It was unknown as to what had happened but Jason didn't even remember how exactly the black origin flame had evolved into a Tier-1 black origin flame!
After he had accepted its pain that was stronger than he had expected, Artemis and Scorpio had utilized their own fortified soul conjunction which they had with him to take the pain he had transferred from the black origin flame to himself.
Once that happened, the pain he felt lightened, but at the same time Jason could feel that something about the black origin flame began to change as his sight blurred.
What happened after that was unknown and he was unable to remember much.
Time seemed to pass slowly and when he had regained his senses, the black origin flame had completed the fusion with the mana core.
At the same time the fusion happened, the black origin flame's mana core changed slightly which allowed it to liquefy mana to drops.
However, what happened afterward shocked Jason greatly.
The moment he regained his senses, huge pain overflowed his body because the baptism had already begun!
Jason was glad that nothing went wrong with the evolution of the black origin flame, but he would have loved to witness everything!
It was obvious that Jason had underestimated the potency of the black origin flame which caused the current pain he was had to endure.
The black origin flame that was currently cleansing everything inside Jason's body wanted to slow down, however, Jason ordered it to continue without holding back.
Meanwhile, Artemis and Scorpio tried to transfer Jason's pain to them to share and lessen the pain he had to endure.
Astonishing enough, sharing the pain during the baptism seemed to be impossible which would have shocked Jason if he was able to think clearly.
However, that was not possible because of the pain that spread throughout his whole body, igniting his mana veins, arteries, blood cells, bones, skin, and mana core.
Everything within Jason was burning and he was sure that the pain he was enduring right now was equal if not worse to the time he refined his mind.
The pain caused by the devilish valkyrie-shield fruit was already terrifying but the second baptism he was undergoing felt even worse.
Jason's pores opened and a terrible reeking black mass of impurities oozed out of them, but that was not important to Jason right now.
He was only trying to endure the pain and prevent crying out once again because he could already feel that he attracted the attention of other beasts which was not something he wanted to do.
Jason was defenseless and he would be the first to die if anything were to approach him and he could only rely on Artemis and Scorpio if something were to happen.
However, Jason hoped that his soulbonds wouldn't have to protect him.
More than two days had already passed and the baptism was still not complete.
The whole ground was littered with bad reeking impurities and if Shane or Dalia were to see the sheer mass of impurities, they would be shocked and ask if Jason's whole body had been completely purified from impurities.
This was not the case, and one could only wonder how many impurities the human body had within in order to release enough impurities to fill the whole burrow Jason sat inside.
After two days, Jason didn't feel as overwhelmed by the pain he had to endure as in the beginning, which didn't mean that it was not extremely painful.
If he were to be even a little bit less strong-willed, it was unknown what would have happened to his sanity.
Fortunately enough this was not something Jason had to be afraid of and he was already able to smile brightly while enduring the consistent pain which the black origin flame unleashed when he noticed that the baptism was refining his mana veins throughout.
After his whole physique had been cleansed, strengthened, and refined, the black origin flame began to cleanse Jason's mana core which the baptism forcefully enlarged.
This worried Jason a little bit, but after his own and Dalia's assumption, that a baptism was different than a soul world amplification was proven correctly, Jason couldn't help but feel relieved because his vessel was enlarging before it would be strengthened.
He didn't have to be afraid of his vessel breaking after receiving the baptism which was a large stride forwards.
Nevertheless, Jason knew that his baptism was still not over, even if he was already at the last few steps that were about refining his mana veins, brain, eyes, and other senses!
The last step of the baptism was said to be the one that made everyone feel the most uncomfortable because a single mistake could lead to a devastating disability.
However, Jason was not afraid that something like that would happen.
He was supposed to endure the pain and nothing else.
His trust towards the black origin was enough to allow it to take control of the full baptism which other owners of origin flames might not allow in fear of sustaining injuries.
However, what Jason didn't expect was that roughly six hours after the final step of his second baptism was initiated, a large number of 'Putrefaction rats' which was a beast at the low-Unblemished rank were to rush towards Jason's position.
They had been attracted by the reeking stench of impurities and wanted to devour them and Jason, who was completely oblivious to the fact that his life was on the line.
He was currently gritting his teeth to endure the purification of the mana veins inside his eye.
After the mana veins within his eyes would have been purified, his other senses were the last area that had to be purified before the pain he endured over several days would be over.
Only a few hours were left and Jason was already expecting to figure out how much stronger he became, when Artemis and Scorpio, who left the soul world several days ago because they were bored to stay inside the soul world for too long, informed him about a large horde of putrefaction rats that rushed directly towards his direction.
They couldn't tell if the rats targeted him but there were several thousand of them at once which was not something they would be able to take on lightly.
Nevertheless, it wouldn't be surprising if a handful among several thousand rats were to accidentally fall into the cavern entrances, Jason and Scorpio dug, which would most likely result in a bloody mess.
As such, without waiting for Jason to respond to her, Artemis used her affinity to forcefully close the cavern entrance by creating a thick layer of ice within it.
She left a tiny hole, barely enough to supply Jason with enough oxygen, preventing him from suffocating in the burrow they had dug.
Jason knew that something had happened, but he couldn't focus on the transmitted messages from both Artemis and Scorpio because the pain distorted all of his senses.
Unfortunately, the black origin flame couldn't stop the baptism now, because it would leave behind his eyes half purified which might result in a huge backlash, injuring them seriously.
As such, instead of stopping, they accelerated and the black origin flame started to purify all his other senses immediately after Jason gave it the permission to do so.
Even if the black origin flame didn't do this, purifying and refining his eyes was the task that took the longest.
This was also the reason for the black origin flame to start purifying his other senses at the same time.; to save time!
As such, Jason could only wait until his baptism was completed before he was ready to depart.
Fortunately, the putrefaction rats were only at the low-Unblemished rank which gave Jason enough hope that his soulbonds would be able to survive if the worst-case scenario were to appear.
While Artemis circled above the first sealed entrance, Scorpio retreated a little bit to prevent being run down by the mass of rats.
If the putrefaction rats were to act weird both would immediately act which was something they hoped to be an unnecessary worry!
Unfortunately, this was not the case and the first putrefaction rats in the stop slowed down at the first sealed cavern entrance to start digging through the ice.
Jason noticed the uncomfortable and frustrating emotions from both Artemis and Scorpio as their mana erupted in order to attack the mass of several thousand putrefaction rats.
They had to defend Jason, even if they had to sacrifice their lives!
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