Lowly Ascent

Cain lost track of time in his research. He didn't know how much time had passed as he tested and researched the virus.

When he first began, he separated the tissue from the virus, and surprisingly, it was hard. The virus seemed attached to the zombie tissue as if it had fused with it.

Time was spent just to separate the two, but it gave Cain insights into this virus that he used as the foundation for his other tests.

He had multiple animals and even human subjects in his laboratory. He would test the disease in its natural state while trying to isolate its key factors. Subjects appeared hungrier or showed symptoms of being able to eat anything.

Even one patient ate their cage, and their arm started to mimic the properties of the metal. Cain's curiosity grew into an obsession with this pathogen.

The virus seemed to not cause any real harm to the patient and instead created symbiosis.

A virus was a virus, yet it gave back what it took, like an exchange. It seemed to naturally create a balance, and this was what Cain wanted.

No matter how much time Cain spent researching this virus, he kept hitting walls and was unable to do anything. He spent days in anger when he was making no progress at all.

But he never gave up. He would ignore his own health and spend time ruthlessly testing and experimenting. Only then did he find a way to continue his research. This was when he started researching the longevity virus along with the consuming virus.

He isolated a few virus cells of both and put them in a contained environment. The consuming virus attached itself to the longevity virus and seemed to merge with it, though not completely.

Cain then tested it by using it on some of his older subjects.

An old man in his 60s was injected, and nothing happened for a few hours. However, after a certain point, he began to change.

He began to look younger, and Cain took some blood to look at the virus's effect on the cells in his body.

Cain found that the longevity virus worked as before, but the consuming virus enhanced its properties and tied it to the body's cells. Instead of separating the two like the creator of the longevity viruses' original purpose, the consuming virus did the opposite.

Cain used an extremely precise machine to look at how the virus affected the DNA and was amazed. The virus seemed to add to the human's usual double helix DNA and turned it into a triple helix!

Cain didn't even know what he was looking at until he examined it more and found that the virus produced something using the body that merged with the DNA.

This thing acted as the code that the longevity virus used to extend its lifespan. Cain realized that the virus created another strand of DNA in the helix, which was how it became a triple helix.

It completely bypassed all prior walls and created a perfect balance where the body wasn't affected, and the longevity virus power was fully implemented.

The extra strand acted as the main code that checked itself and the rest of the DNA.

It didn't affect the body at all! It was like a phantom stand that only acted as a bridge between the Longevity virus and DNA. Translating all the data!

This strand of DNA produced tiny proteins that would regularly reinforce and revert molecular damage. This strand's code also took recordings of the DNA as a whole when it was first introduced and made copies. When it checks the DNA and finds errors, this backup code will overwrite it, fixing the error.

In other words, it would be a long time before someone would die of natural causes.

If Cain regularly checked himself and had backup viruses that had his genetic structure recorded and he regularly maintained himself, Cain would be what could be considered immortal.

He would never die from internal causes and could practically live forever.

Cain was thrilled to find this out. He also found that this virus wasn't of Numineer's making. He checked the virus's structure many times and found that it had properties so old that it was before Netherane came here. No records showed its structure or anything similar. 

It almost looked.....almost digitized? Although Cain didn't know what that was in the first place. 

Cain knew Numineer held information about this virus, but he couldn't trust that thing.

He wholeheartedly began the process of creating this new virus in his body. He began to let it multiply in a sizable vat he had in the corner of the room. It was usually used for erasing remains with acid, but he emptied it for this.

He began changing the virus's structure ever so slightly to improve the effects for himself.

With the properties of the virus, his very flesh and blood could be used to create a similar but weaker effect of supernatural healing, which was a bonus.

Paired with Animum, Cain even guessed he could improve the supernatural healing beyond conceivable standards.

The virus, when introduced to a new body other than his own, would spread to other cells upon contact and slowly spread, extending age and giving a healing factor. The healing factor wasn't that impressive; a little cut would heal in under a minute, but an arm couldn't heal if it was dismembered.

He would have to find a way to use his blood as a way to conceal the virus so it could be practically gifted.

If he could gift this ability to his loyal followers he would practically become the leader of a cult. Just the thought of ritualistically gifting his blood to his followers made him feel weird. 

Cain also began to experiment with other viruses but found no success. So he simply waited for the virus to multiply inside the vat.

Finally, after a few days, the vat was ready and Cain prepared the ritual. He made a vial of an unknown substance and drank it before he entered the vat.

The vial was actually a decoy Cain used, he suspected Numineer could be watching. He wanted to throw him off. This was because he was about to use the Animum virus.

As he walked into the vat, his body boiled and his skin bloated and popped in multiple places. Boiling blood burst from his skin all over his body, and he submerged himself in the liquid virus.

As his body was destroyed, the serum entered the cracks and openings, entering every crevice of his body.

Cain no longer felt that this level of pain was agonizing, and instead, he was silent as his body destroyed itself until it slowly stopped, and his body began to instead heal. After a long time, he opened his eyes and walked out of the vat of now bloody liquid.

He looked at himself in a mirror. Cain felt more energized and younger than he already was.

Quickly, he took some of his blood and checked himself using some equipment.

He found that the augmented Longevity consuming virus perfectly balanced his body and even positively affected the other viruses, boosting their output a bit.

Cain was giddy! He not only improved himself once again but also found the key to understanding that mysterious virus. He ran some more checks before deciding on the name of this new body of his.

He was walking the path of evolution!

With a look in the mirror, Cain smiled, "Let's call this the Everlasting Soul Body."