"What have you been doing to it?"
Jason asked this while walking forward slowly to get a better look at the Primordial Corpse, and Jaen called out:
"Neph."
One of the scientists who had been examining the corpse turned around when she heard her name, and she floated towards the balcony and came down from the magic platform before bowing to Jason and Jaen. The woman looked like a mix between a human and an ant. She stood on two legs, but her skin was pale red, and she had two antennae sticking out from her forehead. She had a beautiful face and a good figure, but there were two sharp mandibles sticking out from her mouth, just like an ant. Jaen gestured towards her while speaking.
"This is Neph, a fourth-ranked Researcher in charge of processing and analysis of Primordial Essence from the corpse. I think she can explain what they have been up to in more detail. Neph, this is the Overlord of our domain, Jason Marc."
"I am aware of who he is. It is an honor to stand before you, Lord Jason."
Jason nodded respectfully to Neph, and he glanced at the corpse before asking her what they were doing with it. Neph spoke up:
"Over the past ten years, we have been trying to find the secret behind the power of the Primordials and figure out a way to harness that power for ourselves. Although the Period of Lawlessness ended centuries ago, there was once a time when every world lived in fear of the Primordials. Their power was greater than what anyone could hope to match, and since there was no way to fight back against it, we could only wait for the inevitable. Through our research here, we are trying to ensure we never have to live in so much fear again. And I believe we have found the solution."
Jason had been looking at the corpse as he listened to Neph’s explanation, but once he heard her last sentence, Jason turned to look at her in surprise, and he asked her what they discovered. Neph spoke up again.
"There is a power source within the body of the Primordial that is similar to the Magic Essence possessed by mortals. This magic source acts as a filter that allows the Primordials to energize the mana they absorb from the environment and convert it into a much stronger form."
"Are you talking about the Heart of the Primordial?"
Neph nodded when Jason asked this.
"Yes, my lord, you are exactly right. The Heart of the Primordial is one of the most efficient energy generators in the known world, and we believe the only beings that possess energy even purer might be the Celestials. But the Heart within the Primordial Races is different from the Heart within the body of mortals who become Primordials. I can tell you are a Primordial already, my lord, so that means you will also have the Heart of a Primordial within you. It should be somewhere right above your stomach, here...
"But for the Primordial races, their heart isn’t tied to any singular part of their body. Instead, the Primordial races have evolved in a way that allowed them to spread their Heart out across their entire body, like a vein that carries blood from one side to another. This method greatly reduces the strain placed on any one part of the body, and it allows the Primordials to constantly energize every cell within their body with Primordial Mana. Even the newborn babies in the Primordial Races possess this ability, and this singular evolutionary trait has made them so much stronger than all the races in the Primordial Expanse."
Jason narrowed his eyes towards the Primordial Corpse, and he felt a sense of annoyance fill his heart. Jason already knew that rising from the realm of mortals to the realm of the Primordials was very different from being born as a Primordial, but he was realising in that moment that he would need to become even stronger if he wanted to face off against an actual member of the Primordial races. The way Jason was now, he would definitely lose if he fought against a PRIMORDIAL Rank I from a Primordial Race! The only Primordials that Jason could defeat were other mortals who had also risen to the rank of the Primordials, and Jason steeled his heart and made up his mind at that moment. Jason would get strong enough to face the Primordial races no matter what.
After making that declaration, Jason turned to Neph and asked:
"You said you found a way to harness the power of the Primordials. How?"
Neph looked up at the Primordial corpse, and she spoke.
"After more than three centuries of research and experimentation, we managed to tap into the Heart of this Primordial. We extracted the essence from within the heart, and formed it into a pill."
Another scientist came forward and handed a box to Neph, and Neph opened it to reveal a golden pill sitting on a velvet cushion. The pill was pulsing with immense power, and just from looking at it, Jason could tell that it was filled with the energy of a Primordial. Neph continued speaking:
"We call it the ’Mortal Severance Pill’, and it has the ability to boost the power of any mortal by up to two ranks."
Jason’s eyes narrowed in shock.
"Two ranks? Are you sure?"
Neph nodded seriously. Neph could understand why Jason was so doubtful. The researchers who had discovered the benefits of this pill had also been shocked when they saw what it could do! But Neph was very confident in her research, and she said:
"We carried out extensive research and experiments for decades before we synthesized this pill. I am a hundred percent certain of its properties, and I can place my honor on the line to assure you that I am telling the truth!"
Neph looked into Jason’s eyes with an expression of complete seriousness, and Jason realised that the question he asked might’ve been a little insulting. As a researcher, there was no way Neph would make a claim like this without being absolutely certain of it! The fact that she was willing to put her honor on the line as well just solidified her claim even more!
’Have you ever seen something like this before?’
Jason sent a message towards the entire Legion as well as the system, and the Legion sent back responses saying that they have never heard about a pill that allows a mortal to rise through ranks so quickly! The system brought up a message that appeared on Jason’s system tab.
[The system does not have any information regarding pills or drugs that would allow a mage to automatically rise through the magical ranks. The only information stored in the system’s database related to automatic power-ups is the Qi Condensation Pill used to support a martial master when attempting to rise from one cultivation rank to another.]
Jason read through the system tab quickly, and Jason frowned when the system said it didn’t have any info, but once Jason read the second part of the message, Jason realised that this was something Esdath might know about! Jason reached out to communicate with Esdath, and he saw the old man sitting on top of the house he had created for himself inside the Alternate Dimension. There were a few trees growing around the empty landscape that Jason had put there after Esdath complained that the Alternate Dimension was too plain! None of Jason’s subordinates ever complained about it, but Esdath had become really annoying, so Jason had just done it to make him more comfortable!