After Jean left the hospital, the day turned quiet.
Soren, unusually idle, lounged lazily in the hospital's living room, a half-empty glass of wine in hand, flicking through channels on the TV without much interest.
It had been a while since he allowed himself a moment of peace.
The regular broadcast was suddenly hijacked.
The screen flickered, static crackling, and a masked figure appeared: a man with a commanding voice and theatrical presence.
The so-called terrorist leader, Mandarin. But Soren knew better.
Behind this manufactured performance was none other than Aldrich Killian, the man Soren had beaten half to death like a child playing in the mud.
The Mandarin's voice filled the room, threatening a "final lesson" on live TV soon.
"Still clinging to your cheap little tricks."
He remembered well how Killian, obsessed with Extremis, had finally stabilized his flawed serum after years of failure. But no matter what he managed, it was nothing compared to Soren's perfected Extremis, a version free of volatile side effects.
Yet… despite everything, seeing Killian's broadcast triggered a thought that had been lingering in the back of Soren's mind for days.
Could I survive it?
His regeneration was already at Lv 9, if he successfully integrated the perfected Extremis into his own body… his healing might not just rival, but surpass, even Wolverine's crazy regeneration.
Soren's heart pounded.
At first, the responsible doctor within him was worried about unforeseen consequences.
Extremis was powerful… very powerful. But after witnessing Zilant's perfect transformation, watching his beast's rapid ascension to A-level, the temptation became unbearable.
If Zilant could do it… why not him?
At last, Soren made his decision.
Injection Time…
He rose, setting down his glass, and made his way to the genetic laboratory nestled deep within the hospital's restricted wing.
This was a place where limits were meant to be rewritten.
For the first time since arriving in this chaotic Marvel world, Soren found himself lying on the operating table… alone.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
Using his Psychokinesis, he carefully levitated a slender vial filled with golden-red liquid, its glow like liquid fire in a bottle.
It was beautiful and deadly.
He took a steadying breath, then guided the needle to his arm, feeling the sharp sting as it pierced his skin. Slowly, he injected the shimmering Extremis into his bloodstream.
As the last drop vanished, Soren's body tensed.
A strange warmth spread through his veins, like slipping into a hot spring. Then, a burning heat that seared through muscle, bone, and nerve.
His heart thundered in his chest.
The gilt-like liquid surged through him, racing along his arteries and capillaries, spreading into every corner of his being.
And then it began.
Every cell in his body came alive.
Like parched earth under a rainstorm, his cells greedily absorbed the Extremis, drinking in its potent, unnatural energy.
His metabolism skyrocketed, accelerating to impossible speeds, his cells breaking down and rebuilding themselves over and over at a rate hundreds of thousands of times faster than normal.
His Regeneration Lv 9 kicked in instantly, not only keeping up with the changes but actively enhancing them, promoting cellular regeneration and stabilizing the metamorphosis.
The pain, while intense, was oddly bearable… drowned in waves of euphoria.
His head went light, his mind momentarily blank, like being submerged in a bath of living fire.
It was perfect.
Muscles realigned, bones reinforced, organs optimized.
The Extremis-enhanced cells merged seamlessly with his original biology, guided by his rapid healing, leaving no instability behind.
What should have taken days, even weeks, was compressed into minutes.
Soren could feel it.
Strength.
Speed.
Durability.
Healing.
Power.
The Extremis wasn't just changing his body, it was awakening something within him.
And for the first time in his life, he felt limitless.
The transformation was finally over.
Soren lay on the operating table, his entire body drenched in sweat, his breathing slow as the aftermath of Extremis settled within him.
The scent was peculiar, a mixture of metallic tang, burnt skin, and something unnervingly alive. His skin glistened under lights, and faint wisps of steam curled from the surface of his body.
The peculiar smell was traces of old, dead cells burned away and expelled by his rapidly shifting metabolism. It was Extremis purging the obsolete from his body, leaving only perfection behind.
After resting for a moment, Soren slowly sat up, wiping sweat from his brow, his body feeling lighter… stronger… alive in a way he had never experienced before.
A deep, primal energy flowed through his veins, surging with every heartbeat.
Soren couldn't help but reminisce about that electrifying, euphoric sensation of rapid, unstoppable metamorphosis.
If he could, he would do it again in a heartbeat. But, Extremis only transforms the body once. A second dose would do nothing.
After a simple cleansing routine in the sterilizer unit, Soren noticed something unusual.
A thick layer of dead, greyish skin peeled away from his body, flaking and cracking like old parchment.
These were the remnants of his former self, useless cells rejected by the new, optimized body.
He raised a hand, inspecting it.
The skin was smooth, firm, like a baby. His muscles felt dense, rippling beneath flawless flesh.
Even without activating any of his supernatural abilities, his physical strength was already several times greater than before.
Every motion brimming with raw, effortless power.
That wasn't all.
Inside, he could feel a foreign yet familiar energy humming within his core.
It radiated with a boundless force of life energy similar to what he wielded within his Everlife Medical Center. But now… it was his. Innate.
A wellspring of resilience, steadily mending and fortifying his body from within.
The familiar interface appeared before his eyes, and what he saw left him stunned.
[Host:Soren Macaluso]
[Race: Human (Enhanced)]
[Abilities:Potential Awakening Lv 10 / Super Speed Lv 8 / Teleportation Lv 8 / Psychokinesis Lv 6 / Mental Shield Lv 9 / Hulk Strength Lv 9 / Healing Factor Lv 5 / Regeneration Lv 10 / Wisdom Lv 9 / Enhanced Reflexes Lv 8 / Illusion Lv 8 / Sage Magic Lv 9 / Flame Lv 6 ]
[General Skills: Firearm Proficiency Lv 8 / Language Proficiency Lv 6 / Management Lv 3 / Piano Lv 7 / Mechanical Engineering Lv 4 / Wilderness Survival Lv 5 / Energy Research Lv 8 / Fighting Proficiency Lv 8 / Precision Aiming Lv 8]
[Items: Gene Modification Scalpel, God-Level Business Card Case, Gene Laboratory, Pharmaceutical Laboratory, Herb Garden Base, Space Portal.
Soren's eyes widened.
His abilities had exploded.
Almost every category had risen by a level or more, and most shockingly.
Regeneration Lv 10.
He nearly laughed aloud, excitement rising like a tidal wave.
"Immortality… I am immortal!"
At Lv 10, his healing ability was no longer ordinary.
Unless his body was completely obliterated in an instant, he would recover from almost any injury, bones, organs, limbs, even fatal wounds would regenerate within seconds.
"…"
His gaze lingered on a particularly intriguing entry in the list.
Flame Lv 6.
Curious, Soren snapped his fingers.
With a faint, sharp sound, a small but intense flame burst to life in his palm.
It burned steadily, radiating searing heat, a living extension of his will.
The fire obeyed him, twisting and dancing across his fingertips, as though eager to serve.
"It seems… all those agonizing hours on the table were worth it."
One firm squeeze, and the dancing flame disappeared.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream