Arthur moved as quickly as he possibly could to the circle of non-existence where only Randolf's Foreign Treasure could exist. His cage of petals and vines ascended towards this circle, devoid of any colour or Laws, before being unravelled the moment he came into contact with the circle....
Arthur himself could only feel the faint traces of Wood Laws within him. This space around the Foreign Treasure, was devoid of any sort of Laws, Madness or spiritual essence of any kind.
Narrowing his eyes at it, Arthur could now see exactly what this Foreign Treasure was.
It was.... a small worm?
"Wait.... no, it's metallic. And it possesses legs as well.... a living, metallic centipede?".
Arthur extended his arm forward, towards the Foreign Treasure, but felt the circle of non-existence around him shrink significantly. A huge amount of vibrations shook Arthur's Mind, Body and Soul, as he turned around and instantly froze.
His mind flashed, and the faint image of "that" within Randolf was instantly burned back into his mind.
The closest thing Arthur could call it, was a "heart".
It beat, hummed gently, and expanded and retracted, exactly the same as an ordinary heart. Yet, its form, or whatever Attributes that made up its existence, were far beyond what an ordinary heart was capable of....
Crafted from shadows and darkness, this entire heart-shaped existence was covered in a layer of wet, shadowy liquid. It dripped and dropped, letting the blood that leaked out from its every orifice fall down into the endless Madness below. From a distance it almost looked as though it had scales, but Arthur could tell that those "scales", were just tiny little veins, all wriggling and squirming together, like a nest of shadow-coloured snakes.
Arthur had comprehended Shadow Laws before, so his familiarity with the concept far exceeded that of even his Wood Laws.
This.... "thing".... was outrageously....
"..... Beautiful".
Arthur had only reached the fifth level of Shadow Laws, barely scratching the surface of that level of Law attainment anyway. Yet, he was sure, completely and utterly sure, that this "thing" in front of him, was something that had touched upon the realm of Rank 9 Fae Immortals.
Tenth Level Shadow Laws....
He might be wrong, and it might only be the ninth level of Shadow Laws.... but if that was the case, then-.
"What the fuck would be Rank 10?".
The shadow-scaled heart extended some of its constantly leaked veins towards the circle of non-existence, only to screech so loudly, Arthur felt his his ears pop instantly after hearing it just once. His world blurred for a moment, and he gritted his teeth and extended his hand towards the Foreign Treasure.
The metallic centipede, feeling the presence of a Human, instantly attached itself to Arthur's arm, crawling up his forearm and bicep before heading towards his shoulder, near where the back, met with the base of the head.
His brows furrowed for a moment, before Arthur felt a searing pain coming from the back of his neck. He reached back to try and grab the metallic centipede, but felt nothing but a small trail of blood coming out from where it had entered.
Arthur's breathing sped up slightly, and he felt the complete loss of all of his limbs and extremities for a single moment, before a foreign, female voice entered his ears.
"Unknown foreign user detected.... assessing current biological situation....".
"Current age.... seventeen.... biological functions.... currently ninety nine percent fully functional....".
"Current physiological status..... elevated heartbeat, tympanic membrane perforation, slight fracture of the right shoulder bone, several minute fractures of the right ribs.... Do you wish to continue with user registration?".
Arthur paused for a moment freezing where he was.
He gave the heart-shaped Madness behind him a single glance, noticing that the circle of non-existence had shrunk significantly.
He gritted his teeth. He didn't know what this Foreign Treasure was or what its abilities were, but if he didn't want to die, he needed to take risk.
"Continue".
Arthur heard a pleasant sounding ding resound throughout his mind before the voice continued.
"New user registration resumed.... What would you like to be referred to as?".
"Arthur".
"Do you accept connection between the A.I and the brain?".
"Define "connection"?".
"The A.I will be allowed access to the many portions of the brain and the brain stem. Sections that involve control over motor control, movement, speech, memories, sensations and control over the extremities and appendages of the body will be given".
"Can I restrict what you can and cannot access?".
"Of course! Personal privacy and security is a guarantee of every personal Artificial Intelligence!".
Arthur bit his lip for a second before nodding.
The only way up was forward. Turning back now wouldn't be the best idea, especially considering the Madness that was constantly trying to break through the Foreign Treasures defences.
"I accept".
"Thank you!".
Arthur felt another sharp and intense pain emanate from the inside of his skull. His ears were still bleeding slightly, yet the pain that came from having his ears popped was completely forgotten as the tiny metallic centipede extended its little legs towards the various sections of Arthur's brain.
Once again, the pain only lasted for an instant before Arthur regained full control over his body.
"Ding! New user registration is now complete! Please enjoy exploring the full range of abilities given by our company's A.I, and remember to always visit a doctor, if the implant ever becomes painful or malfunctions!".
Arthur paused for a moment before shaking his head and noticing that the circle of non-existence had stabilized slightly now that Arthur had become "bound" to it.
Arthur watched as the shadow-scaled heart kept colliding against the circle of non-existence, only to coil back in pain and agony as its liquid-shadow veins were set alight in the presence of no Laws.
Arthur couldn't help but ask.
"What is it that you are doing? What is preventing that thing from getting to me?".
"The A.I has no knowledge or recollection of what the contents of the user is looking at. No recorded living creature in the entirety of Humanities 4,000 years of recorded history has ever assumed such a size, or such abilities. And as to why it cannot reach the user, that is due to the strange energy that the A.I is currently irradiating. No such substance, or any known particle has been recorded in the database....".
Arthur narrowed his eyes before glancing down towards the the skeletons and insects down below. If something like this heart-shaped Madness couldn't enter, then surely those things couldn't enter the circle of non-existence either.... right?
Unlike before, where the metallic circle was stagnant, Arthur could move around within the Madness without the layer of protection provided by Elder Vova's Attribute Control Skill. The circle of non-existence moved around the Foreign Treasure, and now that it was within Arthur's body, he could move around within the Madness with a certain level of protection.
Arthur narrowed his eyes and moved towards the bone-eating insects, skill slowly devouring the skulls of those stars, luring the heart-shaped Madness towards them.
The moment he came into contact with these skeletons, Arthur felt his mind shake once more. In his previous life, he had attained the fourth level of Bone Laws before his death, and just standing in the presence of an existence whose entire being radiated bone type spiritual essence, caused Arthur's nose to start bleeding again.
"User! Immense mental strain has been detected! Heartrate as been elevated and the occipital lobe has started to-".
"Shut up! You're distracting me!".
Arthur watched as this heart-shaped shadow Madness slowly approached the enormous skull stars. Their light scared off the heart, but it approached Arthur from a different angle, trying its best to stay away from the light that illuminated the Madness.
It tried to extend its shadow veins towards Arthur, but-.
The seventeen year old smirked.
The bone-eating insects seemed to detect the presence of something other than one of itself in the area, and instantly swarmed the heart-shaped Madness, gathering around it like flies on a dead animal carcase.
Splotches of shadowy blood dripped down from the numerous wounds formed on the heart, as Arthur instantly took this opportunity to fall down towards the Sea of Eye and the field of flesh eating human plants.
The roars and painfilled screams of the heart-shaped Madness echoed throughout the rainbow coloured void. It completely ignored the constant chewing of the bone-eating insects within itself and charged towards Arthur, who just frowned and headed towards the field of flesh-eating human plants.
The moment he saw the sea of greenery slowly devouring the mammoth beneath it, Arthur's eyes widened and he charged straight through. The presence of his Wood Laws caused the entirety of this shared existence to turn and look up towards the oncoming Madness above.