1.2.06 – Myelin Insulation

“Huh? There’s another notification”

[New Soul Mutation unlocked: Myelin Insulation]

I just stared at it for a few seconds, as it had been a long time since I had unlocked a new soul mutation.

I sat up straight from the surprise but immediately felt the strain in my shoulders and forearms from hauling the raptor awkwardly across the forest. The adrenaline from the fight was probably what kept me going before I felt any soreness. There was also some residual numbness from the Lightning Bolt I took head on from the raptor. I shook out my arms as I pulled on the Weave to access my status window.

I looked at the newest entry at the bottom of my status window. It had been more than a year since I received my first Soul Mutation through Adaptive Soul. Nature’s Constitution had ensured my body developed to the fullest of its potential. I focused on Myelin Insulation‘s description to figure out what it did.

I read that twice, sitting up straighter despite my sore muscles. It is interesting that the Weave had used the word “Myelin”, considering that the development of biology in this world was limited to what a human could see with their naked eye. The Weave probably had pulled on my understanding and list of vocabulary when visualising the status window. It was a learning tool after all.

Myelin by itself is a form of insulator, a fatty protective layer that wraps around the nerve fibers of our neurons. Similar to the rubber or plastic covering over an electrical wire. While not fully descriptive in the name itself, the description seems to indicate that the coating around my nervous system will gradually grow thicker over time. Not only that, it seems to help with improving the transmission of internal currents. It means that my nervous system is more impervious to external shocks, something the Storm Runner probably had in order to protect itself from its own discharges.

Something to take into account when developing lightning spells that target my own body in the future. I already have an innate lightning resistance. Coupled with Lightning Adaptation, my body could probably benefit more from spells like Lightning Infusion or an improved version when I could tier it up in the future.

I brought up Adaptive Soul‘s entry again, trying to figure out how it actually worked.

The key words were “chance”, “compatible” and “deemed beneficial”. There was a lot to be unpacked here. Putting the word “chance” aside, it seemed that first of all there should be some level of biological compatibility to be considered.

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In the case of Nature’s Constitution, it was just about enabling my body to grow to its full potential. Regardless of species or body structure, that mutation would be considered compatible with my human physiology.

For Myelin Insulation, it would only be possible if my nervous system was similar to that of the Storm Runner’s. It probably had other characteristics like its conductive bone, but it was probably not compatible with my human physiology to absorb that.

Secondly, the words “deemed beneficial” could be more subjective. In the case of Nature’s Constitution, I was slightly malnourished during the first few years that I came to this world, maybe even before my soul from Earth was transposed into the one in Caelora. That mutation enabled my body to grow to its maximum capacity as long as there was sufficient nutrition, ensuring I was not handicapped by the lack of food in the earlier years.

Myelin Insulation was a bit more ambiguous. I wondered if my Lightning Brain core mutation and the use of Lightning Infusion spell had anything to do with whether this was considered a beneficial mutation. There could be some level of my soul’s subconscious at work here, determining whether a specific characteristic would be useful. This could be something I took note of when considering what types of beast to hunt in the future.

I was basically the poor man’s version of Majin Buu from Dragon Ball. Gaining only a subset of abilities from very specific beasts I defeat. A dark thought appeared, wondering if I would gain something from absorbing the cores of other humans. I quickly dismissed that train of thought before I could go down the rabbit hole.

“Well time to get to work” I dismissed the status windows and got up. “This raptor is not gonna butcher itself”

I had hung the raptor from a tree a bit further out from my grotto, afraid that the smell of blood would attract beasts despite the repellant doing its work. While most of the Storm Runner’s blood had drained out during the fight, there was still some left and it was always good to be thorough.

I did not plan on eating the meat, but I could definitely sell the hide from a Yellow Cored beast. The electrical resistance properties of the leather might be of niche usage, but Lightning Spells were especially lethal. While lightning mages and lightning beasts were not that common, I was sure someone would find a use for lightning resistant armor.

I let the carcass down from the tree before hauling it back to the grotto. I had gotten the butcher to teach me some basics after hunting boars for more than one year. I had nothing better to do every time the butcher stopped by anyway so I had asked if I could watch.