Corrupted Core

**Chen Residence**

A vast valley full of mountains and clouds cutting through it, alongside petals of flowers that make this place look like it came out of a fairy tale.

In a mansion in the central mountain, there were two people kneeling before another group. These two were the ones who had delivered the invitation letter to Brandon.

"We have successfully delivered the letter, Master," said one.

Meditating, one of the beings opened his eyes and looked at the two newcomers. "Was there any inconvenience on the way?" said this being, who had a serenity that could calm a raging sea.

He had long, dark hair and a white robe with words that stood out with their presence, reading "SERENITY."

"Everything went smoothly," the messenger replied.

Another being opened his eyes and looked at the serene one. "One of our informants mentioned that the Moon clan started moving to capture this boy. How should we proceed?"

Another being spoke up. "I don't think we should enter into enmity with the Moon clan just for a boy and the whims of the young lady. We can let the Moon clan handle it, and if it's beneficial for us, we can discuss marriage with their leader."

The being with the writing "SERENITY" spoke up. "We can talk to the Moon clan and undo the marriage as well. I don't really agree with this. If we hadn't found out that this boy belongs to a family like the Moon clan, we wouldn't have even considered the marriage."

The group continued to discuss for a long time until one in the center of all, without moving his lips or opening his eyes, simply transmitted his message through his will.

"Let him prove his worth. If he can overcome this pursuit by the Moon clan and demonstrates potential, we could even protect him."

The room became silent like a tomb.

"Understood," they all said.

***Dragna Refuge***

*Sneeze*

Back in his room at the canteen, Brandon responded, "Who's talking about me?" It was a great belief in his city that if you sneeze, it means that someone is talking about you.

"Well, back to what I was doing."

He had encountered a bottleneck and a dilemma. The beasts he could hunt to give him enough battle power were here in the barren lands, but the beasts were infected with miasma, and so were their cores. He would have to take the core to distill it to make it pure and absorbable.

But he had distilled 20 cores and only managed to get 9 points. Many of the cores lost their energy in the distillation process, so when consumed, they wouldn't give any score.

He took out 32 cores and looked at them. According to what he heard, many humans consumed corrupted cores and gained a lot of power. But the more they consumed, the more they lost their sanity until they turned into monsters and were eliminated.

Many shelters even had a rule not to accept humans who showed symptoms of having consumed corrupted cores.

Other races didn't have this problem, as those who used cores to absorb their energy had ancient techniques that allowed them to absorb energy without mixing it with miasma.

Many humans tried to replicate these techniques, but with a body structure so different, there had been no progress in this field yet.

"Luzbel, what do you think would happen if I took one of these cores?"

[Answering the master. Miasma is a strange energy that I cannot analyze with the master's current power level.]

[Still, I think it would be possible to eliminate the miasma inside the master.]

Brandon was deep in thought. The Moons were behind him and he needed to find his mother. Luzbel had only said it was "possible," not necessarily achievable.

Looking at the core in his hand, he swallowed hard and closed his eyes, sending the core into his mouth. A strong current of wild energy surged into his body. Brandon opened his eyes and gritted his teeth as he thrashed around.

["Unidentified energy attempting to take control"]

[Controlling energy... Failed]

[Controlling energy... Failed]

While his ability was active, Brandon felt his energy drain and constant messages rang in his head. His ability, "Cold Mind," was active as it adapted to Brandon's mental level.

[Energy cannot be controlled... Seeking alternatives]

[Alternative found... Assimilating energy]

[Assimilating energy]

[Assimilating....]

Brandon felt the frenzied energy inside his body calm down.

[Successful assimilation]

Exhausted and sweaty, Brandon collapsed with his arms open. His breathing was still ragged as he looked up at the ceiling. Another message resonated.

["You have consumed a corrupted core +0.1 corruption point"]

Brandon wondered what this corruption point was, but he was mentally and physically tired, so his fatigue won and he fell asleep. After an undefined amount of time, Brandon opened his eyes and felt a hunger and weakness like he had never experienced before.

"Luzbel, how long was I asleep?"

[The master was asleep for 3 dimensional days]

Brandon was stunned. Now he understood why he felt so hungry. He placed his hands on the floor and with a small push, stood up and went to the bathroom. Before going down to eat, he would take a good bath.

Brandon was in a secluded spot in the cafeteria, eating. He opened his database and was amazed at what he saw.

════════Data Panel════════

Name: Brandon Sanchez

Race: Human

Lower Class

Awakening: Digitized (73%) [...] Thunder (28%)

══════════Attributes══════════

Health: 40 (2,000)

Strength: 65

Agility: 65

Resistance: 50

Energy: 90 (1,800)

Miasma: 12

Control: 60

Attitude: 370

Free points: 9 + 0.1*

══════════Skills══════════

Cold Mind Level 5 (93%)

Lightning Manifestation Level 3 (23%)

The first thing he noticed was that his main ability was almost completely assimilated. Even the compatibility of his Thunder ability was understandable, as he had been fighting using this ability for the past few weeks.

It was just surprising that this ability had increased so much.

Next, he saw that a new statistic had appeared. "Miasma," he still didn't understand what this new statistic was, but he could feel in his body how this energy was quietly sitting in a corner without causing any havoc.

Then there were the free points. Before, his database didn't show them, but now it did. But the most notable thing was the (0.1*). Brandon used his authority to command the integration of this point, but a voice sounded.

[Insufficient points]

After thinking it over clearly, he deduced that maybe he would need to complete the entire point to be able to assign it.

"Still, I don't plan on going through that ordeal again. I won't take another corrupted core," he thought.

At that moment, Luzbel interrupted him. "That's not necessarily true, Master. You've already assimilated the miasma energy, so you can consume the cores normally," he said.

"When the energy flowed through your body, I analyzed and realized that in your attempt to deny this energy, it tried to take over your mind. But once you started assimilating, it became smooth."

Brandon listened to Luzbel and understood that he was right. Nevertheless, he would proceed with caution with this new energy.

He finished eating and then went to his room to finish what he had started three days ago.

"Alright then, let's do this," he said as he activated his ability and took the remaining 31 cores.

He sent a large amount of electric energy to his hand and focused it on the cores. His goal was not to destroy them, but rather to use the high voltage to heat the cores. They slowly began to drip into a container, a blue liquid mixed with small hints of red and black.

He had taken a tonic before, but didn't have time to make more. However, he knew they were more effective, so he did the same with the corrupted cores.

The liquid in the container looked like it could make anyone who saw it vomit. Still, Brandon closed his eyes and drank all of the tonic. He clenched his teeth, waiting for a reaction, but nothing happened. The liquid flowed smoothly down his throat.

[You have consumed a tonic made from corrupted cores +4.3 corrupt points. Miasma increased by +30.]