A barren wasteland of black rock. Great red eyes in the sky above which observed the scene.
A human--no, a creature--was slumped over in the area. It was massive, blotting out the scorching sun if seen from below. Layers upon layers of ivory plate adorned a being composed of sinewy black muscle. Long, strong, fibers, made up its strength. Pitch black blades were where its hands should be. A long tail lay coiled behind the creature.
Yet, if one looked closer, they could see that the colossal giant had lifeless eyes. It was unmoving, with a sword pierced through its thick skull. Perhaps that was what had killed it?
Over several days, the corpse began to liquefy. Strong, firm, muscles decomposed to a gooey, filthy substance. However, the semi solid certainly didn't smell bad. A sweet, seductive, fragrance, similar to that emitted by fruit, oozed from the stuff.
Under the white armor and rotting flesh, two objects could be seen. First, the creature's massive six channeled heart, which still beat despite the beast's death. And then, the form of a brutalized human. Small, insignificant, and missing most of its limbs. Torturous injuries could be seen in the figure.
Another few days later, the massive carcass had completely turned to fluid. The black liquid's former sweet scent was replaced with a repulsive stench which simply seemed unnatural.
The liquid had an acidic quality, and slowly burned off the ground beneath it. Despite decomposition, the beautiful spiky plates and aberrant heart both remained. Of course, the small humanoid was also still intact.
Far, far, far, away, a strange angelic being spoke.
"ACTIVATING MODULE: LF SAINT REVIVAL."
The black liquid instantly rushed toward the body of the tiny being. Each and every broken pore absorbed it with hunger reminiscent of a certain eldritch entity. The body lightly floated up into the air, the streams of energizing substance still rushing into it. The form of the thing began to regenerate. Limbs and flesh could be seem growing back at a visible pace as snow white skin was stitched back together and restored.
Yet, the body wasn't just being regenerated, it was being... evolved. The former frame, while good, was not perfect in the aesthetics sense. The skeleton began to lengthen, the muscles began to tighten, and the skin began to clear itself of impurities.
Facial features reconstructed themself. They now were less pretty and handsome and more... beautiful. The frame was now slender and taller, though some muscle had been lost.
Organs rearranged themself, struggling to reform themselves in their owner's ideal image.
Hair lengthened to the knees and bleached to a incredibly pale white, even more so than the skin. The body, now reborn, arose, its crimson eyes, decorated with long, thick, eyelashes, flashing open.
Ugh. "What the hell happened?" Lief spoke with his new vocal chords for the first time. "Didn't I die?"
Rhysa answered his inquiry. "With significant effort, I have revived you. I've also managed to slightly perfect your body with the Soldier's corpse."
"Wait. So am I immortal then?" Lief's eyes brightened at the prospect.
Rhysa sighed silently. "Only within the Lattice of Fate, where I have access to massive reserves of energy."
"And I'm perfected too?" Lief looked at his body. "I feel a few inches taller!" He jumped around a bit.
"Yes. And it'll be even better if you eat the heart in front of you."
Lief looked up to see the huge organ that the Soldier's carcass had left over. Still beating, it had a distinct odor to it. And not in a good way. He recoiled at the thought. Will it taste as bad as the Scout I ate earlier?
"Unfortunately, yes."
Do I still have to eat it?
"Of course you do. In order to make this transformation, I sacrificed a large portion of your muscle. If you finish eating the heart, you'll both gain back more muscle then you lost, and your energy pool will advance to Tier 2."
Well, I better get this over with. Lief grunted and prepared himself.
Instinctively, he coated his right arm with a cloak of rippling energy. It doesn't burn! Lief had used this without thought, and was pleasantly surprised that his own energy no longer hurt him.
"Dying and coming back to life was huge for adjusting to your energy. You should be able to use full capacity now."
Sweet. Lief grinned, a disturbing curve with contrasted his beautiful features.
He sliced up the fragile heart into multiple pieces for consumption. Thirteen, in fact. Time to eat this shit.
He began on the first massive fragment. Absolutely revolting. Disgusting. I think my stomach is dying right now.
Indeed, the heart piece was radiating acid and dissolving the inner lining of his body. Lief was rushed with pain, but his pain tolerance had now increased to an inhuman level from his prior experiences. Upon full digestion, there was an instant boost of power.
I feel... powerful.
His shoulders gained several pounds of hard, lean, muscle and his Psyker power noticeably increased.
Filled with determination, Lief ate the second piece. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. All the way up till the thirteenth.
I might be about to die.
The entirety of his digestive tract was decomposing and transforming into a mushy liquid substance. But after waiting a few minutes, it had regenerated fully. That didn't spare Lief the pain, however.
In the end, all the suffering was worth it. Lief's frame was packed full of condensed, strong, muscle. Broadened shoulders and higher energy capacity as well. Formerly skinny from the height increase, the entirety of his height, which was slightly lower than Elder Li, was fleshed out. Long white hair cascaded down a sculpted body like water down smooth stones.
Let me try out the new powers. Lief formed a massive blade out of Psyker energy. A blot of pale red filled Lief's view. The sword was slightly larger than Lief, but he could sense that it contained vast power.
With a quick cut, he slashed the ground roughly. A giant ravine was formed. Lief smiled at the sight. Deactivating the construct before it drained too much energy, he sent Rhysa a thought.
Which way to the Central Plains?
"Turn right. Keep going forward and you'll eventually reach it."
With that, Lief began his long, long, trek to the Li Clan.