The following days passed at what felt like half speed. When I had seen Seran, I was so excited to explore a human city for the first time. How many different people lived here? What exciting and breathtaking secrets would I find? All of this awaited me.
The first day, where I had just been out and about had been a blast. Even though my experience with Sarvad had soured it, I still remembered that short time fondly. The excitement of discovering new things kept me going and made me forget the hardships of the desert. Then everything went to hell.
Now I had to spend my days in a cramped room, reminiscing about the good times. The excitement had vanished, replaced by absolute boredom. At first, I spent most of my time talking to Pecta.
However, my companion was free to roam outside, and he began to take advantage of this freedom more often. He could stroll around the city, enjoying all of it’s perks without a risk in the world. Even if he was being productive by gathering information and buying necessities, I didn’t like it. Jealousy was a strong emotion that couldn’t be quelled by logic.
As for Lilith? She had to work overtime for her guild and only rarely visited. The hunt for me was on, and it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. All of this meant that I spent a lot of my time alone with my thoughts and uncertainties.
Uncertainty was another emotion that I was getting to know way too thoroughly. Loneliness gnawed at me, of course, but the real problem was the unknown. So many questions lay unanswered and I could do nothing to change that. Who was the horned woman? What did she want from me? Was she really responsible for creating me?
It felt like the answers were so close, somewhere in Seran, but how to get them? Was the search for answers worth the risk of death? By the third day, I was truly starting to consider it. I even proposed the idea to Pecta, but he was firmly against it. “Why risk it? It is for the best if we do nothing and just wait it out,” he had said. Oh, it was easy for him to say that. It wasn’t him who couldn’t see the sunlight or stretch his legs properly. I had started to spend a lot of time pacing up and down the room just to have something to do.
My other avenue of entertainment was the mindscape, but that turned out to be fruitless. Further experimentation with my powers didn’t yield any further results. It only reaffirmed the fact that I, as a User, could strongly influence this world. When I went to check on Sarvad, I found him leaning against the cell wall. He didn’t react when I tried to talk to him. Nor did he react when I approached him. Sarvad had become completely unresponsive. When I asked Adam about it, he couldn’t answer.
Another activity took up most of my time. Sleep was something that I was nervous and excited for. Technically, I didn’t require sleep, or at least not as much as humans. But it was a good way to waste time, and after waking up I usually felt more alert. The only problem were the dreams.
Since my ‘talk’ with Sarvad they had changed. Gone was the creepy imagery and the never-ending hallways. Now, every time I went to sleep, I experienced what I could only assume were memories from Sarvad. They were different, but not an improvement.
The dreams varied wildly. Sometimes he was alone, playing with wooden toys in a white room, other times there were other children with him. Those memories felt… calm, yet somehow lonely. No matter how many children were with him, he always kept to himself. Then there were the memories with the adults. They appeared as human figures in long white coats. Expressionless masks always covered their faces. The only exception was the women from the first memory. The horned woman. She sometimes appeared with the other adults, performing various tests on the children. Whenever I awoke from those dreams I felt odd. Like I had just seen something disturbing yet strangely mesmerising.
The fourth day had one of those rare moments where all three of us were present. Lilith had brought a deck of cards and we sat around the dimly lit table playing. The game was called Fortune and the first few rounds were used to explain the rules to me.
All players started with five cards and would play one each turn. They had different effects, which could be as simple as drawing two cards or more game-changing, like swapping hands with another player. Some cards had ‘synergies’ and to win you needed a ‘set’ of cards in front of you.
Both Pecta and Lilith were familiar with the game and were quite good at it. At least as far as I could tell. The game seemed to bring out a competitive side in them, as after a quick tutorial for my sake, I struggled to keep up. Fortune was a game that involved equal parts luck, skill, and reading facial expressions. I sucked at all of those things, especially reading other people.
After a particularly bad game, I had even started using Sense State to ‘help’ me win. It turned out to be less effective than I had hoped. Sure, it helped me see when Lilith had a counter to one of my cards but even then her experience in the game simply trumped this advantage. Against Pecta, it was even less effective, as half of the time my ability couldn’t get a read on him due to ‘A lack of any identifiable facial queues’. His ability to keep a straight face was legendary.
“Are there signs of the hunt stopping anytime soon? I mean, it must be getting expensive for your guild to keep expanding resources just to find us,” Pecta asked while playing a High Priestess. “Oh, definitely not,” Lilith answered offhandedly while analysing the board state. Pecta’s High Priestess made all his cards immune to Destroy and Steal effects.
“Far from it actually. The only reason I got a break was because I worked for like 20 hours. Some newbie is currently shadowing my search zone while I have my free time.” Finally coming to a decision, she played a Strength card, empowering her next action.
I looked at my hand, not liking the options. “Will you have more free time from now on?” I asked, trying to distract myself from my impending loss. Lilith shook her head. “I wish. The Guild Master is obsessed with you. If I didn’t know any better I would think he wanted to fuck you.” This statement drew a disapproving glare from Pecta, even though I didn’t really understand what she had meant.
“So, I will have to spend more time alone?” Pecta cringed but nodded. “Sorry for leaving so often. I’m searching for any way to leave Seran or at least improve our circumstances.”
“Any luck?” I asked hopefully but my companion responded negatively. “Nothing concrete. There are leads, but I’d rather not share them until I know if they actually go anywhere.” That was disappointing but unexpected. Without much thought, I played the Star. Lilith moaned and Pecta grinned. His cards were protected by his High Priestess while Lilith’s were exposed.
“Do you know of anything I could do to pass the time? It's really boring being stuck here.” I had tried to find stuff to do on my own, but that hadn’t worked. After a while everything started to get dull.
“Can you read?” Lilith asked suddenly. Pecta gave her a look like she had just grown a second head. “I don’t know, why?” I replied eagerly. Was this the solution to my problem? “All of the rich people, especially nobles, know how to read and spend a lot of time doing it. I also know the basics, but never really got into it.” She turned to Pecta and gave him a cheeky grin. “What about you? You seem like a refined noble boy with a thirst for reading. Pecta rolled his eyes in response. “Shut up.”
Addressing me, he said, “I never had the opportunity to learn how to read. It is simply too expensive and would only help me minimally in my daily life.” He pondered Lilith’s idea for a moment. “If you can read then books can probably help you get past your boredom. Even if you can’t, I’m sure Lilith can help you.” He chuckled. “Plus, you wouldn’t have too ask me so many questions anymore.”
“Oh, is there some place with lots of books that you can read?” I asked excitedly. The concept sounded great and I doubted that someone hadn’t invented such a place. “Yeah, such a place does exist.” Lilith grinned. “It’s called a library.”
That information was exciting but there was something interesting that I noted from this exchange. I had already used the word ‘library’ while thinking, but never delved into its meaning. Interesting side note.
“Could you get me one of those books from the library?” I asked, full of hope. Unfortunately, Pecta immediately shut down my idea. “Libraries are only for the rich. To become a member, you either need to be swimming in coins or be nobility.” Before I could get sad, Lilith butted in with a smug smile. “There is another way to get books from a library. It’s easy, you just have to-“
“No, no stealing,” Pecta cut her off. “Stop setting a bad example for Vindict.” He looked at me. “If you want a book I will simply buy one for you. Our coin stash is big enough for a few extra expenses.” Lilith rolled her eyes. “Spoilsport. Besides, I am only teaching him the basics. Wait till he gets older, then I will teach him what real fun means.”
“Your definition of fun probably isn’t the commonly accepted one,” Pecta replied dryly. The assassin suggestively raised an eyebrow beneath her bandages. “Wanna find out?”
“I don’t. But do you want to know what I find fun?” Pecta asked. Before anyone could answer, he slammed the Empress down on the field. “Winning.”
“Good game,” I congratulated him, while Lilith cursed him to to the high heavens and the deepest pits of hell. “That was very impressive.” Especially since I had no idea what had just happened. “Thank you,” he answered with a smile. “For your fifth game that was also pretty good.”
“I hope you both stub your toes,” Lilith mumbled while laying flat on the table. I patted her head to comfort her and looked at Pecta. “If it isn’t too much trouble, please buy me a book. Anything to get rid of this boredom.”
“What topic?” He asked while collecting all the cards and putting them into a box. What would be most useful for me? Something that could teach me more about my problems. I immediately wanted to ask for a book about demons but that would be too suspicious. Instead I thought of something related to demons. “How about something about gods? Maybe a book about Noctus.”
Lilith gave me a thumbs up. “Good choice!” From what I had gotten from Pecta’s speech about demons, they were closely linked with gods. Besides, it made sense to invest time in finding out more about Noctus, since I still didn’t know why he had taken an interest in me. Pecta looked thoughtful at my request. “I’m sure I could find something about gods. It is probably a good idea for you to learn more about them.”
I did a happy little dance in my head. Finally, something to relieve the boredom! Before I could thank him even more, Lilith raised her head from the table. A fierce spark burned in her eyes. “I want a rematch!”
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Eleura looked with interest through the glass window that separated her from the testing chamber. Next to her stood Facility Lord Werth with an unreadable expression on his face. It was more than unusual for an Administrator to be present during an experiment. Most experiments were simply beneath them. But this was a special case. Not because it held much significance but because it had to do with life essence.
Stolen story; please report.
Back when Eleura had been a simple Knowledge Seeker, life essence had been her primary field of study. Her findings on it quickly made her into the Main Knowledge Seeker of her site and even let her rise to become an Administrator. Admittedly, this step had only been possible because she had managed to gain the support of one of the three Overseers.
Hearing that an experiment with life essence would be performed had filled her with nostalgia, and she had taken a break from the tedious paperwork to watch it. Facility Lord Werth had been surprisingly accommodating considering their recent misgivings, but Eleura chalked it up to him wanting to get back into the good grace of his boss.
Inside the test chamber, a Knowledge Seeker was preparing their tools for the procedure. These consisted of a scalpel, a syringe, and several vials filled with some kind of fluid. The Administrator activated one of her many artefacts to get a better understanding of what she was seeing. The liquid was a mixture of various materials containing a high amount of life essence. Given the intensity of the essence she wouldn’t be surprised if the fluid contained distilled life essence.
“What is the name of the compound?” She asked the Facility Lord without turning away. “It is a newly created mixture,” he answered in a neutral tone. “No official designation has been chosen, but some workers have coined the name ‘Lifebloom’.” Eleura raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. The experiment was about to start.
Finally being ready, the Knowledge Seeker drained one vile with the syringe and turned towards the test subject. It had been strapped to an operating table and given paralytics to reduce movement. Only its eyes darted fearfully around the bright room. The facial expression of the Knowledge Seeker was completely hidden by their faceless mask as they calmly walked towards the operating table and injected the compound.
Eleura absentmindedly scratched her arm as the life essence spread through its body. Werth looked over in irritation, clearly annoyed by the noise. Unlike humans, part of her arm were covered in bark, which produced an irritating sound when scratched.
Luckily for him he didn’t say anything. Having a non-human as his boss was probably a blow to his pride but he knew better than to openly criticise her. “Tell me the details of this test and how it differs from the previous ones,” she commanded, genuinely curious.
Werth squinted his eyes at the test subject. “During the earlier tests we used a compound that was a slight variation from the one we are currently testing. The life essence in it had been distilled, thus the results were minimal.” The Administrator nodded in approval. Eleura didn’t like the Facility Lord but she had to admit that he was well informed about what was happening in his facility. A quality that was usually admirable but could lead to trouble down the line.
Eleura didn’t think that he knew about the disappearance of Facility X or even the importance of the project. Very few people knew the details. Facility Lord Werth coughed, like he had swallowed something. Eleura glanced at him but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. It could spill disaster if anybody found out about it.
“What were the results of the first experiment?” She prodded in order to get a better understanding of what she could expect. “The subject turned into a monster,” Werth calmly stated. “The body underwent severe change due to the overabundance of life essence inside it. We expected it to die from the changes but somehow the life essence was keeping the subject alive. The results were an increase of speed and strength. This phenomenon has already been submitted for further testing.”
“Was the subject turned into a monster or a non-human?”
Werth gritted his teeth. “A monster, Administrator. No signs of sapience were retained. I would compare it to a ghoul, just alive.” Eleura nodded her head. This was a point she had to clarify since many humans didn’t distinct between monsters and non-humans. This was one of the many reasons why people didn’t like seeing her in such a high ranking position.
“The transformation is starting,” Werth interrupted her negative thoughts. Eleura leaned forward in anticipation. Growths were starting to appear along the subjects body. Through her life sight she could see that the life essence in those parts had clumped up, seemingly trying to escape its confines. Suddenly, the subject started twitching and shaking. It seemed like the overabundance of life essence had neutralised the paralytic.
Eleura was sure that if the room hadn’t been sound proof she would be hearing the screams of the subject right now. It started to strain against the restraints binding it to the table but unsurprisingly they held. They had been crafted to withstand far worse than this.
The Knowledge Seeker in the room waited for a couple of seconds to make sure that no further changes were coming. Then they quickly prepared another vile of Lifebloom to inject. This one had a more resounding effect. More growths started to form and the already existing ones grew even larger. Underneath them she could make out the growing form of bulging muscles. The extremities also became longer and more muscular, making the subject appear like a deformed scarecrow. Its struggles intensified but the bonds held firm.
The Knowledge Seeker started to prepare the third vile. “Excuse me, Administrator but I need to take care of an urgent matter,” the Sitelord interrupted her fun. Eleura just waved him off, not really caring about him. Tracing the path of the life essence through the subject was extremely interesting and if Werth didn’t want to participate then it was his loss.
The door to the viewing room clicked shut as the Knowledge Seeker approached the deformed subject. They tried to inject the third vial but failed to pierce its skin. The life essence was reinforcing the body of its host. Of course, the Knowledge Seeker had come prepared and took out the scalpel. It took a bit of work before they were able to remove a layer of skin. The blood that leaked out was a sickly green. They weren’t fazed by this and injected the syringe into the squishy mess beneath the skin.
The body grew even larger and more deformed. Some of the growths started to burst and released sprays of black liquid. Some of it sprayed on the Knowledge Seeker’s robe and began to sizzle. No harm was done to them, as the equipment used for experiments was acid prove. The thrashing of the subject increased. Eleura nodded in appreciation and turned off her life sight. The results of the test where fascinating and she was happy to have seen it. Still, it was only a short break from the monotony of paper work. The Knowledge Seekers would evaluate the findings.
Eleura was about to leave when she noticed something strange happening in the testing chamber. The Knowledge Seeker had begun to claw at their clothing in an apparent attempt to get it off of them. More sprays of corrosive fluids had hit them and they seemed to be spreading. “That doesn’t look go-“ Suddenly the restraints holding one of the arms of the test subject snapped. It’s now grotesquely long arm reached towards the Knowledge Seeker and squeezed. After only a second the subject let go, leaving behind a bloody sizzling heap that looked like someone had crumpled up a piece of paper.
Eleura frowned. Loosing a skilled Knowledge Seeker was such a waste. The remaining restraints snapped and the monstrosity rose up and let out a silent howl. Growths sporadically burst, spraying the room with acid. Eleura ticked down the seconds in her head. Any moment now the Enforcers would contain or put down this mess. After 10 seconds of nothing happening the Administrator started to get worried. What was keeping them? In an attempt to figure out more about the creature that was rampaging inside the testing chamber she activated life sight.
Immediately the test subject stopped its senseless frenzy and turned to stare at her. Her frown deepened further. That was strange. The material that separated them only allowed a one way view. It shouldn’t be possible for the creature to see her. As if to prove her wrong, the monster rushed the wall separating them and smashed its fists against it. The wall held, if barely. Eleura slowly started to back away. This was getting concerning and there were still no signs of the Enforcers coming.
Suddenly, she heard sizzling. Before she could comprehend that the creature’s acid had weakened the wall it reared back and shattered it. The Administrator barely managed to raise her arms in order to block before being sent flying into the opposite wall. Amidst the crashing debris a wet gurgle could be heard. The screams of the former human that were silenced by a growth growing in their mouth, forcing it open in a perpetual scream.
Coughing, Eleura managed to get back on her feet. A human would have been pancaked but a Dryam was naturally tougher. She moved her arms to shake off the numbness. They were completely covered in a mixture of bark and scales that had softened the blow. A natural defence mechanism of Dryam’s, one that had saved her life countless times. The monstrosity let out a gurgling roar and took a step forward.
“So that’s how you want to play?” Eleura asked, more annoyed than scared. Dryams were usually weak and relied on their natural defences to escape danger. ‘Usually’ being the key word. With a growl she activated multiple artefacts and her body was shrouded in a green glow. This infuriated the monster even more and it rushed to attack her.
A voice in the back of her head noted that it seemed to be attracted by life essence but Eleura disregarded it. Now wasn’t the time for hypothesis. The creature tried to grab her with its long arms but the Administrator dodged, much faster than she had previously been. Suddenly, all growths on the monster’s arms burst simultaneously. Such an attack was impossible to dodge but Eleura didn’t have to. A bubble of life essence sprang up around her and absorbed the acid.
Without wasting a moment, she grabbed the now growthless arm and threw the creature back into the testing chamber. It recovered surprisingly quick and rushed back at her.
Eleura frowned as she watched it with her life sight. Her last attack had broken several bones in the monster’s arm. This would have usually disabled that appendage but the creature apparently thought different. Life essence had rushed to the wounds and almost immediately fixed them. She noted that the subject was now moving slightly slower but not enough to make a difference.
Putting this creature down would require something special. Luckily, Eleura had just the right thing. When it reached her for the second time she dodged again to the right. Intelligence truly wasn’t this monsters strong suit as it wasn’t prepared for this obvious move. But this time Eleura didn’t grab it. No, instead she raised her hand and activated her necklace. A bone spike erupted from her hand and hit the monster square in the side. It tried to grab her but she just backed away. The bone spike retreated back into her hand like it had never been there in the first place. Its work was done.
Another roar announced the third incoming charge of the creature but this time something was different. It moved more sluggish and Eleura casually dodged. The monster tried to turn around but only managed to do it halfway before collapsing. The bone spike had truly done its job. Any normal poison would have immediately been cleansed by the rampaging life essence inside the creature but Eleura hadn’t used any normal poison. It was her own creation, specifically designed to effect life essence. Instead of damaging it this poison simply slowed it down for a while, leading to the victim becoming unconscious.
Eleura heard the door of the room slam open and when she turned she was faced with a squad of Enforcers. Her look was enough to make them flinch. “Administrator, it is good to see-“ “Where have you been?” She hissed. Before they had a chance to answer she stormed past them and into the hall. Werth was standing outside the room. “Explain!” She demanded from the way too calm Facility Lord.
“My apologies, Administrator. The security forces were unprepared for the escape of the subject, which resulted in their delayed arrival. I am ready to accept all blame for this failure.” Eleura angrily studied her underling for any signs of emotion. “You better be ready to accept the blame!” She hissed before heading to her office. She tried to look calm but inside she was fuming.
That snake! On the surface it was easy to assume that this had been a simple mistake on the Facility Lord’s part. The Overseers would definitely see this that way and only lightly punish Werth. But the circumstances were too perfect. He knew of her obsession with life essence and that she would most likely attend an experiment involving it. This experiment just so happened to be a stronger version of one that turned the test subject into a ravenous monster.
She was sure that if she looked at the test logs from the previous experiment she would find that the subject in it also displayed an attraction to life essence. As someone who primarily used artefacts with life essence and also was a Dryam, a creature with a high aptitude for life magic, she was the perfect target for such a monster. And Werth just so happened to leave the room when the test reached its final phase. The almost comically late arrival of the Enforcers was just the cherry on top. No, this hadn’t been an accident. This had been a planned assassination attempt disguised as an accident.
But why? Did he want her position? Did he want to kill her for not being human? It didn’t matter. What did matter was that Eleura couldn’t do anything against the Facility Lord. Sure, she was technically his superior but this didn’t give her the ability to remove him from his position without any solid evidence. Eleura thought about informing the Overseers about her suspicions but quickly crossed it from her mind. It would be seen as a sign of weakness, an Administrator letting out her anger on her underlings.
Luckily, Werth had severely underestimated her strength. The attempted assassination hadn’t killed her and he would come to regret it. Oh, she would be ready when he attempted something like that again.