“Let me volunteer,” Bret spoke up. Now that his captain had okayed it, he wanted to be the first to gain these new powers that Blake and the girls had.

“Wait….” Blake held out his hand. “I must tell you this does not come without risks.”

“Oh?” Mike was curious. He never thought Blake would stop them from doing anything and warn them like this.

“First, the pain is like giving birth times one hundred.” Blake began. “Second, there is a chance you might turn into a monster.”

“Wait, you are saying that we might not even be human anymore?” Mike asked.

“Right. You will become what we call ghouls. A kind of humanoid monster who wants to eat the flesh of other beings. They are strong and hard as hell to kill but they are mindless without any will of their own except the instinct to kill everything around them, even other ghouls.” Blake explained.

“I see…. And the third one?” Mike pondered for a moment before having Blake continue.

“The third is death. Not everyone is able to push through the pain. They will die from it. And when I say it is bad, I mean it.” Blake’s eyes locked on to Mike’s without wavering, showing just how serious he was.

“Well… Bret… What do you think? Even with the three warnings, I think what we gain outweighs the risks. But the question is do you wish to try to evolve, as Blake put it.” Mike asked as he looked at Bret.

“I will still try. If the girls can do it, then I can do it. If it means we can fight dragons easier, then I’ll be damned if I give up this chance by being a pussy.” Bret replied firmly.

“Then we will go to the training ground. We will lock it down with a few of us watching how things pan out. Blake, I hope you can handle it if he turns into this ghoul thing, right?” Mike was worried about Bret turning into a strong monster that weapons would not work against. The whole squad would end up being wiped out if he did, and no one could handle it.

“Don’t worry. If things turn out like that, I will personally kill him.” Blake replied. He then turned to Bret. “Don’t think I want to do such a thing. I just want you to know that I will make sure you won’t have to harm any of your brothers in arms.”

“Much appreciated. While I know this is dangerous, I still have to do it. I will be the one who will step forward and show them that with a bit of guts, we Patriots can do anything.” Bret replied.

“Haha! Well put!” Mike let out a laugh. “I will get Joey to clear out the training room. Then the two of us will be a witness to whether you become an evolved human like Blake here or a monster. Or maybe just a pansy who dies from pain. Let’s hope it is not the last one because I will write Pansy Bret on your tombstone!”

“Haha! I will expect you to!” Bret let out a laugh.

The group made their way down to the bottom subfloor, which was a special training room for all kinds of different things, including bio weaponry. It was the most secure floor in the whole base since it had an immediate lockdown measure in case of accidents.

Six people now stood in the cleared out training room on a platform that was normally used for sparring matches. “Bret, no matter what, we hope you can pull through.”

“I will. Watch me. I will be throwing those fireball things around in a little while.” Bret replied with a snort.

“If you turn into a woman, Mikey will marry you,” Joey yelled out.

“Fuck off, Joey!” Mike smacked Joey in the back of the head. Blake smiled, seeing how close they were. They were like a true family. Brothers in arms, closer than normal blood brothers. People who trusted each other to watch their backs.

“Let’s get this on with,” Bret said as he sat down in the middle of the platform. He had his shirt off, which revealed the scars he had acquired from his years in service.

“Alright. I will begin. Lillia, if you would.” Blake would be the one to help Bret evolve. Lillia refused to touch another man, and Blake didn’t like the idea of anything of Lillia’s flowing into another man. So he was taking up the job after a few instructions from Lillia.

Lillia took out a small mana crystal and handed it to Blake, who then had Bret hold it in his lap. He did not need a large crystal like the one he used and did not dare to take such a thing out at this time.

“You will soon feel a warm flow entering your body. You will want to concentrate on that and then feel that same warmth from your surroundings. The crystal you are holding gives out this same energy which is called mana. Let the mana flow into you and throughout your body. Do not fight it. The more you fight it, the more painful it will be, and the chances of you dying will rise.” Blake explained. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah. Let’s get this over with so I don’t chicken the fuck out.” Bret didn’t like the thought of dying, and he was pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind. He was thinking of it as a mission where he had to push through the enemy’s front line, where bullets and missiles would be flying overhead. He took a deep breath and readied himself for the battle ahead.

“Alright, then I will start.” Blake sat cross legged behind Bret and placed his hands on the middle of the man’s back. He took a deep breath himself and began channeling the mana in the air and from within him into Bret. He could only hope things would work out. The future he envisioned relied on this moment.