Chapter 64: The Soul
After thinking things over I just decided to put my hand on everything and store it all in my storage box. I even found five giant stone golems in the perfect shades of black.
"I didn't know they sold monsters… Yoink."
There goes the onyx golems. I could tell they were seeped in miasma but strangely enough it didn't seem to do anything.
I grabbed some sandstone slabs, I grabbed plenty of basalt, who doesn't love conglomerate rocks?! I grabbed those too. I even grabbed magical rocks that float. I grabbed a bunch of stones that were really slippery. I even grabbed an entire slab of stone that looked like something you would see at the end of a kaleidoscope.
Super trippy.
I even looted things in front of other workers! Nobody cared! I love miasma!
COUGH!
"Oh gross, I should probably get out of here soon. Can't forget I'm not actually a demon, and I don't think demonoids like Makoto would feel well if they stayed out here for too long."
After coughing once or twice after that I try to race my way through everything. By the time I was done it was the end of the night. I had looted the entire storage facility. I had to climb up a few shelves to get some of the good stuff. That's why it took so long.
I quickly snuck out the back while coughing my lungs out. I know people working there didn't really care what I was doing but I'd rather not push it.
After walking back to the gates I realized to my dismay that the gate was closed. I thought the gates never closed?
I walk up to the giant metal gates and ask the soldier on the other side what the big deal is.
"The king has just been killed. The city is under lockdown for the foreseeable future."
I looked at him shocked.
"Shit."
It was probably Forma.
I tried asking and even bribing my way in but the man wasn't having it.
"Orders are orders."
I looked around at the destitute and starving people and the only thing that I could think of at the time was, "I can take em."
I was no stranger to slums. It was only a matter of time before these people turned on me. Maybe I shouldn't have gone out in my usual clothes…
As always I had my sword at my side while wearing my black and gold robes. I used to wear jeans and a t-shirt but honestly there's something so freeing about wearing robes.
Strangely enough, gramps is the opposite. He's a bit old fashioned. When I say old fashion I mean that he still wears clothes from his old world. Leather jacket, tight jeans, silver necklaces and rings. He's a pure blooded rocker boy.
"Excuse me. Do you want to stay at my place?"
I looked around for a second only to see a little boy at my feet.
"Me?"
The kid looked like he was 10 years old or so. He looked a bit scrawny, no doubt from around here. Though that makes sense considering he invited me over to his place.
"What about your parents? Won't they be worried there's a stranger in your house?"
The kid just shook his head, "My parents died last year I think. It's just me and my little sister."
I just nodded along like that was perfectly normal before responding, "Sure, why not."
The kid grabbed my hand and we walked down the street passing various houses why people just looked at us before turning their heads away quickly.
I said earlier that I was ready for a fight but I tend to forget this isn't my old world. The rules are different here. Even normies can sense that I could kill them in a second. The only people who can take me on are probably living in the big city living the high life.
"Here we are. Make yourself at home."
I looked at the kid confused as to why he was being so nice to me. So I just assumed that he was a shapeshifter who wanted to eat me and take my face.
After having that thought, I walked in through the door after him. His place looked the way it did outside. Rundown. There were a few holes in the floor in every direction. Mold on the walls and ceiling. A rat giving birth in the corner. Congratulations on being a mother i guess.
All in all, I've seen worse. I once had to pull my friend out of a drug den once while people were still trying to loot his body. I had to shoot a few on the way out if I recall…
"My sister is on the couch. Let me make some food."
I watched him go over to the kitchen and saw him pull out one of the dirty dishes out of the sink and put it on the stove. He went over to the rat giving birth and stomped on its head. I heard it squeal a little bit as it popped out a few babies.
He picked those up too.
"You missed one."
He turned around and looked at the floor and grabbed that one too before thanking me.
I went over to the living room and found a young girl around 4 or 5. She looked younger than I thought.
"Do you have any more siblings?"
The boy spoke up from the kitchen, "I had a little brother. He died."
Now this is getting depressing.
I looked at the girl for a few seconds while she was coughing. She doesn't have long for this world. I put my hand on her head and cast [Regeneration] but that didn't really do much.
I think she needs to get proper food in her first.
I was debating on helping but honestly I didn't really care. I think the miasma is dulling my senses. I thought it was strange but it would explain a lot.
Not only have my senses been dulled but I can tell the kid has spent way too long out here. It would take years before he started acting like a normal kid again.
"How did your parents die?" I asked in a very dull and subdued voice.
The kid responded in a similar tone, "They went out hunting. They didn't come back."
I don't feel right. My stomach felt like it was churning.
"Here, I have your food."
I looked down at the plate and realized the kid gave me a larger portion of the rat while he gave his share to his sister.
I didn't think much of it and just started eating. I started watching the kid feed his sister only for her to unconsciously spit it out onto the floor. So the boy fed his own remains to his sister. I thought he was done until he picked up the chewed up bits on the floor and before I could say anything he ate it.
Still I didn't say anything. I didn't even feel repulsed.
I just watched as he sat there comforting his sister and brushing her hair. As I watched this the only thing I felt was a physical churning sensation in my stomach.
It kept getting more and more intense until I heard something.
[DING: NEGATIVE DRAIN IS NOW LVL 2]
"Huh, weird. I don't remember doing anything with that."
I thought about it for a second before forgetting about it entirely.
After eating my food I put my plate on the floor and just sit down on the couch while the boy starts a fire in the fireplace.
Again my stomach starts churning.
I feel strange but I mostly ignore it while looking at the fire. When did he get that thing started? It looks like it's really big too.
I stared at it for a while before going to sleep. I feel like I had the strangest dream.
"Hey, wake up kid. Hello? Can you hear me? WAKE UP!"
After that I opened up my eyes and looked around. I'm lying on the couch while the fire is slowly smoldering out. I felt like I had the strangest dream.
(It wasn't a dream kid. I was trying to get you to wake up!)
I looked around trying to figure out where that noise was coming from until I thought of Pilfer.
"What's wrong?" I looked confused.
(Your soul is being covered in miasma. You need your soul to express emotions. The more miasma covering your soul the more it will try to wear away who you are.)
"What should I do?"
(I'm selling a potion that'll increase your resistance towards miasma. If you're lucky you'll gain a permanent skill but don't activate unless you've crossed holy land.)
I looked at my Demon Shop and found the potion he was talking about. I don't know why he was charging for only 1 XP but I'll take it.
After opening it up it smelled a lot like somebody left food to rot for too long in a broken fridge. Even so, I knew I had no other choice but to drink it anyway.
I held my breath and drank it down.
For a second I didn't really feel anything, but after giving it a minute my stomach felt like everything was going to come at any second.
I thought my mouth was going to explode with vomit but it was so much worse than that.
"Argg uuuhh."
The process was slow and I could barely breathe. A black thick slime started crawling out. Some parts of it were so much thicker and harder. No matter what I did, it didn't seem to leave my mouth. I tried to gasp for breath until I decided to just bite the black stringy slime and swallow the rest.
By the time I could breathe again I felt another bout of vomit coming out. I had to pull black tentacle-like ropes out of my mouth while barely being able to grab them with my bare hands.
They just kept slipping through my grasp, so I had no other choice but to bite at it again and swallow just so I could breathe again.
I looked down at the pile of sludge and I thought I saw small creatures swimming in it. I was hoping it was just a hallucination as I started to hurl again. This process recurred repeatedly for another few minutes. I wondered where it was coming from but figured I was just gathering all of the miasma I had collected while staying here.
I started to panic and once I started panicking I felt relief. The potion was working. I could feel it. My instincts were kicking in, I felt fear, I felt disgust, I felt anger.
Once I finally stopped throwing up I felt this horrible feeling of exhaustion and I fell over face first in my own maggot infested vomit.
I tried to stay awake but the first thing I heard was a quiet whisper in the back of my ear.
[DING: YOU HAVE LEARNED SOUL ENFORCEMENT LVL 1]
[DING: YOUR SKILL HAS LEVELED UP!]
[NEGATIVE DRAIN IS NOW LVL 3]