Lowly Ascent

Cain awoke to a white light. He sat up, finding himself in a clean white room. The walls, the floor, everything, was white.

There were modern tones reminiscent of stores in Free City, but it exuded a more…advanced, futuristic atmosphere, as though it had undergone millennia of development.

Glowing outlines adorned the walls, resembling flowing light moving like liquid. Utensils and objects were scattered throughout the room.

Everything displayed a remarkable level of sophistication. Even a lamp devoid of oil illuminated the space with flameless light, while even more light emanated from the ceiling above him.

The room left Cain with the distinct impression of being in an unfamiliar environment, but if this was good or bad, he couldn't say.

"Cain! I'm glad you've recovered! We'll be leaving after completing some paperwork, so collect yourself." 

John walked in through a door, one that slid open for him.

"Master... Where am I? What is this place?" Cain was calm, seeing John made him feel even safer. 

John gleamed. "It's the most advanced and innermost part of the Union's Headquarters. I brought you here after you were in critical condition. It hasn't even been a day, that's how advanced the real Union is! Such damage… and yet you're already conscious and healed!"

Cain was at a loss for words, it all seemed to be a strange dream. This was the real Union? So alien…. 

He listened to John, and followed him out of the room, wearing some prepared clothes. 

Upon exiting into the corridor, Cain was blinded by pure white. He walked into an endless hallway. He remained silent and trailed behind John.

The pair passed rooms with windows. Peering inside, Cain found these rooms were just as foreign as his own, housing machinery, weird instruments, and doctors engrossed in machines resembling Cain's microscope but bulkier and more advanced.

'Is this why Plague Doctors wish to get registered? No, that gives benefits of their own. This place is  accessible to the most trusted Plague Doctors...this is heaven.'

Cain marveled at this whole new world before he snapped back to reality. John had halted to converse with two guards.

It was apparent they were guards, given their plated armor that looked like fabric yet had a metallic sheen. The metal was embedded into their skin with visors concealing their eyes, rendering them to appear as inhuman puppets.

After the quick conversation, the guards opened a door, revealing a hallway on the other side that was no longer white.

This new hallway was composed of bricks and other materials, the same scene Cain remembered the HQ looked like.

As they walked through, the door closed. Cain glanced back to see it transform into a wall and disappear.

"Master, what was that place?"

"The biggest secret of the Union, where we store all our most advanced research and technologies. Trusted higher-ups are allowed to know, like me."

"Then why was I let in?" It didn't make sense to Cain.

"Well, it's because you are my student, but because I used my authority to get you treatment. We have to sign a document using alchemy to ensure you tell no one."

Cain nodded. 'No wonder the Union is at the forefront of research! They are more advanced than the rest of Netherane!'

He accompanied John to a desk where he had to sign a contract, which stipulated that he couldn't disclose what he had witnessed to anyone except those privy to the confidential information.

After signing, Cain was taken home by John. 

…

He had a long day, or maybe a short one? It didn't matter, Cain was home and eating dinner with John. Tonight was meatloaf!

"Tomorrow, you're going back to the Union to claim your prize. Since you were leading you got the best prize of all." John spoke while putting a juicy piece of food in his mouth.

"What did I win?" Cain asked. 

Finishing his plate, John burped and patted his belly. "You get to choose one item from the Union's vault, where everything important is stored. Of course, it's limited to the lowest-tiered room in the vault, but even Grade 3s like me would want to go in there."

Hearing his master's envy-ridden voice, excitement filled Cain. 

He was so happy he couldn't help but reflect on how he had reached this point. In his view, all he had done was defeat a few people, yet now he had the chance to explore a place coveted even by Grade 3s.

However, this privilege came with its consequences, Cain had killed Roy of the Lavinar family and another person backed by someone. The school's protection, coupled with his master's support which was akin to the Union's protection, kept him safe.

Of course, this wouldn't stop the Lavinars from using underhanded methods. 

Nevertheless, Cain steeled his resolve and was sure to remain vigilant.

Not all problems could be solved through violence, and Cain shifted his focus to a vial he left on his research station, ready to delve into research. He had long gone upstairs for bed.

...

Cain walked through the double doors of the Union HQ, where someone awaited him. 

"You must be Cain; follow me." 

Without saying anything, he followed the attendant until they reached a dead end. The attendant then knocked on the wall in some sort of code.

Cain could hear something akin to cogs while the wall creaked and cracked, opening. 

Behind the wall revealed the endless white hallways once more. After walking for a while, he was led to a short hallway with a door at the end. 

Guards stood on either side of the door, with their metal-plated bodies and inhuman appearance. He followed the attendant through the door into an ancient-looking room.

The room was cold and dry, it was constructed from the same ancient stone used for Cain's ritual when augmenting himself.

There was a large vault door in front of him, its wheel turned with resounding metallic clicking noises as it opened up to showcase its treasures. Oil lamps lit up as they illuminated the inside. 

A vast hall filled with endless treasures was what was before Cain, and he could take one piece of it. 

"You have an hour; you can choose one item." The attendant told Cain the instructions set by the Elders before standing at the side. 

Cain ventured into the vault as the vault door closed behind him.

He took his time to marvel at the grand hall. The vault housed alchemic weapons, shelves of research, various machines, and vials containing different pathogens. He spent some time exploring, noting that despite the place's apparent age, it seemed to be visited, as there was minimal dust on objects near the entrance. 

His curious mind led him to the objects riddled with dust. Most of these objects turned out to be research papers sealed in folders. 

However, the seals on them were clear…and labeled, offering glimpses into their contents: 

'Theory of Molecular Studies' 'Rakghoul Virus' '100 Ways to Balance Serums' and an array of other documents on different subjects were replayed in Cain's mind.

Even so, he wasn't interested and decided to venture deeper into the less illuminated areas of the vault.

As he crept closer and closer into the unlit darkness, he found ancient plants, alchemic weapons adorned with unfamiliar runes, and objects covered in dust.

Cain reached the end of the unlit corridor, where he encountered a solitary vial.

'Malignus Animum Virus? What's that?'

He picked up a folder with some notes and took the time to read it.

==============

Malignus Animum, once called the "Evil Spirit" by Netherane's earliest humans, before the landfill.

This is a malicious virus with high infectivity, causing excruciating pain surpassing most types of torture. Little is known about it, but it appears as a liquid with a low boiling point, allowing it to become a gas.

Note, that all tests must be in a contained and sealed environment. Over 20 fellow researchers have died trying to study this rare liquid-state virus. 

From our research, we have learned that the virus acts swiftly, almost as if alive. It can transform into a gas without any temperature change; it infects the blood, skin, tissues, everything! Yet bones seem to be preserved, I know this from cleaning the bodies…

Victims experience a gradual dissolution, as their blood boils, skin corrodes, and everything evaporates, creating a deadly gas around them, more of the virus.

==============

Cain then noticed a scribbled warning at the bottom of the page

'REMEMBER! DO NOT LET IT ENTER THE BODY! KEEP IT SEALED AT ALL TIMES!'

Intrigued, Cain continued reading from the next page. 

==============

We've found that if a victim survives long enough, not dying from blood loss, they end up enduring even worse agony.

Even the brain starts to bubble near the end of the infection, transforming the gray matter into a liquid, and then it becomes the same gas as the rest of the body.

We suspect that the victim remains alive even in this state. When the gray matter evaporated to become gas, we were able to observe some neural activity in the virus, this made our fears even worse.

This phenomenon may occur because the virus seems to be able to 'melt' the entire nervous system relatively slowly compared to the rest of the body, possibly to keep something intact for a time.

Since the brain is the slowest to 'melt', this theory holds some merit. Further research is needed.

==============

Another scribbled note was on the bottom yet again. 

This time it appeared less agitated, 'Seal and hide somewhere where no one will find it, please, I beg of you.'

Cain pondered the author's words for a moment, then devilishly smiled.

On that day, an ancient disease would no longer languish in obscurity.

...

Cain registered that he had received an item, taking the vial and leaving behind the notes, the attendant thought nothing of it and walked Cain out.

Returning home, he placed the vial next to the Cravus bacteria.

Despite having a comprehensive understanding of this brain disease, Cain was still stuck researching. His goal was to somehow transform the bacteria into a virus—a daunting task given the substantial differences between the two. 

Bacteria were single-celled organisms, whereas viruses were like minuscule programs with a sole directive to infect and replicate. Viruses could infect bacteria like they did cells, they were a threat to everything. 

Cain aimed to turn the bacteria into a virus, one that would upgrade his brain cells, reprogramming them without destroying his brain in the process. 

It would be akin to evolving his brain.

This endeavor was deemed impossible by many Plague Doctors. Such an operation required breaking down the bacteria while preserving its DNA inside, converting it into a virus—something no one had achieved in the millions of years of Plague Doctors' history.

With the Animum virus at his disposal, however, Cain planned to gain a full understanding of it first and use it to break down Cravus until it was the program, the DNA. Using a virus to make a virus.

He could then turn the DNA into a virus update program that he could send to his brain. It could work…theoretically.

While Plague Doctors could modify bacteria and viruses to suit their needs, Cain intended to push it beyond its normal capabilities. He also had to consider how his body and brain would react to such an operation, he would be working on his brain after all.

He didn't possess the knowledge or money to accomplish such a large feat, but he could at least initiate some research on both pathogens and prepare them for his plans. 

Reading how deadly Animum was, he planned to employ it as a weapon as well as a tool. 

One challenge, however, was the virus's tendency to become a gas. Cain needed to develop methods to control this. He couldn't research it if it wasn't in a controlled environment.

He didn't want to become like those 20 researchers.

As a Grade 2, he could do some research to some extent, using the mystical abilities of a Plague Doctor to gain slight control for now. 

This was Cain's path to power—an evolution of his body, one going far beyond the current norm of augmentation.

The actualization of this goal lay far in the future, however Cain hoped something would point him in the right direction.

Nonetheless, Cain set to work, knowing that the upcoming tournament's bracket fights were just a few days away, and he aimed to win.