Leonel's skin pressed flush against his bone. Soon, it began to crackle and dry like a thin piece of paper. It even seemed like it just might crack like fine glass and perish into a pile of ash at any moment.
It was only then that something changed..
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Leonel's chest jolted so violently that it seemed like his heart might leap from his chest. The outline of his ribs were so clear in his current state that it was even vaguely possible to see the sudden activity.
His convulsing body shook once more. This time, a projectile of black blood shot out from his mouth as a familiar heat spread all through Leonel's body.
If Leonel was conscious, his mind would flash back to the days he spent with his father and a disgusting green smoothie he had to force down his throat everyday.
Leonel had believed that he already understood the purpose of his father's concoctions. They had helped his body strengthen faster than others after the Metamorphosis despite the fact he wasn't born with an offensive or physical ability. Yet, he could have never thought that these benefits were just mere lingering aftereffects. They couldn't even represent a single percent of what their true strength was.
At that moment, three things began to occur in Leonel's body at once.
In his left kidney, a large Force Node of 100 cells had connected with the rest of his body and began to shimmer in full force.
In his Ethereal Glabella, a sudden surge of Soul Force began to spin violently around itself, quickly forming a Third Star that sent pulses of pure energy outward.
And… In his right kidney, a golden-red stone began to form. No… It was more accurate to say that it had begun to reform. And, it was much larger than any one of Leonel's other Nodes. In fact, it didn't seem like a normal Node at all.
Leonel hadn't realized it before, but a portion of his kidney had been cut out. But, it had been such a small portion that even when he swept his Internal Sight over it, he hadn't noticed a thing. It could be said that it only took up the space of a few thousand cells.
However, at this moment, not only was the space that had been cut out suddenly filled with a heavy, swirling golden-red energy, but it slowly matured, taking over the whole of Leonel's right kidney until it completely morphed.
In a process that took several days, Leonel's right kidney turned from a normal organ of flesh and blood to a gem shimmering of gold and scarlet.
It was clear that whatever had been cut out of Leonel had not only recovered, but it had also strengthened by countless times compared to the past. But, what was most shocking was the fact it took the place of Leonel's Tenth Node, but was very clearly several times larger than his other Nodes.
The kidney might not have been a particularly large organ, but it was still formed of hundreds of thousands to millions of cells. Compared to the 100 cells that formed Leonel's other Nodes, there wasn't even an appropriate comparison.
In addition, compared to the Force that usually swirled about Leonel's Nodes and Nodal Pathways, this energy was several levels above anything Leonel had ever come into contact with before.
It seemed that Leonel's father had gone a bit overboard in helping his son to recover. By normal convention, Leonel would have eventually helped his kidney mature to this state over a long period of time, but it seemed like this would no longer be necessary.
At that moment, the violent changes to Leonel's body slowly came to a stop.
As his Three Star Constitution completed, a surge of black, putrid liquid flowed out from his pores and mouth, filling the Lab Setting with a terrible stench. At the same time, the golden-red energy of his right kidney seemed to connect with the rest of his body, causing a purification affect that even managed to match the formation of Leonel's Third Star in a casual manner. And, finally, Leonel's body, after going through so much, broke through another barrier and entered the Superior Stage.
It was within his body that the most drastic changes began to occur. Whether by design or coincidence, the golden-red energy of Leonel's kidney seemed to resonate with the residual red energy of his Runes.
Back when Leonel had almost failed and suffered Bloodline Deviation he had managed to turn back in the end, but that experience still left a small influence on him. This was why instead of a pure violet, when he entered his true battle state, his eyes would also contain a tinge of red.
This redness seemed to be beloved by the energy of Leonel's kidney and they became attracted to one another. Soon, the slight redness of Leonel's Runes became more pronounced. At the same time, the bronze color grew in luster and tended slightly more toward gold.
The changes weren't escaped by Leonel's hair which also became more gold as it actually managed to survive the formation of his Third Star this time around.
But, maybe the greatest changes occurred in Leonel's Ethereal Glabella. At that moment, the faint spirit of his Snowy Star Owl seemed to also be influenced. In fact, compared to Leonel's Metal Synergy Lineage Factor, it resonated with this scarlet gold energy on a much deeper level even to the point of causing faint changes within the 12-Sided Star…
As all these changes continued to take place, Leonel remained in a deep sleep. During that time, the spirit of the Segmented Cube seemed to not like the fact its insides had been so dirtied. So, Leonel was swept up and thrust into the bath house of the Abode Setting while the mess he left behind was cleaned…
**
Leonel suddenly gasped awake, his hands erratically touching around his own body as though to make sure it was all still there. It was only then he sighed a breath of relief and realized he had somehow ended up in bed.
'Did I fail?'
Leonel sighed. Even if he failed, he thought himself lucky. After all, surviving in such a situation was likely borderline impossible.
'Hold on…'
Leonel frowned.
If he had failed, why was he uninjured? Could it be that he had only managed to form one Node? That was worse than failing all together because that meant he had no chance of forming his Tenth now…
Leonel couldn't help but feel a bit down.
He sat up, crossing his legs and sinking into meditation. He might as well check the state of his body. He had always known that this was a nearly impossible endeavor, but for whatever reason, he had never even considered failure.
"… Huh?"