Chief Lupan's eyes widened. Such a voluminous amount of GodForge pieces! It was blinding!
But just as fast as his excitement built up, so did his disappointment.
He didn't know how Michael and the Reborn company obtained this many GodForge pieces, but it came far too late. If he had shown this before the start of the Lunar Celebrations, then the Dragonborns could have used it to empower themselves!
"How the moon tempts us with something so tantalizing!" Chief Lupan grieved.
"What got you so down?" Fudge asked.
"No, it's okay. We'll just have to let this first competition pass us by."
"Huh?"
Chief Lupan paced back and forth. "But you guys need to prepare as soon as possible. I'm assuming you already have connections with the apothecaries from Sinclair's Elixir."
Suddenly, Fudge jumped towards the Brownblood Chief's face, leaving behind his treasure chest shadow.
"Hey Chief bro. What are you talking about?"
"The GodForge pieces! You need to install them into your hearts, right? And as far as I know, the recovery time frame for the surgery takes a week at the very least, which will just be enough for the second competition."
This time, the Rebornians chuckled to themselves, as if something was very funny.
"What?" Chief Lupan asked, bewildered by their flippant attitudes.
"There's no need to worry," Sheina said. "We Rebornians are unfettered from the limitations of normal Maugnetics. We do not need the intervention of others to install GodForge pieces in our heart. The process is all very… natural."
The white Dragonborn then reached down into the treasure chest, letting her natural Maugnetism come into contact with their fiery GodForge pieces.
The drops of metal engulfed in white fire shivered in the chest, before they began to float towards her hands.
And as the GodForge pieces came closer and closer to Sheina, their velocities increased to the point of becoming even faster than an arrow.
These GodForge pieces anthropomorphically expressed their excitement by diving headfirst into Sheina's chest, entering into her heart and immediately integrating themselves into the network of Aubility Power inside.
Slowly, the power inside Sheina began to rise, billowing from deep inside her body and leaking outwards. It grew and grew, until things reached a climax and a breakthrough.
But it didn't end there. The power continued to flourish and expand, reaching the second climax and eventual breakthrough.
It happened almost instantly. Two simultaneous shockwaves emanated out of Sheina's body, sending very minute tremors into the ground.
Startled, the Brownblood Werewolves staggered backwards, unaware of what was happening.
"No… she… she reached the 3rd stage of the Body Formation stage!"
Chief Lupan saw everything with much more clarity than most. He saw the breathtaking moment when the GodForge pieces miraculously offered themselves to become a stepping stone for Sheina's breakthrough.
"Haa… apologies for that disruption," Sheina said courtly. She covered her mouth, blushing as she excused herself.
Chief Lupan wanted to remind Sheina that she had just broken through two stages instantly! She was acting as if she had just done something slightly embarrassing, like sneezing!
"Okay, my turn," Jaku said from across the room.
Without opening his eyes, he raised his hand towards the chest.
And even though he was separated from the GodForge pieces for a couple of meters, his natural Maugnetism still allowed him to command these divine drops of metal to come towards him.
They shot to his chest, empowering his Aubility Power to break through to the 3rd stage instantly.
Blue lightning streaked across Jaku's dark blue scales, its energy buzzing with Aubility Power.
"Ahh… now that's better," he said before plopping back down on the floor to sleep.
Next, the shadow treasure chest slowly crawled through the floor, passing by the shocked Werewolves until it landed right in front of Umisu.
"Please take your GodForge pieces. I want to evolve too!" Fudge said.
Prompted by the ninja slime, Umisu reached down into the treasure chest to obtain her GodForge pieces, hesitating a little bit as she did so.
After all, she didn't know if this breakthrough would cause the chaos in her body to explode outwards like before.
But then, Selune patted her shoulders and assured her. With the female Werewolf's help, Umisu had been training herself to contain the chaos inside her.
Assured, Umisu commanded the GodForge pieces to integrate into her heart.
She lurched forward, the chaos in her heart festering amidst the growing Aubility Power.
But eventually, she was able to control it. With her breathing controlled, her mind calmed, and her willpower working at peak capacity, she was able to contain her Chaos as she broke through to the 3rd stage of the Body Formation realm.
"Good job," Sheina commended her.
"My turn! My turn!" Fudge shouted, his treasure chest-like body morphing back into an amorphous blob.
A golden glow emanated from the inside of his opaque body, making him look like a bioluminescent mushroom cap.
This build-up of power lasted only for a few seconds, before the light subsided.
"Nice! Breakthrough complete!" he declared.
And to be honest, Chief Lupan wouldn't have even known he had ascended to the next stages if he hadn't said it himself.
Jaku's breakthrough was way too silent! Unlike the Dragonborns' awakening, his shockwave of power was nonexistent.
Chief Lupan didn't know if it was because of Fudge's anatomy as a monster or something else entirely, but the little slime was the most inconspicuous Maugnetic he'd ever seen! "This… this is too fantastical. You Rebornians are a different kind entirely!"
That was both a commendation and a declaration of fear. Never in his life would he think that advancing through the stages of Body Formation would be that easy. Even the most talented humans were vulnerable for a few days at least after their surgery. But these Dragonborns only got stronger.
"Not fair! You guys are leaving me behind!" Zion complained.
The Red-scaled Dragonborn still hadn't even awakened his Diva at this point. He was barely a Maugnetic.
"I'll catch up, just you wait!"
But his words were ignored.
"Oh right! Master told me to give these Mini Drones to you guys," Fudge said.
"DARN IT!"