In a dense forest as the sun approached the centre of the sky, indicating it was almost noon, a boy with amber eyes, sitting on a log stared into the air as he looked to be deep in thought.
[A thread has been woven]
'What 'thread'?'
No matter how much he thought, Isaac couldn't figure out the meaning behind the text.
'It's supposed to be the work of a Calamity, but it doesn't seem to be any Calamity I know.'
Isaac hadn't encountered many calamities in the Dark Continent.
If he was considering 'Calamities' as every creature in the Dark Continent, then it would be a fair amount.
But the title of 'Calamities' was one created by Don Freecs to signify some of the most dangerous he'd come across, capable of human extinction.
'If I'm being honest, the Calamities aren't the worst of the bunch. Some of the most unique, maybe. But in terms of threat, I'd only rank them an 8 out of 10 within the Dark Continent.'
It seemed Don figured this out too, seeing as his second book depicted far more terrifying and dangerous creatures.
For example, The Fortuneteller: Curiosity's Price.
A creature that seemed innocent at first, promising it could tell you the future. To which it did. However, upon telling you the greatest and happiest moments in your life, it implants disasters sure to occur right after.
Or the Guardian: Greed's Result.
This Guardian would promise you Immortality and longevity. It wasn't lying. It would grant you exactly that in the form of a small lotus flower.
However, this 'Immortality' was really just the Zobae Disease.
The lotus flower was the same lotus the insect had shoved down Isaac's throat.
Therefore, it wouldn't be an understatement to say Isaac was well-versed in the topic of Calamities.
Yet he still had no idea what could be haunting him, making the Curse all the more terrifying.
And as time went on, the same screen kept appearing before Isaac, more times than it usually did.
Because of this, he couldn't help but think something was afoot.
And the constant messages appearing all became far worse since Isaac had met him.
Wayne.
"What are you staring at?" Wayne asked, standing a few feet away from Isaac with his usual stoic expression.
"Nothing," Isaac answered simply, shaking his head.
"Good, then get up. Break's over."
Isaac quickly complied as he stood, moving a few metres away from Wayne.
As he did, he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
Since he'd met Wayne, his very obvious lack of experience during combat was far less notable now.
'But still not perfect.'
It wasn't long until he kicked off the ground, almost instantly coming face-to-face with Wayne.
Pulling back his arm, Isaac twisted his hips, putting as much strength as he could into his punch.
His fist connected with Wayne's forearm as the large man blocked, however, due to the strength of the attack, he could not help but take a step back.
Seeing Wayne pushed back, off balance, Isaac leapt in.
However, it seemed as though Wayne had anticipated this, swinging his dominant fist and striking Isaac in the middle of his face.
However, Isaac did not falter.
He stayed in his same position, as if the attack was nothing to him, despite the blood pouring from his nose.
Instead, he leapt off his feet, coiling his arms and legs around Wayne's arm, twisting and bending.
'He endured that attack to attempt to break my arm.'
Wayne thought, raising his second arm to try to escape.
Meanwhile, Isaac followed the man's actions with his eyes.
'Now!'
However, upon Wayne raising his arm and aiming to strike Isaac, the boy skillfully detached from the arm, slithering up Wayne's body like a snake till he wrapped his arm around the man's neck.
Wayne's eyes were slightly widened as the arm quickly started to tighten around his neck.
'He waited till I was vulnerable, till I attacked prematurely in fear for my arm.'
Meanwhile, Isaac grinned as he channelled all his strength into squeezing Wayne's neck, hoping to knock him unconscious.
'This is it. He'll go to sleep, and I'll have to act fast. I'm assuming the creatures will attack, but I should be able to…'
Before Isaac could finish plotting, his thoughts were cut short as he witnessed Wayne's face reddening to disturbing degrees, yet the man simply turned his head with force, meeting Isaac's eyes.
Isaac could see it.
The ferocity in the man's glare. The stubbornness.
Seeing this, Isaac was slightly taken aback. However, rather than loosening his grip in surprise, he tightened it, quickly wanting to end the man.
As he did, he felt Wayne's posture change as the large man bent his legs.
In the next second, Isaac's grip faltered as Wayne leapt 20 feet into the air, his body slowly facing upwards as Isaac quickly realised what was happening.
'He's planning to sandwich me between his large body and the ground. And from this height…'
Isaac looked down, practically shivering at what would come if he didn't release Wayne.
And so, he released Wayne, safely landing on his feet as Wayne twisted his body, easily catching himself.
"Are you sure you didn't want to commit to that rear naked choke? Your healing and pain resistance could have allowed you to stay conscious and outlast me."
Isaac shook his head.
"There's no guarantee I could have endured that fall. Even if I did, you didn't look like you'd give up anytime soon. There were too many cons for a payoff that was never guaranteed."
The man stared at Isaac, without saying anything word, his usual scowl making him seem like he had a bad day.
'Don't tell me that still makes me a wimp.'
However, Isaac's worries were void as he witnessed Wayne give a slight nod.
"Not bad."
Isaac paused, soon puffing out his chest in pride.
"Now, lesson #3…"
"Oh please, Wayne. Don't lie to the boy."
A majestic and seductive female voice came from the darkness as Isaac snapped his head toward where it was coming from.
"You would have never let that opportunity pass. Not if your arm was cut off, or your eye was stabbed out. You'd have never released that poor individual from that choke."
Looking to the forest, Isaac witnessed a tall female with Crimson red and similarly coloured long hair, covering her right eye, pairing well with her red eyes and beautiful red dress.
The dress was parted by the side, allowing for one leg to freely move in the wind, allowing Isaac to see her porcelain smooth thighs.
To put it simply, she was beautiful.
However, this wasn't enough for Isaac to become distracted, as he prepared to summon his Nen at any moment.
"I believe this was the best way to teach him, based upon his personality and who he is, Ms Jayne."
Wayne's voice rang out, as Isaac could see him with a slight bow, his right hand cupping his left breast, in some sort of salute.
'What…? He's…'
"Ridiculous. Don't you think it would be better to train a youngling to become another you? How…exciting would that be?"
The female, who Wayne had called 'Jayne', bit her red lips as she spoke with an alluring tone, her eyes sharp and peering upon Wayne.
However, Wayne slightly raised his gaze, and spoke with his usual hoarse voice, not affected a single bit by the female's behaviour.
"He isn't me."
He said simply, prompting Jayne to stay silent and stare.
Soon, she took a step forward, walking toward Wayne as she stood before him, running her fingers down the side of his face.
Yet, he continued to stay unaffected.
"Hmm, have you completed your task?" She asked, slowly moving closer.
"Yes." He once again answered simply.
"Astounding. It won't be long now."
As this all happened, Isaac simply stared as he couldn't help but blink a few times.
'What the hell am I watching?'
Isaac was dumbfounded as he watched the scene before him, however, he instantly switched to a serious demeanour as he heard the next words come out of Jayne's mouth.
"Since we're leaving, you have no more use for that child, am I right?" The female asked, averting her gaze to Isaac.
"No, I do not."
"Good. Kill him."
Isaac's heartbeat quickened as he summoned his Nen.
"Ren." Aura exploded from Isaac's body as he prepared to make a run for it.
"Uh uh." The female waved her finger.
"Absolute Cancel."
In an instant, Isaac could feel the Nen in his body disappear, deactivating his Ren.
"Wayne, have you met our newest member? Or should I say, creation?"
A female stood behind Jayne. She was young, not much older than Isaac. She wore a simple leather jacket and jeans with high-heeled boots.
Her short black, maybe even purple, hair sat on her shoulders as the female stood with both her arms pointing out toward Isaac.
"Our second perfect experiment. State your name, girl."
The girl lowered her arms, facing Wayne.
"Greetings. My name is Merlin."
"Isn't she fascinating? She stands as a symbol. Our second successful poss…"
"KHRGG!"
Jayne turned her head, the smile disappearing from her face as she looked to see who interrupted her, only to be met with Isaac writhing on the ground.
'My Nen…its gone…Zobae…'
"How rude. Wayne."
Isaac could feel it.
The Hunger hadn't felt this bad since the day he completed his scenario.
The Thing inside him.
It was growing.
Taking over.
Isaac tried his best to formulate a thought. He wanted to summon his Vitaflow, however, he was having difficulty.
His skin darkened and the colour in his eyes faded as his pupils dilated.
When this didn't work, Isaac tried to reach for his bracelet in desperation.
'I refuse…I don't want to go.'
As the seconds passed, it felt like more of Isaac was disappearing.
As he tried to reach for the bracelet, the towering figure standing over him caught his attention.
Wayne stood with a greatsword in his hand, staring at Isaac with cold eyes.
'What…'
Wayne raised his sword, without uttering a word.
With his last bit of feeling, Isaac watched as the sword pierced his chest, going through his heart.
He didn't even need to see it.
Wayne turned the sword as Isaac spat blood.
'Is…this it?'
This was the last straw.
Isaac's consciousness was seconds from fading, and in those last seconds, he witnessed a screen before him.
[A thread has been completed.]
[CAUTION!!!]
[A disaster will occur]
With it, Isaac's closed his eyes.
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Next chapter title: Losing Control [2]
Someone: Which is made valuable to you? Money, fame...
Author: POWERSTONESSSSSSSS!!!!!!