Chapter 16: Mutated Beast Transformation
[World Corruption: 98.01%]
[World Corruption: 97.64%]
[World Corruption: 97.20%]
Rhizen condensed his pocket watch, observing the corruption of the apocalyptic world beginning to reduce sharply. The change happened ever since the Celas and the three Keras were killed and their corruption converted into Nacre to fuel their exploits.
The apocalyptic world lost its edge following that as multiple safe zones were set up; the corruption was consumed at a faster pace while the Nacre production spiked.
Moreover, now that things leaned in their favour, the Horned Humans too could participate and become an active contributor.
Felix had already reached Stage 2 after a day, experiencing an increase in his strength as he was able to kill the Aberrants better.
Only those at Stage 5 and beyond could face a Titan Aberrant. So, he was hoping to reach that level as soon as possible.
External Item—Healing Sprite!
A Stage 7 Mystic human arrived at the safe zone established by Shika, planting his External Item into the ground, watching it bloom into a fountain that produced a tiny barrier spanning ten metres in radius.
The water from the fountain gradually evaporated, filling up the dome to create a healing effect as anyone that entered this region noticed their injuries healing at a faster rate. A couple of Stage 7 Whales too hovered beside the Healing Sprite, sucking in the Corruption within the bodies of the injured.
Only after that could they be treated by the Healing Sprite.
As the External Items were set up at multiple stations, it sped up their clean-up, allowing them to handle the Aberrants with hardly any casualties.
By the fourth day, they didn't face any casualties anymore, having gotten used to the attacks of the Aberrants, safely attacking from the forts that they installed along the way.
External Item—Fortress!
As they proceeded deep into the region of the Aberrants, Rhizen cleared out a kilometre in area using his Dust Wave as a Stage 7 Mystic Human set up a Fortress.
The Fortress spanned exactly a kilometre in area, equipped with all facilities to live at. A couple of Mystic Humans then planted Vitality Bowls in it to take care of their food needs.
Following that was a defensive war until the Aberrants in the region were cleared out to a certain extent.
After that, the Fortress was removed as they moved over to another region.
The safe zones established throughout the world continued to expand as the strength of the Horned Humans gradually increased as they continued to fight.
This resulted in their clearing speed improving drastically. After all, the number of Mystic Humans was limited and their breakthrough was slow.
In comparison, the Horned Humans could speed through the initial Stages at an alarming pace.
By the end of the week, Felix managed to reach Stage 3, Stage 4 after a month, and Stage 5 after three months.
At this point, he was able to face the Titan Aberrants, only now feeling that he had made the right choice in trusting Rhizen at the start. Otherwise, if he selfishly stuck to their genetic evolution, he wouldn't have enough power to face his enemies.
And now, he could feel his strength continuing to grow without any limits. As he already had the experience of fighting in an apocalypse for twenty years, he was the fastest to adapt to his power.
Swoosh!
His feathers shot out like the wind, splitting into multiple streams as they slammed into the Aberrants approaching from multiple directions. Each feather accurately landed on their necks, one per each before exploding to kill them.
Having been using the same power, Felix's control had reached a terrifying level. After all, he had Rhizen to teach him through the ins and outs of this ability.
His ability, Homing Feathers was versatile in nature. As they were a pair of wings, they allowed him to fly. Moreover, his mobility was higher as compared to Horned Humans and Mystic Humans that relied on wings to fly.
That wasn't all, he could constantly unleash his feathers like bullets, those whose travel paths he could control, able to precisely aim at his target.
He could either carpet bomb a place or precisely target his enemy. To defend, he could erect defensive structures using his feathers. So, it was damn versatile in nature.
He only couldn't heal himself or recover his expended Nacre. But, for that, he could form a team with Horned Humans that had the related abilities.
Even though none of the Horned Humans had the All-Devouring Whale, they awakened to abilities that were like the inferior version to the same, which was also useful in the long run.
Among them was a Horned Human that could summon a Pufferfish. It devoured the corpses of the Aberrants, digested them and turned them into Nacre. After that, it shot out spikes of Nacre into the horns of the Horned Men, recharging their Nacre this way.
Even though the time it took to do this was almost ten times the Whale at a similar Stage, they were still useful. After all, the Pufferfish acted as a mobile recharge unit to replenish their Nacre reserves.
Felix gazed at a mirror, seeing the horn on his forehead segmented into five, displaying that he had attained Stage 5.
After reaching this Stage, he unlocked a special ability, one that Rhizen called the Mutated Beast Transformation. It was something Mystic Humans could do at Stage 1 while Horned Humans had to wait until Stage 5.
Felix took in a deep breath before riling up his Nacre, watching his figure transform into a bird-like creature resembling a vulture.
It reached a height of two metres and had a wingspan that almost reached eight metres. It flapped its wings as Felix thought, 'It's somewhat uncomfortable being in this unfamiliar form. But I could feel that my power is stronger in this form.'
He then thought, watching the size of the vulture-like bird expanding in size, reaching a height of three metres before he felt that he had hit his limit. He then began to shrink his size, bringing it down to almost a metre in height before hitting his limit.
After that, he returned to his human form, muttering, "I can feel that I would be able to vary my size further after reaching a higher Stage."
"Brother, I saw a large creature here!" Raisha shouted in alarm before rushing into the alley he was at, alert.
"That was me," Felix said, explaining his new power and the advantages it came with.
"Hmm, I'm curious about the creature I would transform into at Stage 5." She said, becoming a tad excited. She had just reached Stage 4 and had a long way to reach Stage 5. But, it wouldn't be long.
Besides, as they began to clear one region after another, some of the Horned Humans began to repair the mostly intact buildings, intending for them to become their dwelling.
And in the future, even though the cities would be mostly vacant, they could somewhat return to their original lives.
"I hope we'll get there one day," Raisha muttered.
"That's a definite." Felix nodded, "You can see how the corruption is continuing to fall at a consistent rate. Before long, our world would be good as new."
"It's not as simple as that," Rhizen said, pouring cold water over their hopeful thoughts.
"Is there a problem?" Felix asked, feeling nervous immediately.
"First of all, we're only clearing out the Aberrants on the land." Rhizen said, "But, we have yet to touch the ocean. And around seventy percent of the corruption is still there."
"The most we could promise from our side is to ensure that Apocalypse wouldn't be able to connect with this world again. But, clearing the corruption entirely is impossible. We'll have to leave that to the natives of this world."
"So, we'll have to set out campaigns into the ocean," Felix said, frowning in response. "It won't be easy."
At least, on land, it was a 2D war, with very few Aberrants that could fly. But things in the ocean were a whole other dynamic, for the war there was 3D in nature. Moreover, the water pressure would cause most of their abilities to be weakened.
That wasn't all. As the corruption had mixed into the ocean water itself, it would churn through the water cycle, continuing to corrupt the cleansed land through rainfall and other factors.
"So, the moment we become complacent or slip up is when the situation would repeat itself." Felix sighed in response, feeling that returning to their original lives would be a lot harder than he had expected.
He then thought of something, asking Rhizen, "This is the third world you've dived into, right? How are the other two worlds faring?"
"The first world had a corruption rate less than 8 percent." Rhizen said, "So, once we turned back time for it, the one similar to you in that world managed to succeed with minimal help from us. Though, it took him forty years to do so. After that, they entered a post-apocalyptic era with our aid."
"The second world had a corruption around forty percent." He said, "It wasn't as easy there. And the situation there is somewhat similar to this world as their waters are still corrupted. But, their corruption has stabilised around twenty percent."
"Thankfully, they too have entered a post-apocalyptic era and have begun to raise the number of people. Over time, they would cleanse the world. And if the situation were to deteriorate, we'll step in immediately." He continued, "Unlike the first world, the second world is mostly relying on our power, for it's stronger than their world's power."
"The only disadvantage of this power is how weak our bodies are." Felix muttered, "But the Mutated Beast Transformation negates that disadvantage to a certain extent."
"Indeed," Rhizen nodded, "So, the Horned Humans from Stage 5 and above have fewer weaknesses. Also,"
He continued, "When you reach Stage 10, your power enters a whole new realm."
"Would we obtain any new abilities?" Felix asked, excited.
"You'll obtain an External Item of your choosing." Rhizen said, "And, the External Items of Horned Humans are somewhat special."
He then smiled mysteriously, "When you attain Stage 10, you'll know."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone