Wu Hai found a lot of strange things every time he probed with his spiritual senses into the Crusher. Looking into a crate he had pulled out, a pulling sensation from the small box.
The box could only described as mystical, it was one of only a few like it inside of the Crusher's supplies.
Inside there was only one object, a rounded stone-like object. The Object gave off the power of vitality, it fluctuated with a feeling that was like desire incarnate. Resembling an egg, it had been protected again and again by Wu Hai. Keeping it in a safe and warm place, he nurtured its arrival. The Egg stone was impossible to get into storage but Wu Hai found a storage box that allowed it, a micro pocket dimensional cauldron. Capable of carrying anything living, so long as it would fit in the box.
He wasn't sure what he would have done with the egg if he hadn't stumbled on the crate. Its features were mostly benign and it didn't give off any special feeling. He only knew of its potential when he first opened it and a small golden rat ran out very fast. It disappeared into the forest that day almost as fast as it escaped from the cage. Wu Hai wondered if the Rat would survive in the winter but it's fate was out of his hands and the Rat was too fast to track with his ability.
There was movement from inside of the Blackened Egg. Crumbling from the inside, a small black gelatinous spot crawled out and onto his arm. It showed no intention to harm as it crawled around on his arm.
The creature had no eyes but it seemed to be looking at Wu Hai, it let out a loud screech then dug into his forearm and wrist. The pain was intense, he didn't have a quick healing ability at the moment and was forced to grab a healing staff. Wu Hai channeled the staff's limited ability while he looked at the bulge that was forming across his forearm, the black glob burrowed further into his body.
The Strange black spot didn't feel uncomfortable and it didn't seem like it had hurt him out of malice either. Wu Hai was sure that the Healing Staff would do the work but the spot did it instead, the black spot made a buzzing sensation, it rattled Wu Hai's teeth for a second and the wound quickly healed like it had all been a lie. In its place, a mark, like a tattoo had taken form. It had no designs on it but it was dark and moved with his breathing.
Wu Hai's stomach growled, the spot remained on his forearm just before his wrist. Grabbing at his head, his mind and the spot were sharing emotions. 'This thing feels like it's at home.' "Did anyone else see that?" His voice crackled in the cavern, his lips were dry and he had almost forgotten how to speak in the moment.
The group looked positively lost about what was happening until Khan Ni started running. Rushing forth, she looked at his arm, she couldn't even tell something had burrowed into his skin as she pawed around. "The 'thing' communicated to you? I don't get it, usually when something enters the body it is to eat that body from the inside. Are you sure it will be okay? In nature these rules are rarely broken."
Everyone fell silent, the Twins didn't know what to say at all.
No one would like to be eaten from the inside, Wu Hai thought about cutting it out and immediately got the feeling like it wasn't a good idea to attack the black spot and that the spot wasn't doing anything nefarious.
Wu Hai had been caring for the Egg since before he had even met the Twins. He secretly hoped that it was something as powerful as he thought the 'Infinite Spectral Dragon King Egg' would be but he was still happy that what came out wasn't hostile towards him.
"I think I'll be okay, something deep inside keeps telling me that the black spot isn't a problem, at least not right now. I'll keep an eye on it and if I feel any change or drain, I'll take the necessary steps." Wu Hai looked down at the spot and felt oddly connected.
"I don't want to be eaten, that would not fit my current plans." Rubbing his arm a bit, the spot vibrated like it was happily. "I'm a little freaked out that it decided to dig into me but it really doesn't seem to be a problem, at least for now." Wu Hai's stomach growled again. "I'm hungry, what's for Dinner?"
Khan Ni looked back at Wu Hai, it was her turn to cook. She shook her head, the group had vegetables again. She watched Wu Hai's expression but couldn't help laugh at him. "You're an interesting one, Elves would lose themselves to such a thing. Sharing your life with another is not the choice others tend to make. Be sure that you're caution in matters like this grows before the creature outgrows your usefulness."
Chiding on, she told him about a priest in the old days that was eaten by a Burrowing Hell Centipede. Her description of the account sent shivers down Wu Hai's back and down his arms.. when the shiver reached the black spot, an armored plating appeared above Wu Hai's hands like it was ready to defend itself from the perceived threat.
Khan Ni noticed too, "Wu your fortune is great and sometimes cruel. Perhaps it is only a looming danger, perhaps it is a friend, perhaps it is an enemy. Only time is going to tell since you do not wish to harm it. The black spot seems like it is willing to protect you."
Turning his hand over in her palm, Khan Ni looked at the armor that spread out from the black spot. She let him go and Wu Hai went back to the transformation room.
There was a strange sensation coming from the spot, it wanted to come out and test its body.
Wu Hai could tell very clearly that one way or another, the spot was coming out to stretch and test itself. Rather than surrendering control over the situation or fighting it, he chose a different route.
Inside the transformation room, Wu Hai was staring at his wrist and then he broke into his practice routines to test his own flexibility. The creature calmed down when Wu Hai calmed down, his fingers were agile, he was thinking of how to use the spot during an attack. Claws started to eject from the spot and a pair of Nine Inch Nails came from the back each of his wrists. Wu Hai's hands were free to do as he pleased. He looked at the claws and rubbed them for a second. His wrist was slightly sore from the change, it was all so very new.
'Whoa, What is going on!' Wu Hai stood silently for a second, then started explaining his feelings to the group. "I can feel these claws like they are a part of me, it feels like I can use them too. "
Retracting the claws, they disappeared back into his forearm. Shaking his arms to make them come out again, he was disappointed.
'Perhaps it was only a momentary ability?' Wu Hai thought it over, he tried again and almost immediately the claws returned to the back of his wrist but they were a little different and had a scooping curve to them.
There was an impulse he couldn't fight, throwing himself to the ground and burrowing like a wild animal, Wu Hai was quickly underneath the cavern floor. He moved at a slow pace but clearly he was making his own path. There were many things in the mud and soil, he collected them as he went, removing the debris with a spacial ring.
When he was finally closer to the base of the altar with the green orb, he dove down deeper into the soil and tried to cross underneath the space beneath it. There was a stone that seemed to be very hard, it had to be metallic in nature. Using his senses, he sank his energies into the rock base of the altar. There was a bright flash and his body fell limp in the tunnel.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
An hour passed after he had gone underground but Wu Hai hadn't returned to the group.
Leaving them worried, Khan Ni went into the Tunnel with the miniaturized Jiao. Her night vision was usable even in absolute darkness. Elves traditionally hated the underground but her group leader was missing, it was important to stick together. Getting over the Elven stigma of being underground for extended periods was difficult enough, confined under the soil in a small burrowed tunnel was no different than being buried alive but Khan Ni suffered through it.
Further down the tunnel, she found Wu Hai. He was unconscious and at the base of a large rock. She noticed his hand outstretched and making contact with the stone foundation. Wu Hai's eyes were busy darting around behind his eyelids and his conscious mind was not in his body.
Sitting beside him for a few minutes, Khan Ni finally had an idea of what was happening. She sent the Jiao back with a note attached.
She hoped that the Cheng twins could read. The note was simple, it read, 'He is alive, I'll wait, you should wait.'
Unnerved but obedient the Twins sat down after Khan Ni left and drank more. They were nearly out of wine, the Ale had long since been gone. The two of them always argued, as such, they were both yelling at each other when the Jiao came back out of the Tunnel. There was a piece of paper attached to a collar.
"Big Sister tells us no." Mu said quietly, he couldn't read but he knew what notes usually meant, rejection.
"We stay, We Drink!" Yu raised his bottle and said while staring at the paper.
Glares of mutual intimidation passed across each of them, they chugged their drinks and began their regular measurements of manhood, trying to best each other at anything. Their room was a complete mess but the beds were at unbroken. The previous beds they had were completely worthless. Wu Hai had made the two new beds and with the spacial bracelet, they could take them anywhere without being destroyed while they traveled. "Yu, Wu is strong. Let us stay with him."
"Yes, Mu. Sister even listens to him. Sister is strong too, Haha ha." Yu cracked his fingers and grabbed another of his bottles. "Brother Wu is going to be stronger soon, I feel stronger too. This is good. We stay." The Cheng Brothers had put their hopes into a different life than before and Wu Hai given them both new identities. Their loyalty to him had been cemented with the first slab of meat but by now they followed him without question.