Soren felt like he now had an imaginary hard drive he could access much faster than even the fastest of CPUs.
His eyes snapped open, as a pulse of energy more qualitative than even the Cosmic Qi rippled out of his Soul Body in tyrannic waves, barging across the entire forest and bathing it in an otherworldly glow.
"Worm..." He called out with no iota of respect present in his voice. "I'm ready."
The Dragon trembled in fury but did nothing.
Soren had suspected that much; there was no way the serpent wouldn't know where he came from and who sent him here.
However, Dragons were mythical beasts, Kings of Realms, and beings who were known to hold grudges, and from the current smirk plastered on its face, Soren seemed poised for a rude awakening.
"Good... good!" The Dragon snorted, its breath threatening to send Soren tumbling into the void from whence he came.
"The Cores and Crystals of the following beasts shall be your starting ingredients.
Trench Leviathan, Blood Kraken, Whispering Treant, Thunder Roc, Snow Behemoth, Berserk Ape, Enigmatic Butterfly, Shadowless Arachnid, and the Man-Faced Bat."
At the mention of the names of each of these beasts, Soren's heart trembled and his face darkened.
'This bastard!' He blurted mentally.
It wasn't that he didn't know them; in fact, as the Dragon mentioned them and Soren's mind recorded them, the Codex was already cross-referencing their names based on all that Soren knew in all his lifetimes, providing him with a compendium of the characteristics of these beasts.
'These are beasts that have the little to no single thing in common.' Soren thought to himself as his perception of the Dragon was abased even further.
However, just when he thought all was lost, the Codex suddenly drained some of the lingering Cosmic Qi within his Soul Body as it began to provide him with further information than what Soren knew in all his lifetimes.
It went as far as to send a tiny, summarized detail of each of their abilities into Soren's mind in a feedback loop, indicating their strengths, weaknesses, similarities and differences, and Soren was glad to realize that he might not be in a hopeless situation after all.
"Combine these ingredients in your cauldron of thought...
Use your intellect and intuition to balance their conflicting natures...
The perfect blend must result in a bloodline that not only possesses but amplifies the best traits of each beast's innate abilities, all while mitigating their flaws...
You will have only one chance at success...
You may begin!" The Dragon Instructed.
The moment the detailed images, innate abilities, habitats and behaviors of these beasts arrived within Soren's mind, the Imperial Scholar in him began to show forth his prowess.
But just as he was about to start, an awe-inspiring smile flourished on Soren's face.
'So, this is the true power of the Codex...' He wondered in amazement. 'Seems this would be much easier than I thought.' He grinned childishly, a sight the serpent abhorred greatly.
Looking at the various possible bloodlines that could be created from a mutation of these beasts, Soren almost whistled in fanatism. Even the recipe and methods he needed to use were included and sent into his mind.
> Cosmic Spiritual Root: Able to absorb, endure and harmonize the energy of any heavenly body.
> Aurora Path Meridians: Channels multiple types of energies simultaneously.
> Primal Mimic Bloodline: Grants the bearer the legacy of mythical creatures.
With the ingredients gathered, Soren set to work, blending them together with precision and care.
For his first step, he was to extract the essences of the bloodlines of these beasts.
The extraction process took him almost five days; but every time the fatigue was catching up to him another torrential stream of Cosmic Qi would descend from the heavens and replenish his stamina.
Mid-way through the fifth day, the cores finally dissolved into the cauldron, their essences intertwining in a mesmerizing display of light and shadow.
The cauldron of thought responded to Soren's actions, its runes pulsating with a wave of otherworldly Qi that encased each of the essences into a spherical blob of blood.
Upon finally extracting the bloodline essences, Soren shifted his attention to the next stage, Fusion.
However, this was when things began to get tricky.
The only thing some of these beasts had in common were their habitats, every other thing was different, and even some clashed with one another as they were of opposing natures.
An example was the Enigmatic Butterfly and Shadowless Arachnid.
The former could be found in the sunlight meadows of the Seraphic Falls, whilst the latter dwelled in the Grotto of Veiled Chasms.
In addition, asides from the fact that they were natural enemies, the Butterfly was a beast that used the refraction of light to create illusions that allows it to evade its predators.
The Arachnid, however, was a vicious bloodsucker that relied on tangling its prey with its poisonous, liquefied webs; traits that were potently life-threatening to the beautiful flutterer.
As a matter of fact, the moment their essences appeared within Soren's mind, the essence of the Shadowless Arachnid had begun to radiate a palpable aura of bloodthirst towards the latter.
And all of this was happening amongst the other essence as well; the leviathan and kraken vied for supremacy over the trenches.
The Whispering Trent and Thunder Rock were natural enemies as well, since one had the ability to destroy, and the other had the ability to negate lightning and heal.
The Berserk Ape and Snow Behemoth challenged one another for supremacy of pure physical prowess.
Perhaps, only the Man-Faced Bat was spared from an aggressive rivalry.
However, for a beast who was very sensitive towards seismic vibrations and sonic echoes, it was only a matter of time before even it would succumb to the hostile resonance between these essences.
However, the Origin Codex seemed to have anticipated all these problems, and thus, preemptively provided solutions for Soren based on the path he decided to take.
Without losing an iota of focus, Soren requested for his five ingredients all at once, without even opening his eyes.
"I shall include, a Dragon's heart, a Qilin's Horn, a Phoenix's Feather, a Sylph's Breath, and a Nymph's Tear." He sneeringly demanded.
Hearing this, the great Dragon felt fear for the first time in its life.
What was the puny human creating that would warrant all these powerful ingredients?
Furthermore, didn't he know that the additions of these overbearing legendary beast parts would only make the already chaotic cauldron even more chaotic?
"Granted!"
Regardless, of its thoughts however, it still gave the go ahead; after all, it had said Soren would be allowed to use whatever five ingredients he mentioned, and his pride demanded that it complied.
'Hmph... Still biting more than you can chew... You puny humans would never learn!' The Dragon snorted in contempt.
Meanwhile, Soren was had long shifted his attention back to the task at hand, chanting some incantations into the cauldron of thought.
"From the deepest of depths and the highest of heights, from the forests and the streams, I call upon the true spirits of nature to fulfill me this dream.
Dragon Heart, harmonize them, and let their powers transcend.
Nymph's Tear, cleanse and heal this sacred blend.
Qilin Horn, dole Divine Judgement upon its rebellious nature.
Sylph's breath, induce it with the Breath of Life...
Phoenix Feather, grant it Rebirth..."
The moment Soren chanted the first verse, a dragon heart appeared within his cauldron of thought, and he placed the essences into it.
Then an oppressive and tyrannical aura of a dragon rippled forth from within the dragon heart, one that made the one outside take the spot of the anaconda in his previous reference.
It tamed the aggressive essences with terror, merged the blend and began to pump them out and absorb them in in a repeated loop, until they became one and flowed effortlessly.
---
At his second verse, a pure crystalline droplet that seem to hold the reflection of wholesomeness of nature descended and added itself to the mix.
It bathe them in the warmth of mother nature's embrace, dampening their aggressiveness, and giving them an inherent affinity with every aspect of nature.
---
At his third verse, a multicolored stream of lightning essence seeped out of the cauldron, added itself to the blend, and created order, marshalling them with the threat of a divine judgement.
---
At his fourth verse, a mystical wind from no origin suddenly washed over the content of the cauldron; and that was when the commotion began.
The heart began to beat harder and faster; pumping with a level of power that thumped terror into the core of Soren's soul, even he didn't know what he was creating.
He was only learning on the go and adapting on the fly through the assistance of the Origin Pupils and Codex.
The thumping heartbeat blasted Soren's cauldron of thoughts into smithereens, causing Soren's soul to spasm intensely.
'Eh! Just as I thought...' The Dragon sneered, salivating at the thought of obtaining the Origin Pupils.
It was daydreaming the endless possibilities and potential having such an ability would grant him. Even going as far as imagining becoming the overlord of its clan, ruling over an entire realm.
It was so ecstatic that it didn't notice when a blob of pitch-black blood actually phased into reality right before itself, Soren and even the spectators.
The blob of blood hung there, hovering and rotating like a newly birthed star or absolute darkness, like a black dot on the infinite white canvas of existence.
The emerald scales of the dragon seemed to snap shut and constrict like a naked baby dowsed in ice-cold water.
Its horror gradually grew, from just a feeling; "I-imp-possible!" It said, horrified by the fact that what should have been created, existed, and remained imaginary had actually become real and tangible.
However, just when it seemed like it couldn't get any worse, an utterly chaotic aura suddenly diffused out of the blood and seeped into the atmosphere, turning the entire sky inky black.
"What is this presence?!" Now its horror was now rampaging through its emotions, amplifying its fear.
It was an aura of utter horror and diabolism, suppressing the entire area with the oppressive weight of all oceans and mountains.
"Puny human! What have you created?!" The Dragon blurted, its fear, now perpetually plastered onto its face.
It slowly glided backwards, cowering before the anomaly, not realizing its plight until it had descended to the ground in fear.
This was no ordinary fear; it was one born from utter aloofness; from a primal instinct that induces a tiny prey with the reverence of a looming Overlord.
An overwhelming sense of reverential fear gripped its heart like the talons of a Roc, threatening to clench and burst it apart at the slightest dissent.
The blob of blood pulsed repeatedly, releasing waves of power that rippled through the emerald forest, commanding a silent worship from all its inhabitants.
Soren, however, was currently trembling, not with fear, but from exhaustion. His face was now as pale as washed bones, but his eyes stayed open, narrowed, and simmering with an ever-burning resolve, as he continued to chant.
"Phoenix Feather, grant it rebirth; from ten beasts you were born, and after ten deaths shall you cease to exist."
At this verse, though, a real phoenix feather didn't appear, the entire blob of blood was suddenly set ablaze by a brilliantly radiant flame of Red, Gold and Black hues.
Then from within the flames, the phantom visage of a beast began to take shape, and that was when Soren completed his incantation.
"And you shall be called; The Mimic Drakon!"
The phantom visage of the Mimic Drakon raised its tiny head and seemingly screeched a cry that sounded like the most silent of whispers but reverberated within all souls like the most destructive of thunders.
And as if on cue;
~ SHRAKKA-BOOM! ~