Blossom ghosting

Description

Blossom ghosting is an ailment, during which some parts or the majority of the body is made out of slowly dissipating Flow element Blossom. The issue with this element is that when it dissipates, it disappears without a trace.
This element's ability to duplicate attributes of anything allows it to be used as building part of normally functioning cells whenever it enter the body. The body then consider Blossom as valid nutrient and depending on how much Blossom is already present in system creates unnoticeable to irresistible craving for either more exposure to raw Blossom Flow or digesting Blossom crystals.
As Blossom slowly becomes the major building material of everything in the body and is provided in increasing quantities, this ailment progress into more serious phases, ending up with the death of the individual.

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Cause

Blossom ghosting is caused when the Blossom element enters the body while duplicating any sort of nutrient or material necessary for its function. Breathing Blossom Flow has a very high chance to cause Blossom ghosting.
The body will process the Blossom and use it as food and fuel for cells. The Blossom then duplicates the cells and integrates itself as part of the whole.
The cells created this way are seen by the body as in perfect condition and are therefore kept and fueled with higher priority. While the older cells slowly die without food. However the Blossom has the slowed dissipation of all elements, so it takes a very long time for it to naturally leave the body.

If the initial exposure was intensive enough, the Blossom will be present in high enough quantity to slowly replace a major part of the body. Enough so the body considers Blossom as needed material, creating a craving for more.

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Phases

The first phase of Blossom ghosting starts with symptoms similar to the normal Flow exposure except with the affected individual becoming healthier than before, with increased regeneration. This increase in overall health is due to Blossom taking the role of bad and dysfunctional cells in the organism while duplicating the function of the more abundant working ones. Technically creating a phase of super health.
However rare instances were recorded, where the affected individual experienced worse health than before. Due to already ongoing sickness while Blossom took the role of the illness or dysfunctional cells, effectively worsening the already present condition.
At this moment, preventing any further contact with Blossom will result in withdrawal symptoms, even more burning feelings, and hunger. However, when Blossom leaves the system and individuals eat a healthy meal, they are safe.
The second phase occurs when the health deviation returns to the original while allowed contact with more Blossom. This is the time when the body adapts to the abundance of cells and normalizes the number. The physical cells are usually dying, being slowly replaced by an increasing amount of Blossom-made cells. It is at this point that the affected individual subconsciously or even consciously starts seeking the presence of the Blossom element. This craving takes the form of eating Blossom crystal dust, by exposing themselves to the raw Blossom Flow, or by seeking and eating monsters with a high abundance of Blossom element.
The third phase begins when the individual stops craving normal food, preferring a higher amount of Blossom element instead. At this phase, a majority of body mass has been duplicated by Blossom while the original cells were left to die and replaced by Blossom-made ones.
The individual grow restless and has issues with focusing, caused by a majority of his brain focusing on subconsciously maintaining the form of the Blossom. The individual also becomes more and more transparent in the moonlight the more the ailment progresses. And later even becomes transparent in sunlight as he enters the final phase
The fourth and final phase of Blossom ghosting starts when the restlessness of the affected individual starts affecting his subconsciousness. The affected individual will require a high amount of Blossom to sustain their form, as the Blossom starts slowly dissipating from their body due to natural behavior of Blossom, or due to lack of focus on its form.
The individual will become gradually more transparent, sleepy, and tired. Unless being treated and cared for by external sources, the individual's affected body parts will dissipate at once as soon as the individual becomes overwhelmed by exhaustion.

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Symptoms

Symptoms of Blossom ghosting are barely noticeable at the first phase but become very noticeable at the later phases.
Along the first symptoms are increased health, immunity, sight, regeneration, and overall growth of the body as if it had nothing missing. Which might be suspicious during bad times.
The noticeable hunger for Blossom and its intensity can be a straight indicator of how bad the situation is.
Partial disintegration when Blossom evaporates from the affected individual can be survived at early phases, but it is always lethal at the fourth phase.

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Treatment & Prevention

The Blossom ghosting can be treated while the person is still alive and important enough to warrant the necessary treatment. However the more body mass is made out of Blossom, the longer, riskier, and resource-consuming the treatment is.
For the first and occasionally the second phase, the treatment could consist of entering the Devoid shrine. Which results in violent repulsion of Blossom out of the body. This instantly dissipates all blossom out of the body and can cause serious damage during the second phase.
For the third and fourth phases, the treatment consists of a specialized diet and exercising routine, hoping the body will send the nutrients from the food to the affected parts of the body.
This way, the cells made by Blossom will slowly use the real matter instead of temporal Blossom. Becoming physical and based on normal body-building materials again.
The longer this is maintained, the more stable will the affected individual be.

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Discovery

The majority of Atocites were exposed to Blossom in an amount small enough to be safely ignored. But one group of Atocites was in an area where they were exposed to a high enough amount of Blossom to cause advanced Blossom ghosting. The people there learned to use Blossom crystals for a lot of daily activities, including a seasoning for their food. So they always had enough Blossom in their body to live through this ailment.
When people started using Devoid shrine to purify themselves of corruption, it had lethal effects on people with Blossom ghosting.
The Devoid shrines forces any Flow out of certain area, which forced the dissipation of Blossom, and with its sudden disappearance the affected people partially disintegrated.
This unexpected and scary experience made many people realize how dangerous use of Blossom is, and the followup investigation led to restriction of Blossom usage, careful monitoring of exposure, more strict cooking processes and development of various diets.

Type

Magical