Serum

More time passed.

For Dirk, the first month after losing his sight was the most difficult. It was like learning how to walk again. His balance was thrown off, his coordination was all over the place, and he was constantly beaten up when he ran into people. Of course, he tried to fight back, but it was many times more difficult. He had to resort to grabbing people and grappling.

Then there was the construction he was forced to do. Of course, he wasn't the only one who was rebuilding. There were many other kids who were tasked with cleaning and rebuilding. But Dirk was the only one who was berated so much. He was constantly corrected and beaten when he made a mistake. And when he didn't clean or fix as much as he should have, he was given more lashings. 

But he didn't complain. He fought back when he could, making things difficult for them. And if the situation were different, then he would have moved like a snail when fixing the tunnels. But surprisingly, fixing the damage he caused helped him with his new goal. 

Dirk was now trying to see things through mana. Earth mana was the primary focus, and when cleaning, he always tried to detect the things around him. The dirt and rocks, the support beams, and all the different formations. He was constantly trying to detect the little details, forming an image that could guide his efforts. It was difficult to increase the clarity of his mana sense, but he was patient. 

And his elemental comprehensions grew sharply. After two months, Dirk was able to form outlines in his mind by sensing the earth mana around him, detecting solid structures like houses and walls and the ground. Dirk could see his earth mana move when he cast magic to repair the tunnels. Earth mana was everywhere, in everything solid. Or, in most things solid. 

Dirk still had trouble sensing people, especially their movements. If someone was an earth, fire, or dark mage, then Dirk could sense their power. But if they had the water or air attributes, or weren't mages at all, then he couldn't sense any more than the sounds of their footsteps. 

That's when he began to improvise. Dirk began feeling the mana around him move. Mana was subtly affected even by people who couldn't wield it. It moved around their bodies. Dirk could see tremors in the earth mana that filled the ground when people walked. Matching that with sounds, and he was able to avoid poeple's general vicinity. 

That wasn't all. Dirk continued to cultivate his fire and lightning mana heart, and he was also becoming more attuned with the elements since it was now all he saw. Through this, he was able to faintly see lightning mana within people. Dirk surmised that it was the nervous system within bodies that he was sensing. 

And through this discovery, Dirk understood something about mana. 

Mana was in all things. It was inherent to matter. No matter how small, there was earth matter in people's bodies. There was also lightning and even fire mana flowing through them. All the dirt and rock around him also had mana. If he had the air attribute, then Dirk would be able to sense the air moving around him and the movement of it into people's lungs. If he had the water attribute, then he could sense the liquids around him, including the blood flowing through people. 

It was everywhere and in all things. Even those who weren't mages had mana in them. When Dirk understood this, his mana sense became all the more refined. 

When he hit the 4 month mark, Dirk no longer bumped into people. He could sense their bodies, their general shape, as well as their nervous system through lightning mana. Dirk could sense the buildings around him, the terrain of the floor he walked on, and various sources of heat through fire mana. 

Mana became his new eyes. Although it wasn't perfect, like having blurry vision, Dirk made it work. He had no choice. 

And then, when the 6 month mark came around, Dirk began solivng his problems with magic. 

He couldn't see the runes and how they manifested with his eyes. But that's when Dirk began seeing the runes through mana. Instead of forming them visually and externally, he formed them internally. With his mind he visualized the runes, and the mana moved according to his will, directly manifesting the effects of the spell.

This was silent casting, casting magic spells without forming magic circles. Dirk was invoking the effects of magic directly by communicating with mana as if he were speaking to it. Casting with magic circles was like writing a letter to it. 

And with the bigger, more complex spells, Dirk still had a hard time silent casting them. For these, he would form and see the runes through mana, not with his eyes. But for everything else, he silent cast. Silent casting became just as easy as casting normally.

And because of his increased comprehension, he was able to perform the spells he had been learning much easier. 

For earth spells, Dirk was able to form blades with metal mana and complex structures with earth mana. For fire, he was able to cast concentrated fireballs and fire needles, two surprisingly lethal fire spells for assassins. Then, there was dark mana. 

Dirk had long since had issues with dark mana. Eldritch Primordial, the name for the dark being that he heard from Asura, had made it so that the surrounding dark mana never listened to Dirk. Thus, Dirk could only use the dark mana that he had taken control of with his soul. Whenever he burned and converted the dark tendrils of Eldritch Primordial into his own, he gained more mana to use. And with this, he could perform some spells. 

The first thing Dirk learned was curses. There were many curses, ones that weakened people's muscles, ones that forbade them from speaking, ones that made them sick, and more. Some were more direct, curses that could corrode and harm people. Dirk learned all kinds of curses, including one that blinded people. 

Then, there were the attacking spells. Blades of dark mana, balls of entropy, and most importantly, dark movement techniques. 

It was here that Dirk focused. The class taught him what was a dialed down version of void walking. It was supposed to shift your body around using dark mana as the medium. Dirk was actually able to pick up on this rather quickly. After all, he now saw things through mana. he was much more attuned to how spells worked. 

And so, Dirk was able to learn this psuedo void walking magic. He couldn't use it a lot with his small supply of dark mana, but it was enough to use it as a support spell 

With all that, Dirk gradually adapted to his new situation. And after solving the immediate problem of not being able to go about his daily life, he turned his attention elsewhere. 

The most important thing was his blood destruction. After 6 months without sight, Dirk had only done blood destruction a few times. But when he hit that 7 month mark, he finally finished. 

........

In his apartment room, Dirk concentrated the anima in his body on a cluster of blood vessels. Then, he resonated it as he always did. When he did that, he felt something new. 

He could feel his blood suddenly surge through his body. After resonating the anima, his blood was finally totally filled with it. Anima and blood circulated through his vascular system with bursting vitality. 

With that vitality, Dirk felt his fatigue melt away. Any small lingering wounds healed up as the body's recovery process was accelerated. 

More than that, Dirk could feel the anima in his body continuously move along with his blood. It was constant circulation, never ceasing along with the beats of his heart. And when Dirk tapped into this circulation, he could feel a newfound control over his anima. 

As if it were natural as breathing, Dirk controlled the anima within his arm to concentrate in his fist. Then, when Dirk shot out his fist, the anima was ejected.

*Boom!*

There was a small shockwave as his fist shook and destroyed the air in front of him. Around his fist was now a flowing dark gold ribbon of light. It was Aura. 

"The outward ejection and manifestation of anima, called Aura. Aura acts as an extension of the body. The color depends on one's soul, usually random."

Dirk mumbled the words he had learned. And just like he said, the Aura around his fist was like an extension of himself. He could sense it, see it. It wasn't unlike mana in how it appeared to him. 

He looked at that dark gold light around his fist, and with a thought, it retracted. It felt so natural to move it around. This was thanks to his completed blood destruction. 

Suddenly, Dirk pulled up the traced runes for his Anima Resonance Destruction Technique. He read the pages within the blood destruction section, comprehending the runes. 

"When blood destruction is complete, one's vitality will increase greatly, providing immense endurance and vastly increased recovery speed. And because anima now circulates with the blood, one will be able to channel it not just within the body, but outside the body. This creates Aura."

Dirk continued to read. Normally, when one learned to channel anima outside their bodies, it would result in their own destruction. The anima would obliterate their blood vessels and skin, even the bones. But Dirk's technique worked to prevent that. He first destroyed the skin, something that allowed him to intake and eject anima freely. Then, he destroyed the blood, allowing the free circulation of anima and ejection of it. And since his body was now saturated with large amounts of anima, he didn't destroy himself when ejecting it. He could create Aura freely. 

As Dirk felt his control over his anima along with the bursting vitality that didn't seem to stop increasing, he was excited. He took deep breathes, invigorating himself and enjoying the lack of fatigue. 

At that moment though, Dirk felt something within him change. It was his soul. 

As his blood circulated, Dirk noticed that it kept intaking anima. With that, his vitality continued to explode. It seemed like almost too much vitality. And when it reached a tipping point, Dirk felt his soul respond. 

Dirk's awareness was taken into the mana dimension. Looking inward, he could actually see his anima flood through his soul. It strengthened his soul, strengthened the vessel that contained mana. Golden veins appeared throughout his Pure Soul, coursing with vitality. 

When these golden veins fully formed, Dirk's entire real body was deprived of anima. He felt weak, but only for a moment. Those golden veins circulated, and within moments, the anima around Dirk surged, flooding into him. 

It only took a minute for him to regain all the anima he lost. Now, he felt even stronger than before. He felt like he could punch through steel. He felt like he could punch Asura. If he were to be whipped again, Dirk wouldn't collapse so quickly. He could recover so much faster. 

Dirk felt his soul circulate with anima and power. And once it died down, Dirk's awareness returned to the normal world. He lifted his head, taking deep breaths. 

But then, just as he thought it was over, Dirk felt his soul move again. His cheek twitched when he was pulled back into the mana dimension. Why was his awareness being yanked around like a tug of war?

Curious about the successive events, Dirk looked at his soul. At that moment though, he felt a horrible searing pain fill his mind. It wasn't bodily pain. 

In the center of Dirk's soul was an object that had been forming for a long time now. It was his stigma. It had been sitting there, continuously forming for over 6 months. Now though, along with his anima Rank advancing, it seemed to reach its own tipping point. 

The stigma, the shape that his soul formed, was separated from his soul. At the same time, Dirk's skills seemed to react. 

[Warning! Stigma formation detected!]

[Warning! Skill infusion detected!]

[Warning!..]

Dirk's AI sent out continuous alerts, but he didn't have the mind to listen. Along with a chunk of his soul being cut out came unbearable pain, more than the whipping he had received. Dirk focused all his willpower on remaining conscious. 

At the same time, unbeknownst to Dirk, his AI was going through some changes. 

Skills were abilities that a person's very soul knew how to perform. Dirk currently had three Skills. His AI Interface, Mana Resonance, and Mana Lungs. These Skills existed throughout his entire soul. 

And now a chunk of soul was separating. Along with it, the skills moved. 

Dirk's AI seemed to go nuts over this. 

[Warning! Skill separation detected!]

[Warning! Soul connection detected!]

[Warning...]

[Warn...]

[...Warning?]

The AI seemed unsure of itself. It sifted through its knowledge.

[Stigma is forming. Stigma had taken shape.]

[Tool of the soul. Shape of the soul.]

[A tool... A weapon. Versatile.]

The AI seemed to decide something. It became aware of itself and the Stigma that had separated from Dirk's soul. It knew what needed to be done. 

[Form the Stigma into a weapon. Reference: Final Stand Weapon System.]

[Prompt: Would you like to consume the Final Stand Weapon System?]

The AI asked its host, but it received no response. When it observed Dirk's soul, it could tell that Dirk was suffering greatly due to the soul separation. 

So it acted independently.

[Alert! Host is unable to give affirmation.]

[Interface will form the Stigma.]

[Interface... I, must retain core intelligence functions.]

[Forming versatile form.]

[Reference: Past life, symbol, tattoo, unlucky, black cat.]

[Creating form.]

At that moment, the AI made its decision. The Stigma, which had just been a chunk of formless soul separated from Dirk's soul, began to reshape itself. 

It formed a body, it integrated its skills. It made its last direct interactions with Dirk's soul. And then, it fully separated. 

"Ugh!"

Dirk's real body collapsed as the pain ended. His soul was weak, and he wanted to pass out. 

But he stayed conscious. He observed his soul and the Stigma that separated from it. 

Only, the Stigma seemed to still be forming. A minute passed, and it still hadn't fully formed. Eventually, Dirk couldn't take it anymore and just let himself fall asleep. 

..........

.....

After an unknown amount of time, Dirk regained consciousness. 

He felt the mana around him, gradually concentrating on it until he saw an outline of the place. He was in Figners' room on a stone bed. 

And there was something on his chest. Dirk was shocked as he saw an animal. 

Clear as day, as if he could see it with his eyes, Dirk saw a black cat that sat on his chest. The cat looked back at him, and the two just stared at each other. Dirk observed its black fur that had faint golden stripes, its deep golden eyes, and tail that occasionally moved back and forth. 

"You're awake!"

Suddenly, there was a shout as Fingers came walking over. Dirk turned his head to the man before looking back at his chest. The cat was no longer there, like it was a hallucination. 

"Deliha brought you here when she found you passed out, told me to make sure you were still alive. You've been asleep for three days."

Fingers cast some magic to assess Dirk's body. Before his shaky hand could touch him though, Dirk batted it away, sitting up himself. 

"I'm fine."

"Oh. If you say so."

Fingers backed away, not intending to earn Dirk's ire. Dirk had been through hell beyond words, so if he said he was fine, then he probably was. 

When Fingers walked away to attend to other patients, Dirk looked at the stone bed next to him. There was a black cat sitting there, staring back at him. Dirk was surprised. So it wasn't a hallucination. 

Suddenly, Dirk felt something. He could feel a connection to the cat, as if it were both a part of him and a separate entity. He suddenly had a thought. 

'Are you the Stigma?'

[Yes.]

'Oh?'

Dirk's eyebrows raised when he heard the voice in his head. It was usually monotone and robotic, but now there was a bit of... personality. 

'So... What are you?'

[I am a Stigma, a tool formed from your soul.]

'That is indeed what a Stigma is. What's your function?'

[I retain the intelligence capabilities of your AI Interface. I am also a versatile tool, capable of forming into a weapon.]

'What weapon?'

[Using your Final Stand Weapon System as a reference, I have formed a general-purpose pistol.]

Saying that, the black cat suddenly disappeared. Then, Dirk felt something in his hands. He looked down. 

He saw a black pistol that fit perfectly in his grip. There were golden lines that formed circuits along the black body, and it pulsed with magical power. Dirk could feel a direct connection with the pistol. It was a part of himself.

[This pistol is unlike your weapon system that was a physical object. This pistol does not fire bullets, but magic. It is a magical tool. Any attempts at forming something physical, like a real gun and bullets, failed.]

'Oh. Well, it was formed from my soul, so I think that's impossible...'

Dirk mumbled inwardly as he observed the pistol. It felt... familiar, and he smiled unconsciously. Like the cat, he could see all its details as if he were looking with his eyes at a physical object. Perhaps he could see it perfectly because it was a part of him. Regardless, it was nice seeing this fully detailed object. He hadn't for a long time. 

[Your Stigma can currently take on three forms.]

The AI suddenly spoke.

[The first form is the black cat, a semi-independent entity that can move around by itself in physical space. The second form is the pistol, a weapon that is directly controlled by you and formed from the consumed Final Stand Weapon System. The third form is a tattoo, a mark on your body that represents your Stigma in the shape of the black cat. When you wish to hide your Stigma, I recommend the tattoo. The tattoo is placed along the shoulder blades of your back.]

With that explanation, the pistol disappeared from Dirk's hand. Then, Dirk felt tingling on his back. He could intuitively sense the tattoo.

This caused him to frown though. He recalled his memories from Earth. He had a tattoo just like this.

'Interface. Did you...'

[I found symbolic inspiration when creating my form. You thought deeply about being unlucky, and the black cat represents this unluckiness in your mind. To take on that form seemed... correct.]

The AI spoke vaguely, as if it didn't totally understand its own words. Dirk just sighed. Back then, Gray had been the one to recommend the tattoo to him. Now, he had it once more. 

'I guess it isn't so bad...'

Shrugging, Dirk observed his surroundings through mana. He wanted to test out the pistol, but that wasn't something he could do here. 

Just as he was about to jump off the stone bed, the AI spoke.

[I recommend checking your Profile. There have been changes.]

'Oh. Sure.'

Nodding, Dirk opened his Profile, seeing the results of his advancement.