The fog retreated, but the arena remained concealed, as if the Colosseum itself was reminding Priam that the run wasn’t over. He smirked slightly.
“As if I’d leave now.”
He had eleven hours left to push as far as he could through the waves and wasn’t about to waste another minute on idle chatter. Now that he was shielded from view by his new gate, he could finally play so of his trump cards.
Just as he prepared to resu the run, his body started to tremble. Priam frowned. With his dexterity and [Micro], this was impossible. Was this so kind of payback? He had just banished billions of spies and figured so wouldn’t take kindly to it.
Feeling blood drip from his nose, Priam searched for an explanation. When he found it, he cursed. His brain was bleeding. Most people would have panicked at the thought of a cerebral hemorrhage, but not Priam. With [He Who Eludes Death] prid, he knew he would survive. Instead of fear, frustration knotted his gut. The lack of response from his resistances signaled that the problem was exotic. This had to be connected to his temperance.
Was the issue tied to his new gate? It made no sense—he had done everything right! He had even overclocked his add-on to ensure he fully understood the instructions from Heavenly Dragon. The gate’s creation had gone flawlessly. If there had been a runic issue, the structure would have exploded.
As he fell to his knees, blood now streaming from his ears, Priam tried to figure it out. Was there a conflict between his body and the tempering thod? The die he had stolen from Kazuki tailored the process to its user. Since his first trip to Valaryth, Priam had upgraded his race to Homo Elysian. Could Heavenly Dragon’s thod be outdated? Or maybe it was a curse from the second Terror? The Prince still existed in this tiline, and its core was the twin of his gate’s trophy.
Ideas clashed in his mind until the System offered a clue.
[Chira - Gold] is ready for evolution. Presence of a catalyst detected.
Use 10 072 POT to trigger evolution?
“...Fuck,” he muttered, reading the first part of the ssage. “FUCK!” he barked when he saw the price the Concepts demanded for their assistance. Tourists get fleeced less in souvenir shops. The System was milking him dry.
Focus! he scolded himself as his vision blurred. Think!
Originally, [Chira] allowed his body to adapt to opposing elents. As it evolved, this trait had intensified. Thanks to the ssage, Priam could narrow down the possibilities. His stomach clenched, and he spat blood onto the arena sand. Wiping his mouth, he realized blood was leaking from every orifice. This was bad.
Closing his eyes, Priam forced himself to stay calm. Ignoring the spasms wracking his fra, he focused inward. If Domain was a sphere of perception and authority, Micro was the perfect tool to understand his body. Concentrating on the Supremacy, Priam recognized that his body was breaking down. His cells were self-destructing en masse, a raging fever was sapping his strength, and the spasms had beco uncontrollable. The pain was sharp, like acid flooding his veins, but that was an old friend by now. Humans could get used to anything—even agony.
What worried him was how fast the phenonon was spreading. Starting from his head, it was quickly engulfing his entire body. A parallel thought found a possible explanation. His physical tempering had triggered changes in his status.
Bloodlines:
Phoenix: 2%Dragon: 1�cording to Heavenly Dragon, each gate purified his draconic bloodline. Until now, Priam had thought that was a good thing. Then he rembered the phoenix’s warning: starting his physical tempering would accelerate [Chira]’s evolution. A Talent designed to help my body handle conflicting elents. Bloodlines too?
Kneeling, Priam endured a violent convulsion, understanding why most people only cultivated one bloodline at a ti. Inside him, a dragon and a phoenix were warring, and he wasn’t strong enough to break them up.
[Chira - Gold] is ready for evolution. Presence of a catalyst detected.
Use 8 159 POT to trigger evolution?
“Ah.” His bloodstained mouth curved into a grin. The System wasn’t offering him any discounts; it was his own body syncing with [Chira]. Where others needed Potential to bridge reality with a possible future, [Homo Elysian Obsession] was doing it on its own.
Priam just had to hold out long enough. Collapsing onto the arena floor, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his body. With any luck, this forced shutdown would teach him sothing.
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