"Firstly, because you were unconscious. There was no way for me to ask if you wanted to change it or not. And once I removed the regeneration force code, I could never place it back into this body—essentially rendering it useless."
"Secondly, because I thought you would be farsighted like me. But your current actions are well within my calculations."
"Huh?"
"Your initial Annunaki model didn't use the full body. It used nothing but a few scales. And your current one is the full, complete version."
"To compare both in terms of potential and versatility is to compare the potential of an ant to the potential of a lion."
"And if I ask anyone if they want the potential of an ant or the potential of a lion, I'm pretty sure they'll know which one to choose."
"But the problem is, young people like you are shortsighted."
"I get it. Now you're regretting the decision of me fusing you with the complete model, because you're worried about your skills, your body, and your control of it."
"It's like an ant being sad that it no longer has tentacles or that it has lost its tiny wings that barely take it a distance of one meter with every leap."
"All a tiny ant sees is its problem. When placed into the body of a lion, the first thing it would do is of course complain."
"That ant right now... is you," the man said as Ryuk's eyes flashed.
"And only if the ant knew that with just a little bit of training and practice, it would be able to run a thousand kilometers—the same distance that would take the ant its entire lifetime to travel."
"And it would have huge claws and teeth that could rip beasts in two, instead of tiny tentacles that perch on dirt looking for scraps on the floor."
"To understand true strength, it takes time. And to live through time, it takes patience. You must learn to exercise patience for your true potential to be achieved." His tone held so much conviction and sense that Ryuk could only force it all down.
Was he mad that he had lost his skills?
Yes, he was. He was already too familiar with his old body's skills. The very thought of never being able to use them again was incredibly painful to bear.
But he also understood that it wasn't that power was robbed from him.
Just that his favourite toy was taken away—replaced with a bigger and better one.
With patience, then just like how he mastered his old body's abilities, he would definitely find a way to regain control. Just like he did with his previous skills.
And this time, he would come out much stronger and faster.
"And I guess the only reason why you would help me so much is because you chose me as a lab rat—to try and better understand the power of the Annunaki?" Ryuk asked, the man's eyes flashed before he smiled.
Of course, Ryuk knew no gift came for free.
The man had essentially turned him—a trash that came from a sewage gate—and fused him with the full body of an Annunaki model.
An absolute structure coveted by all, and what the man had traveled a distance of 100 years to and fro just to get, all without asking for anything from Ryuk at all.
It wasn't because he was nice or anything.
It was because he understood that Ryuk's body was a treasure due to its initial fusion with an Annunaki model from a young age.
Right now, his body was the only one that had more compatibility to fuse with an Annunaki model than any other physique in the universe.
For such a figure, then fusing him with an Annunaki model was a good business move.
And if Ryuk had died during the fusion, then he would have just been a failed experiment and would've been disposed of like the trash he was in the first place.
"Seems like you have some bit of intelligence."
"While it might be good and maybe even comforting for you to think I did this because I'm a naive person or something—"
"The truth is, in fact, I want to know about this Annunaki model fused with you."
"I want to know the skills."
"I want to know the magnitude of it."
"I want to see how it grows in strength."
"I want to know how long it takes for you to awaken each skill, and what the requirements for awakening the skills are."
"I want to know the enegry source that powers it? Aetheirs? Apex Energy? Abyssal Energy?"
"I want to know how much damage it can take in battle before breaking down."
"I want to understand its intelligence unit and ease of accessibility."
"For the Annunaki to be a peak of mastery, they must have quite the intelligence."
"Is it due to their brains being better, or is there something else in their physique that makes them so good?"
"All of this—I want to know."
"So yes, you could say I bear no good intent for transplanting you with the Annunaki body."
"But I do reassure you, you will be the one that will bear the most benefit."
"Who knows, perhaps you could even be the one that rises and brings back the extinct race."
"You know, many myths surround the Annunakis, and if even any one of them is true, then your little world might just begin to get more interesting than you could ever imagine..." he said, as the light panel in the air disappeared and he rose up, walking to Ryuk's side, standing before him before he said.
"According to all my scans, you're right now in perfect health—so we might as well begin."
"First, try getting down from the bed."
"Can you stand on both your feet or will you need to get on all fours?" the man asked, as Ryuk rolled his eyes.
"On all fours? This is a humanoid body, not a beast's! Surprising you don't know that after all your scans..." he said.
The man chuckled.
"Scans are nothing but hypotheses still when it comes to an extinct race."
"Only when it has been truly seen can it become an undoubtable theory" he said, as Ryuk got down from the bed, soon placing both feet onto the ground.
And then, just like he normally did, he pushed himself up with both arms and rose to both feet.
But he had barely been there for a second when...