A sickening crunch resounded as the creature's head caved in, a depression fully traced deep into it's skull. The flesh around it yielded to the firm blow that was administered to the head, weakly splattering outwards.
It was a pathetic death for the creature that didn't even get to defend itself. Or at least, that's what Bie thought. He was soon surprised, however, as the head itself opened to reveal the toothy tongue exploding, the shrapnels of bone piercing into his fist and digging into his chest. Bie stepped back in surprise, his eyes revealing a hint of displeasure as they dimmed considerably.
"Pfft. Yer finally acting like a childe! Remember that the Crystal Balls have their own little tricks, and just beating them to a pulp won't always work. At least pay attention while yer smashin their heads in?" Amitha shook her head as her eyes scrunched up, waving her hand provocatively from where she was perched. She then pointed towards the corpse, readying another lecture.
"THAT, is a Crystal Ball. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and yield all kinds of materials. Hell, if ya got a Bridge that allows it, ya might even be able to tame some! But ya know what's the most important thing they offer? G-L-I-M-P-S-E-S. Go ahead and extract one from it, and I'll show ya what to do with it. Yer gonna figure it out just fine on yer own, so just give it a shot, kay?"
Bie's teeth clattered a bit inside his mouth as he ground his sharp molars together in annoyance, still irritated from the sudden explosion he endured. Bringing his focus to the globules of fleshy splatter and the faint skeleton still buried underneath the crumbled staircase, he did feel an urge to...touch it? The Ink in his body was suddenly rioting, churning and calling out to Bie to simply make contact with the remains in front of him, and his nose wiggled along with some strands of his hair.
He tentatively kneeled down, obeying his body's urge to press his hands on the remains. Suddenly, the Ink left on the corpse rushed where his fingers connected and converged into an angular black shard, as big as his palm. Although the desire to...do something with the shard became quite strong, he obediently made his way over to Amitha, climbing up the collapsed pillar she sat down on.
"Nice resistance! That'll prolly increase some of yer potential stats, if I'm remembering this correctly...anyways! Push that Glimpse in yer hands into any body part ya wanna. Just remember that under most conditions, yer limbs can only have one Bridge each, sometimes as a set. Maybe ya'll have more, dunno."
While she was beginning to ramble, Bie jammed the sharp point of the dark crystal straight into his legs, black blood splashing upwards from the penetrating disturbance. The pain that was normally dull, if not completely absent, flared up out of nowhere, allowing Bie to experience the feeling that normally accompanied grievous injuries. The bones in his legs were breaking down, and his blood and flesh were practically roiling as they cried out in protest, the sting assaulting his head enough to make him want to shut his eyes tight. He kept his eyes open using sheer will, feeling the rest of his body aside from his legs improve at a slower rate that felt slightly refreshing, all things considered.
The time ticked by slowly, as the pain grew more and more intense. Amitha stretched out her hand, while the boy grasped it firmly as his body remolded itself to accommodate the new strength it would be able to produce. The two watched the muscle fibers compress, growing denser and yet maintaining their shape, while Bie noticed the Ink in his body expanding, picturing a filling well.
Slowly, yet slowly, it was over. The wounds quickly closed, but the pain remained. That was, until Bie heard something strange...
"He...lloo? Nice...to...see...ya?" The voice was in tatters, as if they were speaking with a pierced windpipe. Like a poor reception on a cable box, it flickered in and out as it went on, before disappearing entirely, taking the pain with it. It took his consciousness with it as well, bringing it into the recesses of his mind.
--
The boy woke up, splayed on a mustard yellow tiled floor. The tiles seemed old but gave a cool feeling underneath his body. He noticed that the hands right in front of him seemed to be composed of white dust, aside from the ever-present red thread that bound his wrist to his rightmost arm. He stood up slowly, really taking his time to observe what he figured was his Inner World.
The space was boundless, the tiled floors expanding into nothingness and the black surroundings revealing an emptiness that seemed as if it was unfinished. The ladder was built up to seven rungs, and there were three more tubes simply floating around the comparatively short structure. The well was simple and sparse, though it did have some ancient lettering etched onto its similarly yellow sides, and the laid down light fixture illuminated the entire area for a radius of five or so meters. The undulating red thread floated around, moving forward, backward, leftwards, rightwards, in any direction but downwards.
Lastly, he turned to where the bridges were situated, and found an entirely new bridge a bit away from the first. This one also had a floating effigy, similar to the hands with thread in its properties. This effigy was a wide, sharklike smile, and closed crescents floated around it. As he looked at it, the smile suddenly opened, as the maw menacingly gnashed its teeth while maintaining its grin. Strangely, Bie did not feel afraid of it at all, and was curious enough to even walk towards it.
Slipping past the effigy like it didn't even exist, he admired a small gangway that had smiles abound it, and ethereal orbs floated in the air. He felt like he could grasp some of the flickering orbs, but he didn't, as something in his mind dissuaded him from the idea. If he would do it now, it would be prematurely, it seemed to say.
The world gave off a subtle hum as Bie felt satisfaction deep in his mind. The white dust that composed his body flew away as he traveled back to the supposed hub he always seemed to return to. He felt like the world was responding in turn to his existence, attempting to familiarize itself with him. A bond was being formed, and the red thread seemingly shimmered a crimson glow...
--
His widened eyes shot open, greeting a dreary grey sky. There was a feeling of movement he recognized, so he craned his neck down from staring up at the clouds.
His gaze took in a teal mane of hair, and two drooping yellow antennae. He was sitting on Amitha's shoulders, with his arms wrapped around her head as if he was snuggling a pillow. His stirring did not evade the woman measuring almost two and a half meters, as the antennae seemed to bend back towards him before waving.
"Rise and shine, daylight! We're heading back to the Underground, where we'll figure out what to do next. Ya've made me proud, though sadly yer gonna have to go soon. There's not much lil' old me can teach ya, other than Gazing that is. And I'm not all that good at it, so yer really just going to explore that new Bridge of yers..." There seemed to be a despondent undertone to her normally bold and cheery voice. She didn't spare any effort to take him down, embracing the body contact as she made her way across the grey wasteland.
Bie felt her sadness and was similarly distressed. The air was heavy, and a sudden pressure caused his shoulders to sag. The child was still smiling, yet the expression that normally accompanied joy could not reach his eyes, and one could see the blue violet lips trembling.