Making his decision, Levi nodded at Ash’Kral, and he understood that he wanted the whole package.
"Good, pain is temporary... greatness is everlasting." Ash’Kral accepted his choice with a faint smile, "To be great, you can’t shy away from pain."
"Pain?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, "What kind of pain are we talking about?"
"He is about to split his soul during evolution." Ash’Kral replied lazily while finalizing the ritual, "Use your imagination."
Arthur showed an irritated glare, still not too fond of Ash’Kral, and probably would never be... considering the hellish evolutionary path that was enforced on his brother by him.
"Don’t worry, I will be fine."
Levi smiled a little as he pulled out the evolutionary formula from his dimensional wallet... the bottle was small as always, but it was filled with an ethereal liquid that was switching between gray and green colors constantly. It was sometimes physical and sometimes ethereal.
Then, Levi took one final look at his brother, Jasmine, and Ash’Kral... he could see the mixed emotions rampaging through their hearts. Arthur and Jasmine just wanted Levi to be safe... whether he succeeded or failed.
Meanwhile, Ash’Kral was giving him a look filled with confidence and assurance... like he was telling him that he believed in him.
In a sense, if Ash’Kral wasn’t confident, even by a little, that Levi would pull it off, he would never take such a risk... considering that he was going to lose his final chance at catching up.
No one knew what he was trying to catch, but it was clear... he was putting all of his eggs in a single basket... Levi Larson.
’Whatever happens... do, not, interfere.’
Levi warned his brother and Jasmine with a stern tone as he let out a long exhale and brought the bottle in front of his mouth.
The smell assaulted him first... it was mild and almost invisible, like he was about to drink colored water... But the smell came and went with the state of the liquid.
’This evolutionary formula is primarily focusing on my soul... so, I have to drink half of it when it is in its physical state and guide the other half to my soul when it becomes ethereal.’ Levi murmured inwardly, talking to himself to stay relaxed.
Then, without an ounce of hesitation, Levi drank half the bottle in one gulp when the smell hit him... he almost choked it out as the liquid burned his tongue as soon as it touched it... Yet, he committed and swallowed it, feeling like he had just drunk liquid acid.
"Tastes like melting batteries..."
Levi shook the taste away and waited a short moment until the remaining liquid became ethereal before using his aetheric energy to contain it and guide it straight to his soul through pure will.
The moment he was done, he threw the bottle to the side and wiped his lips... then, he started practicing a calming breathing tactic to avoid his nerves getting swept by the calm before the storm.
Meanwhile, Ash’Kral started murmuring a long incantation with his eyes closed... he sat outside the array’s center next to Arthur and Jasmine, who were waiting in silence, but their beating hearts refused to quiet down.
Arthur might still be in the dark about the details of the evolution, but Jasmine had N’ibby on her side... she already told her just what kind of experience awaited Levi.
Yet, all she could do was wait patiently while Ash’Kral kept increasing his reading speed until the words seemed to bind together, making it almost impossible to capture anything.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
It didn’t matter as the massive array started responding to his incantation... the outer circle inscriptions were the first to be engulfed in faint green flames. Then, the flames kept spreading across the array’s linings rapidly while growing stronger, inching closer and closer to Levi and the rest.
Before Arthur and Jasmine could react, they found themselves surrounded by the green flames, but they didn’t touch them. Ash’Kral had positioned them in a dead spot within the array, making them untouched by anything going on unless they stepped out.
As for Levi? He was sitting at the heart of the array, making him see the fast-approaching wild ethereal green fire from every direction.
He felt like a witch was about to be burned at the stake... instead of scaring him, he showed a tiny smile as he recalled the moment he was burned alive by his own sunflames within the Joker’s game.
He recalled the agony... he remembered every moment of his flesh getting burnt and restored simultaneously. Yet, he couldn’t help but smile.
’Who would have thought that being burned once would set you up to go through it again...’ Levi chuckled inwardly while turning off his harmonic spine.
Bit by bit... his painted world of rushing green flames dimmed out until darkness welcomed him in its embrace.
Then, Levi slowly began to deafen himself... he didn’t want to hear anyone during the process... not even his voice. As he slowly lost his hearing, the last thing his ears captured was Ash’Kral’s final incantation.
"One soul, three growths. Split, bind..." Ash’Kral’s eyes snapped open as he uttered solemnly, "Burn."
Immediately after, the raging green flames consumed Levi and his soul alike! They pushed from his skin without heat, and yet... Levi screamed under them, feeling like the flames were burning his soul apart.
Levi gritted his teeth and kept his fists locked, desiring to maintain his posture regardless of how much it hurt... but alas, this was just the first wave of agony.
The Nine Senses Seed had received all the information it needed for Levi’s next evolutionary step... It pushed forward a stem that grew too fast within his soul and body, like vines gone wild!
The other two seeds shook in agitation at the sight, not too pleased with the Nine Senses Seed being ahead of them again.
However, this time... they didn’t lash out as much as they wanted to... they could feel Levi’s soul was being separated into three parts by the raging green flames, and they refused to jeopardize the process.
’The things we do for our goals...’
The Titan showed a bitter smile as he watched Levi’s humanoid soul being melted by the green flames into a gray sphere... then, two slightly smaller burning spheres started extracting themselves away from the main soul.
The Nine Senses Seed couldn’t care less about the flames or the appearance of the main soul... the instant it started growing into a young tree, it obtained the power to stand its ground within Levi’s main soul.
As for the other two? They didn’t waste their time fighting for control, knowing that they stood no chance.
Thus, they unwrapped their intertwined roots within Levi’s soul, planning the immigration process to the other two empty souls before one of them claimed the space to spite each other.
Unfortunately for Levi... this process only added to the fire.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhh!!!!"
He let out a harrowing scream that broke Arthur and Jasmine’s hearts in an instant... they remained frozen solid in their place as they watched Levi’s spine arch unnaturally against the ground as he kept screaming until his voice was slowly getting hoarse.
"Big bro... what is this... how is this anything but torture..."
Arthur muttered under his breath absentmindedly, having no idea how to feel about this... a couple of days ago, he went through his own evolution to Warden rank. He also felt pain during the birth of his latest mutation.
He kept complaining to his brother and friends that he always went through shit during his evolutions, feeling pain like no other.
At the time, Levi merely smiled gently and said nothing... he didn’t want to shit on Arthur’s evolution or complaints by comparing their experiences.
He just congratulated him and told him that he had a gift prepared for him if he succeeded in his evolution as well.
But now... as he watched his big brother engulfed in a sea of green flames, crying out in hellish agony... agony that he couldn’t even comprehend; Arthur could only bite his lips until they bled.
He had seen Levi fight, he had seen him wounded, but he had never heard this kind of pain. It sounded like someone being torn alive... spiritually and physically.
He wanted to rush into the flames and save his brother from such a torture... but he kept his feet locked into the floor, shaking nonstop, like he was fighting against his own nature just to stand still.
Why?
Levi told him not to interfere, and Arthur always listened to his brother, no matter whether he understood his orders or not... but most importantly, his confidence in his brother’s success was at its highest, even when he kept hearing Levi shouting ’enough’... ’stop’... ’no more’... over, and over again.
’We are the Larsons... we might crack, but we don’t break...’ Arthur kept repeating his brother’s words in his mind over and over again with reddened eyes.
He refused to tear up.
He refused to interfere.
He... refused to accept Levi’s failure.
Levi was not just his big brother... he was his rock that kept him sane and alive... always has, always will.