"What… Right now? Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"No, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a choice. Our exit has been sealed, we're trapped. We aren't going to find another way out. Do you really think that the malevolent serpent spirit that is keeping us here would just forget to lock the other exits?" Leor answered, his brow rising in skepticism.
"I see your point, but I still don't want you to do it. I prepared for days before I took the world tree potion, and it nearly killed me. You are exhausted, and your arm is broken. It's just a bad idea, Leor."
"The process was hard for you because we didn't understand the way light natured human Willpower would conflict with the Beastly transformation. Now we do. As long as you stay by my side and speak the words of the sacred texts, it should go much smoother for me."
Alina began wringing her hands as she considered his words. Leor was right about them being trapped here. She had been doing her best to keep her confidence up, but it was clear that the situation was bad. If consuming his potion now could help them escape, they might just have to do it. He was going to take the potion eventually anyway, so it was no great loss for him to do so now. As long as nothing went wrong, that is.
"Do you at least want to take some time to prepare yourself first?"
Leor slowly shook his head, "No, I'm going to do it now before I lose my nerve" he admitted, placing the glass jar with the world tree potion down on the floor before him. He removed the cover from the salt container that the petrified blood was being kept in as well, placing it beside the potion.
"The only tricky part might be this petrified blood. We will probably have to crush it into powder before it can be mixed in." he said, frowning as he examined the petrified droplet.
Alina held her hand out, gesturing for the blood. Leor gave it to her without question.
The young girl didn't hesitate to rip a page out of the history book that Drelk had lent her. She folded the page in half, dropping the petrified blood into the center crease. She carefully folded it back up and placed the paper flat on the ground, then she pulled her rapier from its sheath and struck the butt of the weapon against the paper several times.
It was working. Leor could hear the petrified blood being crushed into small fragments. Once Alina was satisfied with her work, she carefully opened the paper so as not to spill any of the precious contents, and slowly passed it over to Leor.
Looking down into the folded page, he could see that the blood had been crushed into a relatively fine powder. There were a few chunks, but it was the best that could be done in under such circumstances.
Leor took the paper and held it over the world tree potion, carefully tilting it down until all the powder had fallen in.
The potion had already been quite dark, but as the petrified blood was added it began to grow an inky black, becoming the deepest darkness Leor had ever seen. The potion swirled and mixed as the essence was absorbed into the potent drink.
It couldn't be stated enough times how miraculous this tiny container of liquid was. So many incredible things had to come together to create such a thing. Firstly the herbal knowledge of a great dragon lord, and access to the high quality herb garden he hoarded away, as well as the impossibly rare world tree sapling.
It was likely that there was not a second organization in all the realms that could recreate such a thing. Maybe the almighty emperor of the human empire could do such a thing, but he was more like a demigod than a mortal, with access to the wealth and manpower of an entire human empire that spanned dozens of realms. If something could be purchased, such a man could buy it. If something could be known by men, such a man would know it.
But now, Leor had added the petrified blood essence of an ancient leviathan, the Umbral Ouroboros. A creature of singular majesty and power. Would the human emperor have access to such a thing? Who could say?
As Leor was lost in his thoughts, a few minutes passed, and the potion was now ready to be consumed. He glanced up toward Alina, the girl was wringing her hands together, her brow furrowed deeply as she watched her friend.
Reaching down with his good arm, Leor lifted the jar, bringing it to his nose as he let the smell of the concoction linger in his nostrils, a grimace of disgust filling his face.
"Well, that's not pleasant." He quipped.
Alina's anxious facade broke as she put on a smile, relishing in his misery as she watched him smell the potion.
"Now you know how I felt." The smile slowly fell away from her face as her breathing began to quicken, it was clear to see that her worry was not light, "Good luck, Leor. I will be here by your side until it's over, I promise!"
His companion's sincere worry filled him with warmth. It was good to have people beside you that could be counted on. Leor had some childhood friends at the orphanage, but those relationships were fleeting. His lack of a family had robbed him of the important relationships most humans just took for granted, and because he never had them he wasn't even sure what he was missing.
Leor couldn't help but grin as he raised the noxious potion to his lips. It wasn't like he wasn't worried as well, but something inside him knew that he was going to make it through. Maybe he had begun to take after Alina, believing a bit more in the notion of fate.
With a final breath of courage, he took the potion to his lips in one swift motion, opening his throat and allowing the cold liquid to pour into his stomach all at once. Even so, a potent combination of bitterness and cold assaulted his tongue.
"Ack!"
He wanted to spit, but doing such a thing would defeat the whole purpose, so all he could do was bury his disgust and continue to force it all down.
The unnatural cold of the potion began to spread into his stomach, sending a chill through his whole body. For a few seconds that chill was all he felt. He sat silently staring at Alina as he waited for the process to begin. He watched her chest rise and fall swiftly, her anxious breathing the only thing he could hear.
Then, the freezing feeling began to move from his stomach, spreading out towards the rest of his body. Leor felt his Body of Will reacting to the strange cold, like the two forces were in conflict. His Will wanted to suppress the newcomer, while the power of the potion wanted to spread throughout his body.
Leor had to make the conscious effort not to resist the potions effects. Afterall, those effects were what he was after in the first place.
As his Willpower stopped suppressing the cold, it instantly spread throughout his body. Leor began to shiver as it felt like he was plunged into an icy lake. Glancing down at his arms, he could see black tendrils that looked like inky veins spreading across his skin. By the look on Alina's face, he could infer that the same was happening across his face and the rest of his body.
Then the pain came, like a hammer wielded by a mighty Beast, it crashed into him full force. Leor clenched his jaw tightly as the calm expression quickly fell away from his face.
Alina was watching carefully for this moment. As soon as the girl saw the expression on his face, she kneeled down beside him and began to recite the scriptures that she had memorized since she was a girl.
A heavy buzz filled Leor's ears like his body was under immense pressure, but the moment he heard the somber chanting he felt the pressure significantly decrease. Like a large weight had been lifted off his chest.
A few minutes passed as the freezing feeling inside him slowly reversed, becoming a raging heat. Leor's skin began to itch and burn, as a layer of inky black scales manifested above his pink flesh.
Next, the young man's fingernails lengthened and thickened into sharp black claws, and his eyes were covered in a glowing red.
Watching his changes, Alina realized that the great serpent corpse was likely the source of the mutated defilement. She should have realized it sooner, but now that she did there was simply no denying it.
Even in death the fossilized remains exerted a powerful influence on the surrounding world, and clearly had a profound effect on some of the nearby defiled creatures.
Everything seemed to be going quite well, but when the changes to his body were nearly complete, Leor felt a sudden feeling of danger as a shadow swept across the area and rushed into his body.
Alina jumped to her feet at the sight, but there was nothing she could do. The shadow had already vanished into her friend's body.
Leor remained still for a moment as he stared down at himself, not feeling any different. Then his vision began to darken as he fell over backward.