The runes of the flags covered the ground above Noah's underground facility, they formed some sort of pale shield that enveloped the entirety of the area above the structure.
That was the effect of the defensive item that Noah had requested, the flags were a rank 4 inscribed item meant to protect cultivators during their Heaven Tribulation, it was pointless to say how valuable it was.
"This isn't the most powerful protective method of the Hive but it should be enough for your needs. Anyway, I'll keep an eye on the sky from now on."
Elder Ian spoke when the protection was set, he wanted to reassure Noah that his facility was safe now.
Noah bowed toward the elder as a sign of gratitude and entered the underground structure, he was simply too eager to study the capabilities of the hybrid to waste more time.
He had the new batch of slaves, the liquid "Breath" needed to activate the Elemental forging method, and a few magical beasts were still caged inside his facility, he could immediately resume his experiments without needing to wait for the Hive to send the magical beasts that he had requested.
Those creatures would be sent soon anyway, he could just exhaust his resources in the meantime.
Noah immediately resumed his experiments, he had seen that the elderly man killed by the lightning bolt had almost opened his eyes when Heaven struck, he knew that the procedure that he had mastered was flawless.
A slave of the fire element and another Fire wolf were taken and brought to the experimentation area, Fire wolves were abundant in the mystical fog, it was normal for Noah to have many of them caged.
The personality of the slave also matched the species of wolf perfectly according to Noah's instincts, he was sure that the fusion would be a success at that time.
Noah killed the beast with his consciousness and performed the Elemental forging method, the red refined "Breath" inside his mind was expended as the tissues of the beast liquefied.
Noah had repeated and analyzed that procedure too many times, his execution was perfect and his control didn't waver for even an instant.
The screams of the slave couldn't reach his ears, Noah complete attention was on stabilizing the merging tissues.
The skins soon fused and Noah waited a few minutes before moving to the muscular system.
The muscles fused, heat started to be radiated by them as soon as the capabilities of the beast were passed down.
Each species of magical beasts had different abilities which originated from different sources, meaning that Noah had to slightly modify his approach depending on what creature he was using.
Fire wolves had two crucial parts that expressed their abilities: Their lungs and their muscular system.
Their lungs produced a special gas that could be ignited by the heat of the muscles, creating flames that could be launched from their maws.
The issue with those qualities was that the interiors of the slave's body were still human while the muscles had already become hybrid parts.
The interiors of the slave would be burned if they weren't modified as soon as possible but Noah was aware of that.
His studies and experience made him knowledgeable about the important parts of each species of magical beasts, he could decide how to approach the procedure before it even started.
Noah didn't wait for the muscles to stabilize, time was key in that particular fusion.
The bones of the beast immediately liquefied and were merged at high speed with those of the slave, cracks appeared everywhere on the skeletal system of the cultivators due to the external substance that was modifying it.
Noah hurried that step to prevent the heat radiated from the muscles from injuring the interiors of the slaves, the bones soon fused and Noah waited for a short time before he focused on the internal organs.
He was just making sure that they wouldn't fall apart before the two bodies were fused completely, that hurried approach would leave the hybrid injured but he couldn't care less about it, he just needed to be sure that the slave would keep its life.
The internal organs were modified one by one, Noah left the lungs for last and part of his consciousness went on the sky as he proceeded to take that last step.
Black clouds had formed again in the sky above the underground structure, they seemed to appear every time the fusion reached the last steps.
'I hope the protective item works as intended.'
Noah thought as he proceeded to fuse the lungs of the Fire wolf, the procedure was completed, he had just to stabilize muscles, bones, and internal organs and the forging would be completed!
While Noah focused on stabilizing his creation, the black clouds in the sky released a lightning bolt aimed for the ground above Noah's facility.
A thick orange bolt fell at high speed from the sky and was about to land on the terrain but the runes that covered that area lit up and the shield formed by them shone with a soft light.
The lightning bolt crashed on the shield but it was unable to pierce it, only a bit of gray smoke came out from the spot where it had landed.
Noah observed the scene with his mind and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the shield could oppose that attack.
More lightning bolts were released by the black clouds, they illuminated the mystical fog as the crashed on the terrain but the runes kept on protecting the area under them.
Meanwhile, Noah controlled the rejections happening inside the slave's body.
It took a while but, eventually, the muscles stabilized, the bones solidified even if some cracks remained on their surface, and the organs started harmonizing with the rest of the body.
Noah watched with a heated gaze as the body of the middle-aged man on whom he had experimented took life and started functioning in a normal way.
'It's done!'
Noah exclaimed in his mind, lightning bolts had continuously fallen from the sky and they didn't seem to stop even after the slave opened his eyes and spoke a few soft words.
"What… is… this… hunger?"