"Distortion." The witch muttered casually as she bit into a piece of grilled meat.
…Huh? I tilt my head unknowingly, surprised and confused. What did she just say?
The witch continued to eat without my discretion…not that she needed it, but still. Her last word intrigued me, enough to make me stop eating my first bite of real cooked meat(?). After a while though, I decide to shelve it for later. This meat should really be my first concern for now.
*nom nom nom nom nom*
I devour the unseasoned meat instantly, forgetting entirely about the witch ambiguous words. It was…intriguing, to say the least. The taste wasn't quite what I remembered meat to taste like, especially the grilled kind. Though, hunger spoke otherwise, and I finish the thigh-piece down to the bone.
Good enough, I guess, I thought as I licked the bones of the finished meal.
"Your origin…" The witch succinctly said. "Your origin is Distortion…it's what the divination ritual told me, anyways." Then she went back to finishing the rest of her monster leg, eating it piece by piece and without the slightest hint of grace. To be honest, it was a pretty surreal and conflicting sight.
Distortion…so that's one of my magical aptitudes, the three keys to understanding how my magic operates and how it can be used to benefit me. The first one that I obtained via the divination ritual was my element, Darkness. Again, I didn't see the apparent use of the obviously vital information that she had given me. However, a well of excitement still burst inside of me. For some reason, just knowing about it filled me with a warm sense of purpose. Nice…though I don't really know how that'll help me. I guess I'll just wait for an explanation.
The witch finished her leg, though some bits of meat still clung to the giant bone. "Don't do that! It's pathetic…" She slapped my hand as I reached for the barely-finished bone—I ignore it and grab the bone anyways.
"Staaaaahhhpppp~! That's gross...and weird." She grabbed my wrist and pulled my arm away, trying to take back the bone.
I give her a questioning look. What are you doing? You already threw it away, why would you try to take it back? That's really weird, you know?
"I don't know what you're thinking, but I bet it's something really dumb. Give me the leg, NOW!!"
No. She tries to pull the mostly-eaten monster leg from me, but my superior, mana-enhanced physique overpowered her by a small margin, letting me snatch the monster leg out of her hand.
"There were other parts left you could've taken instead! Why didn't you take those ones and just left me alone? Besides, that one's mostly eaten, anyways. Why'd you have to be so aggressive?"
It's not the destination that matters, it's the journey—a wise man once said that, or was it a woman? I never did figure that out.
*stare~*
I ignore the witch's accusing glare, too focused on nibbling the bony remains of a bird-like species that ambushed us — mostly the witch — as soon as we left the Guardian's Lair.
You know what? I've changed my mind. That's pretty darn good...though it still requires some kind of seasoning. Licking the bone's length one final time, I let go of it.
*thunk*
It dropped on the ground with a hard sound. Time for some more…
"That's enough, this much should be fine." She stood up confidently and brushed the dust off her robes. "Come on." She casually beckoned me, pulling out a wave. I let out a sigh in response.
"Don't be so down. You're doing great. And now that you've rested, you should be doing even better than before." She began to walk away. I try to follow her, only to be stopped midway.
She put up a hand showed me her palm. "There's a couple of things I want you to get. Nothing serious and overly difficult, you should barely be able to do it as you are now."
Oooookay…? A creepy foreboding made me grip the hilt of my sheathed sword.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
*rumble rumble*
The ground began to shake suddenly. The rumbling grew louder and more powerful with each second that passed, and eventually, I found myself being raised up, the witch's figure eventually disappearing.
Dammit! I pull out my sword from it's scabbard with renewed vigor, my attention to the rising floor below me.
The ground began rise more and more, almost making it's way to the ceiling. Oh no, at this rate, I'll get squished like a pancake!
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
*CRASH*
I dash forward with my all, trying to beat the rising floor. I succeeded, and a loud boom resounded just behind me, only to be met with a similarly difficult challenge—I was falling to my death.
A height much higher than I have ever been surprised me, but did not startle me. To be honest, I found myself no longer caring. My head was as cool as ice magic, calm, collected and precise. I stab my sword at the nearest wall I could find—the rising ground that I had just jumped off of.
A loud rumble resounded from within the wall I was hanging on. I look back, grabbing the hilt of my sword with both hands and stomping my foot on the hard rocky surface of the platform I had just leaped from, only to be met with an astounding, horrifying, jaw-dropping and heart-thumping sight.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
One eye. One bright, yellow, serpentine eye with a fiery-red pupil that seemed to burn within it's iris. That horrifying, awe-inspiring, singular eye looked somewhere faraway, farther than what I could comprehend, like it was looking at another world or something.
I grip my the hilt of my sword even tighter. I shouldn't be here. The beast's gaze twitched and shifted ever-so-slightly in my direction.
Oh no no no no no no. I urgently cover myself in black motes of mana, manipulating it so that it efficiently seeps into the outer part of my coat. Now that I'm more familiar with the function of it, I could manipulate and adjust to the abilities of the witch's gift even better.
Darkness seeps into me, and I eagerly clung onto it, not letting go. This is my only lifeline, if it fails, I'm dead nine times over. I clung onto dear life and made my presence as small and insignificant as possible.
Please please please please please please please please PLEASE don't notice me…!!
As if by some divine miracle, the uncertain gaze of the serpentine beast moved away from me, instead focusing on a bright green figure floating inexplicably in midair.
Please please please please please please please please PLEASE don't notice me…!!
She noticed me. "Watcha' doing? Just hangin' around?" She teased with a cheeky tone. She DEFINITELY had a gleeful grin on her face, one that I didn't even have to see with my own eyes to be sure of. An unnatural gust of wind blew just behind me.
No matter what, DON'T LOOK BACK!!! My mind screamed at me to survive, to pick the best chance of success, but my curiosity and the urge to get back at her was even stronger.
*gulp*
I turn back, careful not to alert the beast of my presence. There it was, a playful, beautiful smile on the witch's face.
"How are you doing?"
I can't complain, really. Seriously, I can't. My eyes told her of my response.
"That's good, very good. Anyways…" She waved her hand, and a satchel wrapped itself around me with a flurry of mana.
*rumble*
The giant, serpentine creature shifted slightly. I have a bad feeling about this…
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The witch's smile grew so wide it reached her ears. "I need you to get a few of the hydra's teeth, along with a vial's worth of it's venom."