Chapter 37 - Corruption

Aaron was shocked for a moment, before he regained some of his composure.

"Do you really have to be so condescending about it? Especially since this is the first time you've spoken to me as yourself, system."

[Well, no, but I feel like being condescending, so I will for a bit. But anyways, you look like you are about to die. You thought you coudk rise your way to the top, and not a SINGLE person would try to kill you? Kind of stupid, Aaron.]

"You are not helping this situation, System." Aaron replied to the system in his mind, as a scowl appeared on his four-year old face.

[Oh, be quiet Aaron. I'm simply programmed with the idea you had coming into this world. You wanted to be a Demon Lord, yet there is no position for that here. I'm currently programmed to follow along with the behaviour you would have should you have actually BECOME a Demon Lord. It you had come into the world looking for peace, I would have provided solutions, and altered my personality to fit THAT mindset.]

"So, you are saying that, should I have wished to be a hero, you would supply me with messages to go alongside that train of thought?" Aaron questioned, curious as to how the system worked. This was the most the system itself had spoken. Its voice was mechanical, like it was a sentient robot speaking, although it had no body.

[That's correct. I could have provided a different solution to the one I'm about to propose to you, but this is the only solution I can think of, with my current mindset, to answer our little dilemma here.]

"You know, I could activate my Boundless Gravity, and just turn the ice spikes towards the teenager again. Or I could just move them with my Boundless Telekinesis.

[If those would have worked, you wouldn't be here. The ice would have been going to fast, and, plus, with Ranged Ki abilities, you can control where they go, so it would have been able to still push forward, so you really have no other choice but to consider my solution.]

A message popped up infront of Aaron, which confused him.

{ (Temporary) Boundless Corruption }

[This is my solution to this. The only solution I can think of. A temporary Boundless Ability, limited to this world. It would make you the bad guy, like what you wanted when coming into this world. And, it would make you the bad guy without anyone even realising, until it was too late.]

Aaron was dumbfounded. He had learned about the limits of getting Boundless Abilities, and the system just throws an option at him? What does it even do? What would the purpose of it be?

"Why are you trying to give me an ability about corruption?"

[Well, it's the only ability that will have an immediate effect, and it won't get you killed. It won't kill your parents or the ice-wielder, so you'll be fine. Also, the ability is quite cool, so I suggest you accept it, unless you want your life here to go bye bye.]

"You really aren't giving me any other choices, are you System?" Aaron said, defeated. He didn't want his life here to end. And plus, maybe he could use this power for good. Although, he did have to admit, it did sound like a sketchy ability.

"Fine. I'll accept the ability."

{Boundless Corruption Accepted}

{Accessing Abilities...}

{Successful.}

{Resuming Time...}

And as those words echoed throughout his mind, the world around him suddenly resumed, although, the second it did, Aaron felt something in his body break loose.

Aaron suddenly erupted in a violent burst of energy, lighting up the sky with a black and pink beam of energy. Jacob was sent flying back, as the light suddenly stopped, as Aaron's body began to change. Aaron looked down at his feet, as a black substance began crawling up it. It started coating his body in a black, almost liquid substance, like a second skin.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Jacob yelled, as he looked at Aaron, with fear in his eyes. He turned to look behind him, as he saw his friends running away. He felt all the confidence in his body begin to drain away. He looked back towards Aaron, who had half of his body coated in this substance. The entire right hand side of his body was coated in it, with his right eye and the right hand side his mouth being replaced by a pink, creepy version of themselves. Search up the Friday Night Funkin Corruption Mod. That kind of style.

The black substance, which Aaron reckoned was the 'Corruption', continued to spread across his body. It covered his face, and, surprisingly, he could still see through it. His body was being replaced by this corruption, essentially replacing his skin, doing no harm to him in the process.

His hands became clawed, as the corruption slightly molded them to be more useful, should he, for any reason, be without his abilities. It was preparing himself for any scenario.

Aaron looked up at Jacob, who had begun to back away. Jacob hadn't anticipated this, and was suddenly feeling a lot less confident in his abilities, considering that he was fighting someone who could manipulate gravity, and use wherever the hell was given to him by becoming corrupted. Aaron began to slowly walk towards Jacob, as the corruption spread further.

"You...You stay the fuck away from me!" Jacob yelled, as he sprinted away. He wasn't dealing with this anymore. He wasn't going near that 'Freak of Nature'.

Aaron turned towards his parents, who were standing outside of the car, looking at him in shock. He had been completely covered from head to toe in this black goop. They didn't know what to say, but they did what they could. They grabbed the bag of clothes from the car, and quickly threw the robe on him. They put the mask on his face, and then they quickly put him into the car, as they rushed inside of it aswell.

They were luckily nobody had seen them, as the road they were on has been empty, but everyone definitely would have noticed the large pillar of black and pink light which had lit up the sky.

"Aaron, tell us what just happened." Steven said, not wasting any time sugercoating his words.

"I had an option to survive, or die by those ice spikes. The gravity wouldn't have worked, and my telekinesis that I healed the man with wouldn't have worked either. Although, I do know why you put the clothes on me. It's so I don't cause unnecessary trouble with people. We don't want bad things to happen." Aaron replied, his voice being pitched up and down by the mask, although not to an annoying extent. This was because Aaron had made it so it didn't go too high or too low for the moment.

"Well, at least I don't need to explain it to you. You must wear that, or something similar, when you go out in public. Like to school. That way, if people see you arms outstretched, they would be covered in a black Ki-based substance anyway, so people will think nothing of it. Although, you should NEVER let ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE, take off your mask." Steven replied, setting down the rules. It was for Aaron's safety. The world can be cruel when it so chooses, so he must not let it find out about him.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Now, I'm absolutely exhausted, so I'm going to take off the mask, and go to sleep. I'll be ready for the first, and most treacherous, day of school, tomorrow."

And with that, Aaron took off the mask, and fell unconscious. His body may have an infinite Mana reserve, but his human body had stamina requirements aswell, and given that he was a child, he barely had any. During his unconsciousness, the system sent him two messages.

{Race Change}

{You have become: Corrupted Human}

{New Title}

{The Corrupted One}

{Will Replace Title: The Unevolved One}