Ashira nods her head and starts explaining the basic concepts. "You can think of it not as a place that exists beyond our world, but one that exists as an unseen layer on top of ours. Like a veil. Depending on what your affinity for a magic element is, will determine which veil you go to."
She then went on to explain it in great detail, but all Levi could remember after that long explanation are a few key points.
Firstly, each veil has different levels. So once Levi reached the end of that fire landscape, he could choose to go there the next level to further enhance his body.
One thing he found most curious though, is that no one knew how many levels there are. No one had ever reached the end.
On top of that, one uses magic by drawing form the veil. Levi wondered where the veil got its energy though.
Levi sighed as he looked over the hellish landscape before him. All these questions he had would have to be answered later. For now, it was his goal to reach the end of the first level.
All he had to fo was to push through slowly until his body became used to the ever increasing heat. However, this is only to train the body. When he got back, Ashira would teach him how to train his mind.
Taking a single step felt like the air and ground beneath him shot up ten degrees. After a few more steps, he had to take a break and return back.
Once he came back, Ashira was there with a cup of water. "Make sure to hydrate. Remember, everything that happens to you in the veil affects your body out here."
Levi takes a few gulps of water from the cup. He surmises that the veil is lake a video game, but you don't respawn. Death is permanent even though your physical body remains here.
'Then what is my physical form in the veil then? Is it my soul?'
Levi heads back in. This time he wants to test the physical limits of his new body despite being excruciating pain. Besides, Ashira told him he won't be able to use magic until he reached a specific point inside the veil. That was his first goal.
He could see his fur starting to catch on fire. The skin beneath starting to sizzle. He quickly drew a line in the dirt before heading back to point where it didn't hurt him.
After several hours of work, his body hadn't gotten any stronger, nor did it start getting used to the flames. The progress he had made so far was just pushing himself through the pain. Trying to see how far he could go without seriously injuring himself.
He calculated the total distance so far. Five meters. Levi lays on the ground in defeat, wondering how many years it would take just to reach the end of the first level.
His ears perk up slightly when he remembered that he was now technically immortal. Not that he couldn't die, just not from old age.
He looked down at some of his burnt fur and skin and noticed that he could see it slowly healing.
He couldn't imagine how much faster he could do this with this find of regeneration. Humans would have to take days or weeks off to recover from burns. He could surmise that people would take it very slow in order not to injure themselves. That way, they wouldn't have to wait to heal, they could try day in and day out slowly getting closer to the end.
But for Levi, he didn't have to worry about burning himself. The only thing he had to be cautious of was burning to death.
Days turned into weeks. Ashira was worried that none of the humans had turned yet, but Levi told her about the mythology of his world. All Levi wanted to do was to wait for the next full moon to see what happens.
Levi was also worked on training his mind. He was taught that the mind is for how efficient he could cast spells, and how much power he could expell at once. As well as how fast his magic could recover. While the body worked like storage for all the magic built up inside him. The stronger the body, the more magic he could store.
Inside his mind, a vast sea of ankle deep water could be seen. And what looked like a dome, a magic barrier keeping everything in place. The more he meditated, the further it would expand. After several days, he could see slight improvements.
During this time, many of the hooded members would go out of the cave to stoke up on supplies from the nearby villages.
Then the day came for the full moon. Everyone who wasn't bound watched in anticipation. Slowly but surely, everyone who had been expiremented on changed into their beast form.
Levi could feel a slight connection to all of them. He howled, and the other beast heard him and couldn't help but to recognize Levi as their alpha.
Levi told Ashira to release them from the spell. She hesitated at first, but he assured her they would listen to his commands.
Sure enough, all the beasts bowed down to Levi, including Sylas.
Sylas from his bowed position looked up at Levi, hatred still brewing within him. He felt the connectection between them, but he still had a mind of his own. Whatever this force was, it couldn't force him to be completely loyal.
But then Syals wondered if he ran away, where would he go? Levi still hadn't transformed back into his human form. He wondered if he could. If that were the case, was he stuck like this forever? Then no matter where he went, society would treat him as a flesh eating monster.
Levi had prepared for them to transform, several days before the transformation. He ordered them to abduct humans just in case the newly transformed beast got hungry and couldn't control their bloodlust.
He thought it would be better that those who haven't been given the gift yet not to be eaten by those who were not loyal to him.
Some of those who had been turned changed their minds after feeling the rush of power in their veins.
Now it was time for the loyal members to be turned. Levi informed everyone that they'd spend another month in here for the next full moon.
In the meantime, Ashira informed Levi about the outside world. He also continued with his training. It won't be long now before Levi had to decide what his next move is.
It turns out that no one could revert to their human forms, at least not yet. So they would have to be careful traversing outside. Many of the humans would hunt magical beasts. There were two main reasons. Firstly, crystals are dropped by killing a beast. Taking time to absorb the crystal would enhance one's body. Secondly, you could sell the remains of the beasts to be turned into weapons and armor.
The tough hides made were good for archers wanting leather armor. While some beasts had hard like shells or scales that could be used to in junction with metal work to craft plated armor or metal weapons.
These items were generally tougher than normal armor without beast hides. Making them a valuable commodity.
Levinhad spent a week absorbing the crystal he had found his first day here. The higher tier the beast, the longer it would take to absorb. The higher the level your body is, the faster you could absorb it. At the same time, if the crystal is a low level compared to your body, then the effects would barely be seen.
This is because the higher your body level is, the more energy it needs to become stronger.
Levi was in the fractured veil one last time before they were ready to head out. He wanted to see how far he had come. Normally, he would start where he had stopped. But this time, he decided to head back to the starting point so he could get a better feel for how far he had managed to push himself.
He walked forward as far as he could until the pain become too unbearable. He was still a ways off from reaching the point where he could use magic, but he could see the structures that used to be off in the distance were almost in reach. At least the closest ones were.
He drew a line in the dirt again and traced it back to the start. Counting his steps, he realized how far he had gotten in these short two months. Nearly one hundred meters.