2024-02-24 23:31:44‘Am I crazy?’
Raymond wanted to take back those words the moment they left his mouth.
He wanted to act as if he had just said them out of curiosity. However, that wasn’t the reason for his words. These were the exact words he heard from the dread king.
The moment Raymond informed about Jason to his contractor, he got the question of why he was informing them about Jason now. Raymond could only explain why he wanted to confirm if Jason was truly the one. It was a poor excuse, but he had no other explanation for the delay.
Rymond expected some kind of backlash from his decision to delay the information from reaching his contractor. However, he felt a drastic change in the emotions of the dread king the moment he observed Jason through Raymond’s eyes.
‘Not human. Heavily corrupted by the dark dimension. That human is partially a dimensional horror.’
Just after giving him the message, the dread king cut off the connection between them out of nowhere, leaving Raymond in a daze.
It was obvious even the dread king didn’t want to deal with Jason for the time being.
Corruption of the dark dimension was an extremely rare occurrence even in The Endless. The only way for a human or an animal to be corrupted by the energy of the dark dimension was for them to be exposed to the dimensional fissures for a long time.
This rarely happened because usually, a dimensional horror would soon follow a fissure. No animal or human would spend their time willingly near a fissure to another dimension. Even if they did, many creatures didn’t survive the corruption. As for those who survived, they would lose their mind as their bodies altered with the corruption.
The corrupted ones would then go on a rampage, annihilating all living beings until someone superior would take them down. The corrupted being would lose their intelligence, but they would gain superior physical capabilities and advanced regenerative abilities.
‘Those corrupted creatures would never look like this.’
Raymon knew how their physical bodies would change and how they would lose their minds.
Jason Hope in front of him was in perfect shape and had a sharp mind. There were no signs of corruption.
‘Will he take it as a disrespect?’
No matter what, Raymond considered Jason as the crown jewel of humanity.
“I….”
He wanted to explain his reasoning.
“Huh? Corruption? Are you talking about the mutation?”
“Huh? Mutation? Is that what you call it?”
Raymond felt baffled by Jason’s question.
They knew the mutation due to the exposure to various energies of magical domains. The corruption was something completely different to them. The mutated creatures would have changes in their bodies, but they wouldn’t lose their minds.
“That is a bit different.”
Raymond tried his best to explain to Jason the difference between mutation and corruption.
…
‘That is weird.’
Jason knew Raymond was referring to his mutation.
With the bond he formed with Nocturne, Jason was sure that the mutation came from the dark dimension.
However, the source of his original mutation came with the first simulation.
‘I am not sure how it even affects me.’
The mutation surely improved his physical stats even in the real world. However, he never saw any physical changes in his body other than when he was in simulations. As far as he remembered, he never lost his mind because of the mutation.
‘The mutants are not unintelligent beasts.’
In his very first simulation, the place where he first learned about the mutation, Jason learned the invaders who brought the mutation were from an advanced galactic species. Also, according to Amelia, the mutant had intelligence similar to humans and they also had the same technologies.
The corruption Raymond mentioned was similar, but Jason wondered if a person would lose their mind completely. He knew the mutation caused him to have increased bloodlust at the initial stage, but it went down as the mutation progressed.
He wondered if they were talking about the same thing.
“Hm… I think I have some effects of mutation, but I can’t show you.”
Jason wondered if there was a way for him to get the mutation out of his body.
He didn’t mind having the mutation as it made him stronger at almost no cost. He knew the mutation was there since he felt it with the connection of Nocturne, but he couldn't surface it.
‘Now that I think about it. Is the mutation there even when I am in Yuriel?’
According to Amelia, all the simulations he went through could be real. If so, he might be a partial mutant.
‘I wonder what happened to those kids….’
He thought of the children he trained in his second simulation.
“You… You can’t… Mr Jason… This isn’t a joke….”
“Huh?”
Jason came back to reality with the sudden question.
“I am not joking. I can’t bring out my mutation at will. Well… According to you… Corruption.”
“What do you mean…? Are you saying you are corrupted? I mean….”
“Well… Sort of. But I am in perfect mind.”
Jason shrugged.
“But… How?”
“I am not sure. But… Do you think it is the reason for my advancement?”
Jason raised his brow.
He also thought this was a possibility, but it brought many other questions to his mind.
If that was the case, then everyone who reached beyond Grand Wizard level, including Amelia, should be some sort of a mutant.
Even if he gained the ability to break the shackles, there was another reason one might fail to advance beyond the limit.
The reason was the flow reversal.
If not for Amelia, even Jason would have hesitated to follow this path.
‘It is no wonder Grand Wizards are stuck. No one is willing to share this knowledge with them.’
The floor reversal was a concept that could scare any wizard.
It was reversing the flow of magic within one's body to unblock the Magic nodes. This was similar to crashing two forces opposing one another inside the body.
‘It is not difficult to try it out, but I guess no one is daring enough to do so.’
It was a risk that many wizards wouldn’t take. Even if they did, most of them would try that out when they reached the end of the line for them. A weak body couldn’t handle the flow reversal, and it would harm the wizard instead of helping them to open the next Magic node.
‘It is difficult if no one is willing to share this knowledge.’
It would be different if the wizards were desperate for a breakthrough.
However, it wasn’t the case in places like Yuriel. The Grand Wizards were the ultimate power, and they were the true royalties on the planet. There was no reason for them to push themselves beyond the limits with unwanted risks.
Until the invasion from the Cervians in his past life, no Grand Wizard on Yuriel had a life-threatening challenge except for old age.
“Can we test some of your blood… Mr Jason?”
“That is not a problem.”
Jason looked at the excited scientists standing behind Raymond.
“Really? Can we really examine your blood?”
“Go ahead. I will try to see if I can bring out my mutation. But didn’t you test my blood already?”
Jason pondered for a moment.
“We did, Mr Jason. But we didn’t look for the corruption of darkness.”
The lead scientist looked a bit worried.
“Corruption of darkness. That is a fancy word.”
For the first time, Jason tried to feel the mutation in his body.
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