Chapter Twenty-One[XXI]: Plans and Pains (I)

Xenos Waters is immensely frustrated, and rightfully so. It has been a whole entire month since he had arrived in Vaedreola, and he has yet to make any notable progress with his magic. The most he has achieved is controlling the mana in his veins, when it activates, how much he uses at a time, and other basic things.

Sure, this is huge progress for someone who just learned about magic, but it's nothing for Xenos. He needs to have a much deeper control over his mana to control the assimilation, and this basic control is not even close to what he requires. In all honesty, Xenos is beginning to lose hope he'll even make it to the Audition at this rate.

He's basically a human-sized dhabeho at the moment, completely covered in scales. Xenos' hair has long fallen out, not that it matters at this point. According to Mr. Balanius, there are three phases to the entire assimilation process, and Xenos is in the beginning of the second phase, the fastest of all phases.

The first phase is all about the outer appearance. The person's skin would change to whatever material the mana beast was covered with, which are scales in the case of the dhabeho. They would also grow whatever extra appendages the mana beast has, like the horn Xenos is currently sporting, and gain a basic enhancement of senses that match those of the mana beast.

The second phase focuses on shape, which means that the person will stop looking like a human, looking exactly like the mana beast from the outside. The third phase is the real doozy, it changes the entire internal structure of the person. Organs grow, change, or desiper as a whole, the last organ to change is the brain. This process is extremely painful, even more so than the first phase combined. It's also the slowest, so the agony lasts for far longer.

Xenos is, to say the least, not looking forward to any of the process. Thankfully, the second phase isn't all that painful, so while the growth pain is constant, it's at a level where Xenos can ignore it. Currently, he was sitting on his bed, trying to make his mana attack the dhabeho remnants without any luck.

In truth, all he's doing is burning mana away while his progress remains at a stand still. The dhabeho remnants are strong to the point where even though he can make his mana attack it, his mana is repelled the moment it makes contact. Xenos currently has three options. First, he focuses solely on strengthening his mana, which is a process that requires time that Xenos doesn't have.

Second, he goes on a hunt to find a Shifter who is willing to teach him how to more efficiently and effectively attack the dhabeho remnants. This is the best option Xenos has, but there is a glaring problem with this method: neither he nor Mr. Balanius know of any Shifter in this region who would be open to this task.

And third, Xenos could give up right now and kill himself to avoid anymore pain. This was the easiest option, and frankly, Xenos is considering this option seriously right now. While it will probably make Felix and Mr. Balanius sad, Xenos isn't in a position to be thinking about how his choices will affect others.

Well. . . there is a fourth option.

But, well, Xenos doesn't know what will happen if he takes the fourth option. He's been having more and more dreams where he's inside the body of a dhabeho. Xenos doesn't know if it's the same one each time or different ones, but that fact isn't important. What is important is the mysterious man who occasionally appears at the end of his dreams.

The man who sits on a throne of obsidian, shrouded in darkness so that he can't be seen, yet still gives Xenos the impression he's smiling. Xenos has no idea who the man is, nor what his true intentions are, but he knows instinctively that the man is powerful, far more powerful than Xenos can imagine.

This strange man is Xenos' fourth option.

The man has offered to help Xenos with his dhabeho remnant issue. How the man knows about it Xenos doesn't know, and that hardly matters in the first place. Moreover, the man never named a price for his help, nor explained how he will help. All he said is that he can, nothing more, and nothing less.

It isn't something Xenos even considered when he first heard it. The whole entire offer seems too good to be true, and he knows next to nothing about it. The most suspicious part, however, is the lack of want for something in return. Xenos has long realized that help doesn't come for free, especially not when life or death are involved.

Take the Audition as an example. He, Felix, and eighteen others are being taught how to control their magic, but the cost of that, of being able to live without fear of your own magic killing you, is the life of nineteen people. Even then, Xenos doesn't believe for a second that they can just leave Vaedreola whenever they want, so they're also unable to see their familiars and friends.

However, Xenos is getting desperate, the time of his impending doom is ticking down second by second as he sits here, trying to fix an issue that is far beyond his current abilities. Unless he suddenly becomes a prodigy like Felix apparently is ( because wow, his mana has become so much stronger at such a high speed that Xenos wants to puke blood out of jealousy whenever he sees Felix ), there is virtually no hope for him.

That is a truth that Xenos has come to accept.

Calming his mounting frustration, Xenos stops futilely attacking the remnants and falls deep into thought. The time has come for him to choose his fate. The third option is off the table until right before the second phase ends, if it reaches that point, which it probably will, Xenos is going to end it before he has to experience pain even more excruciating than the scales consuming his flesh.

The second option is also a no go, he'll almost certainly fail at finding someone to teach him. Thus, the final decision is between option one and four. Option one is the most straightforward method, but it's also the option more likely to fail. Xenos isn't quick at picking up things like Felix, he requires time to learn them, and that's something he has a limit on.

He gently shuts his eyes, hoping this decision isn't the wrong one.