204 HEART OF HATHOR
Before anyone could react, the android nurse stepped forward with Eryn's blood report. Kail fed the data to the AI diagnostic.
The readout blinked: Human–alien blood mutation detected.
Silence fell over them.
"They were experimenting human–alien gene on you?" Kail whispered.
Eryn's face went pale. "What should I do now? will I turn into a monster?"
Her vitals suddenly plummeted. "What's happening?" Liorea cried.
Kail was already reading the AI. "She's been injected with alien DNA…"
Damen touches her hand. The feeling he got was familiar.
"Eryn you've been infected with the Blue Blood too," Damen said
"No…", Eryn screamed. "I don't want to become a monster."
Then he offered the solution, "You'll need a complete blood transfusion. That is the only thing that can reduce the effects of blue blood."
"Wait what if the meta blood is not compatible? We don't have a precedent for this… and we don't even know what the Nuralith did to her blood, what if there are side effects?" Liorea asked, panic edging thin.
Damen considered it and said, "Liorea is right… we should not be hasty. Not everyone is under the same circumstance as me."
"Then what should we do?" Eryn asked worriedly.
Damen thought of it for a hard heartbeat, then turned to Eryn. "Did your mother really say you needed my blood?"
Eryn's reply was a whisper. "She said it a thousand times. In a loop."
Liorea scoffed, but Damen cut her off: "Dreams aren't always lies. Zalira's mother has touched the Unknown Well in Anu…which has odd and mysterious properties. There could be truths in her warning to Eryn."
Kail looked between them. "So, what now? you transfuse each other?"
"Yes," Damen said.
The android nurse prepared the equipment with machine precision. Hoses were connected to Eryn's arms. The base's AI monitored chemistry, flow rates, and antigen counters while they held their breath.
Then the nurse placed a Bloodstone inside the machine. Those blood in the crystal would be exchanged for Eryn's tainted blood.
Minutes stretched.
Then the AI doctor's voice finally reported: Vitals stable. Mutation markers regressing. Condition: normalizing.
Liorea exhaled so loudly it sounded like a laugh. "Boss,…did your blood really save her?"
He gave a short, tired nod. "She's alive. That's what matters."
Eryn opened her eyes and blinked, clearer than she had since the tank. "Where am I?" she asked, her voice steady now.
Damen offered a faint, almost weary smile. "Home—for now."
Eryn flexed her arm slowly, watching the IV marks fade beneath her skin.
"Am I… okay now?" she asked.
Before anyone could answer—CRACK! The bed split apart beneath her.
Sharp bones burst from Eryn's back, protruding like metallic spikes. Her skin hardened, tiny scales glinting as they spread across her body and face. Streaks of glowing blue light pulsed through her veins, and a dark blue cloak of shadow rippled over her shoulders.
Then, from her knuckles, sleek metallic blades slid out—deadly and gleaming.
"No…" Eryn gasped, horror trembling in her voice. "No!"
Her scream echoed through the room as her body completed the transformation.
Damen stared, both amazed and unsettled. "She's… developing her own Annunakin form."
"Calm down, Eryn. It's just the effect of my blood," he said, stepping closer.
"Will I…will I stay like this forever?!" she cried, staring at her clawed hands.
"No," Damen said quietly. "You'll learn to control it."
Then he opened her status window.
Name: Eryn Veyran
Strength Rank: C Meta Rank: C Blood Rank: BBB
Strength: 354 | Charm: 169 | Meta: 360 | Command: 361 | Blood: 2903 | Armor: 2903
Description: Possesses hybrid Human–Annunakin blood. Capable of transforming into an Annunakin form with enhanced power and regeneration.
-----
Eryn still couldn't revert to her human form.
To adapt, she trained relentlessly inside the simulator, testing her new body and learning to control her power. The Annunakin form might have looked monstrous, especially for a girl,….but its strength was undeniable.
Damen watched from the observation deck. Sparks flared each time Eryn's blades struck the reinforced barriers.
Liorea approached quietly beside him. "Boss, what's the plan now? Do we keep raiding the Nuralith facilities like before?"
Damen shook his head, his eyes still on Eryn. "No. After rescuing her, Nuralith will tighten security. Attacking now would be dangerous."
Liorea folded her arms. "What about Eryn? Do you know how to change her back?"
He didn't answer right away.
Memories stirred about his own struggle with transformation. "The Source of Unknown," he muttered. "It's the only thing that can grant her control over the Annunakin form."
"You're planning to go back to Fortress Myrone to find it?"
Damen's expression hardened. "I searched that desert for a year. There isn't a second Source there."
"Then where can we find one?"
"I don't know."
Liorea frowned. "If she can't change back, what do we do? She can't stay like that forever."
"If she can't return to her human form," Damen said quietly, "we'll have to hide her."
"Hide her? How?"
"Invisibility…..or"
"Invisibility?" Liorea echoed. "The best meta-skill we have is Camouflage. Where are we supposed to get that?"
Damen opened the mining app Shop in his living view.
Rows of items shimmered before him, the latest refresh was now available. "If only I could pull these items out… and give them to her."
Then, something new appeared—an extra line under the price of certain items. The number was doubled, and beside it, a single word: Delivery.
"A delivery option?" Damen thought, his eyes narrowing with excitement. "Does that mean the item can be sent directly instead of assimilated?"
He scrolled through the inventory, searching. After several minutes, one item caught his attention.
Item: Heart of Hathor
Description: The heart of the goddess of love and joy. Possesses the ability to transform.
The delivery price of the Heart of Hathor drained nearly all his mined coins—but Damen pressed Buy anyway.
A glowing cube materialized before him, humming with static energy. Sparks of blue lightning coiled around it like living serpents.
Eryn emerged from the simulator, still in her Annunakin form. "What is that?" she asked, her metallic voice carrying both awe and fear.
Damen smiled faintly. "This… is the Heart of Hathor. If you can absorb it, you might regain your human form—or even transform into something entirely new."
Liorea raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? You expect me to believe an artifact can do that?"
Eryn ignored her, her eyes gleaming with hope. "Thank you," she whispered.
She ran toward Damen, half-tempted to kiss him….but stopped short. Her claws, her scales… her monstrous shape reminded her of what she'd become.
She turned away and reached for the glowing cube instead.
The moment she touched it, the Heart of Hathor dissolved into pure light and shot into her chest. Eryn gasped as the artifact vanished beneath her armor of scales.
Liorea blinked. "That's it? She already absorbed it?"
"I don't know," Damen said. He'd assimilated artifacts before, but never like this. "This is different."
"Of course it is," Liorea replied, thinking aloud. "The Heart of Hathor is an alien artifact…and Eryn's Annunakin form makes her body perfect for that kind of assimilation. Ordinary humans definitely couldn't do it."
-----
Eryn sat cross-legged on the floor, hands on her chest. Hours passed. Then night turned to day.
Finally, she rose.
Damen stepped forward. "Eryn…?"
Before he could finish, her Annunakin form shimmered like liquid metal. The scales melted away. The spikes retracted. Her flesh and skin reformed.
"Eryn… you did it!" Damen said, almost breathless. "You transformed back!"
Eryn smiled…and then her body rippled again. In a flash, she became someone else.
Cyara Atheris stood before him.
"What the…?" Damen stared in disbelief.
Eryn's voice came from Cyara's lips. "Damen… you have to choose to be with me now. I can be me and Cyara Atheris…both at the same time." She laughed, the sound both eerie and joyous.
Eryn has learned a new ability: Body Transmutation — she can assume the physical form of anyone she recognizes.
Liorea let out a low whistle. "This is insane. Do you realize what kind of grift we can pull off with that power?"
"Damen," Eryn asked quickly, her voice tight with worry. "Am I fully healed from the alien blood now?"
Damen shook his head slowly. "No. The blood curse is still inside you. Even if your body returns to its human form, you'll suffer from bloodlust—and eventually, you'll lose your sanity."
Eryn's eyes widened. "Is it that serious?"