in a pitch, black cave far away, hidden from the shadows of gods and mortals alike, played a man on the cold floor. he was neither old nor young, neither mad nor sane, neither dead nor alive.. his body was trembling, his skin was burning up so hot that the temperature around him arose to a significant degree, his dilated pupils shaking, his breaths rough and ragged.
the tall, ferocious barbarian that once scared off predators and monsters now was squirming around like a worm. And it was all because of one wicked voice that haunted his existence for the past 10 years.
and after a long time, the pain started to decrease until it was finally gone.
'how long has it been? a day? week? maybe a year?'
the man has lost track of time during the agonizing suffering. little did he know that in the time he was trying to survive, the seasons outside the cave changed
if one could see him, under the dirt and blood, there stood a young man no more.
Lothar tried to assess his surroundings to see if Benny was around or if some beasts are waiting for him but there was no one.
his stomach growled, and he realized that he was famished and thirsty.
he immediately looked to his right were rotting corpses lay. he was shocked to see the state they were in and concluded that he had been in that state of agony for a long time.
'They look to be dead for a month at least. how am I alive without food and water for all of that time?.. '
then he touched his body where the wound given by the Kila should've been but felt only a scar instead, not to mention he doesn't feel poisoned anymore.
and after checking up on his body, the man's knees trembled gave up on him. he fell on the floor weeping
he was so relieved he survived that tears kept wetting his face. he was immensely against feeling that king of pain again and did a mental note not to listen to the voice again even if it costs him his life.
in the end, he had no hope of ever escaping the cave but that did not mean he wanted to just throw away the effort he made all these years and get himself killed. but if the case came where he had to suffer more than he can handle for the price of his life then he won't. he was done with it all.
and with a solemn expression, he went on a hunt for food not realizing the changes that went through his soul power and even body after completely assimilating the soul core.
Avatar, did you alter his memories?
"he doesn't remember anything about the experiments''
Good, is the heart implanted showing signs of failure?
"not yet. I will keep an eye on him"
Good
..
the man jumped from wall to wall, propelling himself high enough to reach the 5m long snake/octopus monster. it had the body of a snake and tentacles protruding from its back, with a bright green scale that would put most metals to shame.
he launched himself and landed on its body. with his arms around where its head ended, he squeezed until scales started to break and land on the ground. it screeched and wiggled around to drop him but his grip was tighter. he finally let go after punching through the skin underneath the fallen scales. the snake-like the beast was sent flying, the man approached it and as he looked down on where he thought its body would be he realized something
'what is this red fog around its body?'
one should remember that the man had no sight, sense of smell, and was deaf. but for some reason, in the endless darkness that clouded his sight was a small red fog, so tiny that he only noticed it now around its body
the man laughed out loud, making the beast screech in terror at the sound.
it had maybe the intelligence of a dolphin at best, but right now the sound the man was making felt oddly similar to the voice it heard from time to time coming from the walls
"I can see a red light or shadow thingy around you!'' he smiled brightly, innocently tilting his head, but his wide bloodshot eyes held no innocence at all. quite the contrary, the beast thought that there was something fundamentally wrong with the monster's mad gaze
and then before it could do anything about it, the man pounced on it and punched into its body, a dark cloud covered him and the beast. chocking noise came out and its neck swelled until it exploded, covering the man with blood
" well it's not like you can answer me anyway, hmm you're big. you'll make me full" he said as he rubbed his tummy
in the meantime, a voice that resounded throughout the gigantic cave while also inside Lothar's head
you have survived, child. i'm glad
'glad my fucking ass'
the man picked up the body and walked back to where he resided
do you not have questions about why you survived and how? and about the past 3 months?
'so I have been in this hellish cycle of endless pain for 3 months?! holy fuck! how did I even survive? wait.. 3 months went by but it didn't feel that long to me.. why is that?'
after a second in thought, he got his answer
'ah... it must be locke'
[it was hell]
'thank you. I owe you'
[don't worry about it, I barely remember it now anyway. my memory is filled with holes, I guess I was out more than I was awake]
'I don't know if that's good or bad'
Lothar realized that he had many questions for the voice, but the one he thought was the most important was
" why can I see weak red smoke everywhere I look?"
the voice chuckled and Lothar shivered in disgust
it seems like you are seeing the soul essence of the creatures around you
the man frowned " wait, what? how?"
the voice responded ominously
it is related to you absorbing the soul core
Lothar wanted to face palm himself and he almost did
" that is a given, but why?" replied instead not wanting to antagonize the voice
the beast you killed, eat its soul core as well
it continued ignoring the flabbergasted expression on Lothar's face
" what? no way! I would rather die than going through that pain again'' he yelled
And do you think you will survive without the soul cores? without the souls you're seeing you are completely blind and now you are starting to get closer to me. do you think you can get your revenge if you stay weak like that?
the man stopped in his tracks and gritted his teeth, his hands clenched the snake's body so hard that it dug into the scales and skin underneath.
he didn't want to admit it but the voice was right, he was weak. in fact, the only reason he was able to take out the kila was that it underestimated him far too much. if it took him the least bit seriously then he would've died miserably. the same goes for the snake in his grasp, if he hadn't taken it by surprise and launch his attack from behind he would've perished as well. it seems that ever since he got from 'cold' to 'warm' not only did the beasts become smarter but they also have these weird soul cores that he never heard of before.
plus the ability to see souls was extremely beneficial, he was no longer completely blind and could pinpoint exactly where the beasts would come at him from
and finally, he might not ever want to go through that pain...
and he did promise himself that he won't do it again but now he found out that those cores gave him power. power enough to kill the voice. and his rage ran deeper than his fear.
'fuck it.. I'll regret it later. but like I always say– eyes closed, head first, can't lose'
the man looked at the even smaller bead than the kila's in his hand. he tossed the corpse on the gigantic mountain that went up to the 30m tall ceiling
he sighed solemnly and threw it in his mouth
" see you in another 3 months," he said to the small red smoke next to his foot, or as he guessed an ant
...
[i will take over again, lothar]
'...'
'..thank you
....