Mark figured the first words out of his parents mouth when they woke up would be, "Thank you, Mark! I feel young again!" Not a slap upside the head and a stern talking to about not warning them of the pain of having their body remade.
"I thought I was going to die! How could you do this to your poor mother?" Grace was busy scolding Mark, while secretly checking out her new figure and young facial features.
Meanwhile, William was staring at two palm size pieces of oddly shaped metal that he woke up next to. "These have been inside my face for over 33 years…" He reminisces on his life up to this point, staring at the metal pieces like a man stares at the end of a spool of wire that's been with him for a lifetime. His mind going back to the time when he needed facial reconstruction surgery after a particularly bad fight that ended with him getting hit by a baseball bat from behind.
After taking the verbal beating from his mother, Mark clears his throat and addresses them both. Ahem. "I'm sure you're both wondering why I've gathered us here today."
"…"
"No? Nothing? Whatever. How does it feel? You've both been given two of the third most powerful talent bodies in the universe. Dad, in honor of your years as a master electrician, you have the Divine Tribulation Lightning Physique." William's eyes light up in anticipation. "With the incredible aspects of having a predisposition to all things energy, you will eventually become a master of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Lightning is just a cool way to think about it. But, you will have to learn physics… like, a lot of physics."
William's excitement cools, but he nods as he begins to think about the implications of his new physique. And a quick glance at the mirror gives him all the information he needs to stay excited. I look even better than my prime!
His whole body seems to be tingling with power, thick arms like pistons, legs like tree trunks, and the belly gained from age replaced by an 8-pack, all while the fast twitch muscle fibers are coiling with tension ready to be released in a fraction of a fraction of a second. His dirty blonde hair with a bald spot in the back became a golden mane that sparked with bio-electricity while any murkiness in the eyes from age retreated, leaving a mesmerizing electric blue that flashed if you stared too long. His height increased from 5'9" to a solid 6'0".
"And Mom, you've been granted the Mother Earth Physique. Boasting capabilities like a predisposition towards the life aspect of existence. From plant life to the human body and everything in between, you will eventually master the biological aspect of existence. Get ready for… you guessed it! Studying a lot of biology and chemistry!"
Grace is much better at masking her emotions. She calmly analyzes the changes made to her body. She remains lithe and slim with a height now reaching 5'8" while her previously dyed hair returns to its natural deep healthy brown, looking like the primal earth. Her eyes change from pale brown to a vibrant green that shone with vitality all while a lean set of muscles packed with energy hide beneath her clothes.
Both of them take deep note of the signs of aging that left their faces. Wrinkles, spots, moles, circles under the eyes, and any flabiness washed away like a mirage. They were… young again. They felt young again, like they could take on the world ten times over.
With an evil grin like a cheshire cat, Mark says, "Now you know that I wasn't kidding about the whole taking over the world part, right? Earth will be small peanuts by the time we've finished our mission."
That raises an eyebrow from Grace, "Which is what, exactly? I thought… God… wanted you to just make the Qi able to be integrated in the universe?"
"That's the initial goal. The long term goal is to become a being on par with God." He drops the bombshell like it was a minor part he left out. Their bewildered face spells out all their emotions. "Look, you wouldn't have even considered the words I just spoke before you underwent the transformation, but that's the long, long distant goal. We just take one step at a time."
That earns a nod from them both, as they still can't quite make out the scale of time and power they will eventually wield. Finally, after discussing some of the details of their eventual disappearance from the lives of all those around them, they discussed how to gather the rest of the people who will join the journey.
"I'll discuss it with them all at once, it'll make it a whole lot easier. I'll invite everyone over here next week. For now, lay low and start the game plan. We'll need to extend that to the 'new recruits' too. In the meantime, I will be pushing ahead and will put together a comprehensive guide on how to cultivate."
With the plan now in motion, his parents begin liquidating all their assets as quickly and safely as possible. While Mark heads back to his room to cultivate.
…
Now that his DNA had been changed to be able to absorb Qi, Mark needed to store that Qi. His cells were far too fragile at this stage to hold large amounts of Qi, so, why not saturate the areas in which the cells reside so the mitochondria can actually utilize it? This method perfectly lines up with his plans for refinement, anyways.
Now, to increase the density of Qi in his bones and force a change, just like he did with his DNA. Easy, right? Of course it isn't. No matter how much Qi I inhale, I can't seem to actually retain it or even direct it to my marrow.
Visualization seems to not be the only secret for utilizing Qi within his body. What is the secret sauce here? After trying for hours to just hold it in place and soak it in, boredom and frustration set in. So, he just starts playing with the Qi. Randomly rolling it through his bones, ebbing and flowing in whatever way feels natural, just throwing anything at the wall to see if it sticks.
He finally decides to see if he can influence the frequency at which the waves of Qi oscillate. Maybe there's a resonant frequency with my bones?
After figuring out how to change the frequency, it was like tuning an oscilloscope, something Mark had done plenty of times in school, he just had to find the right frequency until the picture clears up.
With some tinkering and patience, Mark begins to feel something different than the normal way his body breathes the Qi. He feels… an itching sensation. It's uncomfortable and similar to the way one would imagine ants walking on the inside of their skin. Mark instantly stops what he's doing and the sensation goes away.
Oh God, that was… not fun. Not fun at all. He turns his mind back towards his marrow and is surprised when he can feel more Qi permeating through skeleton than before. Oh fuck me. Why does this have to work. I thought I was done with the torture part.
He can feel the slow change occurring within his body because of this change. Already, he feels like he has more energy and like he could move a mountain.
He shakes off this sensation of fake strength, but can't fully dismiss the high of more power. It's almost as good as when he first felt his reforged body.
Fuck it. Back to the grind.
Retuning the frequency takes another couple of minutes, but much quicker than the first time. The itchiness quickly returns and slowly increases in intensity as time goes on. It is now a test of willpower, and despite Mark's recent bouts of pain… he doesn't think he can hold on.
While doing his best to endure, his mind begins to wander and he settles on images, people, and stories of those with extreme willpower. Those who put mind over matter. Normal people not given a blessing by the literal God of the universe. People who've done impossible feats with nothing but time and effort. People who probably deserve his opportunities more than he does.
The imposter syndrome that he's been putting off for the past day is invading his mind in full force.
Who is he to do this if he can't even endure the very beginning of the journey? How will he ever mentally survive eternity if he can't even endure some shitty sensations on day one? If he can't take this first step, he doesn't deserve the gifts he's been given.
Just laugh it off. Laugh off the feeling of ants on your skin, Mark. Remaking your body was way worse, even if you were unconscious and unable to stop it.
The thoughts of procrastination slip into his mind like whispers of the devil. You can stop this any time, take it slow, one step at a time. You have all the time in the world, why make yourself feel uncomfortable when you have an eternity ahead of you?
"AAAHHHH LOCK IN! COME ON!" I CAN DO THIS. He continues to scream, shout, and force himself to endure, until finally, it stops. Don't tell me my body gave up? I swear I didn't stop.
But when he looks inward, he can feel his entire skeleton is saturated to the brim with Qi, slowly consuming it as the very properties of his marrow and skeleton change and strengthen.
Oh thank God. He glances up and shows finger hearts to the sky. A look of pure relief and joy flashes across his face. Thank fucking God that's over.