Shluk! Shluk
In a dry, desolate wasteland, sounds of something droven forcefully into another thing repeatedly rang out. A twisting, sickening echo that would churn one's stomach in a not so good way.
Shluk!
There, standing with numerous holes in him, was Ariel, his grinning features twitching due to the consistent pain. His focus drowned out every other sound and movement around him. The blood streaming out of him created a puddle beneath him, submerging his feet in fresh blood.
In contrast to Ariel, Iron stood in front of him. Its pearly, white body similar to an unmovable wall. Watching Ariel, its supposed liege, silently. waiting for any hesitation, any doubt, any fear to find its way onto its liege's— no Mahoraga's face.
Iron waited patiently. Its approval growing by the second as Mahoraga continued without a hint of hesitation, its expression changing ever so slightly in response to the pain.
'Good. That's exactly the kind of expression befitting a leader. Perseverance is the word that defines us. If a special being such as yourself isn't the best example, then what do we exist for?'
'Still…'
Iron looked on.
Mahoraga, its body upright, was currently focused on its hand as the skin and flesh made way for a crooked claw with difficulty. The muscles spasming over the claw were stretched to their utmost before snapping off. Iron gazed at the slight twitch of Mahoraga's face, the pain of Shaping finally hitting it. It was a magnificent ability, but such abilities possessed risks and very painful prices. Shaping your body on the molecular level, changing the muscles, the nerves, the arteries, The bones, and the structure of the skin was bound to be hurtful.
At Iron's level such pain was rudimentary, an afterthought, a breeze that woke them up a bit. But it couldn't say the same for newly borns of its kind. Especially those with the blessing of Infinity.
'It's only natural to feel this pain, us of Infinity, we are soldiers meant to protect and kill, our role is simple but complex. Pain is just an ally we have to use, not an enemy, if we couldn't even handle a sting of pain. Then we will be nothing but cowards, and humiliatingly, we won't live up to our name.'
'However…'
Iron held back a smile.
Watching its lord, its leader training, a steely intent of survival marring its features. In turn, Iron itself felt alive to the point that its heart was drumming with an electric rush.
It didn't dare utter a single word in the unspeakable silence, which was repeatedly interrupted only by the sounds of used flesh plopping to the ground. In fear of disturbing its liege's focus.
At that moment a thought peeked into its head. A question for Mahoraga and for itself.
'I wonder how far you'll go…'
****
My arm broke down and built itself up, bringing me stabbing and paralyzing pain unbearable by normal men.
But I was not normal.
Far from it.
The first thing I remember in this damned life is pain.
The first thing I felt was my hand dipping in the hot red liquid.
The first thing I saw was a pool of my own blood.
So no, I wasn't normal, not in the least.
The pain was unexpected but still manageable once I got used to it. Though the sight of my arm dripping with pieces of skin and flesh wasn't the most desirable thing. That too, was tolerable to a certain degree.
Strangest part about all of this was how I was making progress. Whenever I drove the blade into myself, the oh-so friendly pain greeted me every time. But, besides that, a plethora of foreign knowledge rushed into my mind in seconds.
The uninvited knowledge was about a Nightmare Creature.
More specifically, a Nightmare Creature with the same claws that I was working my ass off to replicate. A tiger. A black furred, gigantic tiger with no mouth. Instead, a round, black Void hung silently in place of its mouth, elongating out of it were Writhing tentacles with myriads of spinning razor—sharp teeth.
These… visions, sensations, information. Whatever you may call it, only empowered the consistent pain. And the red paint of my blood turned into a black, sinister shade. It was as if I was living the tale or memories of this vile, fearsome creature, only in an out of body experience that felt way too strange. In fact, the claw felt more and more familiar as time went on, adding to the strangeness and mystery of the process.
'So this is why Iron told me to stab myself, even if it had done it so abruptly. I can't say I like it, but this is clearly a great advantage, I wonder if it works with memories, or maybe even echoes, who knows- Ooof'
Another burst of pain tore through me while I was absorbing the ridiculous amount of information. The strange thing was that the information consisted mostly of the Nightmare Creature hibernating or devouring something. It felt like a never-ending cycle that I couldn't get out of.
'It's almost like I'm stuck in… this… place…'
As realisation dawned on him, Ariel immediately tried to get out of this state. But of course, Misfortune bared its fangs again, because Ariel couldn't move from his spot no matter what, his strengthened body was frozen, as if his intent and will didn't concern it anymore. Instead, his body's focus was on the Nightmare creature in a trance, captivated by it.
-…-
'Fuck! Just my fucking luck! Can't I have some damn rest?! Is it so bad to wish for a moment of peace?!'
A few seconds went by as Ariel watched the Nightmare Creature devour its prey. His heart beating faster by the second. And before he even knew it, the beast that was so busy eating its meal had turned its eyes to him, looking straight into his soul.
Ariel froze, dread slowly gripping his heart as his eyes stayed on the beast. In the terrifying silence, the beast calmly raised its claw and made a pulling gesture, driving more fear and confusion into the already trembling figure of Ariel.
Nothing happened for a few nerve-racking heartbeats, confusing Ariel even more.
'What is— AARRRRGHHHHHH!!'
An uncontrollable scream of pain left Ariel as his body from the waist down disappeared without a trace, the pain was so sudden and intense that Ariel immediately lost consciousness. His body, severed in half, was laid there, right in front of it. Ready to be taken into the hungry maws of the beast.
***
Iron, who was standing quietly, observed Mahoraga intently. The wounds on its liege's body suddenly started to spew out dark, slimy tentacles that writhed around under its skin, creating an unnerving dent.
'Born as a Bane, our kind will expect a lot from you, but you're still just a child, you have a long way to go. This is just one of your many, many walls. But… I think I may have taken it a little too far, more than you can handle.'
As its thoughts drifted, Iron stepped forward and put a reassuring hand on Mahoraga's shoulder. White pulsating energy pulsed out of its hand in waves a second later, covering the whole body of Mahoraga immediately.
Shriek!!
A sudden, sharp screech tore through the air as a black smoke of filth rose out of Mahoraga's body with the tentacles burning into ash and the terrible wounds of its liege closing rapidly.
'Unfortunately for you my liege, this is only the beginning, there is no respite for us Protectors, only war and pain. We were only made to kill, not to survive. Now sleep well, and I hope that you don't lose your will.'
***
The sudden, indescribable pain, the horror of missing half of my body, the steely, soulless eyes of the Nightmare creature piercing my soul.
It was too much, even for someone like me.
I take back all I've said before.
I don't wanna do this…I can't…I can't endure it. This isn't the outskirts where all I have to worry about are food and safety from unruly dogs that disguise themselves as humans. This is something that exceeds what I'm used to.
I have not been prepared nor trained for this.
But in the end…
'Excuses won't save me, complaining won't pull me out of a dangerous situation, I'm already deep in this shit, I can do nothing but to find my way out of it.'
Although I pumped myself up nicely with these thoughts, I didn't want to open my eyes and disrupt this peaceful slumber. The darkness, for once, was warm and comfortable. And after that 'experience' I really deserved some, much needed rest from…everything.
''You seem to like it here my liege, I'm honoured.''
A voice startled me out of my thoughts.
I took a deep breath to compose myself before replying.
''Is that you Ether? What is this place?''
The melodic voice of Ether replied.
''This place is the manifestation of one of my abilities as a King of Eternity, you may find it strange but as of now, you're inside my body, where you are currently in the process of being healed. You didn't have any wounds but your mind was nearly corrupted by that Void Creature. I should've been there myself, Iron tends to be rather…extreme when it comes to training our soldiers, especially one as special as you. For that, I express my sincerest apologies.''
''Huh…. So the creature I was dealing with wasn't something to be trifled with at my level?''
''Indeed, That Void Creature was of a similar rank as a General, I didn't expect that idio- I mean Iron to put you against such a foe. Otherwise I would have refused to let you take on such a risk.''
(A/N):(General=Ascended/Fallen.)
''I see… so… uh, can you let me out? I feel fine now, thank you for taking care of me.''
''As you wish, my liege.''
The next moment, a wave of cold wind rustled against my body as the same green expanse greeted me once more. When my feet touched the warm grass, I turned to the standing Ether, who didn't look like someone who had just spat out a towering figure out of their body. My mind full of questions.
So I started with one.
''What happened to me back there? I got…lost, if that's the right way to put it.''
''That's the right way to put it, we call it, Loss of Memory. You see, all the information that you receive when training are, in fact, memories of those beings. And you were matched with one that was out of your capabilities. These memories have an innate allure to us, creating a certain longing in us that is very hard to quench, which made you Nearly lose yourself to it. In the end Iron helped you get out of it, however, any memory that you absorbed has been lost. Hence, Loss of Memory.
''That's why the memories were so…addicting.''
''Indeed they are, even for me. It is difficult to hold back.''
''Alright, now what?''
''You'll train of course, but this time I will be accompanying you and Iron, just in case.''
I let out a deep, strained sigh, stopping the incoming trembling of my body at the mention of training.
'Don't hesitate now, this is your chance to be more than a rat.'
Feeling my resolve pushing away at the fear, I spoke up.
''Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go.''