Karl kept grinning as he was carried by Martha, through the corridor.
'Finally! How could I forget about the cheat that made Istur broken! I just have to create an ether body instead of a mana ring or an aura core!' Karl exclaimed, too excited to notice where he was going.
'I will start right away-ayyy-eyyyyy???' Karl was left stunned as he opened his eyes.
Karl stared wide eyed as he found himself entering a room that would make the word 'luxurious' undermine its beauty.
The room was of the same size as his own room but was adorned with gold and jewels.
All around the walls were paintings that looked so realistic as if a whole bunch of portals had opened in the walls.
The temperature in the room was cozy to say the least.
As his vision continued moving, he finally looked at the table and chairs that were in the middle of the room.
Before he could admire the surface of the table, that seemed to be made of a transparent gem which shimmered under the light of chandeliers hanging by the ceiling, his eyes fell on the person sitting in one of the chairs.
There was a beautiful woman, with white hairs and yellow eyes sitting on the chair.
'She must also be from the family but why is she here? Wait, why am I here? Weren't we going for a walk, granny?' Karl thought as he shifted his gaze to Martha with a slight frown.
Seeing Karl's eyes filled with curiosity and his slight frown Martha smiled at him. She misunderstood his frown, and thought he was scared of the woman.
"Don't worry cutie, Cera here is going to help you, you can keep looking around. See that gem shines so brightly." Martha said, pointing with her finger at a ruby like gem embedded in a wall.
'Cera? Help me? What help do I need? What does she think is wrong with me?' Karl's mind was, instead, focused on guessing what was going on.
Seeing Karl keeping his focus on Cera, Martha chuckled wryly and sat opposite to Cera.
"Aww~ He looks so cute!" Cera said looking at Karl with sparkling eyes.
"So we will get a discount?" Martha asked with a grin.
"Ahem! I will make the best clothes for him." Cera coughed as she continued looking at Karl.
"Talk about being cheap." Martha mocked which Cera simply ignored.
'Wait, wait, wait! How is this a walk granny! You lied to me! I was trying to solve such a big problem and here you have brought me for some stupid cloth selection!' Karl looked at Martha with eyes that screamed betrayal which Martha kept misunderstanding for his fear of Cera.
***
Karl laid silently beside Ercia on her bed.
'Oof~ I am finally back! That woman, Cera, took off my clothes and looked around my body! Talk about sexual harassment!' Karl fumed in anger as he clenched his tiny fists but did not show anything on his face.
'It is good that it was over in a jiffy as she was here just to take measurements. But I became hungry and had to cry for milk, making granny take me to mother taking more of my time' Karl sighed.
'Whatever, now I can start with the damn process but first I should plan everything out because knowing how my mind keeps fumbling and forgetting things, I might just cause myself to die.' Karl thought as he opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling.
'It was the method Isurt 'luckily' found after his rings and cores were shattered by Karl. If Karl wanted to let Isurt suffer, he could have at least put him in a jail after crippling him to watch him live in despair, would have saved his life. Tch.
Whatever. So after he was left crippled, he 'luckily' found some engravings in a cave that told him of a method that will make even the word 'broken' seem humble.
Formation of Ether Body.
The formation method has 5 steps, even though the novel explained only about the first four steps. They involve one combining ether with his body.
The novel didn't specify the part on how Isurt combined ether with his body but it gave ample information for me to deduce the rest. I will happily work hard if it means getting such a cheat.
Even without an aura core or a mana ring, just completing the first step made Isurt more powerful than a peak tier 1 arhat!
Combining ether with the body, which probably means adding ether to the body, makes the body a lot more stronger and enhances the quality of mana and aura but that is not what makes this method broken.
What makes it broken, is that there is no limit on the amount of ether one can add!
Initially there are some limits, as after a certain amount one will have to first complete the next steps to increase the limit, but according to the engravings Isurt found in the cave, after completing the fifth step, there will be no limit to the amount anymore.
The second step involves adding ether into the body muscles, the third being making bones ether enriched.
The fourth step, whereas, was a lot more difficult than all the three steps combined together. In it one had to add ether to all the other parts of the body, the most complex of them being nerves!
Even, Isurt in the novel had only completed the first three steps but that alone made him powerful enough to defeat Karl, who was tier 5 at the time, as a beginner tier 3 arhat! Though that battle left him completely drained and beaten and if it was not for his friends, he would have died to Karl's army of followers.
Talking about friends, I will have to think of a method to become friends with her.
If Isurt instead of keeping her as a girlfriend, made use of her, he could have destroyed the whole Hearth dukedom let alone Karl and the small army of his followers.
Back to topic, I will first complete the first step which would take me at least two years but I should be done by the time of ceremony. I will take it slow and easy so that I don't harm myself, can not afford to lose such a good life.' Karl smirked, closing his eyes.
'In the novel, Isurt started the process with the blood in his hands, and completed the first step in just 1 year.
But I would need half an year to just learn how to combine blood and ether.
He was so quick with it because he first became familiar with the process of combining ether and blood by making a cut on his hands and then removing the ether enriched blood out of his body through the wound.
If one combines ether and blood without mastering the process, it will form unstable ether enriched blood. The unstable ether enriched blood would not stay peacefully with normal blood and will start harming it.
Forming unstable ether-enriched blood, will make the RBC, WBC and platelets in it wreak havoc and destroy their normal counter parts until the ether in the blood dissipates.
That is what happened with Isurt as he started the first step. He did not understand what was happening at the time and only understood it as after some time his body started feeling numb.
That happened because the unstable red blood cells, started destroying other red blood cells which reduced the amount of oxygen reaching the body.
Isurt was, again, 'lucky' to have found it before it was too late as it took him a whole week to trace the unstable blood, which was by then scattered all around his body, and forcefully remove ether from it.'
'I swear these lucky motherfuckers! These heroes get away with it even after acting so stupid! He could have died of brain death if he was not lucky! Instead of doing the dumb shit he did, he could have taken his time and tested what combining ether with blood was doing!' Karl fumed, his face forming a frown.
"Are you having a bad dream baby?" Ercia said looking at Karl with worried eyes.
'Oh crap!' Karl quickly loosened his frown and gave a slight smile with his eyes still closed which made Ercia sigh and smile.
'Stupid of me. So where was I? Yeah, after Isurt understood that unstable ether enriched blood harms the normal blood, he cut his hand and practiced till he could create combine ether and blood perfectly.
Once the process of combining ether and blood is mastered, the formed ether enriched blood doesn't harm the normal blood and it doesn't even lose its ether as time passes, which happens with unstable ether enriched blood.
I sadly can not use the method of making a cut to let the unstable blood flow out as I got no way of harming myself. If I had nails or teeth, I might have tried something but I don't.
So I will have to use another method which is pretty simple.
I add ether to the blood and without letting the blood go I will remove the ether and try the process again until I master the process, capable of creating stable ether enriched blood.
Once I know how to do it perfectly, I will just have to repeat it again and again.
This is the only thing I can do to get stronger for the next 1 year, 11 months and 1 week.
When I become 2 years old, I will go through the 'Potential Testing Ceremony', when I will finally be able to form my first aura core and mana ring!
Now, time to start with the process!'
Karl went in deep focus as he started to focus on the blood and ether in his hands, trying to combine them.