The Skeletal Man!
People used to say time passes very fast, or very slow. Ultimately, time speed was reliant on personal perception!
However, time in the Endless Fog is relative and mostly subjective!
Islanders come and go, some die, some flourish. Some stagnate with no mind of their own! Some… were barely clinging to their life!
That was the case of a man that was akin to a skeleton draped in pale rosy skin while still alive — barely, alive!
The man sat at the edge of a Golden Sand Island, staring at nothing. His eyes were sunken deep in their sockets, a shadow cast over them as if there was none!
His nose cartilage has merged with his bony face. His jawline was sharp, held barely by the thin skin and tendons!
His neck was slim, one may wonder how it could hold the head. Collar bones, shoulders bones, the bony limbs, if not because of the pale rosy skin, one will declare they were just bones attached together!
The outlines of the ribs were so pronounced that they can be counted at a long distance. The stomach was shrunken, disappeared, only the lower ribs and the backbone that connected the upper body with the hip were visible!
Ahh, the hip, don't get me started with hip!
The man was essentially — a skeleton with skin.
The Skeletal Man can't see, not because his eyes were dried up like his body, not also because they were sunken deep in the cave of their socket. Instead, it was the Brain that cut off their sensory ability!
That wasn't all, he can't hear, he can't taste, he can't sense anything on his body.
He was void of any sensation except — the sense of smell.
What was amazing was that anyone close enough to The Skeletal Man will hear the beating of his heart — fighting furiously to keep him alive!
It was strong as if it would burst out of the chest! That was also the only function the Skeletal body was trying to maintain!
The heart was pumping the remaining blood, circulating it around the Skeletal Body, to keep all organs functioning and… the man alive!
As for the lack of senses, it was to reduce the use of energy by the Brain!
What humans perceive through their Sensory Organs was just a fraction of what the Organs capture. The Brain did all the heavy lifting by filtering out all the unnecessary factors and feeding the Mind what is important!
That is why the Brain consumes more than 20% of the Body's Energy!
The Skeletal Man's Brain left the sense of smell to capture the smell of an Energy Source in the air; edible materials!
[Major Quick Adaptation Trait Activated]
[The body has adjusted to the new Condition]
A Trait so good, it kept a man for a very long time, even after the man, himself, had lost hope of survival. The Trait Influenced the body to carry all the necessary precautions, to keep itself alive and going!
But… the mind of The Skeletal Man has collapsed already!
A duo in black clothes were driving their Island amidst Myriad Islands to see if they may Luck upon something. One of them came to an abrupt stop!
"Impossible!" He stared at the far distance to a 5 meter Golden Island.
"What is it, Master?" The companion asked.
"Well, you see that person?" The Master said.
"Yes, the skeleton?"
"Yes. In the future no matter what, don't ever cross his path, negatively?"
"Yes, Master!"
There is wisdom with age, the now called Master is Lami, he once heard the same word from his Master, the original leader of the Black Mantra. That time his Master has asked him to document the man and his Island activities for future reference. And he did it using the Artifact that Black Mantra uses to record things.
The same man that his Master asked him to be cautious of was believed by Lami and his Master to have been swallowed by one of the Ascended Islands and turned into Living metal!
To the public, the discovery of rare Living Metal made many Islanders try their best to obtain it, especially those that obtained an ability, from the First Trial, that was related to Metals.
Either the Island refused them or they did not have enough Mental Fortitude to merge with it as the Island was Grade 2 and most Islanders Islands were just Grade 1.
The duo, Master of Black Mantra and Lami, knew the truth behind the Island, but they kept it to themselves.
Now, three years have passed, the Master of Black Mantra has moved forward to the Third Trial, and his follower, Lami, has become the new Master and… meet again, the Island and the Man.
He and his Island might have changed but Black Mantra Members merged with an important Island that allows them to keep records of all Islands they met before. They can also somewhat tap into the Second Trial Fog and confirm if the Island they see was what they know of.
Lami, the new master and his follower stirred away from The Skeletal Man and hurried far away.
They might be wary of The Skeletal Man and his Golden Sand Island, but, ultimately, they were just one of the countless bizarre things in the Fog.
The Golden Sand Island drifted aimlessly, and the man stayed hunched in his sitting position. His skeletal back was so bent as if it would break at any moment!
Apart from his ever beating heart, the man shook his hand that held a brown stick, after three-three hours. By doing so, a large drop of slime appeared before being absorbed by the Golden Sand.
Unexpectedly, his lowered head jerked up, with a creek sound, toward a direction. The Island sped in that direction, reaching an Island that has a Tree with fruits that release a scent.
The Skeletal Man tried to move, but he almost broke his fragile bones. Thin Chains shot from underneath the Golden Sand and wrapped at the man's wrists, shoulders, torso, thighs and legs. Supporting him to move toward the Tree Island.
A Force Field slammed forward as The Skeletal Man tried to enter the Island. The Chains shifted back in time or else The Skeletal Man would be smashed to pieces as his bones were more fragile than a baby's bones.
The Golden Sand stirred up and a Lump of Slime shot out and attacked the Force-field. At the same time, more Chains came out and merged into a sharp drilling spear while also rotating fast, generating a force and striking the Force-field.
Not only that, the Golden Island vibrated furiously and slammed at the Tree Island, trying to initiate Forceful Merge. In no time, the Tree Island yielded and allowed the Skeleton Man to enter.
"Is that possible!" The follower asked.
"To them, yes!" Master Lami answered.
The Master and Student upon returning, chance upon something that was supposed to be impossible.
Invasion of a Myriad Island!
Especially an Island of that calibre which can protect itself from any Sentient Being.
Myriad Islands in Second Trial were protected by Second Trial Fog and their power. With that, no Islander can force an Island to merge with it.
"How can Islander invade without following the proper ways!"
"If the Islander and his Island are pseudo-part of the Second Trial Myriad Islands" Lami, the new master, replied. It was just an answer that came to him.
In their knowledge, they knew Islands hunted each other and Merged to increase their property. Nevertheless, they seldom do that!