592 Consuming the Crystals, The Rainbow Crimson Scales (1/2)

”Ready?”

Mark asked Mei, who was currently lying down on the bed.

He was currently holding onto the crystal that he got from the female leaders of the outlaws in Browning Square.

[Rainbow Dragoscale] mutation. It was what Mark called it. The name came from the dragon-like aura of the rainbow-colored scales. Mark considered calling it something like a rainbow dragon, but as the mutation was incomplete, unlike the ones he got from the father and son duo of Death Valley Settlement, he decided on the current name.

And to Mark's question...

”I'm ready.”

Mei nodded with eyes filled with resolution.

And thus, Mark made Mei swallow the crystal, and it turned pieces that entered her throat.

Almost immediately after the crystal entered her body, Mei lost consciousness. Just like the first time, Mei's body temperature rose sharply as the mutation took place inside and outside her body.

Mei started to feel extreme pain in her body. It showed on her face, even though she completely lost her consciousness.

This was the sign for Mark to start his work.

With his hand covered with milky white light, Mark pressed his palms on Mei's head.

”Ugh...”

Mei suddenly started making painful sounds, even though Mark was trying to alleviate the pain for her.

”Damn it, this strange power can't fully mitigate the pain.”

Mark grumbled. Now that he realized, this was the first time that Mark actually witnessed someone ingesting a second [Physical Crystal] that contained a mutated ability. Consuming an empty one to become evolvers and a filled one to become a mutator, both those instances could be handled by Mark.

However, it seemed that this ability was not enough for the second time of consuming a mutation crystal.

”Tch!” Mark clicked his tongue. ”I should have tried it on someone else first.”

It was an oversight on his part. He was conserving the crystals and abilities too much that it did not enter his mind.

Although he knew that the pain would get worse for consuming another crystal, he thought that his ability would still be of help.

Now, he was regretting it once more.

Mark's heart that was empty before the apocalypse was now felt like getting torn apart as he watched Mei suffer in pain.

”No, I should try something else.”

Mark grumbled as he racked his brain.

And the idea came around immediately.

The skill he attained as an Empath. It was the ability to absorb and relay the emotional fluctuations of a target to others.

And there it was...

The ability to absorb. There was no need to relay it, even though Mark would likely suffer a concentrated amount.

But that did not matter.

And there, he started to grit his teeth as his eyes glowed bright red, even releasing sparks of red electricity around it.

But then, an unexpected reaction occurred.

The moment he activated his Empathic ability, the milky light covering his hand started to swirl. Then, instead of just the negative emotional energy from the pain, the actual sensation that Mei was feeling all over her body began to flood into Mark instead.

”GUH!”

A painful growl almost escaped Mark's mouth.

With the combination of these two Psychic Abilities, Mei's complexion started to become better. She was still in pain, but it was greatly alleviated for her. It was all thanks to the sudden reaction of the two abilities fused together.

Mark, on the other hand, was doing his best to not make a sound. He was gritting his teeth too much that his gums started to tear. It was too painful. He could feel what exactly Mei was feeling during the process of her mutation.

It was as expected of the nature of [Rainbow Dragoscales]. This was a mutation on the skin, and as such, the pain was also there. It was more concentrated on the arms and legs, though.

Mark squinted his eyes. He could feel as if his skin was started to tear to pieces. In fact, as he felt the pain, he could see Mei's skin starting to crack and tear. However, there was no blood. It was because the torn skin did not form a wound at all. Instead, a new layer of skin covered the torn part as soon as it opened.

It was like how snakes shed their skin.

The process continued like that, with Mark taking most of the burden and suffering for Mei. Two hours later, Mark had become numb to the repeated feeling of his skin being torn apart. It was because Mei's skin did the same all over her body.

Several layers of skin were repeatedly torn and were replaced as if tuning the best kind of skin that was compatible with her body.

It repeated and repeated for the next two hours. Finally, the tearing stopped, and the pain started to subside.

Mark felt freed from the torture. But then.

”ARGH!”

Mark gasped. A sudden surge of pain was suddenly channeled to him from Mei. He almost removed his hands from Mei's head but managed to persevere.

Still, it was too painful. The pain was on his back, and for sure, Mei was feeling the same.

And then, the pain suddenly intensified. His hands were already shaking, trying to maintain his current posture.

But then, with another burst of intense pain, he finally let go.

It was not because he removed his hand, though. His hands were forced away.

The still unconcious Mei suddenly sat up.

BAM!

The scene in front of Mark made his eyes turn wide.

Mei's wings opened wide while she was still unconcious. But that was not the issue.

Mei's bat-like wings that had a reddish black color due to being a Blood Demon was now covered with red scales with a rainbow-colored sheen. And as Mark looked closely, the scales that covered her arms and legs had the same color.

It looked like Mei transformed subconsciously. Because of this, some parts of her clothes got torn off.

Still, the scene in front of Mark was stunning. Mei's wings now looked like it was layered with sparkling red gems instead of scales.

And while Mark stared at that scene, Mei's wings and scales disappeared, and her body plopped back to the bed.