The spirit floated from corpse to corpse to get the tas - no, the "food" as it was pretty sure it was called - and felt...well, it wasn't sure what it felt. Whatever it was though, it felt like it would be more if the strange things from...from...the things were to be there again. Yes, that would be more. Much more. To get more, the things were needed.
Thinking intensely, the spirit started to float in circles, the equivalent of pacing around. It was completely unconscious of course and came from its previous experiences of moving away from anything bad or challenging such as the boxes at first. Since thinking was hard for it, its natural response was to try and escape it, which was impossible for it now. Suddenly, the spirit that had been starting to move steadily faster froze having followed a rather convoluted train of thought.
If the things were more. And the things could move to where the spirit was. And make more for the spirit. And even move away. They were even weird enough to drag themselves against the ground, and also moved around rocks. Why would they do that? In fact, even other things it saw in the past dragged themselves on the ground. So weird. It was so-so-what was the thing for this? It didn't know! It very very...again! This was why the things must be found! How could it just move around only fooding (if move was moving then doing something with food must be fooding, right?) anymore now when it didn't know the thing for so many things! For moring, it would move out! But first...how to not get 'bad?' But if food was things and things were food and the things were everywhere that way...could it just move over the things?
Convinced it had come up with a truly brilliant plan the spirit floated as far as it dared having gotten a sense for where the food ran out over the years. It couldn't of course tell where the 'bad' was, but it had found that the if it's not food, it's bad rule had yet to fail it. The not food must be 'bad.' The soldiers had been food - even if they were likely to vehemently oppose that sentiment - to the spirit and the spirit had found them to be very functional indeed. So, for now its rule had indeed managed to hold true. It had by now identified a soldier's mutilated remains near the edge of its mana pocket.
Had it not been for its newfound desire for knowledge it would have never wanted to willingly touch the void mana, yet now it did. Mentally screaming and crying all the while it steadfastly continued onwards to the soldier's corpse. Then it alighted there and replenished its reserves. And paused.
The things had been a lot easier to spot from up and now they didn't seem so near. Rather...weren't they very...over there? It couldn't understand how something so...small and close from up could be so...not close when on the ground. Even the place before didn't seem too reachable now.
Shuddering slightly it compressed itself, the spirit's equivalent of the fetal position. Had it a thumb it would likely be sucking it now. Then it jerked slightly, a terrible realization having struck.
If the food become not food...by thing. Then...would this thing also become not food if it didn't move to more food? Would it also...stop moving? It...didn't want to stop moving. There were too many things to thing! The big more out there with all the things doing things was there for it to thing! The boxes! It still didn't understand them! If it became not moving now...would it move again? The things didn't move after they stopped moving. They changed...but didn't move. It had 'seen' so many things stop moving that it couldn't care less if any more decided to be boring and stop moving (though some had been very weird to watch move weirdly while moving all that not black stuff out of themselves and then stoping) but it had never...maybe the things also thinged? Did they? They had all the things for things...maybe they did. Then...would they thing the same right now? NO! It would know these things and more! If food was not close, then it would move more! That was all it was! Yes, for more!
Enlivened, it charged away from the soldier, braving new frontiers to find more food! Though the journey wasn't nearly as perilous as the innocent spirit had presumed. The soldiers had been shredded not slain, their remains painting the ground red, and every bit gave off some mana since it had not been long since they died. Each bit could cover its mana needs and so it was panicking for nothing. It certainly didn't know that however, and so with courage in its...heart(?).... it forged on towards the nearest corpse. Then stopped and proceeded to repeat its whole thought process from before to ready itself...before moving to the next corpse. It screamed frantically in its head all the while, immediately calming when it reached a corpse. Like using stones to cross a river, the spirit skipped across corpses to cross the Voidlands. Soon, the glorious hero (in its mind; even if it really only imagined a similar concept) stood triumphant, having found more things. Just...not the right things.
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* 247 years later *
It had been "very" "long" now. Much "time" had "passed" since it had discovered these "new" things. It "loved" and "liked" "using" all these "words." Yep. It had "learned" many, many new words. And how to, "Bash head in! Use! Hit! More! Harder!" Indeed, these things were perhaps even better than the other things! Sure, they had a strange way of saying the same things, "but" they used less words! It was "faster" and they even said new things like how to make other things "commit" "die." When it would use such knowledge it wasn't sure, but all knowledge was good knowledge right? At the very least, next time it "picked up" a "club," something would definitely have a head bashed in. When it got these "arms" that most moving things seemed to have anyway.
Lately however, the spirit had been feeling more and more like maybe, just maybe, these things weren't the "same" as the things it had first learned words from. It couldn't point out what exactly, but they just seemed..."different." For one, they "I evolve now! Stronger! Kill you!" a lot. "Evolving" seemed to be when a thing became another thing...but "how" did they evolve? Could it evolve? And kill you everything? It sure seemed like "fun." The things definitely did it a lot. Whatever it was, they must be doing something better than it, since they evolved and it didn't and kill you happened a lot. Wondering what to do, it settled back down in its hiding place. The massive "cave" that the things were in was fun, but it had found a "small" cave to hide in. Moreover, the cave even made lots of food for it. From its spot in the cave it got plenty of new words too, since it could listen to everything around it, and other things didn't like to come near the small cave. Which was weird. It was such a "good" place! Over its stay here it also heard "status" a lot. Its boxes were also called that, it remembered something like that way back...could it say status? The boxes had appeared a couple times while it had learned too.
It jumped in shock when a familiar box came to view.
Unnamed Corrupted Spirit Level: 0 Age: 627 years Titles:
Congratulations! User has displayed sufficient intelligence to return to normal mode!
Resuming tutorial...
Step 2: Navigate status window.
It stared at the new boxes. It already didn't like them. They were using words it didn't know! There wasn't even something else happening like with the things that could tell it what the words meant! It was better before when it got the "feeling" with every word.
...! The feeling was there! As soon as it "thinked" it! So navigate was move? Why didn't it just say so!? "Stupid" box. Angrily the spirit spent a good bit of time doing this moving "around" the status bo- if the box moved, did that mean it was a thing like these things! It used words too...so it wasn't a rock...could it be a special thing too!? The more it learned the more everything seemed like "lying!" Nono, the box said move so it should move first, do as the things do right? As it 'moved' to each word in the box with smaller boxes, they 'felt' in its "head (the things had heads where they seemed to indicate thinking happened, so it must have a head too since it could do much thinking!)!" The first box in the box was not use, it told it nothing! The second was just confusing, and it felt like the first one! The third was like time and it didn't know what the thing inside was but it felt like something bigger than one. Maybe even "three...." The fourth was like the first and second! The fifth made its head "hurt" very much so it quickly 'looked' away from the box and it disappeared.
It could come back later...when the box didn't want to hurt it. It knew how to make it "become" so it didn't feel too "bad."
Then it turned back to the very many weird things...what were they up to now...? Why were they all leaving the big cave? That had never happened "before." Usually they -
A large boom shook the cave and everyone in it, even the little spirit, interrupting its thoughts.
Spoiler: Status
Unnamed Corrupted Spirit Level: 0 Age: 627 years Titles: