Chapter 265: Stone Basilisk
If he could destroy the egg, he would obtain the Gene Potential of a species above Mid rank, which was extremely valuable.
However, he couldn’t use his strongest attacks inside the cave because something like a Fire Bullet or Mana Railgun could easily cause the entire place to collapse.
He could take the egg outside before attacking it, but there was another problem with that plan. The explosion would produce a large amount of noise and residual mana shockwaves, and in Hell Difficulty, Alex didn’t want to attract the attention of some powerful predator by mistake.
Alex was strong, but he knew better than to become arrogant in a place like this. They had already encountered creatures far beyond what they could normally handle, so every action needed to be considered carefully.
Alex walked toward the egg and placed one hand against its shell. He had an idea he wanted to test, and although he wasn’t certain that it would work, there was no harm in trying as long as he controlled the spell properly.
He began using the Minor Tumor Spell.
The egg didn’t seem to possess a proper life of its own yet, which meant its Will was extremely weak. So, his mana should work on it.
Its Origin Energy, however, turned out to be incredibly powerful, and that created a different problem that Alex had to account for.
Even so, that would have been troublesome only if he were trying to heal the egg. His intention was completely different because he wasn’t attempting to restore its body or help it grow.
He was trying to mutate it.
Alex carefully directed the Minor Tumor Spell into the egg shell and began observing the reaction. If the spell could affect the shell, then he might be able to weaken it from the inside without creating a destructive explosion.
For several moments, nothing seemed to happen. Alex didn’t stop, however, and continued pushing the Minor Tumor Spell deeper into the egg, but the further he went, the harder it became to maintain control.
The eggshell contained an incredibly high concentration of Origin Energy, and although it didn’t have a strong Will of its own, the sheer density of Origin Energy made it difficult for his life mana to penetrate it.
Alex considered using fire element mana instead, but he quickly discarded the idea. The eggshell had a high compressed limit for fire element mana, which meant that if he continued feeding it fire mana, the compressed energy could eventually cause an enormous explosion. The egg might be destroyed, but the cave, along with Alex and everyone else inside it, would probably suffer the same fate.
That left life mana, and Alex continued using it while carefully increasing the depth of his control. The eggshell didn’t seem capable of developing a tumor from life mana in the normal way, so instead of trying to mutate the shell itself, Alex attempted to penetrate through it and affect whatever was growing inside.
He could only make it a few inches into the egg before the Origin Energy became too dense for him to proceed. It felt as though he had reached a wall that his life mana couldn’t easily cross, and forcing his way through it would only waste more energy.
Still, Alex had succeeded in penetrating the eggshell, and that alone was enough for him to continue. He began compressing life mana at the point where his spell had reached the monster inside, increasing the density again and again while carefully maintaining control over the mana.
Controlling life mana had become much easier after his species evolved, and his improved stats had further increased his control. Alex was now capable of manipulating life mana with a precision that would have been impossible for him in the past, which was why he found the situation so strange.
Even with all of that, he couldn’t easily mutate the creature inside the egg.
Alex continued increasing the compression while observing the changes in the monster’s body. Its cells seemed almost impossibly stable, as though its entire foundation had been constructed to resist changes from outside influences.
’Its DNA and cells are far more stable than anything I’ve encountered before.’
The realization made Alex pause for a moment. It wasn’t necessarily a good thing, because if the creature’s body was this resistant to mutation, then healing it would probably be difficult as well.
Healing should still be easier than forcibly changing the structure of an organism, but if a creature like this suffered serious injuries, it would likely require a very high-rank healing spell to repair its body properly.
’Becoming a higher-ranked species isn’t necessarily an advantage if your abilities aren’t strong enough to support that body.’
Alex continued compressing the life mana, and the pressure eventually reached a point where even the eggshell began reacting. He was surprised the eggshell could mutate, but he wasn’t complaining.
The shell started to soften and melt around the area where his mana was concentrated, and Alex could finally sense that the mutation was beginning to reach the creature inside.
He increased the pressure slightly more, causing the eggshell to melt until a small section broke away. An eye appeared through the opening, and Alex’s body immediately stiffened.
It was a giant eye with a narrow slit for a pupil, and the moment their gazes met, his Advanced Battle Instinct reacted violently. A warning surged through his mind so strongly that Alex instinctively tilted his head to the side, as though the monster might attack him through its gaze.
He didn’t wait to find out. Alex immediately compressed an enormous amount of life mana into his palm and slammed it directly into the monster’s exposed eye. The eye was delicate, and easier to mutate than the rest of its body, and the concentrated mana rapidly spread from the eye into its surrounding tissues.
The monster’s face began to melt as the mutation spread deeper. Alex continued pouring life mana into it until the damage reached the creature’s brain and finally destroyed it.
[Level 0 Stone Basilisk (High Rank Species) killed.]
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