Wyll felt weightless, for the first time he felt as if he was actually peacefully sleeping yet something didn't feel right. No matter how he struggled he couldn't seem to move his corporeal self. He felt as if strapped down to a table or chair as an unnatural cold seemed to encompass his body. He wasn't sure how long he would be stuck like this, if he would be yet… Suddenly there was a loud chunk, a spotlight suddenly on him as he tried to shield his eyes, wincing in pain as he groaned, still somewhat dazed as he lets out a bit of a groan as darkness still surrounded him yet the light shined so bright it burned his eyes.
"Today we have a very special instance, one where the perpetrator is not only able to hear and conscious but aware of the decisions we will be coming to. For the sake of this one, we will be using the Hero Exam Ritual Observation Stream names. All that have been gathered come from various backgrounds but one thing is similar between us all. We all govern magic. Though some of us hold higher positions than others, we will come to a conclusion. {Midweek Seeing All} has been omitted from this trial due to the favoritism that his pantheon has been showing to the criminal."
Wyll looked for something, his eyes finally adjusting to the light as he looked for any semblance of people. He usually saw something when dealing with the {Celestials} but why not now?
"Magic. A destructive and powerful thing, especially in this world where five percent have the ability to truly use magecraft and only a smaller select few can use true magic yet this measly mortal has not only proved capable of tapping into his innate mana but also has shown himself capable of, with no formal training or blessing like the others, using true magic! Of course he is stupidly inept at it but also has managed to drain his natural mana with ease! For any other person this would result in near death with disabilities after one attempt, if able to recover fully this act would be a death sentence if done twice! Yet this boy somehow has lived through the experience not twice but thrice! His life is in no danger, he has nothing wrong with him and each time has somehow bolstered his natural mana! What's more, he is able to bolster his {Weapon} with this true magic!"
Wyll was struggling to understand just what the voice was going on about as a screen suddenly appeared. A recording began to play as it focused on Wyll before he launched Askalon. Watching it made his heart beat heavy in his chest as he writhed some where he was stuck. At first the mana veins began to grow brighter on Wyll, their teal color illuminating the surroundings before they shifted into a miasmic swirling of blacks, whites and crimson red. All Wyll could hear was the rushing of his blood as he watched Askalon enveloped in the mana as Wyll reeled back and launched Askalon towards the Orc. Askalon was sent flying towards his target, encased in the mana as it got closer before suddenly the scene flickered a bit, as if something was off. The recording was paused.
"There! Everyone saw that flicker! The spear would have missed! Yet that flicker there, something changed! Somehow, the mana encasing the spear rewrote fate, it warped causality! If this boy was to continue unregulated, we would have an issue! There was already an uproar with the others once Askalon once again appeared but even {The Blacksmith} was left shocked that Askalon was capable of conducting mana in such a way! Much to the dismay of {Chaos} we have gathered to level the playing field for the other {Champions}! My suggestion is to put restrictions on Wyll to keep this from growing stale! Thus, I {Guardian of the Scales} will leave it to a vote. {Plague Father of the Dunghill} has developed a solution for this, a parasite that will embed itself into the {Champion} and regulate the mana usage. Once it becomes too little, the parasite will raze the mortal from the inside! We will also be setting Wyll into a momentary coma since the other {Champions} haven't gotten attention or made as much progress. This way balance can be maintained. Voting will begin now."
Everything grew unsettlingly quiet as Wyll began to panic. A parasite! These stick up their ass {Celestials} wanted balance and wanted to cripple him to do so! Anger began to stir within Wyll as the heat of his hate spread through his body. His jaw clenched as he weakly began to squirm and groan. A chill ran down his spine as he felt eyes burn into his soul.A figure began to approach, one he could see. His eyes had trouble focusing on whatever it was as it swirled and twisted in his vision.
An unexpected force grabbed his throat, making it difficult to move his head as he gasped and choked, jaw clenching as he tried to peer past the shadows hiding this {Celestial} when something stared back. An eye glazed over filled with madness and insanity as a glass bottle with an abyssal black string like thing sat at the bottom as a man laughed.
"Yes, Yes, I love it when you poor subjects squirm!~ Keep trying to resist, keep fighting! I'll be watching you with great intent boy, that is. If you manage to live! Say hello to your new body mate, Kanmushi TYPE Mana Worm!"
The man began to cackle and howl in laughter as the worm began to writhe before lashing out. For a moment Wyll could see its face, jagged and spiked with a row of teeth. The pain was indescribable as every inch of Wyll felt an unnatural pain, his brain screaming as he convulsed on the table, screaming in agony as the light faded and darkness returned. The pain didn't fade, the feeling of the worm inside him, burrowing, shifting, growing. Wyll wanted to puke, the pain unbearable.
Time became irrelevant, everything dragging on like an eternity as he felt the creature squirm under his skin, forcing itself into him, forcibly bonding the two as he couldn't move, couldn't think. Bright and vivid colors would consume him at times, flooding Wyll with emotions, feelings and pain. So many emotions, so much pain yet at some point everything faded. The typically black void Wyll had grown accustomed to had changed, now an infinite white was before him, almost blinding as Wyll struggled to regain his sense of self.
The feeling was similar to as if he was swimming through mud, grasping at whatever he could to pull himself from the muddled muck before he came to what felt like the surface. He gasped for air, drawing nothing into his lungs due to the mental landscape. A figure, devoid of light, a void in the shape of… In the shape of him. The figure's head turned unnaturally, back to him yet the head was facing him. The body snapped forward as it approached Wyll. The entity pointed to itself then Wyll.
"Wyll… We are Wyll…"
The voice was unnerving, like an echo of words never spoken as the other Wyll poked his head roughly with a finger.
"Smell of horrible ones… Ones who hurt me! You saw… Am last… We are last…"
A flood of colors bombarded Wyll as he tried to make sense of him, doubling over in pain as they had no meaning to him but could feel the emotions.
"Last of what! We aren't the same person! You're a parasite those damn {Celestials} forced into me! Stop overwhelming me with these colors and tell me! I can't understand what you are or want with just colors!"
Wyll screamed out, clutching himself in pain as he teared up, still trying to comprehend the pain and what the creature was trying to communicate to him.
"I… I cause us pain. We, no I, am the last of my people. Home, where our body is now, before the ones you call {Celestials} was peaceful. To you I am a worm but our people lived here before yours were created. Things weren't hard, surviving was all there was and nothing else but then they appeared. All were killed, slaughtered and burned. My people massacred with no emotion. One protected us but they were undermined, I kept safe while my people died. The one they undermined hid me, tried to spare me but the other {Celestials} found me. Then, they did things to me. Cut me, burned me, studied me, used me and so on. Then everything was quiet until it wasn't. Then You, then us. You are me, I am you. I will function like a second brain for our survival but when the smell of the {Celestials} becomes apparent, I will think for us. I do the magic, you do the rest."
The creature spoke as the colors began to make sense. The emotions, the pain, the hurt, the depression, the angst and the unholy rage. All the colors made sense as Wyll took a deep breath and looked towards this other him.
"I guess neither of us have a choice but I will warn you. The moment you put my people or me in danger, I will dig you out of me myself and hand you back over to that crazy man. Got it?"
Silence rang out as nothing was said, Wyll's arms crossed as he patiently waited for an answer. The parasite said something but Wyll couldn't hear it as he bolted up with a gasp. His eyes opened, actually opened as he stared up at the ceiling of somewhere unfamiliar. A canopy over the bed, stone wall surrounding him as Wyll struggled to regain all of his senses, his body feeling numb before his mana veins suddenly pulsed a teal. The sensation made Wyll groan as it felt like pins and needles within his skin as void black veins now were embedded in the familiar teal. Wyll clenched his teeth and shook his head as he shakily stood. Food, he needed to eat but didn't know where it was.
His mana pulsed, a very faint teal spread around him as he turned his head to the door, sensing that the food was out that door, down a hall, down steps and in a large room. The floor was a little cold as Wyll weakly stumbled towards his goal, weakly shuffling to the sustenance he so desired. His skin crawled some as he clumsily made it down the steps, pushing through doors until he found it, food.
Instincts somewhat took over as he began to cook, his body almost on autopilot as with unprecedented speed he was cooking using magic, moving the whisk with mana, pulling the ingredients closer as meat cooked and bread rose. Half an hour had passed and a feast that would be enough to satiate the entirety of the cadets and himself was laid before him. He wouldn't let a meal go to waste as he began to ravenously devour.
Something tickled Mako's nose as he bolted up, brow furrowed. He smelled food? He looked out his window of his small room, confused considering it was still well into the night. Quickly he slipped out of bed and peeked out from behind the door, seeing no torches lit, no sight of light as he quietly crept around the halls of the manor before pushing into Maya's room. She was still asleep but someone was up? Gently he shook her awake, turning to him whilst glaring daggers . She went to speak before Mako put a finger against his lips, hushing her as he signaled for her to smell. She followed suit before her brow furrowed too.
Quickly the cadets began to gather one by one until all of them looked towards the steps. They nodded, moving quietly down the steps before taking position just outside the dining hall where the kitchen was inside. Mako signaled a countdown before the doors were kicked in, {Weapons} drawn as they saw a figure gorging itself on a large meal. The figure didn't flinch as it dully glowed. Mako went to take a step as a hand gently pat his head. Askalon. He looked to be almost in tears as he stepped further into the room, lights slowly illuminating as they all saw him, Wyll.
Askalon slowly walked over to Wyll, sitting beside him before quickly embracing him, tears falling down his face.
"We all thought you were stuck in that coma… Gods Wyll welcome back! This month without you has felt like an eternity!"
Askalon fought back sobs as Wyll slowed down his eating, looking to Askalon confused.
"Month?"