Chapter 460 Commencement

Not a single individual changed even a shade at the sight of his naked figure, displaying perfect professionalism.

"The assistants will help you occupy and strap into the apotheosis chamber." Doctor Menun told him, gesturing towards the machine. It looked like a bed perfectly meant to encompass a whole human body head to toe. Atop was a lid that looked like it would absolutely smother him when the chamber closed. It was the machine within which he would be undergoing

He made his way toward the Apotheosis chamber, sliding on top of it as he entered the chamber. The assistants and nurses strapped him down firmly, restricting his movements severely. Soon, they moved away, and the elevated lid to the chamber came down, shutting the chamber closed.

Immediately, after, two small tubes extended from above him. Attaching itself to his nose and mouth, and sealing the connection shut. Instantly, a supply of fresh air came from the tubes, allowing him to breathe peacefully.

The chamber was pitch black, but Rui could still sense the physical layout quite well thanks to Primordial Instinct and Seismic Mapping. That was why he immediately sensed when a strange liquid entered the chamber, filling it up to the very brim.

His body rose to the center of the chamber under the buoyancy force the liquid generated. Instantly Rui ran some calculations in his mind. Given the fact that he could sense how much he rose before he stopped, he could calculate the density of the liquid using the fluid dynamics that he had studied in his bachelor's of science degree.

('About one thousand eight hundred kilograms per meter cube.') Rui estimated. ('Definitely not water. I wonder what the point of this liquid is.')

Suddenly, he heard a voice, the sound traveled through the liquid. Yet it was clear that he was being communicated through using some submerged speaker.

"Apprentice Quarrier." Doctor Menun's voice rang in his ears. "Do you feel any nausea, discomfort, or anything else of the sort?"

"Not at all," Rui replied within the mask sealed around his mouth. "I'm feeling fine."

"Good." Doctor Menun replied. "The process will begin soon enough."

Rui was left in silence as he got to experience absolute solitude, the kind that provoked introspection and contemplation.

('I've come a long way.') Rui realized.

His mind flashed back to a long time ago. The day he first laid eyes upon Martial Art. An old retired Martial Squire who had humbly limited himself to trivial manual labor had accepted a cheap commission from the Quarrier Orphanage to clear a fallen tree that urgently needed to be moved because it had been covering the back exit to the Quarrier Orphanage.

Since that very moment, he had been enraptured by the concept of Martial Art. He had begun doing everything in his power to crack the entrance exam of the Martial Academy. Subjecting himself to years of fitness and MMA training. He had trained himself on kickboxing, Brazillian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, Muay Thai and some Tae-Kwon do. These were a variation of the bread-and-butter martial arts that UFC fighters strived to master in order to gain competence and experience in all fields of hand-to-hand combat. These skills helped him somehow crack the entrance exam and be accepted as a student, despite the age gap.

He raced through the physical and Martial foundation stages thanks to his pre-existing martial arts foundation, before being thrust into exploration. Then, he became a Martial Apprentice after having discovered his Martial Art, and then a long period of growth; six stages of training thirty techniques. He had proven himself as a Martial Artist in the many missions he had undertaken, and now he was ready to take the next step.

('It's been a hell of a journey so far.') Rui mused to himself. ('I can't wait for the journey that is to come.')

"Apprentice Quarrier." Doctor Menun's voice reverberated through the liquid he was submerged in. "All preparations have been completed. Are you ready to begin?"

Rui took a deep breath.

"Yes, please begin."

"Alright, the procedure will begin three... two... one..."

Rui's eyes widened as a surge of pure agony welled up within him.

The sheer intensity, the sheer scope was beyond anything he had ever felt in his entire life.

"AAAAARRGHHHGRRHRGHRG!" He bellowed into his mask.

He didn't even know what part of his body was actually experiencing pain!

It was as though his very soul was being torn to shreds.

The pain came from everywhere. It was omnipresent.

He had lost all sense of physical self. It was as though his body had disappeared and his brain and nerves were kept alive, being subjected to the most horrific artificially manufactured sensations of pain.

Pain radiated across his entire being. As though he was being burnt alive, torn to shreds, broken to pieces, and flattened down all at once.

It was such a nonsensical amount of pain it almost felt like somewhat that could only happen in a nightmare, the kind the details of which would be forgotten once he woke up.

Soon, the pain began eroding everything.

His situational awareness had dropped to zero. The liquid whose density he had deduced cleverly had all but disappeared. His sense organs were still functioning but his brain and mind were beset with so much pain that they temporarily forgot about the senses feeding them information about the external world.

The sheer amount of pain input his brain was receiving forced it to abandon a lot of other preoccupations otherwise it would short-circuit and he would experience a seizure.

The worst was that he could do nothing about it. He couldn't even be in a position to think about it, because his ability to form conscious thoughts had been highly nerfed and impeded. Yet that was not the worst of his problems by a long shot.

He could feel that even his mind was beginning to slip. His consciousness, chipped away minute bit by bit. It was as though he was drowning, drowning in an ocean of pain.

Yet, the worst had yet to come.