Adam recalled a spell he had once come across, known as Breath of Life.
It was a rare technique among arcanists that utilized vitality, so Adam had paid special attention to it.
This spell, a healing technique, extracted the vitality from one living being and infused it into a target to promote recovery.
Its practical use was limited. The rate at which vitality could be extracted was slow, and it required careful attention to the differences in vitality between species.
If not done properly, it could lead to rejection or contamination.
Yet, it was precisely these differences that Adam found intriguing.
Most arcanists did not cultivate vitality; their physical constitution was slightly better than the average person's, but it was the interaction between mind and vitality that drove the body's changes.
Thus, arcanists typically had strong bodies, aided by various magical techniques to enhance their physical capabilities.
However, this only applied to physical fitness. Due to their focus on mental training, arcanists were not adept at manipulating their own vitality—they simply let it develop naturally.
Breath of Life, therefore, used the arcanists' method of drawing vitality from another life form, treating it like natural energy to be harnessed.
Yet Adam, beyond his identity as an arcanist, had been practicing as a knight. Although the benefits of knightly training were not immediately apparent, Adam had used this vitality as a reserve for his mental power.
Now, he could put this advantage to use.
"Extracting vitality from another life form, and then paying for it with my own vitality, while enhancing the contagion ability of this life force."
"The clay doll is already constructed with my own vitality cycle as a model, and the mental power used to construct it is my own, so the likelihood of rejection is minimized."
"By infecting it with my vitality, and making the clay doll carry my life force's signature, as long as its face is concealed and proper disguises are applied, it should function as an avatar, correct?"
"Though control is still a significant issue."
The characteristic of mental power allowed him to manipulate the doll from a distance, but such control was crude—it would be hard to even make the doll speak.
Adam did not dwell on the problem for long, deciding to proceed with creating the doll first.
Dispersing the existing clay doll, Adam set to work once more.
After the first successful creation, Adam had many more ideas. He was confident that this doll would be far more agile, and its control instructions would be far more intricate.
What could be attributed to talent or skill, Adam found that with every use of magic, he discovered new issues and corrected them, incorporating more inventive ideas each time.
The third clay doll was no different. This new doll's life cycle was more complete and complex, and the mental model driving it had been adjusted accordingly.
As it moved, if one ignored its clay form, one could almost believe it was a human transformed into a clay doll.
"After all, this is driven by mental power and natural force. This fluctuation is impossible to hide from anyone with knowledge." Although this clay doll was a greater success, it still remained bound by the limitations of its medium.
Just as he was about to use Breath of Life to infuse it with his own vitality, a sudden inspiration flashed in Adam's mind.
Without hesitation, Adam unbuttoned his clothes and, for the first time in a while, began his transformation.
This time, his physical form didn't grow significantly larger, perhaps due to the white fur that made him appear slightly more inflated.
"Controlling the bloodline is the key to everything," Adam thought. Jin's true profession was as a bloodline arcanist, and Adam, too, was on that path.
Though his progress in the arcanist profession had been rapid, Adam had never abandoned his training as a bloodline arcanist. He had been refining his connection to his bloodline, communicating with its essence through both life and blood.
Perhaps because he hadn't been using his transformation in combat often, Adam had yet to access any of his ancestral abilities. However, his control over the transformation was steadily improving.
Remaining in his transformed state, Adam once again called upon his vitality.
The werewolf bloodline inherently contained vast vitality, and upon transforming, a surge of energy would flood forth. But this time, Adam suppressed his instinct to leap and, instead, focused his life force into the clay doll as the target of his spell.
Breath of Life: Enhanced was successfully cast.
Along with the life force, a trace of something called "sin" surged forth, entering the clay doll's body.
"Is this my first attempt at creating an offspring?" Adam thought. In addition to the natural reproduction of pure-blood werewolves, they could also bite and inject wolf venom into humans, turning them into werewolf descendants.
This was something Adam had never done since awakening his bloodline, but he hadn't expected his first attempt to be with the clay doll.
Adam's life force invaded the clay doll, slowly corrupting it, while the life essence gradually covered the doll's original signature.
"Based on the aura alone, it's almost indistinguishable from mine." Adam carefully sensed the subtle differences in the aura between the doll and himself.
Almost, but not quite. The doll lacked the effect brought on by the Tears of the Divine ritual.
"It's better than a non-pure werewolf, but its perceptiveness still allows it to be identified as a heteromorph," Adam muttered, poking the clay doll and testing the ease of control.
Perhaps because he had infused his vitality, Adam found himself able to manipulate the clay doll much more effectively. At close range, it even felt like a second body.
"Now, let's test this!" Adam took two steps back, undoing his transformation and, using the same sensations he had during his previous transformation, began to control the clay doll's mental power.
The clay doll immediately began to stir, its form slowly shifting. Adam sensed that some of the natural energy in the air was being absorbed by the doll through the sin energy within.
At that moment, Adam's mastery over his bloodline took another leap. This improvement, though small, enhanced the benefits of his transformation, though the greatest gain was in his bloodline ability—Soul Weight.
His ability hadn't changed, but his control over how weight was distributed had become far more refined.
This adjustment solved Adam's biggest issue.
As Adam fine-tuned the weight, the doll's aura shifted rapidly.
"One of the characteristics of mental power: even after leaving the body, it still maintains a connection with the host. During this process, the host retains absolute control, while the mental power behaves like a satellite released into orbit—its weight distribution is very distinct."
"But now, I can adjust it."
In the long run, Adam had broken through the threshold of spatial travel. He could now pinpoint his mental creations and travel through space.
Though Adam was far from mastering other elements, this achievement meant he had unlocked the possibility of success.
In the short term...
The clay doll, previously standing opposite Adam, suddenly grinned. The transformation process accelerated by dozens of times, and a mass of white fur sprouted from its clay form, immediately becoming a white-furred werewolf.
With the refined mental power weight adjustment, Adam could even feel the infused mental energy within the clay doll spring to life.
The mental power that had initially been injected into the clay doll had been like a finger compared to a human's body, but now, it had grown to the size of a hand, greatly expanding its potential.
Of course, weight adjustment was relative. As one side gained, the other had to compensate. Adam could feel a noticeable decrease in his own physical abilities, and the precision of his movements suffered.
"This body still has many issues," Adam noted. As his mental power took full control of the clay doll, he could more carefully observe its form.
What used to require magic to share vision could now be done through natural mental power distribution.
"The visual life cycle is too simple; the vision is too weak. Without the enhancements from the werewolf transformation, I would be nearly blind right now."
"The transformation ability is even worse than my first attempt, but after all, this is just a fragment of sin—this new bloodline has only just begun to take root. It will likely need time to grow."
"However, it seems that this bloodline doesn't possess the potential for awakening." Adam examined the doll, feeling a bit disappointed. Perhaps because the doll wasn't a true living being, or perhaps due to its life force and mental power both stemming from his own awakened self.
As a result, Adam concluded, with some regret, that while the clay doll had gained the werewolf bloodline and could transform, it lacked the potential for new abilities to awaken.