Reborn As A Nephilim: The Rise of A Manaless Prince

A trickle of blood red and sky blue energy intertwined from Arvell's palm before flying towards the cauldron, basking it in a purple hue.

Waiting a few moments for the purple hue to become pronounced, Arvell removed the cauldron's lid with his spare hand and began to toss the various medicinal herbs in.

Almost as if he was making a stew of sorts.

A stew smelled more like medicine due to the overpowering aroma of added medicinal herbs.

A purple mist began to form around the top of the cauldron, giving the cauldron a mysterious vibe.

Arvell continued to throw each of the ingredients in one-by-one until the pile of prepared medical herbs disappeared into the cauldron.

Arvell grabbed the last key piece for the whole process.

A beast core.

This beast core was harvested from a rank 1 beast known as a 'Shelled Boar.'

It was a boar-like beast that could curl into a shelled ball, like an armadillo.

It was a pain for Arvell to crack open his shell, so he simply waited for it to pop its head out before he killed it in one fell swoop.

He had smashed its beast core into a powder using the back of his knife, preserving it inside a bowl he removed from his inventory.

Arvell lifted the bowl full of crushed beast core powder and dumped it into the active cauldron.

*SHWOOM*

The purple light hue surrounding the cauldron began to slowly compress.

Becoming smaller with every second.

Until it had disappeared completely.

Arvell let his hand fall down as he exhaled with visible exhaustion.

Falling back, he stared at the ceiling with a satisfied look.

'Done!'

'Remember, this is the easy step. What comes next will be far more challenging.'

Arvell sighed as he remembered what precisely the next step was.

'In order to get stronger, it's something that I have to deal with.'

Arvell closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

He'd need all his willpower to overcome the trial ahead of him.

"Fuuuuu"

Arvell's eyes fluttered open as he sat up on the floor.

He quickly tossed all of the surrounding medicinal herbs back into his inventory before walking over to the cauldron and removing its lid.

A pungent medicinal stench assaulted Arvell's nose.

Arvell pulled out a small vial from his inventory and poured the contents from the cauldron directly into the vial.

Soon the see-through glass vial was filled to the brim with a light orange liquid.

Arvell tossed the cauldron into his inventory and took the glass vial holding the elixir with him as he entered the bathroom.

Disrobing, he walked over to the empty bathtub and slid into it.

Arvell had told August to not follow him this time but instead to stay in the bedroom.

While the young dragon didn't want to separate from Arvell after spending an entire day without him, August reluctantly complied when Arvell promised him belly rubs after he was finished.

Arvell looked at the elixir in his hand with a look of apprehension.

"Well, it's either now or never."

Arvell brought the elixir to his lips and downed the concoction in one go.

"ACK!"

Arvell gagged and desperately grabbed his throat.

Lykos materialized in front of Arvell and looked at him with a severe gaze.

'Arvell focus! You need to use the elixir to its full capability! Don't waste even an ounce of energy!'

"Urgghhh"

Arvell reluctantly released his throat and tried to suppress the pain caused by the consumption of the elixir.

Closing his eyes, Arvell began to channel the energy boost he'd received from the elixir to gather the tiny blood-red particles in the air.

Slowly he began to pull them into his heart.

He continued this same menial task for almost 40 minutes.

After filling his heart to the brim with Nether particles, Arvell sighed.

'Well… It's time to experience hell again.'

Arvell reached into his inventory and pulled out a small cloth rag.

Tying it tightly around his mouth, Arvell tried to scream.

"MFFFFFFHHH!"

'Good, it should hold.'

Arvell once more closed his eyes and focused on his heart.

However, this time, he slowly let the concentrated Nether particles flow throughout his body, using his bloodstream as a highway.

And… this is where the hell began.

Arvell's skin ruptured, and blood began to spill from every pore in his body.

His bones slowly shattered one by one while gaping parts of uncovered flesh appeared on his body.

His eyes, nose, and mouth began to gush blood as well.

"MPHGHHHHHHH!!!"

Arvell screamed in pain from the torturous pain, but it couldn't do anything.

This was a trial he needed to overcome.

All for the sake of getting stronger.

Arvell began to flail around in the blood-soaked bathtub; his body began to contort into shapes that no human body should ever have.

His bones were breaking apart, so nothing was holding up his body.

Arvell was now nothing more than a mush of bloody flesh.

His wings sprouted out of his back but soon turned red from the splattered blood.

Even while undergoing such a torturous condition, Arvell was conscious and actively sent more Nether throughout his bloodstream.

Said nether would then travel through his blood to other parts of the body, increasing the strength of his body in general.

The expelled blood was the waste blood which wasn't enriched through the power of Nether.

Every time he refined his Nether Body, purifying his blood seemed a common occurrence.

However, now that he'd done it a few times before, it wouldn't be as long of a process as before.

Even if it was shorter than before, it still wasn't an easy process.

After all, if Arvell succumbed to the pain and lost consciousness, everything would have been for naught.

Even if he experienced hellish pain, it was something he needed to endure.

Arvell closed his eyes with a pained expression while screaming muffled cries into the rag.

"MPHHMMMM!"

'I JUST NEED TO HOLD ON!'