Chapter 26: Void Mutation
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If he had possessed an ordinary flesh-and-blood body, then with attributes not even reaching level two, the explosion produced by that alchemical bomb would have been enough to leave him on the brink of death.
In that condition, forget moving freely—even still drawing breath would have been a testament to his toughness.
But Kana was different. His body was only partially physical.
Moreover, he had already raised his shield when the explosion occurred. The shield had weakened much of the blast’s power, leaving only the remaining impact to strike him.
That force was essentially blunt damage, so the final damage he suffered amounted to six points.
Even a week ago, with his feeble body, that would have been enough to cost him half his life.
After becoming data-based, however, even losing most of his health did not prevent him from moving freely. After all, his health bar had not been depleted.
Thus, although Kana looked dusty and disheveled on the surface, he had suffered almost no real injury.
Facing Aliris’s worried gaze, Kana said directly, “Don’t worry about me. Finish him.”
Aliris charged forward at once, the crimson light in her eyes blazing even more intensely.
“Don’t bother controlling the blood you’ve drawn out. Let it flow on its own.”
Hearing Kana’s reminder, Aliris released her grip.
She had only just awakened Blood Magic and did not yet know how to use it offensively. At a time like this, tearing open the wound and directing the blood to gush out as violently as possible was the best method.
Simple, direct, and highly effective.
A great quantity of blood poured from the ratman’s wound and splashed onto the grass. The blood flowed from the injury with the force of a bursting dam.
Such a massive loss of blood was more than enough to incapacitate even a rat that had already mastered magic.
He collapsed limply to the ground on the spot.
After encountering these two uncanny humans today, he had completely lost the will to fight.
The cowardice buried within the rat’s heart erupted in full at that moment.
He suddenly regretted coming to this accursed place—to this wilderness where magic was so pitifully scarce.
Fear drove him toward madness.
“No! No! I need power! I need power!”
Dark-purple veins began to emerge from the wound, and a dusky violet radiance started to spread.
The moment he saw that light, Kana roared, “Aliris, stop! Come back!”
Though she had no idea what was happening, Aliris obeyed without hesitation. She halted and quickly retreated.
“You two, close your eyes! Do not look!”
Kana shouted toward the direction of the cage.
The little girl inside had already begun to take on a faint purple hue in her eyes, while the white-furred rat seemed largely unaffected.
Seeing the girl beside him, the rat hurried over and covered her eyes with one hand, then shut his own eyes as well.
Kana forced himself to endure, frowning tightly as he stared at the rat wrapped in purple light.
A negative status had appeared in his attribute panel.
[Status: Void Flash]
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[Void Flash: You have gazed upon the radiance of the power of the Void. Your will shall gradually weaken until you turn toward the Void.]
Had the crisis of Version 4.0 already begun to reveal itself?
Kana had no time to dwell on it. He immediately said, “Aliris, the instant the light fades, charge straight in. Coat the blade with my blood and drive it into the wound he just received.”
“This is an order. Hurry!”
Aliris gritted her teeth and nodded. She held out her left hand and clenched it toward Kana’s wound from a distance.
Blood flowed out like fine threads, winding around the knight’s sword in her right hand.
A thin layer slowly coated the blade.
Kana glanced at his health and shouted, “Draw out more. Don’t be afraid.”
Even more blood began to flow.
“What is that?” Blake, who had somehow returned, stared at the purple radiance from the other side, utterly stunned.
A trace of purple began to spread across his pupils as well.
But by then, the light had started to fade.
“Now!”
Aliris lunged forward in a single step.
Without the slightest hesitation, she drove the blade viciously into the place where the wound lay.
Yet the area surrounding the injury was covered in purple vascular patterns resembling a spider’s web.
The moment the sword tip pierced the surface, it encountered tremendous resistance.
“Haahhhh!”
Aliris cried out. The crimson light in her eyes flickered with streaks of red.
She desperately forced the blade deeper. Gradually, the sword that had been stuck began to move, slowly sinking farther inside.
“Eek! Eek! Eek!”
The rat’s shrieks were unnaturally piercing, and strange fluctuations clearly pulsed within them.
He seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
Kana clutched his head and dropped to one knee, his entire mind clouded and dizzy.
By then, the purple veins spreading from the ratman’s wound had already covered his entire body.
Purple crystal growths had even formed beside his teeth and claws, reinforcing them.
Bone spikes pierced out from his back, while his tail was covered in sharp violet crystals.
The ratman came back to himself and raised both hands, preparing to strike Aliris.
A blade suddenly burst through his chest.
Blake had appeared behind him at some unknown point. His face was twisted with ferocity, his teeth clenched as though he were enduring something unbearable.
The knight’s sword in his hand had been thrust straight through the ratman’s chest from behind.
At that same moment, Aliris finally pierced the fatal point.
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With a shriek, the ratman—whose body had grown until it nearly reached two meters in height—lost all signs of life. The veins flowing with purple energy across his body abruptly dimmed.
Aliris’s face was pale as she released the sword, which had been driven completely into the rat’s body.
Blake collapsed onto the ground, his face covered in beads of sweat as he gasped wildly for breath.
Having yet to obtain any special power, Blake possessed very little resistance to mental interference. He had forced his way in through sheer willpower alone.
The mental shock hidden within the rat’s shrill cries had not affected Aliris nearly as much.
Kana recovered quickly and, sword in hand, walked over to the rat’s corpse.
He suddenly gripped the sword and drove it into a particular part of the body.
“Eek! Eek!”
The rat’s corpse suddenly cried out twice.
Those two cries startled Aliris and Blake so badly that they sprang to their feet.
“Don’t worry. It’s over,” Kana said as he watched the corpse.
After those two cries, the rat’s body began to turn into ash, scattering into the air.
In less than three seconds, not the slightest trace remained.
Even the blood it had shed moments earlier had vanished.
At the place where the corpse had disappeared, only a tiny transparent stone remained, with a murky white vapor swirling inside it.
“Hm?”
Kana stared at the stone and quickly picked it up.
An experience stone?
No. Why was this thing here?
Without hesitation, he used magic to convert the small stone into data.
[Inscription Stone]
[Material—Crystal—Legendary]
[Evaluation: An object left behind when an invader from beyond the world is destroyed. Condensed by the world as a reward.]
It really was an experience stone.
This was an item that would not appear until later versions, and it could only be obtained by killing specific monsters.
Players usually collected these stones to level up alternate characters quickly. They could also be used in minigames introduced in later versions or exchanged for various rewards.
But the problem was, he did not have an experience bar yet. How was he supposed to use an experience stone?
Wait…
All he possessed within his body was a tiny fragment of the Genesis Stone. He wanted a data-based body, the ability to convert equipment into data, and an experience bar with which to level up.
How could everything possibly go so smoothly?
Staring at the stone, Kana already had an idea of how he would add new functions later on.
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