Roan locked the door as soon as Dean left. Hurriedly, he made his way to the rabbit, but the remnant herbal smells stopped him.

Clean it. A voice told him. He tried to ignore it, but it grew stronger. Clean it now. You know it bothers you.

Sighing, he grudgingly started to clean. The voice was right. Disorder did bother him greatly. Having something—even the tiniest, unimportant object—unorganized prevented him from being productive. He’d forgotten when the voice first spoke to him. Maybe, it had been during his days as an apprentice to the previous material master; maybe it had been as he settled into his own lab and performed experiments; or maybe it had always been there, since birth.

At first, he had thought himself insane. He searched for help and would sometimes ignore it for extended periods of times. But as time went Roan had become certain of one thing; it was another part of him—his subconscious knowledge perhaps or a second version of himself—and it had always been right. He hated that part of himself. Still, he listened to the voice and learned to live with it. He had even named it Naor.

His other self.

He glanced at the herb dregs with a frown. He had used a fourth of the monthly allowance to cure the kid. It was a stupid reason, but it was necessary—lest he be punished for negligence. However, he wished Dean would have taken the problem to the Medicine Hall; not him. That way, they would have used up their designated resources. What he got from the sect lately had been too little. He even had to halt a ten-year experiment due to lack of resources. Though, fortunately, it could be restarted were it was stopped, if he managed to gather the needed materials. Roan sighed.

Enough complaining. Naor said. Hurry up so we can focus on studying the rabbit. We haven’t done an experiment in so long that I’m itching to do it. Plus, it will cheer you up. He grinned as he scrubbed the bowls and tools clean. Finishing, he placed them back in their respective spots. The bowl is an inch too far to the left. Naor pointed out. Quickly fixing the mistake his mind went to the rabbit.

Roan had noticed the rabbit staring intently at him since it arrived. It watched him and even gave a few approving nods here and there. Roan thought he imagined it, but Naor told him otherwise. Naor had kept his focus on him. It was a weird thing he did. Roan himself didn’t fully understand it, but as long as he caught the smallest wisp with the edge of his vision, Naor would be able to focus on it as if he stared directly at it. It was a great advantage for Roan and it proved that the rabbit had some amount of sentience.

Picking up the cage, he strode to the northern wall. It was white, like the rest of the room, yet it was a secret passage. One would be pressed to notice it. Even Dean never did. It was one of his proudest achievements—a formation that could even fool a First Mender. Smiling, he touched the wall and drew a set of runes. The wall flashed green and revealed a downward staircase.

The rabbit gave admiring shrieks as Roan descended and entered his lab. The culmination of his work and most important research was stored here. And, only he knew of its existence.

Store the stolen herbs. Naor said, reminding him. Roan removed a small metal box from inside his robe and opened the lid to several different glass bottles—each a different color. Carefully, he placed fragments into their corresponding bottle.

Every day, he would enter the vaults and scrape off tiny bits of herbs and materials he needed and store them. It had been his daily routine for the past year. I need to pick up the pace. Roan thought. Currently, it would take him a decade to store the required materials to continue his experiment. If you do, they will notice. Naor said. Just a few more years and we will finally be able to leave this decaying sect.

Roan nodded and sealed the bottles—placing them back perfectly—and took the rabbit out of its cage. Holding it with one hand, he let Naor control his right hand. Another of the benefits Naor’s existence provided and that Raon had discovered recently. Expertly, he removed the cap off an ink bottle and put pen to paper. It still amazed him, it was as if Naor grew more capable the more time passed.

“Rabbit. Possibly of the Sepir descent…” he said as Naor wrote keeping up with the pace of dictation. Roan took a small herb from a near bottle and paralyzed the rabbit. He then, set it down on the wooden desk. With a magnifying tablet, Roan began to inspect it more thoroughly.

Having finished recording all the basic data, Roan set the rabbit down in its cage and moved to retrieve a Record Crystal. It was an old thing—its glowing silver surface had now dulled to a lifeless gray—but it was filled with his most important work. If Dean had correctly described the rejection, it meant it was worth recording. The first of its kind. A weak beast rejecting a master binder.

Roan traced his finger across the crystal’s surface, turning it on. “Experiment SR one.” He said. “Will try to bind the beast using conventional method.” Not wasting a second, Roan quickly drew the circle and placed the required materials and began the binding.

“Binding started.” Roan narrated. “process is normal, there is no resistance…shackles have forme- No, they have shattered. It is as Dean stated. Rabbit shows unwillingness to be bound. Experiment SR one, failed.”

Roan went back to the crystal and examined the recording in detail. Even if it was of the lowest grade available—its function was amazing—it could still slow down the recording to one tenth speed. Using this feature, Roan noticed several short bursts of energy attacking the shackles. They were so fast that both Naor and him only noticed them until they’d watched it for the seventh time.

It was something unexpected. “Naor, what are these strange energy bursts?” Roan asked. “Clearly the rabbit has no qi in its body. Could he control the qi in the atmosphere? Is it manipulating it?”

Don’t jump to conclusions, Naor said. We will have to conduct a deeper inspection on the rabbit. If possible let’s use that formation to study him.

“But that woul-“

Don’t worry about it. Didn’t you promise to provide a different beast. Just do that. Studying this beast is more important.

Naor was right, like always. However, he wished it didn’t have to come to it. Not because he didn’t want to give out another beast, but because the formation took too many resources and it was…well, gruesome. Roan sighed and turned the Record Crystal to voice record only.

“Experiment SR Two. Will take blood and tissue samples to further examine. Will also confirm what species the beast really is. I have a feeling it is not your normal rabbit.” Roan said, smiling.

##

Eztli currently burned with anger.

The day just wasn’t going well for him. First, he had unfortunately passed out before even trying to refine the rabbit’s blood and was woken abruptly by a binding. Following that, he got into a binding fight with a First Mender; nothing too serious as he had rested enough to fight back. Then, he had to sit through the kid’s wailing and scolding. If that wasn’t enough, the cage was covered and he was taken somewhere.

At first, Eztli had been overjoyed when they removed the cage cover and left. The sight of a lab and what could be called a researcher greeted him; it reminded him of his own work. Admiringly, Roan was an organized man, much like himself. It wasn’t hard to praise him and acknowledge him as a fellow researcher. He even had a proper hidden lab.

Eztli had been amazed at the complexity—not as much as his own—and attention to detail that Roan placed on hiding his lab. The Formation was impeccable. Honestly, he had started to respect the man, that is, until he began talking to himself and touching him all over—stretching his limbs and flipping him like a doll. It was a degrading for Eztli to be handled in such a way. He had protested, but the man didn't mind his shrieking. It fact it only made his smile bigger specially when he pricked him with the needle and took huge amounts of blood.

Insane fuck! Eztli thought, shrieking in anger. Doesn't he know how much blood a rabbit has. I'm actually feeling dizzy.

Still, respect lingered. Eztli could sense the authentic interest Roan held for research. He had smiled as he watched Roan use a Record Crystal and looked through a microscope, studying his blood. The method to inspect it was different—Eztli would have used his Blood Sensing Art—but the scene reminded him of his youth and his own experiments. Ah, I wish I could have seen the bloodline experiment through. He thought. There was finally progress, the rabbi-

The realization hit him hard. The rabbit that survived the bloodline infusion was now his body. He laughed inside. Then immediately closed his eyes and sensed his body using his soul. It felt awkward to use his soul energy but it was all he could manage without Blood Arts. Hopefully, he managed to sense a small difference. A cluster of cells.

At first, they seemed to belong, but the more attention he gave the more they seemed wrong. They were still rabbit cells, yet, deep within they had something akin to a seed. Waiting to be activated.

So that's why there were no outward or internal changes. Eztli thought, smiling. The seed is dormant.

This was the best news he had received since he awoke in this body. The rabbit was too stupid to even realize the change in its body, but if the seed could be activated, it would have caused his bloodline to change. The effects would be immediate. He would transform and even gain abilities he could never have. If he could absorb all sorts of bloodlines, it would allow him to go beyond the limits of a Sepir rabbit. It could even take him beyond the limits of humans.

This is great. He told himself. With this I will be able to rise in strength even faster than anticipated.

He began formulating a plan. He would first need to prime this body—by refining its blood—and attune it to be compatible with Blood Arts. From there he would be able to activate the bloodline. He opened his eyes and let out a shriek of joy causing Roan to break away from his research.

"You’re a lively one, aren't you? Enjoy it while you can. He smiled. A euphoric and creepy smile that seemed to not be his. “Soon you will die."

Fuck! What is this crazy bastard thinking? A sense of urgency flashed through Eztli like lightning through the air. I need to escape this man.

“Naor, we can still back out now.” Roan talked to himself. “The ingredient for this are too much…you are right the benefits would be far too great if we discover the cause of its strength. Should we use the record crystal? That’s right, the feedback from the formation should be enough…”

Great, this fucker went full insane. Eztli thought as he watched Roan continue to talk to himself. He crossed the room several times grabbing several herbs and jars—filled with nasty green, dull blues and blacks. Using the contents of the green jar, Roan drew three triangular patterns—each their points meeting. A blue circle followed soon after bisecting the triangles. Finally, he used the black jar to draw sharp angular runes.

What the fuck is he doing? Eztli asked himself trying to make out the runes. He had never seen such a weird formation, but once Roan finished drawing the runes it began to make sense. Shit! He screamed inside. How the fuck did he come up with such a sadistic formation?

If Eztli’s memory was correct the particular way Roan had set down the runes would cause the formation to have an analyzing effect. It would be extremely effective; however, it was deadly. Not for the user but for the recipient. In this case, Eztli. It would tear him layer by layer—peel his skin, tear his muscles and organs, pulverize his bones and burn his blood—as it inspected every minute details. It would, astonishingly, also transfer the information directly into the user's brain.

"Finally, we will get a chance to use this formation again. It will be so fun, Naor.” Roan said, laughing then turned to Eztli. “Unfortunately, not fun for you. That reminds me, we will have to give Kael a new beast." He said, sighing. "Yes, it’s a small price to see what makes you tick, little one. He placed his hands on the formation and willed energy into it.

No! Eztli shrieked as he felt his skin begin to burn. Fight back. He told himself. You know how the formation and runes work. Use that against him.

He closed his eyes bearing the pain and concentrated. Having no qi made things extremely difficult for Eztli. Usually, he would have used his Blood Art to cause a disruption in the energy flow of the formation, however, he only had his soul at the moment. The foreign qi bombarded him and kept trying to tear him apart. Slowly he managed to stall the energy inside him.

"So, Dean didn't lie. You really did fight him." Roan said, laughing. "Let's see how long you last with this." Roan raised his right hand and sent more energy, throwing Eztli's body into chaos.

If only I had qi, you fucker. He cursed. You'd be the one begging me to stop.

The pain became almost unbearable. Eztli had to do something soon, if not, he would die. Suddenly, an idea popped into his mind. He stopped resisting taking in all the qi Roan had sent. Blood oozed from Eztli, pooling under his legs. Fur fell off in patches along with parts of his skin.

"Well, I guess that's all the fight you had in yo-"

Let’s see if you can handle this. Eztli thought, smiling. He then used his soul to encase the qi. The process was meticulous, but Eztli’s soul control could manage it—even with the immense pain. He spun his soul, guiding the qi as if was his own and caused it to flow back into the formation.

Bombarded by the massive influx of qi and soul force, Roan convulsed and fainted.