I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 976: Phase Two Begin

Conrad and Thomas moved without hesitation, slipping back into the practiced rhythm of their roles.

Conrad took his position at the central control platform, fingers gliding over the console’s surface, bringing the primary containment fields online. The faint hum of the massive generators below the facility resonated through the floor.

Meanwhile Thomas strode to the observation wall and began linking the live biometric feeds from all twenty candidates into a single master display. His face lit by a soft blue glow from the screens.

Though Conrad’s hands worked with the mechanical equipment with focus, Erend’s gaze lingered on him.

The man’s history wasn’t something easily ignored. He was a former special forces operative. Conrad had once been involved in the biggest problem this country, or even this world, has ever faced. All because the Elf woman he loved.

Now, in this room, Conrad looked like nothing more than a disciplined engineer. His understanding of Magic integration rivaled only by Erend’s understanding and experience.

In fact, on the technical side, he even surpassed Adrien and Billy. But trust wasn’t something Erend gave freely and so he kept watching him, waiting for a sign of something more than just procedure. Just like what he had promised to do to him when everything was started.

So far, Conrad had done nothing except his job. Erend hoped it would stay that way.

—

The next phase of the Magic Assimilation Project began.

Where the first phase had been a controlled exposure, introducing the candidates to raw small amounts of Magic so their bodies could begin the slow process of adaptation, this stage would be far more invasive.

Their systems had rested for two days. Now they will do deeper integration.

The special experiment room underground occupied nearly twice the space than the facility above. A square room with a domed ceiling reinforced by alloy plates etched with containment measure in all directions.

In the center, twenty capsule-like pods were already arranged in a perfect ring, each pod angled slightly inward toward the massive crystalline core at the center of the room.

That core was the heart of the process. It was an enormous shard of condensed and purified Magic, suspended in midair by a magnetic-gravitational field. Erend had specially asked Saedir, the Elf Archmage for that.

Thin beams of light that are barely visible to the naked eye, stretched from the shard to the nodes in the ceiling and floor, keeping the energy stable.

The pods themselves were complex hybrid machines created by Conrad and Thomas as their leaders. Part medical chamber, part Magic conduit.

Inside each one the candidates lay on a padded frame. Biosensors attached to their skin. Their breathing was calm but shallow under the mild sedation.

The interiors glowed faintly with a mix of blue and gold light as the life support and Magic integration systems synced.

Thomas himself moved from pod to pod, verifying the neural sync rates and life signs.

"Assimilation channels are stable. Magical saturation at baseline levels," he reported with calm but clipped voice.

Conrad’s voice came over the intercom. "Phase Two: Controlled Infusion, beginning in three... two... one..."

From the core, threads of shimmering energy extended outward. Twenty in total, each of the threads finding its way to a candidate’s pod.

The instant contact was made, the chambers lit up and flooded with a soft radiance.

Magic began seeping into the candidates’ bodies, not as raw power this time, but as structured patterns. Those energies were carefully designed to merge with their natural biofield.

Some candidates twitched faintly as the energy moved through them. Others remained perfectly still, their vital signs holding steady.

Monitors displayed detailed readouts like the Magic channel formation rates, cellular resonance frequency shifts, and the neural compatibility metrics with the foreign energy entering their body.

And among them, in Pod 07, was Marcus Vollen.

His readings were unusual like before. Where other candidates’ Magic channel formation rates climbed gradually, his spiked early and stabilizing almost instantly.

His neural patterns adapted to the structured Magic at a speed no one else matched. Once again, just like before.

Erend who was standing behind the primary console kept his eyes on Marcus’s feed. The numbers were too perfect almost as if his body had been waiting for exactly this configuration of Magic to arrive.

Billy leaned over, muttering under his breath, "Just like we thought. That man is really not normal."

"Yeah, we know this will happen," Erend replied quietly.

The process continued.

The hum of the machinery deepened. The light from the core pulsed in slow and steady rhythms, syncing with the candidates’ heartbeats.

The candidates soon began to twitch and shift in their pods.

Some grunted softly, and the others clenched their fists or turned their heads as if restless in a half-dream.

A few pods showed sharper reactions like spikes in muscle tension, abnormal fluctuations in pulse, or rapid eye movement under closed lids.

But no one in the control chamber looked alarmed because this was expected. The structured Magic was forcing their bodies into deeper adaptation so that was prompting both physical and neural responses.

Thomas calmly called out readings, adjusting a few feed parameters while nurses stood ready, monitoring individual vitals from the secondary stations.

"Alright. That’s enough for now. They need to rest before we push further," Conrad said, tapping a few commands that gently retracted the Magic threads from each pod.

No one argued. Erend, Adrien, Billy, and Jessica exchanged brief nods.

One by one, the pods began to open with a soft hiss of pressurized seals releasing. Cool air spilled out, carrying the faint scent of sterilized alloy and herbs from the Magic- laced life support fluid.

The candidates did not get out immediately. Most simply lay back, dazed and breathing deeply as the sedation faded.

Nurses and assistants moved, handing out bottles of rich drink and small packets of high-calorie snacks designed to replenish what the infusion process drained.

Some candidates sipped slowly, others devoured their rations with the hunger of someone who had run a marathon.

For thirty minutes the room was filled with the quiet murmur of staff voices, the rustle of packaging, and the occasional cough or deep exhale from a recovering candidate.

Conrad and Thomas walked the circle twice, checking every pod personally. Erend noticed Conrad linger a second longer at Marcus’s station. His eyes narrowed briefly before he moved on without a word.

When the time was up, Conrad returned to the central control platform.

"Break time is over. We resume Phase Two, Stage Two." His voice carried clearly across the chamber.

The pods began to close again, seals locking with a muted click.

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