The green beam of light was sustained for about an hour before it faded away. Back at the underground lake under the crater, the Crystal had gone another change.
From its previous transparent color, it had changed to become green in color. If one looked at it now, they would think the crystal rod was made up of emeralds. Even its shape had changed and the segments had become more pronounced.
Finally, after a long time, a familiar sound of notification was heard in the underground lake.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: HOST MODIFICATION SUCCESSFUL
ABSORPTION COMPLETE: Extremely high energy source was absorbed.
ITEM OBTAINED: Data node (encrypted)
BLOODLINE OBTAINED: Unknown
WARNING!: No data is available on the obtained bloodline
BLOODLINE RANK: Unknown
HOST SPECIES CHANGED: Current designation- Unknown
HOST DATA: Updated
UPDATING PARAMETERS: Please wait patiently
——---——————————————————————————————
After the notification sounded, silence once again descended in the underground lake. But now the crystal rod was changing again, the black pearl in its center started disappearing. From its previously rigid and solid form, it was becoming soft and pliable. It slowly started to bend and became more like a rope.
The crystal rope then curled and rested in the shape of a coil. More time passed, and finally, another notification sound echoed in the underground lake.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
PARAMETER UPDATE: Complete
DAMAGE DETECTED: Host's soul is damaged
REPAIRING DAMAGE: Repair complete
COMPUTATIONAL A.I.: Shutting down
REVITALIZING HOST: In 3… 2… 1…
—————————————————————————————————
"Ugh!" A groan resounded in the lake, creating faint ripples in the water.
Strangely enough, the groan was audible even though it was underwater and sounded the same as it would have in the air. The coiled up crystal rope started twitching and moving. Its surface started rippling as if it was liquid and changed its texture.
Eventually, two octagonal shaped red lights appeared on one end of the crystal rope. Just below these red lights, a small fissure appeared that then expanded to form an opening that looked like a mouth. The crystal rope uncoiled and moved around.
The end that had the red lights and the mouth on it changed its texture to look more like a head from the previous smooth form. The crystal didn't look like a rope anymore and now looked completely like a worm. It was as if a master sculptor had crafted a worm statue out of a giant emerald.
"Huh? What happened? Where am I? Who am I? What am I doing here?" A multitude of questions sounded in the water.
Suddenly a rush of memories appeared in the crystal worm's mind.
"I am Lin Wu. I was reborn here in the body of a worm. I escaped an explosion and was issued a quest by the system. I then reached the quest objective but was unable to complete it, as at the last moment I lost all my energy." The crystal worm spoke.
"What happened after that?" Lin Wu questioned himself.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
HOST REVITALIZATION: Complete
NOTIFICATION: The host can now check the updated Host data
—————————————————————————————————
"Ah yes, I do have that." He muttered.
"Host Data." Lin Wu commanded.
~Ding~
——————————————————————————————————
HOST NAME: Lin Wu
AGE: 2 years, 3 months, 8 days
LIFESPAN: 150 years
HOST SPECIES: Unknown (not designated)
HOST CULTIVATION: Early stage of the Qi Refining Realm
-Spirit Qi required to upgrade = [000/1000] units
QI STORAGE: 3756 units [wisps]
BLOODLINE: 1. System Manufactured (non-designated)
2. Unknown
CULTIVATION TECHNIQUES: None
QI SKILLS: None
INNATE SKILLS: 1. Radiation Manipulation(minor)
2. Cellular Manipulation (lesser)
3. Cellular Crystallization (great)
INVENTORY: Empty
BEAST CORE: Not formed
VITAL ENERGY STORAGE: 0 units
SYSTEM ENERGY STORAGE: 0 units
RAW BLOODLINE DATA COLLECTED:
1. Common Grass Mouse
2. Rock Trampler Boar
3. Human
4. Unknown
—————————————————————————————————
FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE:-
1. Map
2. Scanner
3. Bloodline Creation
—————————————————————————————————
Lin Mu was overwhelmed after reading all the changes in the Host Data window. There were far too many new things that made him unable to comprehend them. He was still a little slow from being woken up, thus read it multiple times before he could even get a basic idea.
"So whatever that quest objective was, it was strong enough to push me directly to the Qi refining realm. At least I completed the quest. That's a relief." Lin Wu muttered.
~Sigh~
But just as he sighed, another notification sounded in his mind.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
NOTIFICATION: The host can check the previous logs
—————————————————————————————————
'Yes, I should check that too. I don't know what happened in that time frame.' Lin Wu thought.
"Show notification logs." He commanded.
~Ding~
With Lin Wu's command, the previous notification logs appeared in front of him in the form of a new window. He read them and had some shocking revelations. He had understood that he had completed the quest but never knew that his soul was damaged.
"How did my soul get damaged?" Lin Wu muttered in shock.
Lin Wu could not think of any situation that could have caused that.
"But wait, if my soul was damaged, why did I not have any effects? I didn't feel any different." Lin Wu spoke to himself.
"System, how did my soul get damaged and why didn't I feel its effects?" Lin Wu questioned, feeling confused and perplexed.
~Ding~
—————————————————————————————————
ANSWER: The host's soul was damaged during the reincarnation process. When the system was bound with the host, the host already had a damaged soul. The system was able to restrict most of the symptoms of soul damage but because of it lacking energy, the system could not heal the host's soul.
Still, the host did have the mental symptoms of soul damage such as irrational thoughts, age regression, irregular speech patterns, emotional imbalance, and generalized confusion.
—————————————————————————————————
After hearing the system's answer, Lin Wu tried to remember the memories that he had of the past. He then remembered how he had been using strange terms and curses. He didn't even know that he was using them, and he just felt that those were right.
He tried to remember further and realized the irrational anger and frustration he felt back then. He cursed at the system, which was not even its fault.
"Huh, I really was crazy back then, wasn't I?"