimens succeeded or failed, he had gained valuable insights. Discovering these magical principles during the experiment was a treasure trove for Felix.
He also finally understood why, after emerging from the Bone Burial Grounds, he had developed significant muscle mass in just a few days.
The frost power infused into his body by death knight Reinhardt had stimulated his muscle tissue and also triggered his craving for meat.
A high intake of protein and energy, along with intense metabolism under the influence of negative energy, significantly stimulated his muscle growth, enhancing his physical strength. This was why dark species generally possessed formidable close-combat abilities!
Applying this theory to golden creatures, Felix finally understood why angels were at most five meters tall, whereas demons could exceed ten meters.
Demons' physical strength far surpassed that of angels – a well-acknowledged fact in the world of biological modification. Hence, for bio-modifiers, demons were a more welcome addition than angels.
The weakening physical strength of the test subjects forced Felix to start administering alchemical potions to enhance their physiques earlier than planned. If he left the ogre specimens at their lowest resistance point, they might not survive the injection of 100% dark blood.
Felix was now preparing an anti-magic concoction.
At 8:20 during the magical hour, Felix completed the anti-magic potion. To test its efficacy, he even drank a tablespoon himself to record the elemental response.
As a death knight and a professional with a shard from the God of Pestilence, Felix was almost immune to most poisons. Of course, he wouldn't have tested the potion on himself if the modification project wasn't of utmost importance.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
After confirming the true efficacy of the anti-magic potion, Felix started administering it to the ogre specimens. He then took out two syringes and injected undiluted dark red blood into the veins of the test subjects.
The bodies of the warhammer ogre specimens began to convulse, the intensity of the convulsions increasing. As the elemental reaction intensified, they started emitting a series of agonized howls.
Eventually, they even began banging their heads against the sturdy cages to alleviate their physical pain!
To prevent the two warhammer ogres from succumbing to the immense pain and potentially taking their own lives, Felix had to activate the magical trigger mechanism inside the cage. With a "click," five solid shackles snapped shut, securing the limbs and necks of both ogre specimens to the wall, rendering them immobile!
After fifteen minutes, the ogres' veins began to swell, resembling earthworms under their skin, looking extremely fierce and terrifying. As the ogre serum antibodies reacted with the dark blood, these veins pulsed like living entities, beating like a heart.
At this moment, the pupils of the warhammer ogres began to change color, shifting from their original amber to a ghostly, undead gray-white. The 100% pure dark blood finally overpowered the ogres' robust resistance system. The powerful corrosive negative elements began to slowly drain their life force, gradually turning them into an undead species!
Felix, holding a glass of wine, watched the transformation of the two ogres quietly. Beneath his calm façade, his pale, slender fingers tightly gripped the crystal glass. As the ogres' reactions changed, fine cracks appeared on the crystal glass in Felix's hand.
The elemental reaction had fully commenced. The resistant elements produced within the ogres' bodies were entangling with the blood rich in undead energy.
If the Elixir of Warding didn't take effect soon, the Project Abyssal Species Modification would be a complete failure!
Once the negative energy completely eroded the resistant elements inside the ogres, they would turn into mindless undead creatures, not the highly adaptable dark species they were meant to be.
"Crack!"
As the crystal glass in Felix's hand shattered, the painful howls of the warhammer ogres finally began to subside.
At this point, the signs of undeath in the ogres were becoming very apparent. Their eyeballs turned a shade of gray-white, devoid of pupils or the luster of the living.
As blood started to seep from the eye sockets, ears, and nostrils of the ogres, Felix finally lowered his head in a somewhat disheartened manner. The complete transformation into undead had begun.
He realized his mistake. Data-driven calculations could never represent everything. Only statistics combined with reality could keep the experiment under control. Yes, he had made a fatal error; he had miscalculated the timing of the Elixir of Warding's effect!
The Elixir of Warding had been poured directly into the mouths of the ogres. Unlike magical potions, which take effect immediately upon consumption, alchemical concoctions like the Elixir of Warding required time to act.
Yes, time – time for the ogres to digest the Elixir of Warding!
In his experimental timeline, Felix had overlooked the time needed for the ogres to digest the Elixir of Warding.
This meant that when the corrosive dark blood began to take effect, the Elixir was still in the ogres' stomachs, not yet digested and transformed into resistant elements to enter their bloodstream and help combat and assimilate the highly corrosive dark blood.
A fatal oversight!
In the path of a spellcaster, a small mistake could lead to the undoing of everything.
Felix glanced at the two ogres, now showing clear signs of undeath, and could only shake his head and sigh. He got up and slowly walked out of the laboratory.
Just as Felix was stepping out of the lab, a low groan reached his ears. This sound, like a ray of light, instantly invigorated him.
He practically flew back to the laboratory and stood motionless in front of the cage, closely observing the changes in the two ogres.
Just as he had hoped, the Elixir of Warding had finally begun to take effect!
However, it was the larger and stronger warhammer ogre on the left that responded to the Elixir of Warding. The slightly weaker ogre on the right had almost completed its transformation into an undead, as it began to emanate a strong aura of death.
Felix clenched his fists, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the changes in the larger ogre. Remarkably, this ogre's physical constitution was stronger. It had endured until the moment the Elixir of Warding took effect, thanks to its inherent elemental resistance.
As the Elixir of Warding spread, the first change was in the ogre's eyes. Its gray pupils turned a sickly pale color, and the gray matter inside began to coalesce, finally forming a deep gray iris. This was a characteristic of a semi-undead creature, still retaining some human-like features.
With the reappearance of its pupils, the blood seeping from the ogre's orifices began to slow, and its chest started to rise and fall. Felix, even from a distance, could faintly hear its weak heartbeat!
Success!
The first phase of the Project Abyssal Species Modification was a success!
A wave of joy surged through Felix. He had successfully completed a dark species modification! If he continued with the subsequent modification and data collection, he could use the dirty blood from a higher demon for the true corruption modification.
That was the most powerful part of the Project Abyssal Species Modification. An ogre battle servant with demon blood would be his most formidable ally in direct confrontations!
The momentum towards complete undeath had been halted by the Elixir of Warding. Once a balance between the two elemental forces was achieved, a creature that existed between life and undeath was born. Academically, such beings were termed semi-undead creatures!
An ogre battle servant could smash a heavily armored knight, charging at full speed, into a bloodied, flesh-mixed iron pancake! And that's just an ogre battle servant modified with undead blood. What if it were modified with dirty blood from a higher demon, especially for a blade ogre warrior?
How much would its strength be amplified?
Felix thought that perhaps it was time to find a golden subspecies of Glaurung to test its power then.