Asura in Arknights

Li Ang did want to go and help, but Noyce would definitely not give him a friendly look, and Li Ang did not want to make a fool of himself, so he gave up the idea.

"Miss Nauman, do you have a moment now? I have some questions I'd like to ask you, questions related to my Originium Arts."

After receiving an affirmative answer, Li Ang pointed to Noyce beside him and said, "This place isn't quite right. Can we go somewhere else?"

Adele looked back at Noyce, seemingly confused, but she nodded and followed Leon out of the camp.

"Alright, that's about it."

After leaving the camp and feeling that it was about time, Li Ang stopped.

At this distance, unless Noyce also possesses Originium Arts related to perception, he wouldn't be able to hear the conversation between Leon and Adele.

"Mr. Leon, what do you want to ask me? Did you encounter a problem while using the staff?"

Li Ang shook his head. "I didn't encounter any problems using the staff. I succeeded after a few tries."

"However, after becoming familiar with Originium Arts, I sensed a tiny particle in the air."

“Those particles are everywhere, including on you, Miss Nauman, and there are more of them than in the air. I feel like I can control these particles. Miss Nauman, do you know what they are?” Li Ang asked all his questions in one breath.

"Particles in the air? And I have a lot of them on me too?"

After thinking for a while, Adele said somewhat uncertainly, "Those particles you mentioned, could they be Originium crystals in the air?"

"Originium crystals?"

This time it was Li Ang's turn to be puzzled, "Are there Originium crystals in the air too?"

"Of course, you can find Originium in every corner of the world."

Adele explained, "Soil, air, water, and even the blood in our bodies contain trace amounts of Originium crystals. What you're sensing is probably the crystals in the air."

After answering that question, Adele had even more questions in her mind.

Li Ang just said he can control these Originium particles in the air? What type of Originium Arts is that? What can be done by controlling these Originium particles?

After raising her doubts, Adele naturally received a negative answer.

"I was worried about what might happen, so I didn't try it casually."

"I see... Anyway, you should give it a try first."

Adele thought for a moment and then said, "Using a staff to cast spells generally won't affect your body, but Mr. Leon, you should be careful and not try it around yourself. If it's a destructive Originium Arts, you might accidentally hurt yourself."

"I will be careful."

Nodding, after receiving Adele's confirmation, Li Ang was no longer so worried.

"Miss Adele, I'm about to begin."

"Yes, I'm ready."

Under Li Ang's control, a ring detached from his body and flew towards the woods not far away.

Although Li Ang could also control other particles in the air, he felt that the particles on his body were easier to control, whether it was his imagination or not.

The farther the ring went, the more difficult it became for Li Ang to control. After flying about two meters, he felt he had reached his limit. He wondered if expanding his perception range would improve his control distance.

After sighing inwardly, Li Ang activated the light band he was controlling, based on his previous intuition.

"boom--"

A loud bang echoed through the forest, and a shockwave, imperceptible to the naked eye, erupted right before their eyes.

With a series of cracking sounds, the tree, as thick as a bowl, snapped almost instantly, crashing to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

Not far away, Li Ang and Adele looked at each other in bewilderment.

Chapter Eight: A New Beginning

The shockwave wasn't particularly powerful, but the sudden impact startled Adele.

This... is the energy contained in the Originium microparticles being converted into kinetic energy?

After the initial surprise, Adele used her knowledge to determine what had happened in those few seconds.

Although Adele had seen many Originium Arts far more powerful than this, this was the first time she had ever seen an offensive spell used by an Infected.

The probability of infected individuals awakening Originium Arts is already very low, and even fewer of them possess offensive capabilities. Moreover, there are many low-quality spells that simply convert Originium energy into energy projectiles.

Converting Originium energy into impact is already quite impressive, not to mention that Li Ang had previously demonstrated Originium Arts of the Perception type.

However, infected individuals can only awaken one Originium Arts. Whether Li Ang was perceiving the world or releasing the shockwave just now, it was essentially the same Originium Arts, only the form it manifested was different.

Adele was not a scholar specializing in this field, and only had a general understanding of these theories, so she was unable to determine the true nature of Li Ang's Origin Stone Technique.

All I can say is that this is a very promising Originium Arts technique. If the Oripathy problem can be solved, then Li Ang could very well become an excellent sorcerer.

Just as Adele was about to tell Leon this conclusion, Noyce's slightly anxious shout came from the direction of the camp. The next moment, Noyce pushed through the dense forest and rushed to the two of them.

"What happened? Miss Nauman, are you alright?"

Upon hearing the commotion, Noyce immediately dropped what he was doing and followed the direction of the sound, where he spotted the trees that had been snapped in half.

Of everyone present, only Li Ang could possibly have done such a thing.

Noyce stared intently at Leon beside him, his eyes filled with hostility, and said rather unfriendly, "What does this infected person want to do?"

"Ah, that's not it! You've misunderstood!"

After a moment of stunned silence, Adele hurriedly explained, "I asked Mr. Leon to do that. We were just testing his Originium Arts."

"..."

After realizing he had misunderstood, Noyce showed no intention of apologizing, or rather, he simply couldn't bring himself to apologize to an infected person who had just been speaking ill of him.

Li Ang could sense the fleeting guilt and remorse in his heart, but Noyce still forced himself to say, "Miss Nauman, it's good that you're alright."

"I've prepared the campsite, and we're ready to leave at any time."

After leaving those words behind, Noyce fled the scene in a somewhat disheveled state.

After Noyce left, Adele leaned close to Leon and whispered, "Mr. Noyce didn't do it on purpose. Although he is a bit greedy, he is actually a very good person. It's just that... everyone has a deep prejudice against the infected."

"……I know."

Li Ang could understand, and he was well aware that Noyce was only targeting the identity of the infected person, not him personally. Just like the AIDS patients in his hometown who faced discrimination, the situation of the infected person was somewhat similar to that of the AIDS patient.

Like Oripathy, both are incurable infectious diseases. Even if ordinary people know that they will not be infected with HIV through normal contact, it is difficult for them to treat HIV patients with normal attitudes. The same applies to infected individuals.

Those people were just afraid of contracting the same disease themselves; those who were completely unafraid, like Adele, were the odd ones out.

"I understand..."

Li Ang sighed deeply and gazed into the distance, somewhat lost in thought.

That's the direction where the village ruins are located. You'll never know the pain until you've been cut yourself, so there's no such thing as true empathy. I never imagined that I would end up being the one who was discriminated against.

Suddenly, Li Ang felt someone tug at the corner of his clothes.

Adele did not follow Noyce back to the camp, but stood by his side the whole time.

After Leon noticed Adele's presence, she stammered, "Mr. Leon, please don't be sad anymore. Um, um... please be strong!"

Oh right, in Adele's eyes, I should be a hapless guy whose whole family died in a natural disaster, and who barely survived before contracting Oripathy. Thinking about it that way, it really is quite tragic.

Although he couldn't distinguish specific colors in his perception of the world, Li Ang could imagine Adele's face turning bright red, a far cry from her previous confident and eloquent manner when discussing Originium Arts.

Li Ang reached out, intending to pat Adele's head and tell her not to worry, but then felt it was inappropriate to do so, so he subtly withdrew his hand.

“I’m fine. I don’t have any relatives in the village. I live there alone.”

"I was just feeling a bit sentimental just now."

Regardless of the twists and turns he had experienced before, from this moment on, Li Ang officially began a completely new life.

Encountering a natural disaster at the beginning of his transmigration was both his fortune and his misfortune.

Fortunately, Li Ang encountered people willing to lend him a helping hand, and as a result, he gained some ability to protect himself.

Replacing sight with perception did not have much impact on Li Ang. Both ways of observing the world have their own advantages, and it is hard to say which way is more advantageous if a comparison is really made.

It cannot distinguish colors or observe what is happening three meters away from the world, but in exchange for these shortcomings, it gains absolute control over the area within three meters.

Within this three-meter radius, nothing that happens can escape Li Ang's perception.

His ability to control Originium particles grants him a certain offensive capability. Breaking a tree as thick as a bowl may not seem impressive, but if used correctly, this strike could be fatal. Moreover, what he did just now was far from Li Ang's limit.

Because it was just a test, Li Ang only released one 'ring', but the number of rings wrapped around his body now is far more than one. If these rings were to erupt simultaneously, what would the power be? Would it be powerful enough to crack the earth?

However, he also bears a curse called 'Oripathy'.

Leon took a deep breath and said to Adele.

"Let's go, I'm ready."

……

After Li Ang and his group left, two more uninvited guests visited the ruins.

They were completely shrouded in black cloaks, with only a silver-white, lantern-like object exposed outside.

Perhaps due to the aftershock not long ago, the village, which could still be barely discerned from its original form, has been completely reduced to ruins. Several jagged cracks run through the entire village from the center, swallowing up a large number of buildings, leaving only a small portion remaining on the surface.

Seeing the mess before them, the two uninvited guests fell silent.

Even if the two of them were incredibly stupid, they could tell what had happened. Not long ago, a sudden natural disaster had razed the entire village to the ground, and the villagers didn't even have time to react before they all perished in the earthquake.

After a period of silence, one of them finally spoke up, "It seems they're not very lucky. No wonder we haven't received their regular contact."

Are there any survivors?

"Maybe. If you want to go in and look for it yourself, I won't stop you."

"...No need. I want to live a few more years before entering the contaminated area without any preparation."

"That's fine then. Let's just say these unlucky guys are all wiped out in the natural disaster."

"Okay, but you'll be writing the report."

"You're the team leader, why are you making me write a report?"

"Since I'm the team leader, you'll be writing the report."

Two uninvited guests were arguing about a report. There were no corpses buried in the rubble, and no one would have thought that someone had survived the natural disaster.

In the distance, the dim sunset slowly sank into the depths of the horizon, and all the truths were buried deep in the earth, but no one would ever discover these secrets again.

Chapter Nine: The Town

After returning to the camp with Adele, they prepared to drive back to the town.

The car was naturally driven by Noyce. Although the atmosphere inside the car was a bit stiff because of Noyce, Li Ang didn't take these minor things to heart at all.

Shortly after they set off, Li Ang also discovered another limitation in his perception of the world: without the help of other people or tools, he had difficulty distinguishing directions in the wild.

However, if you were to drop an ordinary person into the wilderness, they would likely have difficulty distinguishing directions, so it wouldn't be a major problem.

On the way to Duwa Town, Li Ang didn't waste any time and asked Adele many questions related to Originium Arts. Adele didn't show any impatience and patiently answered these questions for Li Ang.

Adele is a great teacher. Through her explanations along the way, Li Ang gained a deeper understanding of Originium Arts in this world.

Most of the technology in the world of Terra is based on Originium Arts, and after thousands of years of development, modern Originium Arts is vastly different from what it used to be.

The sorcerers of ancient times were all infected individuals like Li Ang who awakened their Originium Arts on their own. They only knew how to use their Originium Arts, but did not know the specific reasons behind it.

Generally speaking, it is unlikely that an infected person will awaken the same Originium Arts, so Originium Arts that are only suitable for one person cannot be passed down.

Gradually, the users of Originium Arts, known as 'Wizards', disappeared into the annals of history, replaced by a new system called 'Warlocks'.

The earliest sorcerers simplified and summarized Originium Arts into basic 'spell units', and on this basis, later generations established the modern Originium Arts theoretical system.

In theory, as long as one possesses a certain degree of adaptability, a sorcerer of this era can learn any Originium Arts.

However, this is only in theory. In reality, due to each person's talent and energy, warlocks often only choose the one that suits them best to develop. Adele is a warlock who specializes in fire elemental magic.

On the way, Adele also taught Leon how to construct the most basic spell units.

For beginners, the most difficult step is the first one. If their Originium Arts adaptability is not high enough, they may not even be able to sense Originium energy, let alone guide it to construct spell units.

However, the infected have a natural advantage in this regard. Li Ang has already awakened his Originium Arts. Once this barrier is broken, the rest will be a matter of course.

Not long after Adele finished teaching Leon, he successfully ignited a small spark.

Aside from serving as a portable lighter, Li Ang wasn't sure what the flame was for. However, compared to the spells he had awakened, the systematic Originium Arts had the advantage of a clear direction. As long as he studied them step by step, he could push Originium Arts to a very high level.

As for the spells that the infected awaken on their own... they can only figure them out slowly on their own. If their talent is lacking, they may only be able to throw out an energy ball for their entire lives.