Despair.
That's what Kole felt when he saw the scene in front of his eyes.
It was not just The Creation Seed; his hopes of a brighter future were also crushed! Not to mention, The Creation Seed wasn't even available in the open market.
It was a commodity that was heavily restricted by the Churches, not just in the Treon Kingdom but even in other neighboring dynasties.
The information, he had received from Alice, mentioned it appeared rarely even in the black markets, and even there, the price would reach thousands of pounds!
It was too expensive, and Kole didn't have any money on himself.
Though he knew, Faneia would be able to afford it very easily, Kole still felt a pinch. After all, he was not used to throwing around money!
Before he could think further and voice out his discontentment, he noticed black miasma flowing through the shattered pieces that fell on the ground.
Soon he noticed the tiny pieces attracted to the biggest piece like iron fillings around a magnet.
They attached together and slowly formed a complete crystal-clear bead of marble.
"…" Kole was dumbfounded. At the same time, he shot a confused look at Faneia.
"Hum. Your little friend didn't know how to clear the corruption…" Faneia narrowed her eyes a little; she muttered to herself in an inaudible tone, "Or maybe she didn't do it purposely…"
Kole, who heard the term 'corruption' seemed to have gathered heads and tails of the situation as he sighed in relief.
So, that is why it was dark before. Now it looks so clear. I didn't know it had a property to recombine even when destroyed… Kole thought.
Faneia stretched her hand as the tiny crystal ball floated upward and landed in her palm.
"My son, do you remember the prime maxim of mysticism?"
Hearing her words, Kole fell into thought and it didn't even take him a moment to answer.
After all, it was a saying that everyone knew, from a child to an adult, whether they were poor or rich.
It has been widely propagated by all the Churches and even the official authorities!
"Don't See. Don't Hear. Don't Speak." As Kole spoke he remembered how ordinary people who "saw" some strange ramblings on a newspaper turned into "Banes" right in front of his very eyes!
If only they would've found something problematic the moment they started browsing through that column and restrained themselves from reading it over and over again, as the previous Kole did by throwing the paper away, they wouldn't have become "Banes" on the spot, and would have a chance to get treated when the authorities arrive!
"Good." She gestured for him to stretch his hands, and so he did, as she dropped the mysterious bead in Kole's palm.
As Kole held The Creation Seed, a cold sensation flew from it to each nerve and cell of his body.
It was then, he felt his eyes turning red, as he heard hushed whispers from nothingness and beyond.
Since it has already come down to this, and the fact that he was almost losing his mind from the odd murmurs, Kole didn't dawdle around and threw it in his mouth, directly downing it in one gulp!
Immediately, Kole felt his mind going blank.
He saw the flesh on his body squirming as if worms were hidden beneath.
With that came unbearable pain, which was strangely bearable for Kole. It was like a light slap on his wrist.
Though, an ordinary person without Kole's experience would be rolling on the ground, screaming in pain.
He only winced a little.
Soon, he felt his figure appearing in the blurry palace.
He seemed to have recalled this place as a canvas full of colors appeared in front of him. Greyish-white fog surged around him.
At the same time, he saw strange deformations happening all over the palace like maggots crawling, numerous eyes opening in the blurry fog, and mouths with sharp teeth bared their fangs in every corner!
Sounds of breathing could be heard, like the panting of a dormant beast!
Kole felt his mind buzzing with all the influx of oddity.
At the same time, he could see the colors of the Canvas in front of him becoming distorted, and inverted in some areas.
It started spreading rapidly like a drop of ink fell in a glass of clear water.
For some reason, Kole felt the colorful Canvas of his life was something he need to protect at all costs, or he'd become a monster!
At the same time, the more he concentrated on the strangeness around him, the more he noticed the inversion of colors increased.
He immediately stopped his senses, remembering the maxim—Don't See. Don't Hear. Don't Speak. Because of this the pace of "infection" reduced but it was still happening! This worried him greatly.
For a moment, he really panicked.
Would he become a monster—A mindless "Bane"?
However, he didn't lose hope, as his thoughts raced, trying to find a way to resist this corruption.
Suddenly, his eyes fell on the shadow behind the darkness.
There lay another Canvas! A Canvas, he created from the memories of previous Kole!
After a brief moment of hesitation, Kole exchanged the places of the two Canvases—The one of the previous Koles' in front, while his own being in the shadows!
At that moment he felt his mind being split—as if he was suffering from a dissociative identity disorder!
Who was he? What did he want? What were his goals? What were his aspirations?
Struggling to keep his sanity, Kole made a difficult choice.
He could not always remain indifferent toward the people around Kole.
He knew at some point; he'd develop feelings for them as well.
He could not always think this world wasn't his, and treat it as a game and disregard it.
Kole had to change his mindset!
Earlier, he wished to adapt slowly but whom was he kidding? He would still feel this wasn't 'his' world even after living a century in this world.
As such, Kole decided to accelerate the process, by incorporating the previous Kole into the current him, and at the same time deal with corruption.
It was equivalent to hitting two birds with one stone!
With a low exhale, Kole extracted the "colors" that denoted all the habits, behavior, and feelings of previous Kole, leaving behind an empty shell of "filthiness"—denoted by darker tones, and merged the "colors" to his own Canvas!
To make it a foolproof plan, Kole extracted the dark colors from his own Canvas that lay in the shadows, and threw them at the painting in front.
After completing the two paintings, Kole saw a Canvas with darker tones in front, and a picture that was brighter than ever before in the shadows!
The "corruption" tried to invert the colors of the Canvas in front, again, but it was already too dark—too messy—for it to be corrupted further as if it was the amalgamation of all that was the most unholy.
Kole displayed a proud smile seeing his piece of art.
He really felt, despite being not the smartest, he had enough ingenuity!
He had a ridiculous idea to sign the "filthy" painting that didn't seem to be affected by any corruption—and so he did—by twisting the slightly lighter shades, as elegant cursive letters carved on the bottom right forming a word:
"Felony"!