Once You're in the Store, Don't Expect to Leave

Still, the thought that the lump of flesh in the ring was the ancestor of all humanity made the girl feel uncomfortable all over.

Nymph paused for quite a while, seemingly giving her time to digest this. Only after half a minute did she continue. "Actually, that hypothesis dates back eighty years. In those days, the immense pressure from our enemies drove everyone to research every field of artifacts like their lives depended on it, as though the true apocalypse would arrive the very next day. That frenzy also spread to their hopes for primordial life... Many people cut off small pieces of it and implanted them in their own bodies."

"They a-ate it?" Elorie gasped.

"Eating it was only one method. Some crushed it and injected it, some surgically stitched it into themselves, and others simply stuffed it into their bellies." The consul let out a long sigh. "I won't mock them for being foolish or deranged. What could be more deranged than a gigantic Ancient Insect coiled around the moon, ready to kill all humanity at any moment? Most of those people died, either dissolving into a puddle of flesh or having their lives drained away. But a few did survive."

"Those survivors gained peculiar abilities. Not only were they stronger than ordinary people, they were also better at using artifacts and tools made from artifacts. Apart from lacking wings, they closely resembled the Angels of old, so some people called them Half-Angels."

"It became a positive feedback loop. Those who succeeded inspired more people to try, and the abundance of cases allowed later generations to compile their experiences and improve the methods, which produced still more successes. It was precisely because these Half-Angels had a natural affinity for artifacts that humanity's technological progress reached an unparalleled peak."