CHAPTER 75: A-RANK HYBRID

Juniper lay still on the cold floor, her head resting against the wall, eyes half-lidded as if she were asleep.

Her breathing was slow and regulated, each rise and fall of her chest made to look natural. Every muscle in her body was tense, ready to spring into motion the moment the opportunity came.

A few minutes later, as if in reward to her preparation, the door to the basement creaked open.

The sound of footsteps followed, the person walking slowly, as if each step was placed with thought.

The man descended the stairs, his hood still covering most of his face, though the dim light caught the edges of a crooked smile.

"Wake up, sleepy head." He said, voice low but carrying across the room. "It’s time."

Juniper didn’t move. She let her breath hitch ever so slightly, just enough for him to think she was stirring, then went slack again.

He crouched beside her, the smell of metal and dust mixing with the faint scent of something chemical on his robes. Cold fingers brushed the iron chains at her wrists. She kept her eyes closed, willing herself to remain limp.

He chuckled softly, the sound full of condescension. "Stop faking. It’s the moment we’ve both been waiting for."

Her pulse quickened, but she didn’t respond. The man worked the lock with a click, the chains falling slack around her wrists.

The moment her arms were free, Juniper exploded into motion.

Her back arched, and with a rush of power, radiant blue feathered wings burst from her back This was her skill. Her only skill.

She sent the sharp edge of her right wing slicing towards the neck of her abductor, aiming to cut deep and fast.

But the man’s hand shot up with unnatural speed, catching the wing in the middle of the air. His fingers tightened like a vice, and with a sickening crack, the bone and sinew beneath the feathers snapped.

Juniper screamed, the sound tearing from her throat, sounding raw and desperate. The pain shot through her body like lightning, her wings flickering, then vanishing entirely as the skill faded away.

She slumped back, clutching at the space between her shoulder blades, her breath ragged.

The man chuckled again, shaking his head in mock admiration. "Resourceful. Very resourceful."

Juniper’s pain was replaced by fury. She lunged forward, her fists swinging wildly, landing two strikes against his ribs. But the man didn’t even flinch. His arm moved almost lazily, backhanding her across the face.

The world spun, and she hit the ground hard. Darkness took her before she could even curse him.

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When she finally woke up, it was to a bitter taste coating her tongue. Like something had been forced down her throat while she’d been unconscious.

Her head throbbed, and she tried to move, only to find her wrists and ankles strapped down against a narrow bed. The leather bindings dug into her skin no matter how she twisted.

Her voice came out hoarse, but she forced it into a yell. "Help! Somebody, help!"

The door swung open, and the hooded man stepped inside, his presence filling the small room.

"That’s pointless." He said, shutting the door behind him. "No one will hear you."

Juniper’s glare could have cut stone. "What did you do to me?"

His eyes brightened, almost gleeful, as if he’d been waiting for her to ask that exact question. "Took you long enough."

"You see, I’ve progressed in my research," he began, pacing slowly toward her. "And I’ve found it! A way to fuse mages and demons together. To create a supreme being. A being that no longer needs to advance rank by rank. The process catapults them straight to their potential."

Juniper’s heart pounded in her chest. "You’re insane."

He ignored the accusation entirely, his tone becoming almost affectionate. "You, Juniper Rowe, have A-rank potential. Do you understand what that means? The potion I gave you will send you straight to A-rank in an instant. All the years of training, the slow crawl to power, gone. In one moment, you will be... perfected."

Her stomach churned. "That doesn’t sound healthy. Or safe."

His smile widened. "Ah, that’s the only problem. Whether you’ll retain your sanity or not after the transformation."

Her bindings rattled as she thrashed against them. "You can’t—"

But her voice broke into a scream before she could finish. The pain came suddenly, ripping through her body from the inside out.

It was as if every drop of blood, every thread of magic, every cell in her body was being torn apart and reassembled by hands that didn’t care what they destroyed in the process.

The man stepped back, watching with undisguised fascination as the transformation took hold.

Her skin burned, her bones felt like they’d been mixed with lava, and inside, her magic writhed, twisting in on itself. She felt it being consumed by something else. And as it was consumed, so was she.

Her thoughts grew hazy. Fear, rage, confusion, all were swallowed by a creeping emptiness that pressed in on her mind.

She tried to cling to her memories, her family, her friends, Noah, but each one slipped from her grasp, torn away into the abyss.

At the end, there was nothing left of Juniper Rowe.

What remained was a creature, a beast, its mind an empty shell, and its instincts tuned to violence and survival.

The change in its body was subtle, mostly hidden beneath the skin. Muscles tightened, magic pulsed unnaturally strong beneath the surface, and its eyes gleamed with a faint, unnatural red.

The beast opened its eyes, snarling low in its throat. The straps that had held Juniper easily snapped under its strength. It stood, its movements unsteady for a moment before its focus locked on the man.

It lunged.

The man didn’t flinch. From a pouch at his side, he pulled a small vial and smashed it against the ground. A thick gas hissed into the air, curling upward in tendrils.

The beast staggered, its snarl fading to a groan. Its limbs grew heavy, its vision swimming.

"Sleep," the man said softly, almost tenderly.

The beast collapsed at his feet.

He stood over it, looking down with satisfaction, his smile twisting into something darker.

"Not completely successful," he murmured to himself, "but progress nonetheless. Exactly what my sponsors wanted to see."

He crouched, brushing his fingers briefly against the creature’s hair. "And you," he whispered, "will be very useful in the near future."

With that, he straightened, the sound of his boots echoing as he walked from the room, leaving the hybrid slumbering behind him.