Sitting down cross-legged in front of ajax, Moyo waited patiently, watching Ajax as he walked closer to the pool, the heat this close to the pool was enough to cause blistering heat, his skin sizzling and close to drying up, ajax sat opposite him, face straight,

“To reforge the body is the same process of forging a blade, you pick a piece of metal, and you smelt it to liquid, this process I’m about to put you through would test your pain tolerance, it would test your willpower and it would test your focus, this may sound cruel but I expect you not to flinch, not in the slightest. Steel your nerves, channel your anger, we’re about to forge your body, but the truth is you are what will define the type of body you would get, the archailect is fair in that regard, the amount of sweat and determination you put into it determines the outcome, are you ready disciple?” ajax said,

Moyo nodded, clenching his hands tight on his lap, prepared for this,

“Once we start, it can’t be stopped, till it ends in you passing out, so I need you to stay awake, no matter what happens, the longer you stay awake the stronger it will be. I will need a few of your legendary aether shards to use along, ten would suffice for now” ajax sent his hand through a spatial rip he opened with his finger and took out ten of it, he had kept it for him before they departed where he met him,

Laying them all in front of Moyo, he looked at him,

“Prepare yourself,” ajax said

Moyo saw another spatial rip open up and descend on the lava pool and the next moment he felt a pain so agonizing he could hear the dings of the son of agony skill and physical regeneration skill leveling up, his mind shut down for a second, but subconsciously he bit his tongue to jar him back from the precipice of knocking out. Dizzy and his ears ringing,

Moyo screamed in a raw voice as the lava ate into his skin, every thought of growing powerful wiped away in the bleach of agony. He crumpled to the ground and grabbed at the ground, feeling his skin and flesh peeling off and growing back in a rapid state. The pain soon became overbearing,

“Channel that pain into your regeneration, do not give into the pain” ajax said,

Breathing through his mouth as he felt his skin growing along his face,

“Due to you not having a path yet, you can’t see your attributes, but I assure you they’re getting stronger” ajax said as he crushed two of the aether shards and poured the dust over moyoMoyo,

He felt it seeping into his skin, settling on his bones, the bare parts of his flesh that were open and showing his bone reflected the red shard dust on his bones, he could feel them growing stronger,

“Let the sight of your growing strength spur you on disciple, let the thought of your fingers crushing the rucar hive drones spur you on, now prepare yourself” ajax said harshly,

Seeing as he had almost healed finish, an indication that his human regeneration had leveled up, just as he began to gather his will to continue, another batch of lava that was more than the first batch splashed all over him. Moyo gritted his teeth and did his best to ignore it, his mind laying on his revenge, another set of crushed aether shards poured over him. Just when the pain subsided, and he began moving again, he was met with another wave of lava, basically covering every inch of him. The pain became a constant buzz grinding away his focus and willpower, however, he noticed his mind didn’t border on the edge of shutting down, but It was another form of mental torture. It felt like a thousand poisonous insects burrowed into his very skin, bones, eyes, mouth, everywhere and ate him one bit at a time, he could barely move, Moyo wanted to vomit but he had no throat, they had been burnt off.

Groaning, the only thing Moyo could do was simply continue to exist. subconsciously, he leaned forward and hunched his shoulders.

“Anyone who has gotten to expert will tell you the best way to affect how quickly you earn skill levels depends on three things” ajax said as he broke another set of two aether shards on a groaning Moyo whose vocal cords were just growing back, although a bit faster

“First is repetition. The more you use it the better, it's that simple. Secondly the difficulty you put it through. Even now I’m sure you can feel it even if you can’t access your notifications with the amount of pain you’re passing through. The harder the difficulty you put it through the stronger it gets, though it would be explosive in your case with your skill” ajax said as he dipped his hand through a spatial tear Moyo didn’t see him open and drag out the flesh of some creature,

Standing over Moyo he squeezed the flesh and drained the blood over him, this time Moyo felt renewed pain, this time it felt different from the agony of the lava, what in heaven's name did ajax just do to him? He thought as his sight became blurry

“Fight through it!” ajax growled as his voice jarred him back awake from the edge of fainting,

Chest heaving and eyes bloodshot, Moyo finally began to move slowly as ajax broke the final set of aether shards on him, his fingers intermittently spasmed and twitched. Through every second of the process, he did his best to focus, his will to live superseded his thought of failure. He needed to live, he needed the strength to get his revenge, to protect his world, to climb the mountain that was the archailect.

A loud ding finally caught his notice,

Notice!: your body tempering was successful!

Body name: titans shield

Tier: rare (+50% defense against mental attacks)

You have bathed in lava and poison, refined your bones, skin, and very being to serve as a mountain to crush your enemies and protect those you love, pushing yourself to the limit you can currently manage. May your stand be strong and your rage is crushing like with the weight of a titan!

Notice!:

Skill son of agony(u) level 50!

Skill physical regeneration(u) level 50!

Notice!: synergy detected! Skills son of agony(u) and physical regeneration(u) have both synergized in you! evolution possible!

Note: evolving skills may advance or decrease in tier, evolve? Y/N

Even though it was twitching from the pain he had felt moments ago, Moyo raised his eyes to ajax,

“Skill, evolve” he groaned,

Ajax’s ‘eyes widened, a smile on his face,

“Show me” he ordered

Moyo with his ebbing willpower opened up his stats to ajax who stared at them,

“The path to power has been laid well in front of you, accept it monster,” he said with a wild grin,

Moyo clicked yes and another wave of pain hit him

Evolving……calculating tier…. surplus aether shards available…legendary aether shards absorbed…calculating…. success!

Notice!: skills son of agony(u) and physical regeneration(u) have evolved into skill titans wrath! (r)!

Titans wrath(r) level 25!: through blood sweat and gore you have gotten the growing body of a titan! you heal faster, and your resistance to pain is stronger! skill is set at half the combined level of former skills son of agony and physical regeneration but twice their strength!

He noticed ajax grinning at the result, a small smile came upon his lips also although it took strength to manage that, the strength he should have conserved as he felt himself shut down with his eyes rolling into his head and then darkness.

Water splashed on Moyo as he woke up sputtering, eyes wide. Looking up to see ajax pouring water on him with an amused expression, around him were his old flesh and blood, it was enough to make him puke, it must had shown on his face as ajax spoke,

“nasty isn’t it? body tempering, although I must say I’m pleased with the result, a rare body type, and an evolved skill? I’m a bit impressed…a bit” ajax said as Moyo sat up as he noticed a difference,

Frowning he stood up and felt weightless, hopping from one foot to another, he was surprised to see tiny cracks on the cavern floor as he hopped, a smile broke out on his face, he was stronger. Kicking a leg out as wind followed the movement in a flash, he was faster,

He felt more than saw ajax lob something at him and in a flash his hand caught it out of the air, it looked like soap,

“Wash yourself, you smell and look like shit,” he said to Moyo who nodded,

Another slashed through the air and a rip opened over Moyo as water cascaded down on him, Moyo didn’t even bother to ask where it came from, he had seen enough weird things for the day. Washing up and drying himself with the heat of the room, he wore the dark robe ajax had provided for him, noticing it had a sort of cloth belt around the waist that he tied and it was armless, looking ripped away,

Moyo probably thought that was how the path of the reaping blade made their clothes,

“I believe this is what you wanted? strength, the beginning of it anyways. The urge to grow stronger, the want, the need, do you crave more strength Moyo?” ajax asked as he drew his gold katana, blue inscriptions flared up on its body,

Moyo burned inside and out, deep down, a part of him grew to hate this entire situation, why the fuck did this new world force him to go through this? every moment had been one of pain and agony, would this phase ever end?

“No, it never ends” ajax said as if he could read his thoughts. “If you begin to follow this path, you either continue forward, cutting your enemies down or you die. You will be consumed by those who are willing to endure more pain than you. They worked harder, which will make them superior in the eyes of the archailect and the collective as a whole, eat or be eaten, adapt or die. Let me ask you again moyosore, do you desire strength, are you consumed by the wanting?”

Moyo balled his fists tight, gritting his teeth as he nodded,

“good” ajax started, sending his hand through a spatial rip as he brought out a worn-looking katana with broken serrated edges on it and threw it to Moyo who caught it,

“Now, show me that resolve,” he said,

Moyo looked up at him in astonishment,

“What do I do?” he asked,

“You advance” ajax said as he attacked Moyo.