[Inventory Check...]
Common Shard x2 detected.
Rare Shard x1 detected.
Healing Function: Not available.
Direct transfer to external body: Unsupported.
[Would you like to initiate experintal conversion?]
Warning: Results unpredictable. Risk of shard instability.
Theo’s heart pounded. ’Experintal conversion?’ That sounded like suicide for both of them but it was still sothing.
He glanced down at the man, who was barely holding himself together, trembling and blinking through the pain.
"What’s your na?" Theo asked with a calm voice.
"Kael Tudor," he replied weakly.
"I might have sothing to save you," Theo muttered.
The man gave a weak, tearful smile. "Even if it fails... thank you for trying."
Theo knelt beside the man, heart pounding.
"I don’t know what this will do," he said quietly. "But I can’t just watch you beco one of them. It’s better to try than do nothing."
The man had given his life to protect others. Theo knew that was reason enough.
His dpack was empty, but the system still showed two Common Shards and one Rare Shard left in his inventory. Unused. Untested on others.
Theo hesitated, then pressed his hand over the man’s chest. "Please work."
[Experintal Shard Conversion Confird]
Transferring 2x Common Shard 1x Rare Shard...
Target: External (Direct Contact)
Risk: 73% - Mutation Event Likely
Initiating...
A soft light spread from Theo’s palm, shifting from gold to a cool, pale blue-white. The man’s body began to shimr as if made of countless tiny crystals.
His form trembled, then fractured. Suddenly, the man’s body dissolved into a swirling cloud of glowing, teorite-infused particles, drifting slowly through the air like a shimring mist.
Then everything went still.
[Conversion Complete]
Result: Stabilized Hybrid Mutation
Status: Human Core Preserved
Carrier Status: Negative
Infection Risk: None
Mutation Classification: Half-teorborn
[Mutation Type: DMS - Divergent teor Survivor. Subject is no longer bound to transform into a corrupted teorborn at the brink of death or upon fatal injury. Mutation stabilized. Human cognition, form, and free will preserved.]
[Ability Detected: "teor Mist" - Phase-shift into particles, pass through solid objects, reassemble at will. Limitations: Short duration, exhausting, vulnerable when dispersed]
Theo’s breath caught. After a tense few seconds, the particles swirled and reford back into the man’s body. His eyes fluttered open, shining faintly with a blue glow.
He gasped, voice weak but alive. "I... I’m still ..."
Theo nodded. "You’re not one of them. You’ve got sothing new, a power. You can shift into this mist and slip through barriers. But it’s unstable and it’ll wear you out fast if you’re not careful."
The man tried flexing his fingers; the faint shimr pulsed under his skin like starlight trapped beneath glass.
Kael looked at Theo with a tired smile. "I thought I was going to die a monster. Maybe this... this is better."
"You’re Half-teorborn but not a carrier," Theo said, reading the system alert. "You can’t infect others. You’re safe to be around."
His eyes welled up, and before Theo could react, Kael suddenly pounced on him, hugging him tightly while sobbing. "Thank you so much!" he whispered.
Suddenly, a system notification popped up in Theo’s vision:
[System Update]
EXP drained: 15,000
Remaining EXP: 2,990
Theo swallowed hard. Almost all his experience points were gone. He wiped the sweat from his brow, but knowing he had saved Kael made it worth it. He could earn more EXP later.
Then another alert appeared:
[Virtue Alignnt Achieved]
Compassion: Earned for risking your resources to save another in need
Bonus Reward: Mutation Stability 10%
[Virtue Path Activated: 2/7 - Compassion]
Further evolutions require greater alignnt.
A soft pulse of heat rolled through Theo’s body. He flinched slightly as a surge of energy spread from his core, humming just beneath his skin.
[Rank Upgrade Detected]
Mutation Abyss Rank Advancent
MUTANT to EVOLVED
Mutation stabilizes. Partial transformations unlocked.
Temporary shifts in form now available (eyes, limbs, reflexes, etc.). Core self remains intact.
[Rank: EVOLVED] achieved.
Before Theo could say anything else, his earpiece buzzed.
Brix [CALLING]...
He answered imdiately. "Commander."
"Theo, listen... AMSO units are closing in on your sector. You need to move. Now." Brix’s voice was sharp and urgent, each word low but cutting. "The survivors said you’re helping a UMS. You’re not authorized to be there, and if they catch you with an unregistered one, they’ll shoot first and won’t ask questions."
Theo’s heart skipped a beat. "Damn it... We’re leaving now!" He ended the call and didn’t waste another second.
He quickly broke the hug, his hands gripping Kael’s shoulders. "Kael, listen to . There’s no ti. I need you to head west, down that alley," he pointed sharply, "a block and a half. I stashed my motorcycle there behind a broken vending machine."
Kael blinked, still breathless. "O-Okay..."
"Use your mist form. Stay low, travel through shadows if you can. AMSO is already on the way."
Kael hesitated, eyes wide. "What about you?"
"I’ll et you there," Theo said firmly. "Now go!"
Kael gave a shaky nod and, with a breath, his body dispersed into a swirl of glowing teorite mist, vanishing into the cracks of the nearby alley wall.
Theo quickly went outside. He turned back toward the textile company building and frowned. He had to make this look real, brutal, final.
He inhaled deeply, allowing his fire core to pulse to life. With his recent rank increase, he could sense the strength he had gained as an Evolved.
Pyre Burst lit in his chest, flas building along his arms. At the sa ti, he clenched his fists and activated Gale Fangs, the slicing wind projectiles layering themselves over the fire energy.
With a roar, he thrust both arms forward and released them in tandem.
FWOOM - CRACK!
A storm of fire and slicing wind erupted into the structure. Blazing heat and howling gales tore through the walls, shredding concrete, bending steel, and triggering a chain reaction of smaller blasts inside.
Flas surged high. Wind howled. The explosion created a mushrooming inferno, fire and embers rising skyward. It looked like no one, nothing, could’ve survived that.
Drawing in a breath, Theo quickly activated Shadow Step. In a blink, his form vanished into the shadows.
A mont later, he erged behind the broken vending machine where his motorcycle was hidden. Kael was already there, barely reford, the last wisps of mist pulling together into his solid shape.
Theo gave him a quick once-over. "You okay?"
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