Chapter 72: Eat Crystal and Grow
’Bring me a crystal.’
One of the wolves outside the chamber heard Jason’s command through the mental link, and it quickly carried a large magical crystal from one of the Adamantine Ant Soldiers and brought it to Jason. The crystal was the same size as the magical crystal that Jason got from the Moonlight Wolf Boss, and when Jason looked over it, he saw that there was still some blood stuck to it.
’If this is some sort of joke, then the blood alone will likely kill me. I’m sure humans aren’t meant to consume Magic Beast blood. Is it safe for me to eat this?’
Jason asked the last question to the system and the system immediately brought up a response.
[The consumption of Magical Beast blood will cause serious internal issues for any human and likely end in death, but the user does not need to be concerned about the effects due to the fact that his human DNA is greatly overpowered by his Avarian DNA. The user will not die... most likely.]
’Most likely!?’
[...]
"..."
[The system was attempting to lighten the mood by making what humans refer to as a ’joke’]
Jason’s brow rose in surprise. The system had to be fucking with him, right?
"What sort of joke is that?"
[The system is the single greatest source of information and power in the known Primordial Expanse. Understanding the nuances of human comedic nature is beneath its necessary functions.]
Jason put his hand on his face as he felt a chuckle escape him. He couldn’t believe the system was trying to joke with him in this situation! But even though the joke was a horrible one, it actually helped to lighten the mood a little and Jason felt some gratitude towards the system as he shook his head and looked back down at the crystal.
’Dad was the one who gave me the system, and it hasn’t let me down so far, so let’s see how far I can go while trusting him.’
Jason popped the Magical Crystal in his mouth, and he grimaced at the horrible taste of it. He crushed it between his teeth, and a loud sound like glass breaking echoed through the region before he swallowed.
Boom!
Immediately Jason swallowed it, a sudden rush of power, like millions of electric volts, suddenly passed through his body! From his toes all the way up to the top of his fucking scalp, Jason could feel an invigorating energy like nothing he had ever felt before.
——
The user has consumed a high-level Magic Crystal from the [Adamantine Ant] Race.
+100MP
+0.5% Strength
+0.5% Stamina
+0.05% Agility
+0.05% Durability
[The skill [Adamantine Hide] has evolved into the S Rank skill [Exo-Skeletal Armor]]
[The skill [Mana Frenzy] has grown stronger]
The user has acquired a new genetic trait [Adamantine Ant]
——
[Exo-Skeletal Armor: This skill allows the user to create an exoskeletal protection around his body or on any individual part of his body in order to protect himself against incoming magical or physical attacks. This skill cannot be evolved.]
——
Jason used his tongue to get some of the crystal out of his teeth while looking at the message from the system. Jason’s eyes were wide in shock when he saw how much he got from this one crystal! Jason wasn’t surprised by the massive amount of mana that he received since that was normal for him by now, but Jason didn’t think that he would also be able to evolve his skills with that crystal.
The most impressive part though, was the fact that his stats also received a boost from the crystal. This was just one crystal, and all of Jason’s stats had improved this much! Jason was already thinking about what would happen to him if he ate fifty or even a hundred crystals! If he wasn’t in the middle of a battle, he could always just eat the crystals from the monsters that he had killed to continue growing stronger!
No wonder his father said that the Avarian race was capable of growing stronger indefinitely! This was a perfect way to improve your power outside of battle!
But Jason hummed when he read the last part of the rewards and saw that he had gained something completely foreign to him.
’What do you mean by genetic trait? Is my body changing?’
[The user is correct. The consumption of Mana Crystals not only grants the user the mana held within the crystal as well as a boost in his stats, but it also modifies the user’s genetic makeup and allows the user to improve his human bloodline. This makes it easier for the user to activate and utilize the skills that he gains from the various races he consumes.]
Jason hummed curiously when he saw this. He could only improve on his human bloodline. What about his Avarian bloodline?
[The Avarian genome is more powerful than 90% of the genomes existing in the Primordial Expanse. Something so powerful cannot be easily modified by a genome weaker than it, which is why only the human genome is constantly modified.]
Jason nodded along once he was done reading all this. If he was undergoing some sort of genetic mutation, then what would happen if he modified his genetics too much? Was he going to change into some sort of ant?
[The user will retain his humanoid appearance but will be capable of utilizing the skills from the consumed race more easily. The skills will grow more powerful the more Magic Crystals that the user consumes.]
Jason read through all this quickly and nodded. It was perfect. So long as he was able to continue eating as many stones as possible, he would continue to grow stronger. Jason immediately began thinking of how powerful he would be if he ate the crystals from one of the stronger monsters, like the Leviathan or even the Armageddon! He could probably shoot himself straight up into the SS Rank once he did that!
And since the system said that Jason only had to eat the crystals, that meant he didn’t even have to be the one to kill the monsters. Jason could ’acquire’ [A/N: steal] crystals from as many people as possible and then consume them to grow stronger!
Jason mentally sent a message to the wolf sitting beside him and told it to go and grab five more magical crystals. The wolf yipped and quickly went to do as it was told, and Jason moved on to his other reward. The new skill that he got was now an S Rank, and Jason was immediately curious to know just how strong it was! This was Jason’s first S Rank skill, and from all the amazing things he had heard about S Ranks for the past ten years, he had a feeling that it would be really strong!
Jason stood and stretched as he called on the large Moonlight Wolf Rook that had been watching him curiously all this time. The wolf quickly came up to him and licked his face, and Jason chuckled before he told it to sit.
[Exo-Skeletal Armor] has been activated.
Jason turned on the skill and he watched as a lustrous silver armor quickly formed over his body. The armor looked sturdy, but the joints were loose to allow Jason to move properly, and the armor’s head was the same shape as an ant’s head with two large antennae over it.
Jason tilted his head to one side before he sent a mental command to the wolf in front of him! The wolf tilted its head to one side curiously to mirror Jason and it asked Jason if he was sure. Jason clicked his tongue and commanded the wolf to do it immediately!
Woosh!
BOOM!
The wolf suddenly lashed out with immense strength and slammed Jason away! Jason flew back like a fucking rocket before slamming into the wall of the cavern and digging a deep crater into it! The entire cavern shook from the impact, and the tremors traveled all the way to the surface of the hill, making hundreds of birds fly away in fear!
Jason was stuck in the wall like some sort of cartoon character, and the large wolf came up to him quickly and prodded him with its nose while asking if he was okay.
"Hahaha! That shit didn’t even hurt!"
Jason let out a loud laugh before he dragged himself out from the crater in the wall easily. He landed on his feet with no trouble and rolled his shoulder around before patting the wolf on the side to tell it that he was okay! The wolf whined and lay down. It really didn’t want to hurt Jason, so it was just glad that the king was okay.
Jason had been trying to see just how durable the armor was, and he now knew that if it could survive a blow from an Eldritch Class beast like the Rook, then he would definitely not have any trouble against most of the superhumans out in the real world!