"Mhm!.. mh!"
"Shh~ this is a growth-type Earth Spirit Seed! It cost me a fortune to get, you know!"
Inside a dark camp, far away from civilization, voices of two were heard — one muffled by cloth, the other loud and steady.
In the middle of a forest, in a zone not considered safe for normal humans to live in, a black-haired boy stood beneath a dim lamp, surgical instruments radiating faint magical power in his hands. He looked down at a fat man lying on an improvised operating table.
The man's body was open, his screams muffled by the cloth gagged into his mouth. His face twisted in agony, tears streaming down his cheeks. No anesthetics or painkillers were used; he felt every single cut, every burn, every surge of foreign energy that the blue-eyed boy forced upon him.
Above his chest hovered an orange-brown elemental cluster — glowing faintly — as black-colored energy slowly poured into it, staining the original hue into a mixture of black and gold.
"...It's a success," Damon muttered, watching the element mutate and stabilize before moving on to close the wound.
"Hahaha! Finally!" Damon's laughter echoed through the forest, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the man's tear-stricken face — which now showed faint relief.
"Oh yeah… you know, you're the first success of this project!" Damon grinned, wiping his hands. "An Advanced Mage as a test subject… thank God I asked the big guy to seal your soul instead of killing you all."
Yes, this was Damon — our protagonist.
The group led by Luo Mian, after leaving under Damon's instructions, was attacked by the Black Totem Snake. Damon had explained the situation to the creature, and the snake dealt the killing blow to Luo Mian. The man was a Super Mage — even though Damon was confident he could overpower him physically, he was still cautious against beings capable of instantly casting Advanced-level spells.
So instead of playing the hero, Damon let the snake kill the culprit. He then sealed the souls of the remaining mages, preventing them from ever using magic again, before kidnapping them to this forest to perform his secret experiments.
Nearly a year ago, Damon had attacked a research base studying the Demon Element, obtaining the theories and papers he was after.
One might wonder — what was the use of those papers? Was Damon after the Demon Element itself?
Not really.
The Demon Element granted immense power — pushing one's strength to the peak of the next rank, like a berserk state that gave a mage the physical prowess of a monster. It was undoubtedly overpowered, but equally dangerous.
The destruction of one's cultivation, the collapse of the soul, and eventual madness — these were inevitable side effects. Even Mo Fan barely survived its burden, not to mention the long recovery time it required, like a deal with a demon that always came with a price.
It was an incredible element, yes — but its drawbacks made it unappealing to Damon. What truly fascinated him was the underlying knowledge — the mechanism that made the element possible.
Not the Demon Element itself, but the science of directed awakening — the ability to artificially induce and awaken an element of choice.
"You know, awakening stones can draw out the hidden potential of a soul and awaken elements," Damon said quietly. "Their ability to resonate with both element and soul makes that possible."
"So… with elemental infusion, one can make it so that the next element they awaken is guaranteed to be the one they desire." Damon's smile widened. "It's groundbreaking."
In a world where awakening was considered random, and guiding stones could only slightly increase the odds, a perfect element awakening was revolutionary.
Knowledge like this could earn millions — perhaps billions — in this world. But was Damon after money?
He already had enough. So why was he still obsessed? Why did this discovery drive him insane?
No.
With his deepening understanding of elemental resonance, Damon had uncovered something even greater — the use of elemental spirits to influence and mutate existing elements.
This process made it possible to artificially mutate a mage's elemental seed — creating results equivalent to possessing a spirit seed.
For months, he had been studying this, gathering every scrap of information, experimenting on captured mages. And now, for the first time, he had succeeded.
Artificial Mutation of Element.
It was a breakthrough that surpassed even element selection — a feat that could shake the foundations of magical theory. But for Damon, this was more than just research.
Why?
Because in a world where there exists only a handful of mages with mutated elements with this now anyone could replicate innate soul talents!
Though the limitations still remains, even if someone could artificially mutate or select their element, they could still only awaken one element per advancement.
"...But I'm not exactly normal," Damon whispered, glancing at his left hand as his shapeshifting black claymore transformed into a dagger.
"Mhm! Mhm!" The restrained man's eyes widened in panic as he saw the weapon, struggling with all his might to break free from his bindings — to no avail.
His resistance was meaningless. Damon calmly raised the dagger and plunged it into his chest. The man's heart stopped. His breath stilled. Life faded from his eyes.
Damon placed his left hand on the corpse. Black mist rose and consumed the body entirely, leaving no trace behind. The vast energy of an Advanced Mage now floated in Damon's inner inventory, stored for future use.
'Envy's Hand is itching.'
The words appeared before his eyes as his left hand pulsed with an unfamiliar light — a radiance unseen before.
Suddenly, his consciousness was dragged into his spiritual world. Two colossal galaxies — one red, one golden — spun with overwhelming power, shaking the void.
An earthquake rippled through his spiritual realm as two new stardusts ignited within his mind — one black-gold, the other silver.
'a self-awakening,' the voice inside whispered.
He, who had not yet awakened his third element, waiting for the experiments, now experienced dual awakening— something deemed impossible. His experiment had succeeded.
Emerging from his spiritual world, Damon burst into laughter — loud, unrestrained, mad.
The other prisoners shivered in their cages, terrified by the sound of the man who had just rewritten the laws of magic.
Making impossible possible! Making dual awakening possible! But would Damon just stop at that?
"Hahaha"