Chapter 23 I Am Me

His first thought was to immediately storm into Oliver's tent to turn it upside down until he found his fruit. In case of failure, he intended to resort to much more aggressive methods...

Like killing him for example!

His next reaction was not a thought, but a mixture of emotions: Dismay, horror and anguish at the sheer violence of the thoughts running through his mind. He certainly had something to be upset about, but to the point of wishing someone dead? Right now it wasn't empty words spoken out of anger, but a heartfelt desire to snuff out a pest.

His second thought was that killing Oliver was not such a bad idea after all. This desire, this impulse seemed natural and logical given the circumstances while the guilt and hesitation that was supposed to hold him back was already beginning to fade.

Then, Ikaris sneaked a glance at Krold crouching behind him to enter his tent and his urge to kill, maim or even fight vanished instantly. Right now, the barbarian was lovingly stroking the hilt of his sword, his loose hand ready to clutch the weapon at any moment to lop off his head.

'I can't give him any reason to kill me.' The teenager gulped as he shook his head to dispel the dark thoughts clouding his mind.

Anyway, reality caught up with him soon enough. He felt the same itch he had felt a few minutes earlier in Krold's tent and his hunger and bloodlust increased substantially while his sense of smell and other senses became slightly more acute. Without even using his System Spell, he could sense via the Passive Effect that the infection had gained ground again.

[Transformation in progress 17>18%]

Unsurprisingly, Ikaris got a bad feeling as he probed his body. Wasn't this infection spreading a little too fast? He had been scratched at least seven or eight hours ago and the transformation had only progressed by 16%. Now, in the space of a few minutes, it had gained another 2%.

This coincided with his awakening, but it could also be a sign of the infection ramping up as his immune defenses dwindled in the face of the expanding contamination. If the next itch came at a shorter interval than the previous one, he would know where he stood.

Holding his breath anxiously, Ikaris counted the seconds in his head as he waited patiently for his symptoms to worsen. Two minutes and sixteen seconds later, the itch returned and his senses became sharper again. His previously round pupils subtly stretched, becoming somewhat ovoid.

[Transformation in progress 18>19%]

The boy was obviously unaware of it, but Krold did not miss any of the changes. The grip around his sword tightened and the barely tamed killing intent threatened to burst forth again.

'The transformation is speeding up!' The teenager's heart sank as he felt the new changes taking place within him.

Ikaris broke into a cold sweat as he felt the warrior's murderous resignation coming from behind him. He jerked around, holding his hands up in front of him to prevent Krold from killing him.

"Hola! Calm down I'm fine!" He tried to soothe him as best he could, but he could sense that the barbarian was growing increasingly skeptical about his prospects of retaining his sanity.

Clenching his fists to diffuse the enormous pressure threatening to overwhelm him, Ikaris stifled the vortex of adverse emotions squeezing his chest and forced himself to think of a solution.

'I can choose to boost my immune defenses, but I'm not sure if that's enough. A vaccine might work, but only if it's a virus. The System talks about Transformation, so I can already assume that something is altering my DNA. So that means that eventually I won't be human anymore. It's okay if I keep my human form, but unacceptable if I mutate into one of these monsters.

'However, in the short term this partial transformation brings me immense benefits. The ideal is not to become one of these Crawling-Thralls, but to stop this transformation, and even ideally to assimilate the good while eliminating the bad.'

[Transformation in progress 19>20%]

'... No time for that. It won't work. It's too complex a spell, I don't even know what to visualize.' Ikaris backpedaled in panic as he contemplated his meager options.

The easiest route was to seek immunity, but part of his body had already mutated into something else. Even if the contamination was stopped, the changes that had already taken place were irreversible.

panda nOvel.cO,m The second and more complicated solution was to reverse the transformation. If it worked, he would become human again, but would lose all the potential benefits. The hitch was that he didn't know enough about this alien venom to visualize an effective spell. The magical yield would undoubtedly be abysmally low.

The third and most realistic solution was to accept this transformation and instead focus on limiting or even removing the harmful side effects. As long as he used his Divine Spark to elevate his self-control and retain his humanity, it would remain an achievable wish.

The last solution, by far his favorite but also the most unrealistic, was to be ambitious. Keep the benefits, remove the drawbacks, assimilate this bloodline without being penalized by it.

'What should I choose...' Ikaris frowned so hard that a knot had formed between his two eyes.

[Transformation 20>21%]

This new itch was the reminder that ended his indecision. He threw caution to the wind and took action.

"Krold?"

The barbarian glared at him vigilantly.

"What?"

Ikaris smiled amiably.

"Those humans scratched and bitten by those Crawlers. When they lost their minds, what did they look like? Did they stay human or did their appearance change?"

The warrior was taken aback, but his brow furrowed as he gave serious thought to his questions. After a moment, he answered,

"They...remained mostly human. Sharp fangs, black clawed nails, slit pupils, golden eyes, whiter skin and a dark blue luster in their hair. That's it."

The boy closed his eyes and when he opened them again, he mumbled with a resolute air,

"So third solution it is."

He intended to let the transformation proceed and he would devote his efforts to resisting the unpleasant symptoms. He would rely on his abnormal Soul Strength. Once the situation stabilized, he would focus on his dream solution: assimilating the bloodline after purifying it of all its negative aspects.

Ikaris closed his eyes again, and in front of a perplexed Krold he dived into himself to re-establish the link with his Divine Spark. He wished with all his might to resist the negative psychological aspects inherent to a Crawling-Thrall, such as excessive appetite, strict carnivorous diet, loss of reason, bloodlust or loyalty to this Glenring race.

To increase his odds of success, he breathed deeply, trying his best to put himself in a favorable mental state. Breathing in, breathing out, with each cycle his heart rate slowed down and the external distractions harassing his mind faded away one after the other until they were replaced by absolute silence and an extremely vivid mental image.

At that moment, Ikaris' eyelids lifted slightly and he whispered in a foreign and icy voice,

"I...Am...Me!"

The urge to kill and the insatiable appetite that plagued his mind without him realizing it were momentarily muted. The feeling of relief was so startling and unexpected that for a second Ikaris' eyes became as wide as saucers.

The boy savored his success with a sense of fulfillment, but soon the magic began to wear off his endurance. Within seconds he was hyperventilating as if he had just run a marathon and a puddle of sweat had formed underneath him.

Krold watched his symptoms unfold with a concerned expression, but he refrained from intervening. With his experience he could obviously see that Ikaris was trying to use his Divine Spark to reverse the process.

How many of his comrades, including gifted sorcerers, had tried to resist in this way? In the end, so few had succeeded. The Crawlers' venom was not only based on their biology, but also an Innate Bloodline Spark. It was this combination that made the enslavement unstoppable.

The few who were able to withstand this venom were either very powerful Body Sorcerers, or they themselves possessed another conflicting bloodline that shielded them from such external influences.

On the Great Wall, all veterans mobilized by the various empires and kingdoms of the Free Races were known to possess a Secondary Spark known as Crawler Poison Resistance. This allowed the weakest to survive long enough for a Healer to come in and purge the poison, while the most talented were completely immune.

Sadly, this was only true for the Crawlers... This insatiable enemy had far more fearsome and nightmarish creatures in its ranks.

Suddenly, Krold raised his eyebrows in surprise, his eyes widening slightly.

'What is he doing? The transformation hasn't slowed down...'

In front of him, the boy sitting cross-legged was sweating profusely and his once pure black irises now held a hint of gold. As for his black hair, a shimmering trace of dark blue had come to pollute its initial hue.

[Transformation 24>25%]