After Akins made her wish to become a goddess like Aphrodite, she immediately felt a powerful transformation begin inside her body. Strength surged through her limbs as if divine energy had awakened in her blood, and every heartbeat seemed to echo with a supernatural rhythm. She could sense her body becoming stronger, faster, and far more extraordinary than any ordinary human.
At first the sensation filled her with excitement. The power flowing through her made her feel closer and closer to what she imagined a true deity would be.
But the transformation did not stop there.
As the changes continued, something unexpected began to happen. Her once smooth skin gradually turned rough and coarse, like weathered stone exposed to years of wind and sand. Her voice became hoarse and unpleasant, and the reflection staring back at her from the mirror no longer resembled the beautiful woman she had always been proud of.
"Wait… something's wrong."
Akins stared at herself with disbelief, unable to accept the grotesque appearance that had replaced her perfect figure and delicate features. Panic rose in her chest as she clutched the magical wish stone tightly in her hand.
She had wished to become a goddess.
A goddess should never look like this.
Suddenly she remembered something Luther had mentioned earlier, right after she made the wish. He had casually warned that a magical stone capable of granting wishes might demand a price in return.
A chill crept down her spine.
"The price… is my beauty?"
Her trembling fingers touched the rough skin of her face.
If that was true, then making another wish might only create another terrible exchange.
If she wished for her beauty and figure back, would she lose something even more important? Her emotions, her eyesight, or even her lifespan?
The thought terrified her.
It meant the cycle might never end.
She slowly lowered her hand and turned her gaze toward Luther, who stood quietly nearby.
"You," she said suddenly, pointing at him.
Even though her appearance had become monstrous, the supernatural charm granted by the wish had grown immensely stronger. The power radiating from her presence now felt overwhelming, like the divine allure of a true goddess of love capable of enchanting anyone who looked at her.
A confident smile appeared on her lips.
"I want you to make a wish for me," she said. "Wish that I have the beauty and figure of a true goddess."
If Luther paid the price, she would lose nothing.
"Dear Miss Akins," Luther said softly, his eyes filled with infatuation. He looked completely captivated by her, as if he had forgotten the wish stone originally belonged to him. "Although it may sound presumptuous, could I also make a wish for myself?"
Akins immediately became alert.
It wasn't that she suspected Luther had broken free from her charm. Love could blind a person, but it didn't turn them into mindless puppets. Even someone deeply in love would still occasionally think about themselves.
The fact that he dared to bring up his own wish right in front of her was already surprising enough.
"He's unbelievably selfish," she thought irritably.
"What do you want?" she asked cautiously.
Luther's eyes shone with anticipation.
"It's a wish I've held for a very long time," he said.
"I want the greatest scientific mind in the world."
Akins blinked in surprise.
"That's it?"
She had expected him to wish for something outrageous, like ruling the world or forcing her to love him forever.
"Why not wish for endless wealth?" she asked with a puzzled frown. "Or become the president of the United States… or even the ruler of the planet?"
For an ordinary person, becoming the greatest scientist might be a dream.
But Luther was already the heir to a billionaire empire.
"As long as you have money and power," she continued dismissively, "you can simply hire the smartest scientists to work for you."
Luther shook his head slowly.
"No, dear," he replied with a gentle smile.
"No matter how brilliant someone else is, their intelligence will never truly belong to me."
He clasped his hands behind his back as he spoke, his voice calm and reflective.
"Everything humanity has achieved today comes from knowledge," he said. "Millions of years ago, our ancestors were merely apes climbing down from trees. Now we rule the planet. We travel across oceans in hours, speak to people on the other side of the world instantly, and explore the deepest oceans and the surface of the moon."
"All of that exists because of science."
"If you want it," Akins said impatiently, waving her hand, "then take it."
Her attention was elsewhere.
"But aren't you afraid of the price?" she asked.
Luther accepted the stone and bowed slightly with a gentleman's gesture.
"As long as I'm with you," he said warmly, "I'm not afraid of losing anything."
The sweet words pleased her greatly.
Although her supernatural charm could make anyone fall deeply in love with her after a kiss, it didn't magically grant them romantic skill. Luther's sincerity felt refreshing in comparison.
She smiled and rewarded him with a kiss before placing the wish stone into his hands.
"And besides," she added lightly, "we can always let other people make wishes for me later."
Luther's eyes flickered with a trace of cunning as he accepted the stone.
"…Of course," he replied.
If countless people could make wishes instead, why should he personally bear the price?
…
As dusk fell over the outskirts of the small town, a scrapyard filled with abandoned vehicles sat in silence. Rusted cars were piled like mountains of metal garbage, and the air smelled faintly of oil and dust.
Victor followed the information he had gathered earlier at the bar and slowly approached the entrance.
Several men were sitting outside a small two-story shack near the gate. They were drinking beer and playing cards, enjoying a relaxed evening.
When they noticed a stranger approaching, the mood instantly changed.
"Who the hell are you?" one of them barked, dropping his cards and standing up. "Get lost!"
The leader stepped forward with an unfriendly expression. He was of medium height with thick limbs and wore a leather jacket decorated with metal spikes. A scarf with flame patterns wrapped around his head, giving him the look of a cheap rock musician.
"Didn't you see the sign outside?" he sneered. "Private property. No entry."
Victor casually tossed a photograph onto the ground.
Whitney's face stared up at them.
"You robbed the bank with him," Victor said calmly.
Several of the men stiffened immediately.
"What are you talking about?" one of them stammered, pretending ignorance.
But the leader's expression darkened as he shoved the man aside.
"Who told you that?" he demanded sharply. "Whitney?"
The others quietly grabbed tools, benches, and baseball bats from nearby. The leader's hand drifted toward the pistol hidden behind his waist.
Victor didn't appear to notice.
His eyes briefly passed over the green glowing tattoo on one man's arm before he spoke again.
"Who came up with the idea of mixing meteorite solution with tattoo ink?"
That question was the real reason he had come.
One long-haired man covered in tattoos took an unconscious step backward. For some reason, simply standing in front of Victor made him feel an indescribable pressure, like facing an immovable mountain.
"You know too much," the leader snarled.
He waved his hand.
"Grab him. I want to know how he found out."
Except for the long-haired man, the others rushed forward with their weapons.
Victor didn't intend to let anyone here leave alive.
A crimson glow flashed in his eyes.
Hot energy beams swept outward.
Two of the attackers suddenly froze.
Thin red lines appeared across their waists.
They looked down in disbelief as their upper bodies slowly slid apart and collapsed onto the ground. Blood poured across the dirt as their severed torsos hit the ground.
Victor frowned slightly.
Two of them hadn't even received tattoos.
"So they weren't trusted enough to be given powers," he concluded.
The leader screamed and fired his pistol.
The bullet struck Victor's chest and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Several more shots followed.
None of them left even a mark.
"What… what are you?" the leader whispered in terror.
The remaining two men stared in horror at the bodies lying on the ground. Their legs trembled so badly they could barely stand.
"Come on!" the leader shouted desperately. "He can't hurt you!"
But fear had already overwhelmed them.
They dropped to their knees.
"Please spare us!" one of them cried.
The leader cursed and suddenly activated his own ability, charging toward Victor with murderous intent.
Whether Victor was human or machine, destroying the brain would stop him.
At least, that was the plan.
Victor's eyes flared again.
Blazing beams carved through the surrounding area, slicing through the shack wall like paper and filling the air with suffocating heat.
The oxygen quickly thinned.
The leader staggered after only a few steps before collapsing to his knees, clutching his throat as he struggled to breathe.
The two kneeling men fell beside him.
Victor walked past them calmly as they gasped and writhed.
He stopped in front of the long-haired tattooed man.
"You invented the meteorite tattoo ink," Victor said.
The man trembled violently.
"Yes… yes… that's me," he stuttered. "I'm just a small-town tattoo artist. Please… don't kill me…"
After a brief interrogation, Victor quickly understood everything.
The tattoo artist, Laurent, had discovered the strange fluorescent reaction of meteorites by accident. Curious, he ground the stones into powder, mixed them with water and tattoo ink, and tested the mixture on himself and a few friends.
Instead of poisoning them, the mixture granted them the ability to become intangible.
The discovery led them to an obvious idea.
They robbed the bank vault by simply walking through its walls.
But the ability didn't last forever.
At first they could remain intangible for half a day. After repeated use, the duration grew shorter and shorter until some of them lost the power completely.
"So you needed new recruits like Whitney to keep stealing jewelry," Victor said thoughtfully.
Laurent nodded desperately.
"What's the exact formula?"
Laurent hesitated.
Victor's eyes glowed purple again.
Laurent immediately blurted out the tattoo ink brand and mixture.
"Good."
Victor turned and walked away from the scrapyard.
The moment the terrifying young man disappeared into the distance, Laurent sighed in relief.
He had survived.
But an energy beam pierced straight through his heart.
His body collapsed as the heat instantly ignited the corpse.
Several more beams reduced the remaining bodies to ashes before flames spread across the entire scrapyard.
Against the rising firelight, Victor walked calmly away.
He intended to go home and test the formula himself.
Laurent had mentioned that even drawing the mixture onto the skin without a permanent tattoo could activate the effect temporarily.
"I wonder," Victor thought quietly, "whether this solution will work on me."
His defenses were already powerful enough, so the ability wasn't necessary.
Still, having an extra trick was never a bad thing.
....
Join my P*atreon for 100 premium chapters ahead of the public release.
Link: pa*treon.com/MysticVerse (Remove the *)
Free members also get 2 advanced chapters for free.