Chapter 353 There

[… The only, yet the biggest flaw of the augmentation method; Brain death. The brain was the by far the single most fragile organ of the body. What other organs could survive; even the heart and the lungs, it could not even come close to surviving. Even this near-perfect solution when subjected to subjects caused brain death. The combination of mass brain-cell death and radiation was simply too lethal.

If the brain was left unenhanced while the rest of the body was evolved via this method, then the brain would die of extreme seizures anyway due to being stressed with metabolic processes that it was not evolved to withstand. It was not possible to evolve the rest of the body but not the brain.

No solution worked; it was absolutely not a viable form of human augmentation. This is why it's a dead-end for ordinary humans.

Ordinary humans, being the keyword. The goal of Project Apotheosis was to discover the breakthrough process to the Squire Realm.

The research team did not give up on their final candidate. The final possibility was that even if human brains could not survive the process, it was possible that the superhumanly augmented brains of Martial Apprentices could.

This was put to the test with test subject SQ001. He was a hostile foreign Martial Apprentice caught infiltrating the Commonwealth Duchy of Vinfrana.

The result was a failure. However, this result was illuminating. The test subject's brain came far closer to the threshold of survival.

This gave the research team hope that the Flux Mutation method was the key to the Squire Realm. Each time they refined the process heavily before bringing in another test subject; SQ002.

Because of the extreme scarcity of Martial Apprentice test subjects, each experiment was conducted after a large amount of refining. Months went by between each test subject.

However, all of them were failures. Six Martial Apprentices died. But the research team was still optimistic. They reached closer and closer each time, fueled by the data of their failures.

Then, they succeeded.

Test subject SQ007; Caella Feeria; female. The equivalent of a grade-ten defensive Martial Artist. She was a volunteer test subject that was 'officially' sent as a guard but in actuality was a test subject. She was subjected to the latest and most refined Flux Mutation method.

She survived.

Her brain was powerful enough to withstand the procedure without dying or losing her consciousness due to brain death.

She had broken through to the Squire Realm; successfully becoming a Martial Squire.

This is the secret to the Squire Realm; Human evolution.

The features you described of her entire body matched that of the ones recorded in research logs. I do believe that you fought and defeated Squire test subject SQ007 in your mission.

And that is the end of the brief report on the research conducted in the research facility. The elaborate report contains all the nitty gritty details that I have entirely omitted or oversimplified in this report so that it remains easy for laymen without a background in esoteric science.

Hope that helped, feel free to come over and ask any questions you have.

~Julian.]

…

…..

Rui dropped the document as he stared off into space.

He was looking at walls, physically. But really, he was looking at nothing.

His mind was still in a state of shock as he struggled to even process what he had read.

"Evolution..." He murmured in wonder. "To think literal Darwinian Evolution would be the key to the Squire Realm."

He was beyond bewildered. Yet so many things made sense to him. It all fell into place. Like pieces of a puzzle. The many pieces he had picked up over a long period, one by one, falling into place.

"That's why only Squire candidates are allowed to attempt the breakthrough." Rui's eyes widened. "Normal Martial Apprentices would die."

Squire candidates needed to achieve a substantial degree of individuality. This was one of the two conditions of Squire candidacy.

Rui finally understood why.

('It's in order to ensure the brain can survive and withstand the process.') He realized. ('In order for the brain of the Martial Apprentice to survive, it has to be augmented enough. It has to be augmented far above human parameters. In order for it to be augmented enough, the Martial Apprentice has to walk deeper down one's Martial Path!')

Rui recalled something he had once been told by Headmaster Aronian.

"Your brain becomes more and more enhanced the more uniquely original and individualistic your Martial Art is. The greater the personal and original development your Martial Art goes, the deeper down your Martial Path you tread, and the greater your brain is enhanced as a consequence." Headmaster Aronian had told him, back then.

This meant the only way for a Martial Apprentice to have a powerful enough brain to survive the breakthrough was to tread deeper down one's Martial Path, which, in turn, requires one's Martial Art to have individuality.

"That's why it's the condition to be considered a candidate for the Squire Realm!" Rui exclaimed, growing more and more excited.

He had already fulfilled that condition.

Which meant that he could attempt and even survive the breakthrough to the Squire Realm!

What was the other condition for?

He didn't know. But, at the very least, as far as Martial matters went, the Martial Union was one hundred percent credible as an expert. He was sure that there was a valid and sound reason why Rui wasn't yet a Squire candidate despite being able to survive the breakthrough to the Squire Realm.

Rui had far too many questions asides from just that. Why couldn't this process be applied over and over again for infinite evolution? What were the 'harsh conditions' subjected to the human body for evolution to begin? How much radiation did they subject the body with? How did they regulate it?

He turned towards the more elaborate report that Julian had given him with gleaming eyes. He would surely find answers to those questions there.