With the trade finalized Ben went home. He was excited. He informed his parents about it. Although they thought it was abrupt and the price was exaggerated, when they heard that the martial teacher had used his connections to verify, they were reassured. Still they were concerned about the fact that a procedure for introduction of foreign affinity had to be done on Ben's body. He said that it was being done by his science teacher who was also a scientist. He reassured them that it will be safe. Like every middle class family the next question they had was about the cost. Ben said that he will handle it and that it also is to be paid installments to the school. He reassured them that he will read everything properly. He had already received the sales deed and invoice for his materials. He and his parents read it carefully. Ben's sister was looking at the three of them curiously. She did not understand why they were reading something so carefully. Seeing this their mother smiled and took her to sleep. Seeing that there was no issue, they were reassured.
Soon the next day came. Ben had not told his friends about the procedure. It was happening in the same place where the spatial fragment was hosted. But the spatial fragment was not there now. The materials were delivered to the school. Sylvie, Mahaansh and Delvin were there. Sylvie was the one who was doing the procedure. Her background as a scientist was helpful for that. Ben was strapped to a chair. Sylvie put took the blood and spinal fluid of aether lupis in a container and was kept it an apparatus. Ben was looking at it curiously. Seeing this everyone smiled. Sylvie said, "The reason we strapped you is due to procedural protocols. For someone who has undergone the implantation procedure, this kind of pain is nothing."
Hearing this Ben gulped. Sylvie continued, " The reason why the quality of the blood and spinal fluid is important is the nature of this procedure. There are two parts to this procedure. One is integrating the genome structure of aether lupis into you temporarily. When that is done, your meridians will resist this change, but due to the nature of your meridian seed, it will absorb some characteristics of the lupis. Then comes the activation of these materials. Since these materials are relatively fresh , it has the remnants of the aura of the aether lupis. This aura will be copied by your meridian seed due to its shamanic nature. Along with the genome structure, the copying of aura will introduce the total abilities of aether lupis into you temporarily. Then some of the meridians in your body will be permanently mutated, gaining the aura and characteristics of aether lupis. These meridians will be concentrated in an area and will form the 'Shamanic Script.' With that the procedure is over. As you utilize the power and add more relevant materials, the capabilities of the contrast, size and depth of the 'Shamanic Script' will increase. It is from this Shamanic script that the powers of the beast are derived in case of a Shamanic beast master. For the starter inscription, these materials are sufficient. In the future you need more quality material. So shall we start."
Ben took a deep breath and said "Yes. Let's start."
Soon the temporary genome editing happened. It was the easiest part. The changes in the meridians happened inside. His right arm felt like it was on fire. He had a combination of burning sensation and twisting pain. He gritted his teeth. But the procedure lasted for about 45 minutes. Then came the activation of the materials for the aura. It activated and the aura was introduced to Ben's meridians. That was when the real pain began. It was like being stabbed with many knives. In Ben's right arm, a group of meridians began to respond to the familiar yet foreign aura. It absorbed the characteristics of the aether lupis and the aura and multiplied. The reason for this was that unlike the marthayas, the animals innately had the meridians and their genes had traces of aura in them. Thus the integration aura of the aether lupis and it genetic characteristics was seamless. The characteristics of the shamanic meridian seed also helped here.
The new meridians concentrated on the right arm of Ben. His aura flared out and then a vivid image was created on Ben's arm. It was the head of a lupis with a majestic mane. It had a really dark blue color, with white and light blue star like sparkles in it. It s eyes were not formed. But it only accentuated the mystic style of that image. It was neither big nor small. It covered about ¼th of Ben's right arm. Its glow gradually faded and became a like a tattoo in Ben's arm. The pain in his arm also subsided. Overall the procedure just lasted for about 2 hours. The materials which were used for aura activation were now just a bunch of black mass.
As his pain subsided, Ben came to his right mind. Still he activated the meditation technique in 'Jamadagni Bhavana'.
Then it happened. The Shamanic Script in his arm flared. Sylvie, Mahaansh and Delvin sprang back and got ready for anything. And then they saw it. The most majestic blooming of a Shamanic script.
In place of Ben, there stood a regal lupis. It was almost as half the height of the entire building. Its mane was fluttering. It had a dark blue color speckled with blue and white stars. It looked at them as though it was looking at ants. Then it howled. The kind of howl that made even Martial Lords bow their heads. Mahaansh and Delvin were not ordinary martial lords. They sprang into action. Both of them unleashed their powers and covered Sylvie within it. They also used their powers to shield the howl from getting out. Sylvie looked at Mahaansh. She asked "You… You are a…" Her words trailed off. Mahaansh just looked at her and back at Ben again.
Then the aether lupis gradually faded away and revealed Ben who was still strapped to the chair. Almost all of his aura was drained and he was tired as hell. He tried to stay awake but could not and simply fell unconscious.
In his unconscious state he saw that he was an aether lupis roaming the vast universe. He traveled from planet to planet, star system to star system, galaxy to galaxy and ultimately, he reached the end of the universe. From there he moved to another universe which was not at all like the universe he lived. It was desolate, like a black forest, with few stars and planets here and there. He reached the end of that universe and then went to another universe which was more vibrant than his own universe. It was full of planets, stars and life. With lot of creatures, weak and strong roaming through the void, harmoniously. Like that he saw many universes. Half of this was genetic memory from the aether lupis. The other half was Ben's own imagination.
He did not know how much time went by. He woke up groggily. The first person he saw was Delvin. "Wakey, wakey sunshine" Delvin said. He looked around. Only Mahaansh, Sylvie and Delvin were there. Ben was still regaining his bearing. He looked at his arm. The clothes on his arm were not there. But he could see a beautiful tattoo on his arm. Ben looked at it and then turned to his teachers, " This is…"
"Yes, it is the Shamanic Script. Your Shamanic Script. " Sylvie answered the question. Ben looked at it once more.