I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 215

The sound of fighting grew distant, but the sky grew dark and there was the rumbling of distant thunder followed by an accumulation of energy within the atmosphere. Cleverly hidden just off the path surrounded by a few boulders that functioned as cover, the Lou family were all sitting around silently, staring up at the vortex slowly forming some distance away at the peak of a smaller hill. This was many miles from the peak the sage beast was fighting at, both deeper within the mountain range and further away from sage beasts. As Spirit stepped into the clearing, the men all let out cries of shock, reaching for their weapons.

“Spirit!” The one who seemed to collect himself the quickest was Lucky, who quickly let go of his blade. “Stand down! It’s Spirit! You survived.”

“Did you have any doubt?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Ah… that… Fate said that you would survive, but there were two prestiged and a sage beast. We could see the fighting from where we were. It was so frantic… such a fight, we weren’t confident you’d make it back.” He looked a bit guilty as he said that.

“I suppose you’re in charge?” I asked, immediately noticing that it was just the four rookies there, with Lot appearing to be unconscious in some bedding, but not seriously injured.

“Fate returned in the process of beginning her tribulation. At first, we helped, but when her tribulation continued to grow out of control, Fortune sent us away for our safety. Lot hurt himself on the battle of the mountain, so I guess that means I am in charge.” He nodded, trying to look stoic.

“What’s going on with Fate?” I frowned. “What do you mean that her tribulation is out of control?”

“Tribulations are always dangerous,” Lucky explained. “However, we take precautions to help people survive them. Yet, Fate’s tribulation is a bit unusual. We’re not confident that she can safely pass it.”

“What do you mean by unusual? Are you sure?” I asked, my expression growing serious as well.

He shook his head. “It’s the action potential.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Evolution follows a very specific set of variables. The resting potential is the native amount of energy. Then, as evolution triggers, a person releases their accumulated energy, eventually reaching a threshold of excitation. Energy continues to rise, which generates lightning. This is known as depolarization. That energy reaches a peak action potential. At this point, she absorbs the excess energy, known as repolarization. She will overdraw, hyperpolarizing the environment, which ends the tribulation in a refractory period that eventually returns to the resting potential.”

I realized he was using terminology that closely matched how neurons propagated a signal. Except for lightning, that very closely matched the process of a nerve’s action potential. I shook my head. That wasn’t what was important.

“What does this have to with Fate?”

“Well, her released accumulated energy is many times greater, causing a much larger action potential, and thus a greater tribulation!”

This part didn’t match with the science. An action potential was a binary event. It either triggered or didn’t trigger. There was no amount to it. You could trigger more nerves. You could trigger nerves faster. However, you couldn’t trigger a nerve to work stronger, at least at the level of one synapse. Tribulation action potentials seemed to be something that could be stronger.

I looked toward the center of the tribulation. I couldn’t see Fate, but I could see the swirling clouds above her.

“Has this ever happened before?”

“It can happen…” Lucky bit his lip as if he didn’t want to continue.

“What is it?”

“People who go through mutations during their evolution typically have stronger than normal tribulations. However, it’s very rare for a mutation to show up in a third mutation.”

“Why is that?”

“Evolution already requires extra energy. Mutation requires even more. Someone is already blessed for life to be able to reach a champion. What are the chances they’d also mutate?”

“I understand…” I gave a slow nod, and then started walking forward.

“H-hey! Where are you going?”

“I’m going to help Fate,” I told him.

“This… Fortune ordered us all to remain back. It’s dangerous.” Lucky looked reluctant, but after meeting my eye, he sighed. “Do as you wish.”

I nodded. “I’ll be back safely. I promise.”

He watched as I left the rocky clearing, but he didn’t follow. He had already conceded as much with his principles as he could by allowing me to go. The sky rumbled again, and I saw the flash of lightning. It had struck nearby, and the thunder was so loud that it left a ringing in my ears. I picked up the pace, heading to the peak. The grass was flattened by the wind, and the trees were bowing and bending. My hair was blowing around as a gale force wind began to pick up. I could see rocks and debris begin to fly through the air. It wasn’t quite a tornado, but if I were a few evolutionary levels lower, this might have been quite difficult to navigate within.

“Spirit! I-it’s you!” I barely heard a voice over the wind.

I glanced to see Fortune. He didn’t look to be in good shape. He had likely been fighting with all of his might to make it up the mountain, only to find Fate halfway and change to becoming her evolutionary protector. He was clinging to a rocky outcropping, doing everything to prevent himself from being carried away. Fate was sitting in the center of the vortex, her eyes half closed, her breathing haggard. She looked like she was about to collapse any moment, and the lightning hadn’t even begun yet.

As I took a step forward, Fortune shook his head, trying to tell me to go back. I ignored him and continued forward anyway. Fate was sitting on a grouping of metal panels that had symbols similar to the ones on had seen on the rocky platform Mara had used. However, this was a makeshift set that was nearly half the size. I walked up onto it and immediately wrapped my arms around Fate. She jerked, her eyes finally opening as they locked on me.

“S-spirit?” She stared in disbelief. “H-have I died?”

“Not yet!” I grinned. “However, you might soon if you don’t prepare for the lightning. It will come any moment.”

“Light- ah!” Her eyes widened as she realized her predicament, trying to struggle from my grasp. “It’s dangerous here! Spirit, escape while you still have a chance!”

I chuckled. “You think I’d leave you now? After everything we’ve been through? I’m staying by your side.”

“Stop fooling around.” She shook her head, her eyes glistening wetly. “This is serious. You could die! If I thought I lost you already, but if I’m the reason you die, I don’t know if I can…”

Only I knew that my life wasn’t in any real danger, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t above milking such brownie points from the girl I was with. I reached out and took her chin, looking directly into her eyes.

“I won’t leave you in trouble. Even if I have to risk everything, I will protect you with my body.”

His body shuddered, but before she could say something, there was a flash of lightning. The depolorization period of the tribulation had begun. Fortune let out a cry as she was struck, but I held tightly to her, taking half of the damage myself.

[-1,120 HP]

That was nothing for me, but for Fortune, she could only safely take maybe eight or nine of those. Without me present, she might not survive five.

“Spirit… please.” She cried. “I-I love you.”

I grinned. “Then show me.”

Without hesitation, she kissed me as another strike hit. Then there was a third, and a fourth. The fourth one was already weaker than the first three. She continued to kiss me, pressing her lips against mine almost painfully, wincing each time a bolt struck the pair of us. Yet, she wouldn’t let go, as long as she could feel me, she was still alive. There was another bold, and then another. Three more bolts fell, and I started to worry that Fate’s HP would hit 0; however, it appeared the damage she was receiving wasn’t equal to my own, and her vitality still appeared strong. The lightning continued to strike for another few minutes, but I could tell that the peak action potential had already passed and the repolarization stage had begun.

The energy all flowed into Fate like water on a desert floor. The suction was so strong I wouldn’t have been surprised if some of the energy within me was pulled out and placed inside her. Above us, the funnel broke and the storm clouds gave way to an evening sky. Fortune had survived until the end of her tribulation. However, I wasn’t focused on that. Rather, text had appeared in front of me too.

[Congratulations! You have reached level 6.]

Absorbing some of the tribulation energy could also be used to help me level. However, it was the second part that appeared that left me more interested.

[The mutation skill has detected an accumulated mutation. Would you like to activate your new mutation?]