Crossroads had made far more changes to the template Dix was using at the moment than he had let on. Dix’s new body was something completely different from what he had before. It not only wasn’t human, it also wasn’t Folk. The power of a Runeborn soul would overwrite that of a normal body, and it’s intrinsic connection to a soul. This would cause great weakness, limiting their physical abilities drastically. No Runeborn had ever been a warrior. To give Dix a chance to really live as he expected the man was going to, he needed a body that could house such a powerful soul. Unfortunately, no other sapient race could support a Runeborn soul, and was the real reason their bodies had disintegrated on death.

Keeping secrets was something the God of the Crossroads had long become accustomed to. Having the knowledge of the dead was more than anyone was meant to know, and the damage he could do by letting any of it out was staggering. Crossroads knew all the secrets of the Runeborn, and he had done what he could to set Dix on the path to finding them out for himself. He had also made sure he had a body that could live to get there. In his mind, using the body of a soulless monster was the perfect solution. With Dix’s strange mental landscape the instincts of the monster would be outside of the control structure, and the body was actually strong enough to handle the immense power of a Runeborn soul. In fact, the yearning for a soul was the main reason this race was monstrous in the first place. If it all worked as he planned, it would be a nice tidy package that he would never tell anyone about.

Even Dix would have to discover all of this for himself. The man had expressed an interest in mysteries, so this should be entertaining to watch. However, for the moment, Dix mostly just had to handle the pain.

At the moment, even his Pain Resistance was incapable of helping. The formation that was responsible for controlling the mana that remade a transfer into a new species was normally capable of doing so without pain, but it typically rewrote only portions of the body, using the rest of its abilities to restrain the patient, deaden the sense of pain, and maintain the integrity of the consciousness that inhabited said body. In this case, with Dix needing virtually everything about him rewritten, it needed to use the full strength of its power just to get the work done. The only thing it could do for Dix, outside of keeping his mind intact, was to keep him from moving and knock him unconscious. Unfortunately, unconsciousness lasted only a moment before the changes being made to him nullified that magical sleep. Helpless against the implacable energy sweeping through him, all Dix could do was scream against his own teeth, his jaw locked closed by the very formation causing him this pain. Fortunately, he would soon be without a body, removing one avenue of pain.

The first two massive changes were to his soul and his mana storage. Originally, access to both of these were located through his heart. The mana storage normally pulled the mana out of the bloodstream as it was swept through the heart, but for the Runeborn it was quite different. For them the mana storage was located between the lungs, above the heart, creating the basis for what was essentially another circulatory system, but this one based on mana instead of blood. The process of creating this new system would come at the end of his current rebranding ritual. But before it could be recreated, it first needed to be removed.

The soul was an entirely different problem. The Runeborn of the past were basically naked souls with a mana circulation system. They would eventually construct a physical “body” through the manipulation of mana, but it was almost solely used for interaction with other races, and a very few necessary tasks. To get his soul into this same state, it first needed to be removed from its current location, a task that caused immense pain. It wasn’t a physical pain, and it was completely impossible to ignore. Human souls were stored in a sort of inmaterial pocket to protect them from, well, everything. To become Runeborn, his soul needed to not only be exposed, but also hardened to provide protection, a process that would normally have killed a human.

Crossroads meticulous planning had an answer for this. The hardening process was set to begin at the same time Dix’s physical body was ruptured. Every cell in his body was torn from those they were attached to at the same time. Once more, without the formation supporting him, this would have resulted in his death. Each cell had its structural DNA recoded, and then was flooded with energy and forced to undergo mitosis, producing a cell of this new type, before the original cells were destroyed to produce more energy to continue the work of the foundation. The hardening process normally worked by bombarding the soul with particulates of different types of mana, energy, and matter. In this case, the remnants of the cells that made up Dix’s body were first used to capture his soul, and surround it like armour. Then the bombardment of hardening began.

Even at birth the hunger of his new cells for a soul was astonishing. As the cells changed they each latched themselves to his soul, attempting to claim it for their own. The bombardment, which was designed to cause the soul to strengthen itself as a defensive measure, was actually harming the already assailed soul. As both the soul and the cells realized that the destruction of the soul was imminent, an outcome that neither desired, they suddenly changed their original antagonistic actions into that of a truly symbiotic relationship. Each was better prepared to defend against specific types of particulates, while unable to do much to prevent damage from others. To combat this new problem, the cells absorbed portions of the soul and used it to synchronize their actions, and bind them into a singular unit. In turn, the soul wrapped itself around the cells, providing form to the function of defense. With the soul inhabiting the cells they were both strengthened, and when the bombardment came to an end the hardening was not only achieved, but the results were an order of magnitude beyond what was expected. A person with a normal mental landscape would likely have gone completely insane with the amount of pain the hardening had caused, but Dix’s unique mind just shunted it off for the emotional section to handle.

With the hardening and bonding of the soul complete, all that was left was the shaping. Luckily for Dix, this was not only the easiest part, but the least painful. His cells, still disconnected from each other physically, were molded like putty. As sections would be finalized, the cellular structure would change to that of whichever portion of the body it was assigned to be. In this way bones, organs, and limbs were fashioned, and Dix’s body was recreated into its new form. As his body stabilized his consciousness was returned to it, bringing back the physical pain. Dix wasn’t a masochist, but he was quite pleased that the pain had returned. It proved that not only was he still alive, or something adjacent to it, but the pain of having his soul tortured was finally over. The time in which he existed as just an unconnected consciousness was actually worse than when he had died.

With his body almost finished reconstructing, the final portions of his recreation began. First was his mana network. The organ that controlled the whole network, which he decided to call a mana heart until someone corrected him, was created first. Despite being made almost entirely of energy and mana, it did actually have a physical presence, pushing against his organs as it grew in the center of his chest. The organ itself wasn’t large, only the size of his thumb, but it was both the gateway to his mana network, as well as the anchor that kept it in place. From this location tiny sparks bored outwards, carving trails through his body. These sparks were establishing the network itself, connecting every piece of his being to the mana heart in his chest, preparing them to receive the mana that would help him to grow strong enough to survive life on Mantra. Once more the process brought pain, but of a much lesser variety. However, Dix was completely unaware of it, as he was focused on something else entirely.

The last portion of the process of rebirth was the changes to his mind. With his body having been completely destroyed and remade, his brain had gone with it. As it was reestablished, it needed to create the same mental pathways and thinking system that he had before, but in it’s new structure and form. The general shape of the brain cavity in his skull had not changed, but the cells that formed the brain had. Now they were just as interconnected with his mana network as the rest of his body, and this would bring changes he couldn’t yet understand. To firmly seat his consciousness within his brain the formation controlling the process had to recreate the pathways that had been established previously. To do so, it forced him to relive his entire life. While it didn’t take very long, it felt as though he relived all twenty six years of it, an unpleasant experience. While he was reliving his own life the last little touches were finished.

With the process complete, the lock keeping him immobile was released, and Dix dropped to his knees holding his head and groaning. Unbeknownst to Dix, the entire process had only taken a minute, just as Beauty had said. Even without going over his whole life again, it felt much, much longer to him. Pain can do funny things to the mind. It took another thirty seconds for him to calm down and open his eyes. Finally able to see Beauty hiding her senses from the process he had just undergone caused him to smile, before he struggled to his feet. The Stygian locks of hair that rolled off his shoulder and down his arm surprised him until he remembered the changes Beauty had designed to his looks. Rubbing a few strands between the fingers of his other hand he was shocked at how silky and soft it was. Definitely lady-killer hair. He was quite pleased.

When he finally staggered to his feet and found his balance, the first thing he did was stretch. Feeling the push and pull of his muscles as he rolled his arms down from above his head, he was glad to note that the movements still seemed almost identical to what they had previously been. There were a few spots that didn’t tug as hard as before, but the scars that had previously caused that were now gone. Happy with the discernable results of his transformation, Dix smirked and circled his arms around Beauty, but didn’t quite touch her. When he had everything in place, he quickly tightened his arms and pulled Beauty against his body, giving her no chance to escape his clutches. As soon as she felt his touch, she squealed and her eyes flew open. Even seeing Dix in his new form didn’t calm her much, although she appeared less frightened, and more nervous. A small distinction, but important.

Smiling, Dix rubbed her nose with his own, then placed a kiss on her forehead. As she started calming down he asked, “So, Beauty, pleased with your work?” He had briefly considered asking her about the massive amount of pain he had endured, but decided against it. There was obviously nothing she had done differently than any other time she had used this, and she seemed even more disturbed by the process than he had been. There was no use in upsetting her further, and he would have felt a little mean doing so.

Beauty pulled back a bit, admiring his firm physique, and the changes she had made to his facial structure. He had been very attractive to her before, but now, with his new coloring, he was absolutely perfect in her eyes. Feeling her heart pounding in her chest, she realized that she needed to get out of his arms before she did something she regretted. Or worse, didn’t regret. As her heart rate continued to increase she pushed feebly at his chest, unsure if she actually wanted him to release her or not. With both her emotions and her blood heating up, she was starting to lose her faculties, so when Dix released her she stumbled briefly before he grabbed her arms to help support her. As a little space opened up between them, she could suddenly breath again.

Biting her lip and blushing furiously, Beauty stammered out a positive response, or the closest she could manage. Dix seemed to understand and beamed a cheeky smile at her. Releasing her arms, he stood and wandered over to get dressed again. With no real changes made to the shape of his body, his clothes still fit as before. He wasn’t that attached to this outfit, but it was currently the only one he had. His only real complaint about it was that it was missing all the weapons it had previously contained. The transfer had only brought him and his clothes. While he was mildly upset about the loss of his weapons, he was still glad he hadn’t had to pull a Terminator upon arrival.

Knowing Beauty hadn’t looked away while he dressed amused him, but he knew it was more shock than desire at this point, although desire was there as well. Shrugging on his jacket last, pleased the tablet was still there, he walked back over to her. When she just kept staring he chuckled, which brought her out of it, but sent her back to blushing and hiding her face. If it wasn’t so adorable, he really would have been getting bored of it. His reaction to her surprised him, but he didn’t feel the need to waste time thinking about it. He just gave her a little nudge, shoulder to shoulder, and asked, “So, what next?”

Jerking out of her daydreams and back to herself with a start, Beauty struggled to recall what he had asked. She had certainly heard him, but the question took a moment to register. When she eventually recalled his words, she had a moment of difficulty as she wavered between what she really wanted to do but was too embarrassed to ask about, what she wanted to do that she knew she could ask about, and what she was actually supposed to do. In the end, she realized she didn’t know how to ask for what she wanted at all, and settled on what she was supposed to be doing, mostly due to her concerns over Crossroads being disappointed in her. Turning to Dix, who had been waiting with patient amusement while watching the changes to her expressions as she thought it over, she finally gave him an answer.

“The next thing we have to do is take you to choose your Statistics.” She said it firmly, with a little nod of her head. He was tempted to pat her head and tell her good job, but gave it up as mildly insulting. She had enough self esteem issues, he didn’t need to add more, and it got him nothing.

Pondering her words for a bit, Dix realized that there was an interesting oddity in there. “What do you mean ‘choose my Statistics?’ I get to pick what they are, or I just get to assign points?”

Beauty opened her mouth to respond, then closed it and briefly tried to think up a way to answer the question. It wasn’t that hard, but it could take time. Frowning cutely, she said, “It will be much easier to show you first. The explanation takes a lot longer than just seeing it.” She held out her hand, and Dix took it with a smile. He might hate the disorientation of teleportation, but more contact with Beauty was always welcome.

In a blink of an eye they were somewhere else, and he was once more pushed down onto a couch and aggressively snuggled. This time it was a different waiting room, but the structure seemed mostly the same. A couple couches, a small table, and a mana formation. The major difference was that the formation looked different, and the wall above it was covered end to end in plaques. In the center were several large golden plaques, but the rest were smaller, silver, and empty. Confused, he looked to Beauty, asking, “So, you said I needed to see something for this to make sense of it. I’m assuming those plaques are what I need to see, but what are they?”

Smiling with the joy of snuggling, Beauty murmured into his arm, “Those are the different statistical systems. You get to pick which one you want to use to monitor your growth.”

Eyes wide, Dix’s head whipped back to stare at the wall. The larger golden plaques had writing on them that suddenly made more sense. He couldn’t read the smaller text from this distance, but one in particular drew his attention. On it each paragraph of the written sections started with a much larger word.

Strength

Endurance

Dexterity

Agility

Intelligence

Wisdom

Dix’s jaw dropped in shock. There were a lot of plaques, and, at least on the golden ones that he could actually read, there were different names and assortments of attributes, no two the same.