Chapter 233: Controlling Mutations
“Alright, come with me to a cleaner open ground. I’ll teach you what combat and swordsmanship are, and how to control Holy Light,” Lorna said. Since she had decided to follow her and learn, Lorna didn’t dawdle and immediately prepared to find a place to start practicing.
“Wait a moment, are you just going to let him walk down the street like this?” I pointed at Jayad, whose body was covered in eyes and who had two tattered wings on his back. If he walked onto the street like this, he would definitely be mistaken for a monster and killed.
The eyes would be fine; a cloak could cover them, but his two wings were too conspicuous. Even if he were to undergo surgery, I’d have to find a way to fold the wings and stuff them into his clothes first.
“Ah, right. I also need to teach you how to control your Angel Form. Calm down now, take it easy, and try to feel the extra parts of your body,” Lorna said, slapping her forehead and turning around.
I gestured with my eyes for Jayad to listen to her. Jayad closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and tried to feel these so-called extra parts.
This wasn’t difficult. Just like how my insect legs could move, Jayad’s wings were soon able to flap left and right, and his eyeballs began to roll. These were all parts of his body.
The eyes on Jayad’s body slowly turned. His newly grown eyeballs were like mine, with a clear, emerald green gaze. Once he got the hang of it, Jayad could even wink at me with those eyes, which looked incredibly eerie.
“Now, channel the Holy Light into those parts. You don’t need much; just a little bit is enough,” Lorna continued to instruct.
But this time, Jayad was bewildered. He tried several times but couldn’t channel the Holy Light into those parts.
“No way? You don’t even know how to control Holy Light? That’s the most basic of basic skills!” Lorna looked like she was about to lose it. It was rare to see her icy facade crack.
“I told you before. No one has ever taught him anything. He’s figured everything out on his own and has no basic skills. You need to treat him as an apprentice starting from zero,” I said.
“But this is a fundamental skill. Normally, shouldn’t one learn this knowledge before being able to use Holy Light?” Lorna looked confused.
Inspiration struck me, and I guessed why there was such a huge difference in our understanding. She must have grown up in a special environment, perhaps adopted by the Church from a young age.
Lorna possessed a sacred aura, like a saintess passed down through generations. This aura was evident in her every word and action, as if she was born to save the world and liberate all beings.
But I knew that no one could possess such an aura naturally. It was cultivated through experience and from a young age. She was likely an orphan or a foundling who showed astonishing talent from childhood and received focused training.
Her sacred aura easily inspired worship from others. Even I was somewhat moved, and her slightly haughty demeanor and words were precisely what would make Commoners believe in her more. After all, the spokespersons of gods were always noble.
Unfortunately, this act didn’t work on Jayad and me. We already knew the true nature of the Church and wouldn’t be awed by your sacred aura, especially since Jayad could also emit Holy Light.
Having grown up in such an environment, Lorna probably treated some of the Church’s internal matters as common knowledge. For example, they learned how to cultivate, control Holy Light, and prevent berserk states from childhood.
To Lorna, these were just common sense, but to Jayad and me, they were invaluable and unobtainable treasures that we had to risk our lives to explore.
I once again realized how fortunate it was to be part of an organization or a school of thought, as it could prevent many detours or even dead ends.
If I could realize this, Lorna certainly could too. She was just prejudiced initially because the Grand Tutor had only told her that he had found a genius and asked her to guide them into the sect.
As the Grand Tutor’s proud disciple, Lorna was instantly unbalanced. What genius was worth such importance from the teacher? But when she came and saw, it was just… this?
Witnessing Jayad’s performance, Lorna experienced a strong psychological gap and a sense of disdain.
However, she understood now. She had been mistaken and had initially assumed Jayad was already some kind of master.
In reality, the genius the teacher spoke of was just an uncarved jade now, a completely unpolished Origin Stone. The teacher sent her to polish it.
After figuring all this out, Lorna’s attitude changed. She was no longer arrogant and disdainful but became patiently and gently instructive, much like the persuasive approach used when recruiting new members into a religion.
Under her guidance, Jayad had gradually learned how to control the flow of Holy Light, which was a huge improvement. Before, he only knew how to emit and receive Holy Light, and even attaching Holy Light to his weapon for combat was merely instinct.
“Alright, now channel the Holy Light into your limbs, and then withdraw it. During this process, imagine your limbs are the same as the Holy Light, and withdraw them back into your body together.”
Now, the situation had returned to the beginning: how to control mutations. But Jayad proceeded very smoothly at this point. He easily made those mutated limbs emit a faint white Holy Light and then withdrew them all together.
Those eyes and the two pairs of wings retracted into Jayad’s body with ease. They disappeared as soon as he closed his eyes, leaving no trace, and the wings retracted into his body as if they had never existed from the start.
“Ah, it’s gone. All gone. That’s great. I’ve returned to my original appearance,” Jayad said joyfully, opening his eyes and looking at his body. He preferred not to be mutated.
“Don’t celebrate too soon. That’s just withdrawing them into your body, not making them disappear. If you lose control of your reason, they’ll reappear during the next battle,” Lorna warned.
“Then what should we do?” I asked, believing they must have a solution. Otherwise, I’d still have to take Jayad to a doctor to have the mutated parts removed. However, Jayad’s mutations were more severe than mine, and I wasn’t sure if it would be life-threatening.
“It’s very simple. Control your desires and maintain your reason and will. The method we use is this.” Lorna suddenly drew out a whip with nine leather straps. A whip?
“Crack!” Lorna swung the strange whip and struck her own back, making a crisp sound. She only frowned slightly.
“This is a specially made Nine-tailed whip. By whipping oneself or having someone else help, you can use the pain to clear your desires and distracting thoughts, allowing your spirit and will to concentrate. Do you want to try?” Lorna asked.
Her cold, haughty demeanor, coupled with her tall figure and long, black-stockinged legs, holding the Nine-tailed whip, gave her a very S-Queen-like aura.
I had heard Old Golden Tooth mention before that the Church maintained their sanity through repentance and asceticism, so it turned out they really did whip themselves.
