Moros did not know just how much trouble he had caused through his antics, he was simply chilling in the water waiting for things to pass over. Given the spread of the fire, it would not take long until everything had been burned to the ground.
He could see just how the lush, green forest turned into a burned pile of ash and some tree stumps in a matter of minutes. The man enjoying his fish did not know that fire could destroy so quickly.
Judging by the praised fire magicians he saw using their spells, none of them would be able to burn such a large area that quickly.
Moros had never seen the big and truly talented, but the scene before him just felt absurd. The trees and the grass were burning faster by the seconds, being devoured by the flames at a rate visible to the naked eye.
It was like someone had been bored with the circumstances and was now accelerating the situation to finally make something happen.
Moros felt weird, such a thought would usually not cross his mind, but yet there was this feeling that something was watching him─leading him to another place where he was supposed to be.
Yet, before he could even dwell on the creepy feeling the fire had already subsided, unnaturally. The Evergreen Forest was reduced to rubble, ashes and dead tree stumps wherever Moros' gaze fell.
His body moved on instinct alone, it drew him to the shore.
The movements seemed almost robotic, the swimming motion seeming absent-minded, the eyes were locked on a figure in the distance.
The shore was reached in a matter of seconds, and the man moved on towards the faint goal in the distance.
The wounds that covered Moros' body had been healed by some unknown means. Water here did not have any healing properties, or rather it used to not have these…. It had not been liquid that healed him.
It was a gift.
A dark shadow loomed over his shoulders, translucent eyes staring greedily into the distance. Eyes that saw all, eyes that needed to be hidden from the world.
It was a gift coming from the outside; a challenge to the gods…
The ash-covered soil crunched beneath the soles of Moros' work boots. Every step of his was heavier than usual. They followed a wish, the whispered words from the defeated beings.
"Bring my family to me!"
It was a voice beyond the understanding of human tongue. Otherworldly, alien, Moros did not understand a single word, but instinctively he could feel it─could feel the command.
One hand reached out to the spear, grabbing its hilt with utter ease. In response, the weapon purred and squeaked loudly after it landed in Moros' hands yet again.
With a swift swipe to the left, electricity began to surge and dance atop the entire weapon, coating Moros' entire self into a layer of blue energy. This energy did not burn the body nor was it rejected by it.
It merely hovered atop it, waiting for battle to occur…and it did not have to wait long.
A goblin approached Moros, its gaze entirely fixated on his weapon. It did not focus on the pheromones of Mandy, like the other goblins would have done.
No, Mandy was not a concern to either of these beings that carefully watched each other. The first to move would be the first to die.
"Return to me, my family!"
The goblin moved first, wielding 2 knives, one curved, one straight. One attacked the throat the other launched for the heart─a perfect pincher attack. Yet, the spear was faster and easily impaled the goblin's stomach.
Lifting the spear with the body of the pierced goblin up, its body slowly slid down. It however, still lifted its weapon to deliver the fatal blow to Moros, even after its stomach and inner organs had been deadly injured.
Yet, with the snip of a finger its entire body was paralyzed by the electricity as it slowly bled out lifted by the tip of the spear.
It struggled to move its weapons, all the while Moros eyed the creature and watched its struggle without any visible emotions on his face.
Slowly but surely, its movements grew weaker and its breath ceased to be. At long last, its body went limp, the weapons falling to the floor. With the outcome obvious Moros swung the spear, the goblin corpse slid across the ashen floor, disappearing in a mass of ash.
"My son, my son! I welcome you back to where you were always meant to be."
The voice appeared happy, the death of the goblin seemed more a liberation than a violent end to a life.
"Look what they made you to be. Now, you can rest at my side. Be the one you were born to be…not what these GODS made you out to be."
Before Moros' eyes floated a soul, the goblin he had just killed bowed in front of him and quickly faded into nothingness as its soul fell into a million pieces.
A stream of its particles entered Moros directly, causing a faint tingling sensation to spread over his arms. It was a stream of warmth that briefly filled Moros with pure and utter bliss.
"Feel its strength course through your veins. Feel the joy of my children return to me─THE PACK."
It was a sensation that caused Moros to desire more of it. It was addicting, it was liberating. He could feel himself growing stronger as the essence of the slain goblin entered his body.
With a quick thought it wished the goblin well. The spear cried for blood and the voice sought the freedom of its kind and Moros…and Moros.
"I am still getting paid for this, right?" Moros casually asked the entity, who had taken over his body. He did not mind not being in control of his body for a while, though he did not like doing any people favours without gaining anything in return.
The outer good was more than confused, how could a mere human not lose consciousness in its presence?
"You shall be paid, you shall enjoy benefits, unlike anything you can possibly imagine."
The body moved further, seeking out the next of its family to have it join its ranks in the afterlife.
"It is nice and all. But could you be a bit more specific…what kind of benefits. I need to know if this whole affair is worth it."
In Moros' mind, this was more than reasonable. Promises and words, people liked to make them as big as possible. Yet, when it was time to pay up, all of a sudden people were poor and could not afford it.
Moros had learned from his mistakes. First, you provide a free sample and later on you get the money, payment before they continue. Otherwise, you would just be screwed over.
The entity stood still in the midst of the ashen graveyard that once was a forest.
It could not fathom why the human was still trying to negotiate with it. An outer god, an existence beyond the logic and understanding of humankind had promised him benefits and the human still haggled?
"Human, are you in doubt of my powers? Do you think of me as some sort of inferior creature?'
Moros had never considered what exactly the thing was that suddenly took over his body and piloted it, to its heart's content. He had no interest in doing so either. Moros just wanted to know what it offered and if it could put down some reassurance.
Because at the end of the day, he simply wanted to be paid fairly.
"I am merely saying, powerful being, can you not give me some sort of proof, that you will not go back on your words or that the benefits you offer are something actually beneficial to me?"
"I do apologise, but in the world of capitalism one can not blindly trust someone."
The entity caused Moros' body to move forward again, aiming for the next goblin that ran at Moros with the intent to turn his body into mincemeat.
"Have you not noticed the increase in power and your mana? Do you think that it has always been you? It is through the pack, through every soul of my family that you return to me─that you can exert strength beyond the limits of your current vessel."
Moros thought about its words for a second and deemed them logical. The destruction he had shown under the influence from the happy pills, certainly did not seem something that was possible by a normal human being.
Additionally, given his rate of killing the increase in strength and its fluctuating nature made a lot more sense to him now.
After hearing its good argumentation and the benefits it offered, Moros did not find any reason as to why he should not let the entity take control over his body for a while.
He was being paid in a strengthened body and the entity seemed to have plans, which Moros did not know, for now.
Maybe there too might be some sort of hidden benefit that he could take advantage of. After all, they had never specified just how long the entity would stay in control of his body for…
"Friend, you got yourself a deal. Feel free to lead my body to free as much of your family as you desire. I will not stand in your way."
"Oh and if you need me, feel free to just think of me. I promise you, I will be there."
Moros tried to be as friendly as he possibly could be, after all they would hopefully work together for a long time."
"Welcome to Avarosia," Moros thought…"Welcome to hell," the being added.
It had started!