The book turned out to be a lot less sinister than Sorin had come to expect. He wasn't sure whether to be worried about that because something about the book was just a little too reassuring and seemed to make him want to keep reading or whether to thank the capricious fox for his mercy.
The chapter was less a cultivation art than an explanation for the existence of the Evils of Pandora. Each Evil had its domain, which was centered around change.
All of this sounded very reasonable, so Sorin wondered why it was working so hard to sell these concepts. Hadn't he already seen the benefits of Violence firsthand? His intuition towards danger and hostility was most definitely a side effect of his corruption with Violence, and his ability to erupt with berserk strength had come in handy multiple times.
And was corruption really that bad? I mean, if it was good enough for the fox, it was good enough for—
Stop. You're letting draw you in. Sorin controlled his emotions but didn't stop reading. He needed what was in this book, as without it, he was doomed.
Bracing himself for what was to come, Sorin read the last few words of the first chapter and then turned the page. The chapter was called The Five Stages of Embracing and Cultivating Evil. The first stage was called denial and isolation. Once again, the chapter was merely descriptive, but he could feel potent spells working their influence on him, bewitching him.
This… isn't this just how reasonable people would react upon discovering they were infected? thought Sorin after reading the first few sentences.
Denial is a natural reaction to corruption, as it is typically unwanted and accompanied by undefined and potentially horrific changes. The greatest problem with this first stage is that the result of corruption isn't easily defined.
As a result, the infected will attempt to isolate the corruption, which inevitably leads to the second stage: loss of Control.
Flipping the page, Sorin continued reading.
There is no clear line between loss of control and isolation. At first, Loss of Control will materialize as minor negative and unproductive outbursts. The infected will deny these outbursts as 'not a problem,' but eventually, they will be unable to cope. Unless appropriate steps are taken, Major Loss of Control will ensue, leading to irreversible physical and mental changes and a compromised mental state.
The only proven way to bring corruption under control is through acceptance and cultivation. The first stage of this process—or the third stage of the process as a whole—involves striking a Bargain with the corruption in question, allowing for a much-needed outlet. This will allow the infected to influence the corruption just as it influences the infected, eventually leading to a mutually beneficial relationship.
The fourth stage of Embracing and Cultivating Evil is Assimilation. Having struck a Bargain, one must slowly attune one's mind, spirit, and body to corruption. Only then can one control the physical and mental changes such that they best suit the infected.
The fifth stage is Acceptance. Only by accepting one's place as an agent of Evil will one finally rein in their corruption and no longer be at risk of uncontrolled outbursts.
At this point, Sorin wasn't sure what to say. Having graduated as a qualified physician, Sorin knew that this book basically mirrored the modern approach to grief counseling, albeit with a high density of bewitching spells that seemed to be geared solely around reassuring him and urging him to read the boring book. Should I call him the Savior of Humanity or the Lord of Plagiarism? Either way, I can't accept becoming a corrupt entity. But a Bargain… a Bargain sounds doable.
He recalled the time in the catacombs when he'd suddenly let loose over an elite demonic spider. Though it was a momentary lapse in character and could have led to disastrous results, his corruption had been much easier to control after the fact. And if bargaining merely involved letting loose on demons occasionally to let go of pent-up energy…
Though Sorin was reluctant to use his corruption, the amount of corruption in his body had far exceeded tolerable limits. The Shrine Descent had more than doubled his corruption reserves, and that was given the fact that he'd been actively rejecting it. Moreover, the book described striking a bargain with corruption that would enable one to use it more freely with no chance of backlash. All around, it seemed like a very reasonable proposition.
Here goes nothing, thought Sorin, hoping his instincts were correct. He did as the book directed and muttered an incantation to initiate heart-to-heart communication. Corruption, it turns out, was like a mask—a separate personality. This meant that he wasn't communicating with a foreign entity but rather a tainted piece of himself.
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This part of himself wanted to kill, destroy, survive, and propagate. Sorin could deal with that, and in fact, he had a prime target in mind to start things off.
I promise to periodically let loose, Sorin whispered through their temporary bond. But in exchange, I need a warning to plan things out. Moreover, my divinity is my own and can't be touched. Also, I need a quantifiable measure of Violence that needs to be let loose. Do we have a deal?
His masked self immediately let out a range of expletives and countered with a completely one-sided 'bargain.' Sorin refused, however, and simply waited. He had the advantage in this situation because he knew Violence's nature. It was all about survival.
Sorin's violent aspect didn't disappoint him. After only five minutes of back and forth, it finally capitulated and accepted his terms. It then set its sights on the Divine Bone Rot. As a foreign divine contaminant, it was the enemy and had to be destroyed.
The corruption rushed into his bones and viciously attacked the out-of-control Divine Bone Rot, dealing a vicious blow to its unprepared enemy. The exchange resulted in the silver flaking off Sorin's bones, revealing not gold as he expected but blank whiteness beneath them.
The process was exhausting, but Sorin was happy to see the fight play out. His simulated life expectancy slowly crept up as the poison was eliminated. Finally, he had a comfortable buffer of two years remaining. More than enough to deal with unexpected situations.
By attacking the Divine Bone Rot, the Violence in Sorin's blood was greatly weakened. For a moment, Sorin was tempted to try purging it but gave up when his instincts screamed that this was inadvisable.
As the golden light was almost exhausted, Sorin returned to analyzing his body and the improvements that had been made. Sorin was entirely transformed on a genetic level, and he could tell that, current corruption aside, he would be much more resistant to foreign corruption and, therefore, be able to enter the second level of the catacombs.
But what is this… Sorin had a very high level of body awareness, yet only now that he was in full control of the corruption in his body was he able to detect a hidden danger. The threads of Madness from my fight with Melinoë—they're not gone! In fact, they've lain dormant and are continuing to passively devour any corruption or divinity in my body!
His hostility towards Melinoë reached an all-time peak. She'd effectively poisoned him, a poisoner, without his knowledge! If Sorin had remained ignorant for just a little longer, he might have started unknowingly taking orders from Melinoë until, finally, he fell under her complete control!
No wonder she retreated so easily. It wasn't because she was outmatched but because she had an effortless contingency plan to fall back on. She'd known about the divine empowerment. If it weren't for Sorin's hidden divinity, divine bone rot, and corruption to consume all the god light, the hidden corruption would have grown several times over. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Hope's Blessing had nearly turned him into Melinoë's puppet!
Unwilling to permit such a threat to exist in his body, Sorin's eyes turned cold. He mobilized what remained of the Violence in his body and drew on that same Violence to urge the Divine Bone Rot remaining in his body to mobilize. His corruption, his divine mana, and the Divine Bone Rot unleashed a three-pronged attack on the lingering threads of Madness.
Surprised at having been detected, the threads fought back, but one after another, they were transformed into threads of unowned Madness, which his corruption quickly devoured. The exchange further weakened his Divine Bone Rot, and instead of harming him, the threads of Madness became a hidden tonic. In fact, the Violence in his blood seemed more active than ever, as though there was more than one corruption in his body.
Wait. No, no, no! Sorin tried to restrain his corruption, but having already completed a bargain, he was unable to properly do so. He realized too late that he'd inadvertently opened a back door into his body. The corruption, which was now very bloated, suddenly split into two parts. One was the Violence he'd been infected with, and the other was a culmination of all the Madness he'd collected in the winter from fighting hundreds of two-star demons and from his exposure during the Shrine Descent.
It turns out that the madness in his body had been accumulating all along, but his trusty friend, Violence, had masked it. Melinoë's Madness had merely catalyzed to transform the corruption in his body into a more stable form.
And now, Sorin realized, to his horror, that he had two sorts of corruption in his body. Two masks to appease. What was worse, he'd unknowingly struck a bargain with the combined entity. In other words, Madness, the unwanted guest, also required a periodic outlet and wouldn't be so easily suppressed.
As a result, Sorin looked none too pleased when the golden light faded, revealing a large group of heroes that had mostly broken through to the second or third stage of the Bone-Forging Realm. Each of them had improved by leaps and bounds in terms of foundation and cultivation arts, setting the stage for the next stage of the Shrine Descent.
"Congratulations on your respective breakthroughs," said Administrator Pollen with a smile. "Having received Lord Hope's blessing, you are all qualified to participate in the second phase of the Shrine Descent, where even more plentiful awards await.
"Though we are eager to have you continue your descent, the Chief Oracle requires time to unseal the next stage of the catacombs. The next phase will, therefore, begin in four months. You are all expected to attend, and those who do not will forever be looked upon with scorn."
The elevated platforms holding each cultivator slowly lowered back down as Administrator Pollen closed the rift in the sky. Sorin could tell with a cursory glance that his companions and enemies were greatly transformed, just like he was.
What's more, his keen senses detected something else: a distorted influence that affected half the heroes present. What's more, each recipient of this distorted energy happened to be hostile to him.