A huge amount of [Mana] had begun pouring into Apple's body after Athelei had mischievously shoved the Sea-Dragon Egg into the man's stomach.
"Why did they call it a fruit though?" Athelei wondered out loud as he watched the evolution occurring before his eyes.
A few beasts were all ignoring the churning [Poseidon's Domain] as the earth continued to shake and the lost city of Atlantis grew closer to being reconstructed. They were all swimming angrily above his head, barring other humans from getting to his little domain.
Athelei spared a glance at the chaos and saw that half of Lotus mountain had already been submerged. Most of the hills of Avina were also flooded now. The Veritas territory had joined the Arthime territory underwater, with its residents desperately trying to stay afloat.
At least the people who sought refuge in Veritas were still able to keep swimming. When Athelei commanded his domain to protect those he wished to see live, the Arthime territory and its people were swept up by the maelstrom without the child batting an eye.
After looking past the Veritas territory, it was then that Athelei saw something else. He was almost tempted to ignore the evolving Apple.
'Sky Cross is... floating... in the sky?' Athelei gaped in awe, 'What in Oxhor did Paliver Hare do?'
Sky Cross had fulfilled the promise of its name.
A huge cross reminiscent of the school's territory was floating in the sky, drifting away from the chaos borne from Atlantis' reconstruction. It was like a gentle cloud, detached and carefree.
Before Athelei could distract himself again, he shook his head and placed Apple back in the centre of his crosshairs.
He noticed that the water-attributed [Mana] had seeped swimmingly into the man's flesh and blood, redefining a lot of what made Apple human as a few special genes were inserted into his genome sequences.
'Draconic blood, eh?' Athelei released a few tufts of grey fog and used it to monitor the insides of Apple's currently evolving body. He also used Examine without holding back, and with it, he documented many different characteristics.
'Cells...' Athelei was totally engrossed as he tried to figure out what exactly that word was. He used Inspect after Examine to figure out the more technical terms that the Cosmic Interface was magically using. 'It looks to be the smallest unit of life...'
Athelei blinked as he grabbed one of the books in his mental library. In it were memories and notes on his research on the Undead Remnants.
'I see... so the dissolution and conversion that the Undead Remnants use to absorb life occurs at this so-called [cellular level]...' His brows then scrunched in a bit of confusion, 'So that means the undead... still have life? Wait no... undead as a word means technically dead but somehow still animated... Are the cells functioning in an altered state? Could it be... mechanical? Are the undead machines??'
A hundred questions cascaded into Athelei's mind as he learned of the concepts involved in the changes taking place in Apple's body. He wanted to know what [genes] were, but his microscopic sensing could not breach the cells themselves.
'I lack sufficient [Psychic] attributes, most likely...' Athelei thought to himself, 'I cannot create even small particles of grey fog. How pleasantly vexing, my to-do list is getting longer and longer...'
Whatever science magic Athelei was dabbling in grew ever more complex as he analysed more and more. The Cosmic Interface made things much much more interesting for him as well. Words and definitions came popping out of thin air, giving Athelei even more suspicions for the stars above.
While Athelei was diving into the cellular changes occurring in Apple's body, the young boy watched as the Evolver's body began to bleed.
Perhaps bleed was not a good enough word...
Apple was leaking blood, and not from his wounds—those had already magically healed, and even the troublesome Manic Undeath that had already begun to spread had all but disappeared. Blood was pouring out of his pores, working akin to sweat but without the need for the sweat glands. His red blood just kept pouring out of him, wrapping Apple in a skin of crimson.
That crimson skin churned, and it began flowing with the [Mana] that aided Apple's evolution.
Athelei watched as the crimson blood took on a tinge of blue-green, and as the colour changes spread, Apple's overall blood colour turned purplish. And when every drop of Apple's blood became a reptilian purple, it started to seep back into his skin and through his muscles and flesh.
'Dragon blood,' Athelei stole a few drops to study, as well as a small portion of Apple's flesh. 'This should all heal with the influx of [Mana]... At least it should, theoretically.'
Apple's body then began to glow as the purple blood returned to his veins. It was a gentle light, exuding energies like the Boon of Longevity. His body kept glowing for a good fifteen minutes before settling down.
And when it was all over, Athelei used Inspect on Apple's body as a whole.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
Ytrias Lo
[ Alias: Apple ]
Health: 23/23
Mana: 12/12 (Draconic)
Energy: 30/30
- Rank 3 Evolver - "the Pristine"
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
"The Pristine," Athelei read aloud as he thought about the titles that Evolvers had, 'Infancy, the Standard, the Strengthened, and now, the Pristine...'
Athelei then realised that there was an excess of energy lingering in his watery domain, "This... can I absorb this?"
He turned as much of his body into wisps of grey fog and went around tasting and devouring the energy present in the area. Different from his physical body, Athelei found out about the incredible compatibility his wisps of grey fog had with everything around him.
"Mmmm," Athelei groaned in pleasure as he reabsorbed his grey fog into himself and felt the energy spread within his physical body.
"Status," He excitedly commanded.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
=} User: Athelei (Tier 1 User) {=
=} Interface Authority Level: 1.15 {=
Age: 4
=o=o=o=o=
=} Physical Attributes {=
Health: 8/8
Strength: 3 -> 4
Dexterity: 6 -> 7
Defense: 2 -> 4
=o=o=o=o=
=} Mental Attributes {=
Mana: 12/14 -> 14/14
Intelligence: 28
Will: 21
Psychic: 19 (Unique)
=o=o=o=o=
=} Other Attributes {=
Energy: 7/8 -> 10/10
Charisma: 22
Luck: Questionable
=o=o=o=o=
=} Skills {=
- Cyan Analysis Skill: Examine (Level 7/10)
- Purple Analysis Skill: Appraisal (Level 7/10)
- Orange Analysis Skill: Judgement (Level 7/10)
- Trinity Analysis Skill: Inspect (Level 7/10)
- Orange Tier I Skill: Shop (Level 1/10)
- Trinity Tier I Skill: Sneaky (Level 1/10)
=o=o=o=o=
- [Invisible] mode is currently active.
[]-[]-[]-[]-[]-[]
"My [Energy] has likely breached the threshold to be a Rank 0 [Infancy] Evolver" Athelei grinned as his body exuded a few waves of warmth, "And my [Physical Attributes] increased in a way that growing up should've done—"
"Urgh," As Athelei read through his status screen, he heard a groan sound out from the newly-evolved Apple.
The Rank 3 Evolver stirred, tossing and turning within Athelei's underwater domain. Apple's muscles twitched, and heat waves rippled out from his body with every beat of his heart.
"GAH!" Apple abruptly straightened up, exclaiming in sudden alertness.
"Gah?" Athelei echoed back, but the Evolver was too busy looking around the area to notice.
"Where in the seas of Oxhor am I—" Apple had glanced up and choked on his next words. He clearly saw the swarm of beasts overhead, as well as the distant surface of the sea. His head snapped to Athelei, who was standing right in front of him and smiling.
"What?!" Apple jumped like a frightened cat, "...Orien?"
Apple's hand then drifted over to his chest, "My wound..."
"My wound..." Apple absentmindedly repeated as a realisation dawned upon him, "The fruit!"
"Where's the fruit!?"
Apple had lunged towards Athelei in the blink of an eye, riling up a bit of water at the edge of the latter's domain.
Splash!
"Calm down, Sir Apple." Athelei blasted the panicking man with a massive pillar of water.
"You... What is this? Is this your doing?" After being blasted and drenched by cold saltwater, Apple regained a bit of his bearings. His mind cleared from the sensory overload he was currently experiencing from having just evolved.
"Yes, yes it is, Sir Apple." Athelei painted a smile of innocence on his face and answered with his usual nonchalance and doubtless tone.
"I... How did you do it and what about the fruit?"
Athelei waved the Tidal Tome in his hands, blasting Apple with more water pillars in good fun.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
"Cough, cough, cough!" Apple forced out the water that he had choked on and gasped for air, "Stop that! I understand! Mystic Artifact!"
Athelei stopped waving his Tidal Tome and snickered, "Do you have your answers now, Sir Apple?"
"What do mean?" Apple's brows scrunched after he heaved a few heavy breaths, "You haven't told me where the fruit went..."
"Aha~" Athelei laughed a bit more before pointing directly at the Evolver himself, "You noticed that your wound was gone and yet you cannot feel the changes in your body?"
"Tsk, tsk," Athelei clicked his tongue as he teased, "Lady Karire would ridicule you if she knew, Sir Apple."
"...My body?" Another realisation dawned upon Apple's face.
"You told me to treat you. I treated you. It just so happened that there was some weird fruit in your hand that an Exiled wanted." Athelei then used his domain to lift Lady Karire off the seafloor.
He then walked forward, gesturing to Apple to follow.
"I figured if they wanted it so badly it might help heal the huge wound in your chest." That was half a lie. Athelei had allowed himself to be consumed by a whim.
"Oh..." Apple flexed his muscles, silently testing his newfound strength as he awkwardly caught up to the small child who had helped him, "That Exiled... Was it a woman? Two swords, one of which has words?"
Athelei raised a brow, "Indeed, Sir Apple. Add two more Nightwalkers, and a bit of self-destruction as well, and I got stuck between a rock and a hard place. I was lucky to have this Mystic Artifact. If not, we would be dead."
"I understand," Apple chuckled, "As expected of a Blessed... How's Kar doing?"
Athelei pursed his lips as he paused, "I don't know... Her deepest wounds are not physical. She's just like me, no family, no loved ones..."
Athelei commanded his domain to lift him up so he could give Apple a few pats on the shoulder, "She's going to need friends when she eventually wakes up."
"Oh..." Apple did not know what to say to that except nod. This was the first time he had properly interacted with Athelei since they first saw each other. He did not know that the kid had lost his parents at such a young age.
Apple was surprised at how eloquent the child was as well. The formal tone, the choice of words, as well as the maturity in the sentence structures, all made him feel like he was talking to an adult.
'It's like a younger and sunnier Karire.' Apple couldn't help but think of such things.
"By the way, Sir Apple," Athelei suddenly spoke, planting his feet onto the old streets of Avina.
"...Yeah?" Apple was forced to stop as well, and so he asked.
He then watched as Athelei's hand floated up with an outstretched finger. Apple looked to where the young boy was pointing and his eyes instantly dilated.
"...It looks like Atlantis is going to be reborn soon," Athelei spoke with ill-concealed excitement.