Chapter 9: Magical Metamorphosis
The scent of fresh blood roamed around the dark room as the corpse of a large, hybrid cat rested atop the floor. The floor was now covered in an entire lake of the cat's blood, encompassing the lower body of an unconscious boy, whose back rested against a wall.
The boy had countless open wounds, but none were as lethal as the one he'd suffered due to falling off the head of the cat. Thankfully, swallowing the last Stone of Stoma had reduced the damage by a considerable amount.
However, even a magical stone wasn't enough to completely disregard the sheer impact of a human's body, although strengthened, colliding with a floor made of concrete from such a height.
As the eyes of the boy opened slightly, he took in his surroundings with a light smile. The death of a being that had caused him such trouble, even to the lengths of giving him a fatal wound, brought joy to Alex's strained heart.
He considered desecrating the cat's corpse, but decided against it, finding his injuries far too severe. Alex stood up with much difficulty as he gazed down at the pool of blood that came up to his knees.
"I should be able to bring down a dog if I give it my all," Alex noted as he headed towards the door. His injuries were far too severe for him to take on any other monsters, but he didn't have a way to heal himself.
Suddenly, he remembered something important. "The drops from the cat's death…"
Believing the rewards for such a difficult battle to be tremendously helpful, he frantically searched under the pool of blood that encompassed his feet. Finally, spotting a circle with a turquoise hue radiating off its surface, he bolted towards it.
As he approached the glowing circle, his eyes widened. His jaw dropped considerably as he processed what lay before him, a certain degree of numbness from his temples.
"20 Stones of Soma, 2 Stones of Magikos, and a sword," Alex counted the items peeking from under the pool of blood. "Unlocking mana in the early stages of the tutorial… in the first day, too."
His growth rate was phenomenal. By this point in time, Alex had been struggling to fight dogs in his previous life, but now, he could fight infants belonging to a semi-superior species, albeit with a lot of trouble.
"I had consumed 30 Stones of Soma including the ones I received from the wolves," Alex counted. "The lizards' rewards were used when fighting the cat. About 5 of these will be enough to heal my injuries, and by consuming the other 15, I'll have consumed 45 Stones of Soma that will directly influence my body's development."
"Moreover, 2 Stones of Magikos, albeit not much compared to the standards of Telos Dou Dromou, will be more than enough to unlock mana," Alex noted. However, he soon grimaced as he recalled the intense pain felt by a human that gains mana for the first time. "I have to do it, though."
Making up his mind, Alex quickly consumed 20 Stones of Soma. His injuries healed in an instant, and following that development, veins began to bulge from his skin. His pupils rolled upwards as a change occurred in Alex's body.
When he regained control of his body, Alex stretched a little to loosen his muscles, as sudden growth at this level could be harmful if not treated properly.
Alex quickly took a glance at the new sword he had received. The pitch-black, shiny hilt and the crimson blade seemed to radiate an ominous pressure. Alex believed the sword to be at least an E Rank Artifact, which would have been pretty impressive of an item to receive from the tutorial.
Finally, taking a soft, deep breath, Alex stuffed the 2 Stones of Magikos into his mouth, swallowing them instantly. For a couple of seconds, nothing happened. However, as soon as Alex let out a sigh of relief, two cold hands grasped the surface of his heart. At least, it felt like so to him.
It was as if someone had a knife to his throat, threatening him to move and see what happens. It was a threat.
Alex controlled his breath to the point where it wasn't producing any sound. After that, he tried to find a rhythm, eventually settling with one breath every fifteen seconds, which would normally be extremely harmful.
However, by how things were going, even the slightest movement would result in Alex's decapitation; or so he thought. In reality, it was pure paranoia.
The process of developing the ability to store, conduct, and utilize mana was slow, very slow. Moreover, it was usually altered to a difficulty where the person in question would feel a certain amount of discomfort, regardless of their resistance(s).
Even if they had experienced the blossoming of mana before, the difficulty would be set to a level where they would feel the same amount of discomfort as done previously.
Silence descended atop the room that was encompassed in the blood of a hybrid monster.
Crack!
A bone in Alex's body cracked as the boy screamed. His previous, mature mind might be resistant to most pain, but all that remained in his current brain were memories.
Alex fell to his knees as he heard several other cracking noises. Instantly, pain erupted from other parts of his body as the ability to hear sound was taken from the boy. His mind became clouded with negative thoughts as the sense of smell was removed, too.
The process of reconstruction. It was a process that took place when one went through a form of metamorphosis. It was typically done to alter the body and make it durable enough to resist the load of foreign energy seeping through one's veins and arteries.
It was a supernatural process, much like many things in the apocalyptic world, that included the destruction and reconstruction of organs, bones, veins, arteries, muscles, fat, and more. During the process, the body reacted by giving itself an organic anaesthetic and a certain form of energy and prevented cardiac arrest and death due to insufficient blood flow respectively.
It was a process that caused excruciating pain and was extremely cruel. However, the gain was much more than one could expect.
As time went by, Alex lost all of his senses, and his mind was soon secluded in an abyss. The abyss, clouded by pitch-black clouds, was a void of nothingness, void of anything and everything, tangible or intangible.
An unknown amount of time passed in an instant, and the five senses Alex had previously lost finally returned. As he returned to his body from the abyss, his lips curled upwards in genuine ecstasy.
It was as if an ability he had previously lost had been returned to him. A sensation of finding something important after a long time.
A cyan glint flashed in Alex's eyes as he grinned, feeling the foreign yet familiar energy course through his body. The feeling of showering using cold water on a sunny day. The cold sensation of liquid-like energy that existed as an extension to his body meeting other forms of energy such as vitality, blood, stamina, and more.
Alex clenched his fist as he coated it with a thin layer of mana that seemed to be invisible to the naked eye. It was as if this ability had always existed, and that Alex had just never needed to utilize it. It felt inherent.
The boy pulled his fist back and thrust forward using most of his strength. The fist that would have usually caused a light crack instantly pierced through the wall, creating a huge crater. The backlash was just as terrifying, as blood instantly encompassed Alex's fist.
The existence of mana was taboo for the human body, which is why it first went through reconstruction to be able to support it. However, if one's body was too powerful and they used too much strength with a significantly lower amount of mana output, despite the result being above average, the backlash would be drastic.
It was an obvious property that existed under the laws of physics. This was a perfect example of Sir Isaac Newton's third law, which stated "every action has an equal and opposite reaction."
Alex caressed his bloody fist as he suppressed the pain. He believed it would be necessary for future torture that he would face, so why not start early?
Since he did not have a clean cloth to tie the wound with, Alex scraped his hand on the wall to try to remove the blood, so that it wouldn't cause an infection.
He then sighed before heading towards the entrance/exit of the dungeon, praising himself endlessly for having survived this "hell" without death.
"It should be time for 'that' soon."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone