CHAPTER 61: COMMON FLU (3)

Despite the initial fear and unease he felt when the roots first explored his body, it didn’t stay that way for long.

After the roots settled and his body was completely covered by the silvery bright green mana, the man seemed to understand.

The roots and the mana, they were speaking to him.

It wasn’t in a language he knew, but one that he understood.

Whatever Dust was doing to him didn’t have the intention to hurt him.

The man never trusted someone he had only just known for a few months.

Let alone someone whom he had just met for the first time.

But the way the roots and mana spoke to him, it resonated deep within him.

They did not speak through his ears.

Instead, their intention, their words, were directly transferred into his mind and seeped into their hearts.

He trusted them fully. Not a shred of fear left in him as he closed his eyes and accepted the roots and mana completely.

Ash nodded his head multiple times as the knowledge of the man’s body entered him.

There was still a lot of new information flooding into him despite the man being a human like himself, and it had gotten his curiosity growing every time a new knowledge entered him.

Other than the basic information about the organs, something that Ash already learned from his body in the first place, the DNA that was responsible for the man’s height, skin, and hair color, and even the DNA that awakened during the awakening ceremony was also there.

Just like what Earth Will said, the DNA was added into his body, it was different from the mutations that the creatures in the forest had.

The creatures had their own DNA change and adapted to the existence of mana.

It awakened a hidden strength in their bodies.

It was there in the first place, but could never develop properly without the existence of mana.

As for the man’s ability, it was given to him.

The addition was completely compatible with the man’s body. It didn’t cause any side effects for him.

It belonged there, as if it were molded to exactly accommodate the man’s original DNA.

But it didn’t come from him.

Something else molded it to perfectly suit him and gave it to him.

’This is beyond my pay grade...’

Ash quickly decided as he threw away the knowledge and shallow understanding to the back of his head.

Instead, he focused on what he really wanted to do.

Using his mycelium, Ash uncovered the braided mess of the man’s DNA.

It was harder to do than simply finding a specific organ that did something, but with enough time, a few minutes, Ash found it.

The DNA of the virus that caused the man’s flu.

Why was Ash looking for that? How could he heal the man without any healing powers?

He had a couple of plans for that. But for this certain case, the solution relied solely on the verdant seed’s ability.

What Ash had done so far with the verdant seed was to extract a part of the DNA of the creatures that he wanted.

And he only stole a part of them, not completely stealing the whole organ from the creature.

If he did that, then the creature would lose that particular organ permanently.

Robbing them of their ability and or possibly life.

But in the case of the flu virus, that was exactly what Ash was going to do.

Instead of isolating and extracting a small part of the whole DNA, Ash identified all of the virus’s DNAand then extracted all of them.

The mycelium transferred all of the virus’s DNA into the seed inside Ash’s body.

There were none left inside the man’s body.

He was now completely healed.

Well, at least from the flu. As for his bad back and other symptoms from his bad habit, they stayed the same.

’Well, might as well give him the gifts.’

The mycelium acted as the vines as he transferred all three diseases at the same time before retracting his mycelium back.

Ash got what he wanted, and the Grey Leash boys got their gifts.

"Thank you, boss! Thank you very much! I’m sorry for ever doubting you!"

After all 5 of the Grey Leash members got their gifts, their connection with Ash was stronger than ever.

That one man who had given him the flu virus thanked Ash with so much fervor that it reached a new record high of uncomfortableness for Ash.

After the five members left, Ash finally had some needed quality time with the newly extracted disease in his seed.

He accessed the DNA, then injected it into his own body.

With the mycelium’s help, the disease quickly integrated into Ash’s body, traveling straight through his blood vessels.

Just like any other disease he had had so far, Ash braced for the worst.

Heightened blood pressure, coughing blood, hallucination, growing spores and vines out of his skin, turning his whole body into tree bark, whatever it was, Ash was ready.

But when the disease finally hit a few seconds later, it was the most disappoint- enjoyable disease Ash had ever conquered.

Well, his body temperature started rising, the inner parts of his nose became inflamed, and his joints began aching.

But that was all.

He didn’t need to hold on to dear life from having parasitic vines eating through his body.

No need to lock himself up in a titanroot cage because of a magical venom taking over his nervous system.

Heck, he didn’t even need to hold onto a tree trunk to keep himself stable.

He could just stand there and take all the symptoms like a man.

A man with enough diseases lying dormant in his body to be called a walking disease preservation lab, that is.

In just a short minute, the physical discomfort practically disappeared, not even weakening like the other diseases he acquired in the forest, it just plainly disappeared.

And a new entry was added to his codex.

======================

Tier 1

Common Flu

A common viral infection that attacks the immune system and easily spreads among the masses.

+Symptoms:

-Fever: Raised body temperature.

-Fatigue: Weakened stamina.

-Cough & Chills: Disrupted breathing rhythm, muscle aches.

+Ability Unlocked: Drifting Contagion (Passive)

When Ash activates an ability tied to a disease, there is a chance that the disease’s essence "echoes" outward, shedding fragments into the air and spreading to those nearby. The chance of an Echo decreases the higher the original disease tier is.

======================

The description was perfect. A very common disease that was very close to the masses.

Every single person on Earth has gotten them at least once in their lives.

Be it from their relative having it first, or simply because you were very unlucky and sat on a bench that had been sneezed on by a random person a few minutes ago.

The virus never disappeared, even after thousands of years of human evolution and medical advancement.

It was the most common disease, and one that easily spread amongst the people, especially people with weak immune systems and poor environmental hygiene.

It wasn’t even a surprise for Ash that he had only unlocked a tier 1, passive ability from it.

He didn’t expect much from this experiment, Ash was only happy that he finally got his first-ever real disease.

However, when he read the ability for the second time,

—---------------------------------------

Drifting Contagion (Passive)

When Ash activates an ability tied to a disease, there is a chance that the disease’s essence "echoes" outward, shedding fragments into the air and spreading to those nearby. The chance of an Echo decreases the higher the original disease tier is.

—---------------------------------------

He realized that this passive ability might even be much more useful than a random active type ability that might only make him slightly stronger.

’Does this mean something like the phantom bloom could echo when I activate it...? Not only causing the effects from the ability I gained, but also the original symptoms of the disease...?’

Ash’s lips rose as a thought popped into his mind.

He imagined himself fighting in the underground arena, which possibly had a lot of audience present inside it other than his enemy.

"Well, the other fighter, and even the audience better prepare themselves for a mass involuntary induction to the family."