Kranos felt that the repulsive boy looked more pleasing to the eye. "Follow me. I have something for you," he said in a mature tone, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked toward his newly assigned house.
The boy hesitated for a moment before slowly trailing behind Kranos. He had nothing else to do anyway. The other children rarely played with him, fearing that his presence would accelerate the corruption spreading through their own bodies.
…
Soon, they reached a small hut—barely larger than a one-room apartment. It was clearly designed for a single occupant. Kranos stepped inside and scanned the interior. There were only three chairs, and the kitchen seemed to be situated behind the hut. After studying the room briefly, he sat down.
"Take a seat," he told the boy, who was standing nervously at the doorway.
Of course, Kranos wasn't so heartless as to begin experimenting on a child right away. Instead, he brought out the bread.
Since this can be corrupted, can I purify it using mana? he thought.
Putting his theory into practice, wisps of mana began to flicker around his hand. Even without using his elemental affinity, he could still manipulate mana for basic tasks like offense, defense, and now—perhaps purification.
As he held the bread, the transparent wisps of mana seeped into it, clashing almost instantly with the embedded purple aura. Kranos observed the two forces violently destroying each other.
If this same reaction occurred inside a person's body… would it damage their cells? he wondered. Kranos studied the process as he continued; he noticed that the purple aura was slowly disintegrating.
It seems that, with enough mana, the purple aura can be neutralized, he sighed in relief, then tossed the bread to the boy. "Try it."
The boy blinked in confusion, not understanding why Kranos was returning the bread he had given earlier.
"Eat it and tell me what's different," Kranos said gently.
The boy hesitated, then took a bite, nevertheless, after swallowing, the next moment.
Blegh…
He rushed out of the house and vomited. "It… it tastes disgusting," he complained, wiping his mouth with a frown.
Kranos's brows furrowed in thought. Disgusting? Could something be wrong with my purification method? He glanced at the boy, a theory forming. Is it possible that his internal organs have adapted to consume corrupted substances?
That seemed the most plausible explanation.
Then I'll have to take the next step. His gaze turned serious.
"Come here," he said. The boy nervously stepped forward.
"Give me your hand."
Kranos decided to start with the hand; he felt that having a disabled hand would be better than having restricted movement with a disabled leg.
The boy hesitated, especially after being given "poisoned" bread, but eventually extended his hand. Before he started he told the boy, "this is going to be painful you should tear a piece of your cloth and place in your mouth."
The boy understood Kranos. Tearing a piece of fabric, he placed it in his mouth and gritted his teeth. Kranos began the process; after a few moments, he could faintly feel his mana clashing against something. The little boy's body immediately began trembling; the pain was unbearable. It felt like ants were crawling beneath his skin. He trembled violently but continued to endure.
Despite his age, he could sense the wrongness that had plagued his body for so long, but now, it seems, he is cleansing me! A god! Have I encountered a god? Is this a gift from my parents? Due to the fact that Kranos could cleanse him, the boy immediately considered Kranos a god; after all, as much as he knew, no normal human could heal someone who was corrupted.
Looking at the white hair that slowly slid down Kranos's head, the boy felt more and more that Kranos seemed like an immortal. With this thought his gaze turned frantic as he stared at Kranos; he looked at his hand and what he saw shocked him: his hand that had already been 70% corrupted had magically healed.
A god! Kranos finally withdrew his hand, letting out a deep breath. Looks like the healing method works. But I used up about 3% of my total energy just for one hand…
"god accept my bow," interrupting Kranos's thoughts was a heavy kowtow. Kranos was caught off guard and immediately used his mana to stop the little boy. "i'm not a god, just a cultivator. Don't kneel before me," he said sternly.
The young boy frantically nodded excitedly as his eyes gleamed with newfound hope.
"Lie down on your stomach," Kranos instructed. He placed his hand on the boy's back and continued the healing process.
Several hours passed. By the time he was done, the boy's entire body had been purified. Kranos studied him carefully—his skin no longer bore a trace of the purple veins, and his inner organs, based on his sense of mana, had been thoroughly restored.
The boy stood slowly, his eyes were wide with disbelief.
As the boy stood up, Kranos noticed that the boy's body was filled with purity; all the purple strands on his body had been cleansed, and internally his organs had been once again modified, purified to be precise. Seeing this, Kranos nodded gladly.
At the same time the boy was trembling in excitement, he could feel it; his body felt different, it felt pure, and he no longer felt suffocated. He felt his breathing was fresh, but the air seemed chaotic. Since the boy was healed, he could feel the difference in the air. "Is this… is this what took my parents?" the boy's face turned pale and he trembled as he spoke.
Kranos nodded solemnly, not hiding anything from him.
After making sure that everything was alright, Kranos was just about to relax when he sensed something.
Danger!
But… where is the danger coming from? Before Kranos could react, a Gu worm jumped out from the little boy's ear. The little worm was purple, but most of it was white—cleansed—but the lingering purple aura in the air clashed with it. The purple wisps devoured the whitish energy, rapidly reversing the purification.
In seconds, the worm reverted to its full corrupted form.
Before Kranos could strike, it leapt—straight into his body.
No!
What do I do? Will I be corrupted? I kept my guard up… how did this happen?