Lucien did not rush.
He spent days perfecting the facility meant for his monsters.
The diluted blood had gone much farther than he expected.
Where once he had a single, oppressive pool of ancestral essence, he now had many. There are dozens of basins. Each was carefully reinforced and each was tuned to a different concentration.
The blood no longer carried the crushing immediacy of the original bath, but it had gained something else in return. Stability, consistency, and control.
Lucien adjusted the ratios with obsessive care. He observed how density affected absorption, how exposure time altered structural reinforcement, and how certain monsters reacted violently to concentrations that others barely noticed.
Hard-bodied creatures received denser baths. Chitinous monsters were assigned thinner dilutions but longer immersion. Flesh-based beasts were restricted to brief contact, followed by extended recovery periods.
When he was satisfied, Lucien summoned the monster leaders.
