Exelixis

The Cave was not very big, it was about six meters deep and two meters in diameter and it was undoubtedly the nest of that weird bear. Two small creatures that closely resembled it were viciously shouting and showing their teeth at the appearance of an unknown, hostile animal that had just entered their environment. They were really small and pitiful, without their mother to defend them they would perish before long.

The taste in his mouth had become bitter and his head had started to hurt again.

[Mana: 05/10]

-Is it because of this?- he pondered, shifting his attention to the direction of the bear cubs. There was no way to explain it, but he felt an unimaginable hunger and thirst the moment he saw them. However his curiosity as was captured not by his next meal, but by a small, silver - blue flower further in the back. For some reason this fragile little thing exuded an aura of serenity, like a silent observer. It watched them, unmoving, impartial, as if it meant to flaunt and ridicule them, that it was above the struggles, pains and desires of life.

His headache had increased in intensity yet again, he was tired, so tired from all of this. His head felt like it was almost going to split open. Amidst the tranquillity and the shouts of the horrified creatures he let himself slip away into the darkness.

The next time that he regained consciousness he was standing on top of a human, violently eating him. He had torn the clothes and leather armour into pieces in order to devour the meat. Humans, he used to be one not so long ago, the act of eating one was seen as a taboo, something that should never be done. Humans obsessed over such unimportant things, but that was to be expected. Any creature with a social cognisance or just by instinct would prefer to preserve their own species.

This act would make him a cannibal, but even so, even if he should have felt guilt, nothing about this felt wrong. It was necessary, for survival, that man would have done the same were their roles reversed. He continued feasting on the corpse, now fully aware. He lifted one of the arms, cut away from the rest, as the tender meat slid out, something that he had never experienced before happened. It wasn't a taste, it was something much more complex of a sense. He felt it, as the muscles entered his mouth and contracted, it was as if he could see it, a gas that escaped from the torn vessels and twisted the air in a beautiful dance of vibrant red colours.

Undead creatures do not need to breathe, they have no use for chemical reactions to occur in order to fuel them. Their energy comes from something entirely ethereal. They are violent manifestations of the most basic of human instincts. But the hunger that drives them is not something of a physical nature, what they need to consume to sustain themselves, as living dead, is life, mana from the living.

In that moment this particular undead had grasped an understanding of this profane nature. He took in the mana and inhaled it, absorbed it. First from the flesh from inside his mouth, then from the arm that he held and finally from the entire body. This was the first time he had felt such satisfaction from a meal ever since he had turned into an undead. It was not simply the satiation, the feeling of his mana being replenished washed away pain and stiffness.

No longer tortured by the constant neuralgia and hunger he decided to return to the small cave where his last prey lay. There was one more thing that could be found within this small space other than shelter from the elements. It was the silent observer that had witnessed the crime of a desperate creature. He had returned there with only one goal, to defile, and to consume.

It could simply be described as a speculation, or a premonition. He knew what he had to do, he had finally comprehended the way in which to devour mana and now he sought to do so again. He could feel it now, this new sense that had been awakened, with it he could see it, like a star that teared through the emptiness with a brightness so profound and tame, yet so brutal. As he approached it it steadily became harsher. Did it know? Was this how it attempted to defend itself? It did not matter, his advances were not being stifled. The source of the blinding light was now in arm's length. He tore it out from the ground, bathed in its wonderful glare and then just like before he opened his mouth and took in the life that leaked like smoke.

It tasted like the rain that poured over a seaside in the middle of a summer night, sweet and remorseful. It was divine, while it lasted, followed by a strong pulse from deep within his body. The man became perplexed, he was not alive anymore, his heart did not beat, his blood did not flow, however he could feel that something did flow, from the tip of his toes to the centre of his scull and everything in between.

It was correct to assume that consuming the essence of the flower could result in some change. He had not been the only one to take note.

[...Zzsh Subject's mana capacity exceeded, tetra-etherium signature detected. Subject class reassignment pending.]

Again, the scraping sounds had come to announce their constant surveillance, such cruel noises, cold and calculating. It knew his every move, maybe even his thoughts. What was its purpose, what did it have to gain, by allowing him to acknowledge its existence?

His body became heavy and hot, sensations familiar returned anew, similar but different. This dead body, it was changing, evolving. With the sudden pain and suffocation returned forgotten, lost shards of memories, muffled sounds and torn images. It had made his mind wander, not like before, he had not disappeared into some dark corner, his consciousness had remained, although fully occupied by the new information it was receiving. More places, faces, experiences, happiness, turmoil, sadness, and names. Not just any names.

"Tho... mas", he muttered to himself. That's right, he had been Thomas, agent of the Abnormality Subjugation Organisation, formed by the Lethe Athanatoi, the most prominent religion in all of Agros, which was second to power and influence only to the Administration itself. He was a prisoner using and being used by a system so concrete and all-encompassing, no matter where he ran to he could not escape it. But he had escaped it, he no longer was on Agros, he was way beyond it, so far beyond the reach of any of them, not the administration, not the 'Father', not the Church and not Alexander, none of them could touch him now. With his self regained he made a decision. Thomas would from this point onward cease to be. He had died on that mission, devoured by the portal and gone forever. From this point it was up to him to decide which path he was going to walk.

With his thoughts now organised and his name discarded, the person that used to be Thomas noticed that his vessel had become different. It was, of course, still badly damaged, however it felt stronger and more flexible than before, his nails had extended into sharp points more deserving of the classification as claws. In his knee, that was missing a part of it, a thin purple membrane had been formed. It was clear that he was no longer simply and 'undead walker'. To boot, his body was not the only thing that had changed.

It would not be incorrect to describe the increase of his perception as a wider field of vision, but it was much more detailed than sight could ever be. Every small edge, crevice, surface withing the cave, and outside it, this new sense could identify even the bugs under the earth his feet stepped on. He felt that he knew where everything was positioned, within his mind. Additionally with it he could 'see' himself as well, not in a way an other might, from the outside, but from the inside-out. It was disorienting, but at the same time intriguing

He thought a good way to utilise this new perception would be to survey his body, to better understand it. Doing so, rather resulted in observing something surprising and revolting.

Worms, uncountable worms were within his body. They were pulsating ceaselessly and moved in a way that seemed unnatural and at the same time calculated. They were spreading, slithering upwards, their motions slow. Then he noticed something else, a soft, purple light around were his heart should be, while the infection had spread everywhere below, the light in the thorax was pushing back, rejecting that dark unnatural thing, this corruption.

He had no way of knowing whether he could do anything to fight back, he searched more vigorously, trying to ascertain even the slightest, most minute detail. The light in the heart, it also moved, even more slowly than the worms, inside his blood vessels. It made no sense, defied even the most basic of rules he knew of. Plugged, necrotic veins, somehow filled with light. He tried willing it to move faster and against the flow of that disgusting thing, but it wouldn't respond. Instead he concluded that a more direct intervention might be the better choice.

He could cut into himself and extract the parasites forcibly. He had nothing to fear, after all he was already dead. He was dead, but he could still feel somehow, it was incomprehensible.

The pain of having your abdomen slowly pierced and your skin, muscles and nerves torn was worse than the worst torture he had ever endured and ironically he was doing it to himself, with nothing but his fingers and nails. The blood was everywhere, dark, smelly, jelly-like, with a vomit inducing smell, the worms came out. He ripped them out and threw them as far into the shadows as he could, fist in, grab, throw, in, out, throw, in, out,... They spattered on the rock walls of the cave and fell onto the ground still contorting, twisting, writhing.

They must have sensed danger, the ones that remained inside started wriggling around violently, causing immense pain. Now onto the lower parts. The light shined more focused into the arteries now. This operation had some effect, he continued.

Tare open the thigh, tare it apart, below the fat. There, between the muscles! He had found the next coagulation. Pieces of soft tissue mixed in with the black mass in hand. The next, successful.

The relief of pressure after every extraction was addicting. He moved further down with more vigour, his newfound flexibility had become now a major factor in this conflict. The light was responding again, it flowed through the parts that had been retaken from the worms, soon overtaking the whole body, not leaving a single one of those pests to survive.

Ridding himself of those things resulted in immense relief. Their skin felt like thick liquid and the smell they exuded was enough to overtake even his own as a corpse. Whatever they were, even if unclear, they instilled an immense amount of panic into him.

They must have been that thing's power, from when it tried to take over his body. Back then he felt it slithering inside his skin, this power was capable of making his soul cry out in pain. It scared him to his very core. So he couldn't remain close to those things, he had to get further away, he couldn't guess what they might do, and how fast they would do it.

He ran out, into the woods, with newfound strength and ability. Along the way he saw the remains of his previous adversary, those same things were crawling around and inside of it. Impossible, how could he have not noticed them before? It could mean only one thing, even back there at the lakeside, they were everywhere. He had to head towards the mountain on the opposite side.

-That's the safest way-

The terrain was harsh and unsteady, but he could traverse it easily now. Under the thickness of the leaves he moved fast and quietly. He thought that this is what freedom feels like.

•Name:?

•Race: ?Undead? - Dark Walker (?Human)

•Level: 3 /Classification pending/

•Health: 0/5

•Mana: 50/50

•Skills:

Claw Attack

Devour

Mana search

(Passive)

Halt Decay

Dark Blood

Mana sense

"Give me a name"