Galahad had stormed off in a huff, he wanted to be away from everyone and everything and have some peace just for a little bit. He planned to go someplace to clear his mind from the anger and not unleash it on someone.
'It's not like I can do any damage though, I'm starting to really feel the need for the cane again.' He thought as the motion of walking was making his scabs tear open along his abdomen. His pride on exiting the shop was keeping him from going back and grabbing it, so he needed to find a place nearby to cool off
He was not much of a drinker, so tavern bars were not the best place. Especially when most customers were adventurers during the day. All of them would want to share stories and they will recognize him with the burns and bandages.
His Karmic Plate was shattered and his contract was dissolve, so not even hanging out in the Gate's pavilion was an option.
About an hour later, he ended up walking to the isolated pond in the forest. It had taken him twice as long to arrive due to his wounds seeming to draw the strength right out of his body.
Looking around, he could still see where Apharine uprooted her tree. All that was left was a fresh mound of brown dirt and mud. Small piles of snow gathered around the forest and frost was growing around the water's surface.
Galahad sat down in front of the water's edge; when he peered into the still pond, he could see the torn up side of his face.
The scars along his neck and left shoulder still crept up like red veins from the explosion. The damage that extended up to face had stopped just along the side of his jaw. He still had another two weeks before he'd have to stop by the Medical center for more fruta oils.
The burning sensation was flaring up and down the side of his neck again, it didn't go away until his eyes parted from the reflection of the wreckage.
A quick glance at the bandages on his left arm made him realize the wounds kept leaking puss. He reached into his bag to pour more Fruta oils on them. After a moment of rummaging, he suddenly stopped looking into his bag, his body swayed for a moment before Galahad fell back to lay in the grass.
The walk to the pond had brought an exhausted dizzy effect on his mind, 'Forget the treatment, I just wanna stay here and let Apharine wake me up later.' He lost focus on what he was thinking or doing.
Before he could correct his own thoughts about Apharine, his mind already drifted to sleep. Galahad turned over and his left hand brushed across the contents that spilled out of his bag.
During that light movement, his bandaged fingers glossed over the shattered Karmic Crystal that fell out of his bag.
Nothing happened to the crystal from that action, but then a black sludge began slowly oozing out between the bandages, the tar like substance poured out onto the ground and pooled around the broken crystal. When it completely surrounded the little device, it started to enter all the fractures of the broken crystal.
The black substance filled in the cracks, giving it the appearance of a black spider web. The cracks started vibrating and producing a grey smoke.
The wisps of smoke vanished in the wind, but not without killing the grass nearby, it left long streaks of dying yellow amongst the healthy green.
When the smoke and vibrations stopped; the Karmic crystal was completely fixed. The only difference now was the light blue tint of the crystal was gone, now it looked like a piece of black obsidian cut to the same shape as the once blue Karmic Plate.
It only took a few minutes for the process to completely occur, it finished before Galahad could even start snoring. However, the changes to his Karmic Plate was not the end of the ominous substance's path.
Deep in his sleep by the pond, changes rapidly began to overtake his body. Even in his dreams, he could feel his whole body tingle as it was being overrun by the black sludge.
*****
When Galahad was dreaming, he found himself back to the hills that had been the setting of his repeating dream not too long ago. The blue tree was no longer growing this time, it was gone. That was because something else had began growing in its place.
'I swear to the gods, if I get another stupid dream about some stupid exploding tree-'
"What the fuck?!" Galahad spun around in a full circle to see what exactly was happening to the ground.
He was standing on top of a black magic array with over a hundred unfamiliar runes wrapping around a five-point Star that seemed to almost pulse in the middle. He had never seen a magic array so complex or big before, and the black sludge it was made out of was gurgling and moving like it was a living entity, this Galahad tried to step out of the magic array, but he couldn't move.
The star grew outside of the magic array and stopped when it was at least twenty yards in diameter. At each point, small black trees sprouted faster than his original tree.
Galahad's original tree grew naturally and slow compared to the pitch black ones that would rapid shoot out branches in various directions. The process seemed more jagged and forced compared to his original tree's natural and consistent growth. That was until the old tree would spontaneously blow up into smoldering cinders.
Suddenly all the trees started changing in their own ways. One of the black trees burst into orange flames and spewed magma out of the trunk while it kept growing. Another had dirt spikes growing around like some kind of defense with wind chasing around it. The other trees were having their own uniquely violentile reactions as well with green mist and metal shards.
The black magic array began to tremble and shrunk down to a concentrated puddle in front of Galahad. The substance gurgling for a moment, as Galahad tried with all his might to run away. It was no use though, his feet never left the spot he originally started at.
The puddle separated into two smaller puddles that started shaping a pair of footprints. The black substance looking like it was filling up an invisible mold that took the form of two legs. It kept rising as the two legs connected into the bony hips and abdomen. Galahad could only stare in horror at the humanoid form that came to greet him.
The black figure rose up to his height and morphed into the shape of something vaguely human. It stood at Galahad's height, but was unnaturally thin with lengthier arms and legs. The most terrifying trait was its faceless head that moved still around like it could somehow see him.
"...devour…" came out like a faint whisper from the faceless shadow.
"W-what?" Galahad stuttered. He could barely hear the soft spoken voice, but it still made him shiver in fright.
Two white eyes started to glow in the dark head of the shadow. It quickly snagged Galahad's head between its long bony fingers. It forced their heads closer together until they were only an inch apart and tore open a massive jaw with a loud screeched.
"DEVOUUURRRRRR!" The ringing of that one word made everything cave into complete darkness. The trees disappeared and the dream abruptly ended.
Galahad was only left with one thing on his mind when he woke up.