Niki enjoyed a wonderful dinner. To his surprise, the taste of the monstrous shark was sweet but with a chewy texture. However, now he was lying face down on what appeared to be a massage table and a mask covering his face.


    ''To think it wouldn''t be Alexei doing the adjustments.''


    He thought that after fighting monsters—he became used to pain.


    So this would be a walk in the park, although he listened to Luisa speaking about several bones and structures. Niki was sure that he could endure the pain. While taking a deep breath, the door sounded.


    "Okay, Niki, you need to bite down on this and try not to lose consciousness. I will inject you with a Seludim solution that will cause your aura to be docile, and for the next four hours, it won''t function or obey yourmands. Do you have any questions?"


    ''I can''t use my aura for four hours?''


    "Does that mean my blood will lose all strength, and I''ll be at your mercy?"


    "Yes, no matter how much you trust my husband, isn''t it scary to know someone has the power to neutralise your aura and essence?"


    ''To be honest, she was right! It was terrifying to know someone could do this; what kind of race or material could make someone so vulnerable? If the humans got—''


    "If the humans got a hold of this solution, then monsters would be ducks to the ughter, right? You don''t need to worry; this is a special ink thates from one type of creature. That creature is not almost extinct, with only one remaining in the entire universe."


    "Only one... were they perhaps hunted?"


    Niki''s innocent question caused the Scy behind him to tremble. Her eyes seemed to be dazed as she looked towards a small picture frame on a shelf. "Yes... their entire race was attacked unterally by all monsters. Their existence in the Nexus is banned, except in one ce. Their former homnd that was destroyed and filled with poison."


    "..."


    He couldn''t understand what it might feel like to be pursued and attacked so violently because the other races feared them.


    However, somehow, he didn''t want to be associated with the ones responsible.


    "Somehow, I feel ashamed to be a monster if that''s what my ancestors or those before me did..."


    "Fufu, that face, you look so cute. Ah~ after all, you are Uncle Ivan''s son. Don''t worry. Neither of your parents nor their families took part in the crusade. Otherwise, my lovely Alexei wouldn''t have brought you here in the first ce!"


    "What do you...?"


    "Silly!" Luisa twirled around her various tentacles, holding various devices. Each one was used to help shape and fix posture and bone-rted issues.


    "A single race, the descendant of the ancient sea goddess, secrete the Seludim from their tentacles... So, you don''t have to worry!"


    The bright smile and her childish aura caused Niki to be relieved, but it was at that moment something clicked in his mind. So he closed his eyes and bit down on the wooden mouthguard, asking no more questions.


    ''It seems my father is more amazing than I thought. He saved this woman, protected and hid her from the other monsters, even though she could be a deadly threat. I want to be half the man my father is one day.''


    Luisa smiled gently, knowing that this boy was exactly like his father.


    Although she never met his mother, listening to stories about the fabled beauty named Elizabeth Báthory caused her to be curious. All the while, unaware, the woman she admired was hovering beside her and watching everything.


    [To think your father was such a wonderful man even after losing most of his strength... Mother is falling in love all over again!]


    ''...''


    Niki didn''t respond.


    His mother''s love for his father was something he didn''t learn now. Instead, it was his father Ivan''s deep, loving heart that surprised him most. He never realised how much his father cared and adored him and his mother.


    ''Dad is a little too shy and closed off....''


    [You should read his diary... He even celebrated things like your first step excitedly in there. Yet outside, he looked so cold. Your mother had so much difficulty courting him!]


    "Okay, I am going to start the procedure now—the pain will grow with each bone, I correct; if it bes too much, please try not to die."


    "Nnnph?!"


    ''Wait... what is that eerie remark!?'' Niki couldn''t speak; his mouth was fastened in ce, biting down on the wooden stick.


    The next second, an icy cold sensation flowed into his back, causing his eyes to roll backwards. But, of course, the pain was nothing!


    ''Heh, that''s nothing... I could keep enduring this—''


    "AGHHGH!" His mouth filled with the stick, and he screamed in agony.


    The feeling in his lower back was as if someone had just snapped him in half; there was a cold and painful aura seeping into his body no matter what he did. Niki couldn''t summon any aura to reduce the pain or protect himself!


    Crack!


    Snap!


    Crunch!


    The sound of snapping bones and the shivering pain caused his mind to go nk, but a gentle hand grabbed his head, keeping him conscious and aware. "Come on, you have to stay awake, you big baby. Only three hundred more bones to fix... The body of a hybrid is strange..." Luisa''s words sounded distant and muffled, as if she were underwater.


    Niki felt he was drowning; his eyes rolled back, and his mind was sinking into the darkness.


    "Ah, you can''t fall asleep... You''ll miss out on the fun of hearing your father''s stories!"


    ''Fun?''


    His mind stirred, and he forced himself to wake up, although the pain was unbearable. If he fell asleep or passed out, he couldn''t listen to his father''s tales. No matter the cost, he had to remain conscious!


    However...


    A loud crack echoed inside his head, and thest thing he heard was Luisa''s soft voice.


    "Oh, you''re bleeding heavily..."


    ***


    "..."


    Niki didn''t move.


    The scent of incense and candles filled his nose. He didn''t dare open his eyes. Rather, he couldn''t. There was no strength left in his body, yet he felt different.


    Normally, when letting his aura and essence flow, there would be parts where it seemed to stall and slow slightly. Yet now, the Celestial Aura and Vermillion Essence flowed rapidly, like a waterfall and violent rapids.


    His blood was boiling. The pain was still present and surging through him, but somehow, it was different.


    Before, he felt the agony and the need to scream and shout. However, now it was a dull, warm ache where the blood and bones seemed to fuse and recover.


    Niki was in pain, but his mind and heart were at peace.


    "How was he, Luisa, my lovely wife?" Lord Baldon''s voice sounded, causing Niki''s body to twitch; his skin felt more sensitive, the sound of the air outside flowing into his ears. There were more changes, and he felt like a different man.


    "This boy... how was he using his aura and blood arts with such a body? The moment he activated them, there was a severe blockage that must have made it agonising to maintain them as he did."


    "Indeed, this is the power of a true genius. Although, I am still curious about his father and how he could raise such a monster."


    Baldon was no longer hiding his words. Though he didn''t speak with hostility or disrespect, there was obvious admiration in his voice.


    "Alexei, what kind of fate will this poor boy face? You''ve sensed it thanks to my treatment, right? He isn''t a werewolf; he''s aplete hybrid... though you managed to awaken your mother''s blood slightly with my treatment. He was already aplete hybrid, and now he could be called a perfect hybrid."


    Niki slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on the ground in a temple-like building. It was made entirely from white marble and adorned with statues of a beautiful goddess who looked like Luisa, with a lower body of countless tentacles. He could sense a powerful energying from the paintings on the wall.


    "Ah, they know my secret...?" Niki murmured, his voice hoarse from all the screaming.


    However, they couldn''t hear him, as they were on the other side of a ss window. It was at that moment that he felt the warm energy emitted from the goddess statue, and that soothing yet cool power was healing his body.


    ''Thank you, beautiful goddess....'' In his medically induced stupor, Niki couldn''t help but feel grateful.


    He was in a state of euphoria. The pain was terrible and agonising, yet his mind was calm. Niki was no longer holding back and allowed his aura and blood to flow, and he began to breathe deeply, absorbing the surrounding energy.


    "That means he''ll be like you, right? Your poison didn''t work on him properly either..."


    "Please, Alexei, since Uncle Ivan gave us a chance, we have to help that boy. Will you train him for me? He truly needs advice and guidance. Those selfish bastards will never let him live if they learn the truth. If he trains with you, they will also be less likely to think he''s a hybrid. Since he will resemble your fighting style and share both bloodlines."


    In the room above, the pair were hugging each other; Alexei didn''t mind training the young Niki; after all, he liked the kid, not to mention the things his father did to save them in the distant past.


    "I nned to train him from the moment we met, my dear. Though I am shocked to hear he was a true hybrid... That''s probably why Uncle Ivan seemed to have be weaker and seemed sick thest time we met..."


    "If the Nosferatu or Hati family discover his qualities... They will never stop to make him theirs."


    Luisa remembered the fate of her family members who fell to the two ns. A living corpse to be experimented on, or a breeding doll that would spawn more powerful children for the Hati n''s disgusting bloodline. It was a nightmare for her.


    "Rest assured, I will help him. However, you should also prepare some things."


    "Of course, my beloved. The Seludim and the Chimeric injection will help him stay safe. None of their medicines or checks will ever find his secret until he fully awakens all bloodlines... Then, I won''t have the power to conceal his strength anymore. Even now, it took an entire decades'' worth to hide it for a year."


    While he listened to their conversation, Niki continued to breathe and cultivate.


    The strange aura from the statue was cold like water, resembling the nexus gate. It began to flow through his skin, cleansing his pores, flesh and bone a refreshing feeling that made his anger and rage vanish.


    [To think that you would receive the blessing of a goddess despite having the blood of her nemesis.]


    Elizabeth couldn''t help but find it amusing.


    [All those old bastards try to gain their god''s affection, and here you are just bathing in it.]