Corruption II
The smell was pungent.
It nearly made him gag as the white clothes he had received from the Evaluation Center were covered in dark green goo.
But below him, the limbs of one spider pierced another as at this moment…none of them moved!
Their muscles spasmed and twitched, but they moved no longer.
He breathed out heavily as his head whipped around, looking to see if there were any more coming up ahead as he listened for any sounds, too!
But…nothing.
"Hoo..."
His beating heart told him that he was very much alive, and that for the first time, he had gone and killed two Low Tier Evolutius Beasts all on his own.
He looked at his body covered in the appalling dark green thick blood as his nose twitched uncomfortably, and he then looked down at the bodies of the Black Spiders.
He wasn't done just yet as his hands reached down to tear apart their heads and look for the glimmering Evolutius Crystals!
And a minute went by as he felt like he violated the corpses of spiders, but at the end of it all…six dazzling Evolutius Crystals were placed on the floor of the Catacombs.
His body, which was drenched in blood, looked at them cautiously before he picked one up and held it in his hands.
Initially, they were absorbed into his body after his blood fell on them, and he wanted to test things out at this moment as he called out hesitatingly.
"…assimilate?"
…!
A silent flash of light bloomed as he saw the pure purple crystal actually melt in his hands and enter his skin, the burning sensation of power inside of him becoming more active as he felt even more rejuvenated!
It was that easy?
He could assimilate the Evolutius Crystals this easily as he had seen videos of Advanced Humans when they used the power of Evolutius Crystals to continue modifying their bodies.
They held them in their hands as the light from the crystals seeped into their bodies, and the crystal turned into dust when all light within it was absorbed after a few minutes.
Minutes.
It did not take less than a second from what he had just seen.
More than that was the direct feeling of that burning sensation of him getting stronger.
He couldn't help but look at the blue panel once again.
[Achilles Maxwell]
[Assimilation]:: Organic Crystal(Evolutius Crystals)(4%)- Obtained qualities of Regeneration, Energy Conversion, Flexibility, Light Manipulation
[Existence Corruption Value]:: 0%
[Complexity]:: Negligible
The only thing that had changed was the percentage under Organic Crystals changing from 3% to 4%.
He looked at this silently as he reached out and grabbed another two Crystals, silently saying the word assimilate in his mind as both of these crystals also melted and disappeared into his body.
A surge of that burning sensation flashed once more as he felt like he became even stronger, and the percentage moved to 6%.
He silently felt the changes inside of his body as his eyes then turned towards the bodies of the Black Spiders.
He could assimilate the Organic Crystals- the Evolutius Crystals that he was holding onto before.
Was this the only thing he could assimilate?
"…"
He wanted to put something else to the test as he reached out and touched the obsidian crystalline-like limb of one of the Black Spiders as he called out.
"Assimilate."
BZZT!
Red flashes of light burst between his hand and the limb of the spider he held- almost as if giving him a warning!
The hard exterior of the limb of the spider had the portion he held still shatter and melt as it was inches away from his hand, but the red light of warning was still there.
Almost as if it was telling him not to do it.
He thought silently for a second before he firmly decided and called out again.
"Assimilate!"
WUU!
The leg of the Spider entirely dissolved into liquid goo, followed by the rest of its body as a mass of shining liquid goo then surged into his body!
He felt a prickling sensation of pins and needles all over his body, the burning sensation of power inside of him exploding upwards to an alarming degree.
He felt his heart beating heavily.
His body feels lighter and heavier all at once!
The entire body of the Black Spider disappeared into his body and gave him a surge of the feeling of power as his eyes could not help but hone in on the blue panel yet again!
The blue…panel? At this moment, the blue panel had streaks of red light on the bottom as he looked at it closely.
[Achilles Maxwell]
[Assimilation]:: Organic Crystal(Evolutius Crystals)(6%)- Obtained qualities of Regeneration, Energy Conversion, Flexibility, Light Manipulation. Sub-Assimilation: Organic Arachnida Lifeform(10%) Gained qualities of Poison Generation, Appendage Generation, Exoskeletal Armor, Physical Adherence
[Existence Corruption Value]:: 1%
[Complexity]:: Negligible
…!
A noticeable change had occurred!
Apart from the addition of another assimilated target, the biggest thing was the Existence of Corruption Value.
It had risen by a whole percentage.
He was silent as he looked at it, thinking back to the crimson light of warning that flashed when he initially tried to assimilate the body of the Black Spider.
Such a light only flashed when he tried to assimilate something different apart from an Evolutius Crystal.
A level of corruption unfolded.
He looked all over his body, and everything about him still seemed the same.
But the panel listed corruption.
Assimilating the same type of thing would not cause a change in the Existence Corruption Value, but assimilating something entirely different at the same time would increase the level of Corruption!
This was not all.
He also confirmed that the rate of how quickly the percentage increased depended on how much volume of it was there.
A single Black Spider gave a 10% gain on the assimilation of an Organic Arachnida Lifeform while a single Evolutius Crystal granted 1%.
He was learning many things, but he placed the percentage of Existence Corruption Value as one of the most important things.
He instinctively felt like he could not let it get too high, and he had to ascertain how to reduce it.
But for now, he needed the burst in power.
Because from assimilating just that single Black Spider, the burning feeling he could feel across his body seemed twice as intense at the very least!
And there was now…the addition of Poison Generation, Appendage Generation, Exoskeletal Armor, and Physical Adherence.
He wanted to see just what these could do as he raised his hand and thought to himself.
'Appendage Generation.'
…!