Chapter29: feeding the Growth Factor.

The moment my palm touched the beast’s deformed frame, I let out a slow breath.

It was unlike anything I’d ever sensed before, see it was one thing but sensing it felt wrong—energies tangled together like a thousand burning wires, knotting and coiling in endless conflict. Some pulsed erratically, consuming muscle and bone as if eating the creature from the inside out. Others flared in violent bursts, forcing unnatural growths.

It wasn’t a single force tearing this beast apart.

It was many.

And they were at war.

They had run rampant, reshaping and breaking whatever they pleased.

But their time was up.

My grimoire floated beside me, pages flipping open on their own, raw mana pulsing from its core as I activated my skill.

Adaptive Growth Factor.

Mana surged from my artifact, not into the beast’s wounds, not into the chaotic forces raging inside it—

But into its growth factor.

Every living thing has it. A force buried deep inside, silent, patient, working, waiting for the right conditions to grow.

I tore those conditions apart.

I set it free.

Ang guess what? It was angry, and it was hungry.

For weeks, maybe months, this beast had been trapped in a body that couldn’t grow properly, a body twisted and broken by forces it didn’t understand. But now—

Now, its instincts took over.

The very thing meant to shape its existence, meant to build it into something strong, had been caged for too long.

Not anymore.

Bon appétit.

The magical energies that had settled in did whatever they pleased. It didn't suppress them; it didn't block them; it devoured them.

The growth factor was devouring.

Not gently. Not carefully.

It ravaged the unnatural forces inside the beast, tore through the foreign mana, shredded the chaos apart and consumed it for what it was—fuel.

Growth required fuel. And right now, this body had plenty of excess energy.

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It was like watching a starving man eat after years of famine.

The process started slow—too slow. But then, the moment energy flooded into the right places, the body reacted with pure, biological vengeance.

Seconds passed.

At some point, Chia had sat beside me, watching in silence, not daring to interrupt.

At some point, I had started sweating, my breath coming in slow, controlled exhales as I worked.

At some point, I saw Chia stifle a yawn.

At some point, her head dropped onto my shoulder, her breathing slowing.

Then At some point Seconds blurred into minutes and minutes into hours.

The room shifted around me, but I barely noticed at first.

I heard some noise, then I felt something.

At first, I thought it was Chia shifting, but when I glanced up—

My mother stood at the doorway.

Her sharp eyes locked onto me, onto the faint glow of energy threading through my fingertips.

She said nothing.

Neither did I.

Her gaze flicked to the beast. Her arms slowly crossed, but she didn’t step forward.

Didn’t stop me.

She was watching.

Behind her, I caught the faintest shuffle of movement.

Father.

I wasn’t sure when he had arrived, but there he was, standing just outside the doorway, arms resting at his sides.

They didn’t interrupt.

They didn’t offer advice.

They just… waited

Brittle bones thickened, sucking in the stolen energy like a sponge.

Muscle fibers snapped and reformed, filling out gaps where they had wasted away.

Scarred skin knit itself together—not back to what it had been, but into something new.

The body didn’t just restore itself.

It grew, it leveled itself, it changed itself, and it developed itself into something new.

This wasn’t healing. This was rebuilding.

I clenched my jaw, feeling my artifact drain at a terrifying speed.

Damn. This thing was huge.

Bobo had been small enough to fit in my palm.

This beast?

This was an entirely different scale. It was the size of a full-grown horse.

I could already feel the strain, the heaviness pressing against my skull as mana drained from me in waves.

But I wasn’t done, not yet.

I had another ace upon my sleeve. forcing my artifact into cultivation mode. The grimoire pulsed in response, drawing in the mana-rich air of the chamber, replenishing itself as quickly as it could.

I heard murmured voices, the shifting of feet—someone checking on Chia, who had long since leaned against my side, eyes fluttering shut.

Bobo, curled at my feet, had been silent at first. But now, his tail flicked anxiously. At some point, he had climbed onto my lap, his small hands pressing against my arm as if trying to share his own energy. to offer something—anything—to help.

And the beast?

It didn’t stop. I could feel its body's desire, its needs, its thirst.

It had waited too long for this moment.

Now that it had a chance, it wouldn’t waste a single drop.

My artifact floated nearby, its aura flickering as it cultivated mana on its own—barely keeping up with the drain.

I forced myself to focus.

The final, chaotic remnants of mutation energy crackled, resisting, trying to survive.

It didn’t stand a chance.

The growth factor swallowed it whole.

I let out a slow, exhausted breath, my arms shaking as I finally pulled my hand away.

The beast’s body—once frail, once barely clinging to life—now rested.

Still. Balanced. Waiting for what came next.

I looked down at my own trembling fingers.

Then, at Chia, who stirred against my shoulder, blinking awake.

“…Did it work?”

I exhaled.

I nodded.

Her face lit up, eyes glistening—not with tears, but with something fierce.

A belief that never wavered.

Bobo huffed, crossing his arms. If he could talk, he’d probably say, "Of course it worked."

My mother sighed, brushing damp hair from my forehead. “Reckless,” she muttered, but I heard the pride beneath it.

My father finally uncrossed his arms, watching silently.

Then—

I spoke tiredly, but confidently.

"I'm your boy, I know."

His face beamed with a smile as he ruffled my hair and hugged me tightly.

I pushed him back, breathing deeply. "Dad... I'm tired."

He laughed loudly. This was one of the few occasions I ever actually heard him laugh like this.

My heart was at peace.

We weren’t done. Not by a long shot.

But for now?

That was enough.