Chapter 19: Anglerfish
-Centa-
You ever feel like something is stalking you? Like there’s a tentacle about to snatch you up and do unspeakable things to not just your body, but your soul? Kind of like one those cartoons Isaac likes to watch only with more screaming and less moaning.
Well, I feel like that all the time. Except it’s not actually a tentacle and more like living shadowy toxic wisps of nightmare, packed full of terrifying trauma so dense that not even the sun can shine through. Kind of like Isaac’s room before he got a girlfriend.
It likes to hide in the corner of my vision. It lurks and laughs at me. I thought I was free of it but it's followed me here to. It was the centipede.
I thought keeping it in my soul trapped with my brother would be enough to keep it away from me but that didn't work.
A weaker version of it is constantly pressuring me like being covered in spiders while under the immense weight of an ocean.
My logic was that it had such a huge rage boner for my brother that it would be happy torturing him while I lived free. I was so wrong.
The monster was far more greedy than that. It wouldn’t stop until the whole world was as dark as its mouth.
I wouldn’t fall so easy to it. I wasn’t my brother after all. I’ve been dealing with it for so long how could I lose to it.
There was two options. One was to close my eyes and be tormented by Isaac’s trauma. The other was to keep them open and deal with a few shadows.
Keeping my eyes open was the best way to deal with my particular brand of trials. So I was gonna pull a page out of my brothers book and just ignore it till it either goes away or becomes so unbearable that I cry and curl up into a little ball. You know, like ya do.
So far it seemed to be working. Snowball didn’t approve but what did she know? She was a cat not a human. No, not a cat. She’s a doll.
Now that I think about it. Was I even human? I think I am. I mean most of the time I’m a giant centipede of pain and suffering but for the most part I’m human.
I do human things like walk, eat and poo. Actually not sure on the last one I'll have to experiment.
Half human? Maybe less. The way I see it. It’s like I’m a spoon of cream and the centipede is dark coffee. We're not exactly mixed together.
We’re kind of just floating in the same cup. The cup is like our body so technically I’m more centipede than human.
You could say. I’m the cream. Aku is the sugar. Isaac is the water. The centipede is the heat and the coffee.
As for my relationship with the centipede, I’m like the lure on an anglerfish. Small cute and harmless to draw people in. All so the centipede can munch on their supposedly tasty bones or so I've heard.
Whatever, I have intelligent thought so I was basically human. I’m no monster that’s for sure. Everyone always calls me a monster.
I have emotions to. How could a monster have emotions? One thing was for sure. I refuse to be my brothers shadow anymore. He can be my shadow from now on.
The black wisps brushed over my left ear. They whispered to me. The low frequency hurt a little. It was a sharp pain. Almost like a guitar string being tightened until it snapped.
They asked for blood. They wanted something tasty, a sacrifice. I felt it cry and vibrate. It’s presence surrounding me in a cage of vibrating energy.
The reverb slowly increased in frequency as the seconds ticked by. Each second was elongated into infinity making it feel like I was trapped in the hole again.
Nooooo! I was the one in control not it! This is my body!
I attached myself to it since our goals aligned with each other but now that I’ve achieved my goal I no longer needed the centipede.
Yet it demanded things of me. With no way of freeing myself from it’s wants and needs, I was still trapped. I might be out of the hole but I was in no way free of its hunger or pain. My brother truly has cursed me.
Focus on something else. Like the system. I opened my menu. Then closed it. Opened it again, then closed it again. How peculiar.
Every time I interacted with it I felt a shimmer around my core. Like a pulse of energy passing through some sort of circuitry. Almost like code coming to life.
From what I could tell. The system was somehow attached to my very soul. Kind of like what they call an enchantment. It was similar to the tiny runes covering Snowball’s body.
Normally you couldn’t actually see them but with my third eye I could make out the tiny rune script that permeated through the fabric.
Not the whole thing. Most enchantments ran deep into hyper dimensions. Tiny pockets of space.
At least that’s how it looked to me. Like the enchantment was folded and the rest was hidden somewhere my eye sight couldn’t reach.
I wonder if that’s how my inventory works. It was similar to how souls were stored in the body. Connected to the body by threads that seemed to stretch out from infinity.
Each soul was similar to a black hole. A point of infinity. Though they didn't pull things towards them. Instead they looked a bit more like a new born star. It was pretty to look at.
Inventory was similar. As far as I could tell manifesting things out of my inventory was like reaching into a pocket you didn’t know existed and pulling out things that shouldn’t be able to fit there. It was so bizarre.
Just like the enchantment that went into Snowball the one in my core was half-assed. I'm surprised it doesn’t snap my soul in half.
The power system was flawless but the menu that allows people to actually use that power is absolute garbage. Someone really needed to learn to code.
Lucky for me I wasn’t restricted to the system. I knew where all the outlets were and how to move power around. The so called abilities and skills were just the most basic of what was possible.
In simpler terms the system was like training wheels. I guess you could also say the system was like a breakfast sampler.
You get to try out different things. Like magic, auras, psychic abilities, even miracles could be used.
I was surprised at that part. Why would the lady share her power just so some mortals could heal paper cuts and clean skid marks off their underwear.
Especially without any shrines or sacrifices. It made no sense. Actually, I suppose she was draining all the quintessence out of every human so she was technically gaining power by having a large abundance of followers.
It’s a bit complicated. I haven't seen a Single creature that wasn't connected to her so sacrifices didn't make sense. Sacrifices were best when you killed followers of other gods.
Killing your own was not only bad for business. It was also an easy way to remove a potential quintessence generator.
Maybe every living thing in this world was under the same god? It meant no holy wars, and the lady didn't have to compete against other gods.
She essentially monopolized religion to the point where you don’t even have to know of her existence.
Roughly ten years ago, I managed to have a nice long chat with the lady. Back then my thirst for knowledge was unquenchable.
It was the first time I’d been able to really talk with someone. Our conversation lasted four days. To bad she had to leave.
She wasn’t nice per say but she wasn't rude either. Most of my Intel came from her. The Intel that didn't was more from my observations with my third eye.
To be honest I don't think she actually wanted to talk to me. Why she answered my questions I still don't understand. Normally a god doesn’t share their power with just anyone.
They have to be followers and the more devoted they are the more power they get in return. It’s a bit of a trust type of thing. Either way the lady makes out with more power than her underlings.
I can understand the need for the system. Without it the players wouldn't be able to access their power. Maybe they could but that would require meditation, focus, and training. Sadly this generation lacked the discipline needed.
If this keeps up they might end up damaging their souls. Every time the system activates it rips energy from their cores. Not a lot but still.
When it comes to enchantments whatever is enchanted tends to lose durability a lot faster than normal. Since every time the enchantment goes off it cuts and burns through the item at a molecular level.
Putting it on a soul is less likely to break anything since a soul doesn’t have a solid form. However, the enchantment is way to crude.
The part that really bothers me is It rips quintessence from the soul. The lady is already draining any quintessence you gain so the system is just slicing off peace’s of soul every time it activates.
It’s the equivalent of owning a TV that runs on human flesh. I would not recommend it.
At the rate Isaac uses it. Our soul would still last a few years before we rank down. That is as long as the enchantment doesn’t rip our soul apart.
I wonder what a human would look like ranked down into the beast ranks? A monkey maybe? Monkey-kin are a thing so probably not.
The lady mentioned a few of the ascension ranks. Rank one is the living rank which is meant for anything that's alive. Usually things that can't move, or are to small and don’t require a big soul, like plants, bacteria or even bugs.
Rank two is the beast ranks. There basically just animals. Rank three is mortal ranks. Anything humanoid that's broken out of animal instinct falls under that rank.
There are other ranks but the lady didn’t get into them. I know that God is a rank so maybe humans can become God’s to if they live long enough.
No one in this world is capable of reaching god rank due to the fact that the lady won't allow it and why would she. That would just create more competition. Were basically all just solar panels for her.
I looked to my companion. Snowball sat across from me at a round table just outside of James’s restaurant. I didn’t feel right being indoors.
I simply refuse to be contained within walls. The thought gives me a mini panic attack. It didn’t count when I woke up. I was only just getting a handle on my senses. In that moment I felt freer than I’d ever been.
I turned my thoughts to Snowball. Seeing my new friend brought joy upon my face. She was so cute. I would never be brave enough to venture on my own.
Its good to have friends. We were waiting on our order. This will be my first real meal. I can't wait.
It'll be so much better than the time mother made me eat mud…... Stop that! No more of those memories! My new life will not be a tragic one.
Only happy fun thoughts. No more frowns. Frowns are bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad! From here on out all my frowns will be upside down.
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They wont know what hit them. While I’ll be having fun they’ll be wondering why the world is backwards and why their blood is going to their heads.
It’ll be like that time mom made me hang upside down from that tree. Ah! I did it again! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Rainbows, unicorns, puppies, kittens, freedom, the majestic flying Buffalo!
I must of looked insane because everyone was staring at me. Oh no! Have I given myself away! Am I going to be put in that room again!
I took a breath and straightened up. No this will not be my last day. Oh god its to late I’m so done for! Snowball quickly smacked me across the face knocking the maxillipede out of me.
Wait what? Was that real? Did I imagine that? Snowball told me to calm down and relax. I sat there like a child that had been scolded.
Snowball could be mean sometimes. I hope she isn’t to upset. The thought made me almost cry. Not out of pain but because my new friend was mad at me.
I’m so confused. My cheek didn’t hurt so did I actually get hit or not? Was I going crazy? To be fair I did have multiple people living inside my head. The real question is, should I charge them rent?
I feel like if I did that then they’d ask me to do things like put in lights in the castle and fix the toilets possibly do something about the giant hole. Actually I might be able to put rails around it….. or turn it into a swimming pool!
Oh, but then I'd have to install a filter and pay a guy to come and service it once a week cause I sure as hell ain’t doing it.
Where would I even get the water for that. I’d need at least an ocean’s worth. Yeah I dont know about that. Let’s not even start on the centipede infestation.
That sounds like a pain in the telson. Nah, they can stay for free. Ill be throwing Isaac in the hole anyway. As for Aku. She hasn’t done anything to me.
She can just stay in her room. I hear her tea parties are legendary. Maybe I’ll pay her a visit some time.
Before I could finish that thought the waitress poppy walked over with our meal. I’d ordered a hamburger stake with a side of fries…. or chips? Whatever you humans call them.
Snowball wanted beer and an order of grilled salmon. I wanted to try beer to but poppy said I was to young. When I frowned she told me I wouldn't like it anyway since it was bitter like medicine and made you feel funny.
I had the memories of beer, but it was tainted with Isaac’s love for it. I wanted to see for myself. Father was a heavy drinker, so it must be good right? Then again I don’t really like the taste of medicine.
Father must have been very brave to drink it. Wish I could of met him. I bet he was fun to be around. Isaac’s memories told me he was a big strong man with tree trunk arms. Super strong and super drunk.
The drunker he got the stronger he was. When he wasn’t drunk he was as weak as a baby. That’s his only weakness. His superpower was super strength and super fast reflexes. He could also ignore pain and could drunk talk his way through any situation.
Instead of the beer Poppy brought me a milk shake. It was really yummy! Like wow! I almost broke into tears out of sheer joy.
I thanked Poppy as she headed over to help another customer. She gave me a smile and a small wave. She was really pretty. I bet she has a boyfriend. I wonder if I’ll be like that to one day. Isaac would probably freak out.
I’ve been alive for a few minutes now and I can say without a doubt that life is even better than I’d ever imagined. Now that I’ve witnessed the real world somewhat. I really don't want to go back to the hole.
Everyone in this world was so nice to me. It feels so strange. I don't think anyone's ever treated me that way before.
Well hang on. Alice was nice that one time…. Wait…. That was right before she put me in that place.
She totally tricked me! I trusted her! How did I forget that? I wont be doing that again.
Oh, did that mean……. I looked at all the people around me. There was a lot more people now than when I first got here.
I think they were all staring at me. They were all smiling. None of them were players. We're people just being nice to trap me! What should I do?
I could hear the centipede calling to me. Whispering betrayal into my ears. Calling for the blood of our enemies. This had to be a trap.
They fed me these delicious things then slowly surrounded me while I was distracted. I should kill them all now and run away before it's to late!
I gathered essence forcing it through my third eye. It flared up as an invisible force gathered above each of my captors heads.
All I had to do was crush them into the ground and it would be over. There auras were none existent so it would be easy.
I wasn’t going back to that hole or that dam room. With a thought they’ll all be turned to mush. The centipede demanded a sacrifice.
My power started to press down but before I could actually kill anyone — to the centipedes disappointment — Snowball stopped me.
She said I wasn't in danger and that these people were being nice because they liked me. The invisible kinetic energy evaporated as the power in my third eye receded back into my power source.
I calmed down taking a long deep breath. These people almost died. I don’t even think they realize it. The centipede cried in anger wishing for blood.
It was unbearable but I couldn’t show my distress. I refuse to go back to that room. I refuse to be put back in that hole. The noise got worse.
Instead of it being a cage of vibrating energy it was like being trapped in an echoing chamber of thousands of voices all calling for blood.
They slowly grew in octave attacking me from all sides. I couldn’t even hear Snowball anymore. They were so angry.
Right when I felt like I couldn’t stand it anymore I did something I wished I hadn’t. It was the only way to make it stop. I promised it something.
I’ll get you your food! Just wait a little longer! You’ll have all you can eat if you just wait!
The reverb quieted down and I was allowed to exist peacefully once more.
Snowball kept telling me I was safe. That no one wanted to hurt me. I don’t think she could hear the monster in my head.
While she didn’t communicate like everyone else I could hear her. It made me happy to know I was the only one she would talk to.
Even though she refused to talk to people she trusted me enough to speak with me. It made me trust her even more.
I finished my meal and paid. I left a few extra copper as a tip. Poppy thanked me and said goodbye to both Snowball and I. Snowball floated into my arms and we gently floated up over every ones heads.
“Lady Aku! Wait!” Poppy took hold of my leg and pulled me down. She was trying to trap me! I was about to attack her when she said “You cant fly around in a dress!”
I realized what she meant and my face turned red. So this is what embarrassment felt like. I don’t like it.
Everyone was laughing at me! It didn’t feel like I was being made fun of but still it was so embarrassing.
I dropped down landing on the floor then held my dress down. I was wearing tights but I’m pretty sure since they were white they were somewhat transparent. Especially since my underwear was so colorful.
Poppy sighed then reached for my hand. “Come with me. Don’t cry it's not so bad.” Unsure what to do I grasped it and she ushered me inside.
Poppy brought me to her room. If Isaac was here he’d probably lose his mind at the thought of being in a girls room.
We were thirty-nine and married yet that idiot brother of mine was still afraid of girls. How lame was that. Poppy let me sit on her bed.
The bed was covered from one end to the other with plushies and dolls. None of them looked all that cute. There were far to many bears holding red hearts with white letters spelling “love”
Something told me these weren’t things poppy bought but were more like gifts she’d gotten from boys her age. That or she had weird tastes.
Speaking of poppy. She was rummaging through an old box in her closet. I gave out a yawn feeling a little fatigued. There was no way I could fall asleep though.
That would be a bad idea. Sleeping would leave me wide open to attack. The walls around me already made me feel uneasy. I needed to stay focused.
She pulled out a pair of pumpkin shorts. Pumpkin As in they were puffy. The shorts were white with blue lace. Pretty sure there called bloomers.
They were cute but wasn’t I a little old for that sort of thing. If memory serves only toddlers wear those. That or really old ladies.
Actually I think there’s a small group of the younger generation that adopted them. Isaac calls them lolitas or something like it.
“These will be perfect. As long as you wear these under your dress you’ll be okay. I know how much you jump around lady Aku. While its not befitting of a lady I understand you have obligations to fulfill. I’d suggest wearing pants but it would be a shame if you didn’t dress the way you do. Even I wear pants when I have to do anything physical.” She handed them to me.
I took them and held them up. I think they were in my size. The fabric was cotton. The back side had these blue ruffles that ran across.
I thought about opening my menu to equip them but realized these were classified as underwear, so I did it the old fashioned way.
It was a little embarrassing changing in front of someone else but I managed. Turns out you can actually wear them over regular underwear.
That was good. Walking around in such lose underwear would have been to strange for my liking.
The tights were placed in my inventory. Just because I didn’t like using the menu didn’t mean I would inconvenience myself with something like carrying my tights around by hand.
The day was warming up thanks to Mr. sun so I wasn’t worried about the cold. Though, thanks to my aura I didn’t have to worry about simple things like cold weather.
On the other hand It did make me feel less like a human. I shook my head. I’m not a monster. Any human with the ability to warm themselves would do it if they had the chance. I was acting within my human nature.
“There don’t you feel better now that no one will see your underwear, and it matches your dress to.” She sounded like she was speaking to a child.
Also it doesn’t need to match my dress. No one needs to see it. Unless… I show them on accident. Which is also the reason why I’m wearing it in the first place….. still she doesn’t have to treat me like that.
Technically I’m older than her. Was I older? She’s like sixteen and I was made around the time Isaac was a teen. I was older. Definitely over twenty for sure.
Interestingly enough, the bloomers were a bit like wearing shorts. They were comfortable at least. I was just happy I could fly around without getting embarrassed.
I got a look in the mirror attached to the wall. I couldn’t actually see them which was a bit of a relief. Especially since Poppy made it sound like they were visible.
“Yeah, thanks Poppy. I need to get going now. There are many things I still need to do.” She was already smiling before I could turn my attention to her. I reciprocated with my own smile.
“I understand. That’s okay. I’ve got work to do. I left a bunch of customers unattended. I hope father isn’t having to much trouble.” With that we headed back down stairs.
A moment later we hugged and said our goodbyes. I floated up and away making Snowball's little paw wave at Poppy as we departed. She found it funny but I was only fulfilling Snowballs request.
We landed on the roof top of Poppy’s home/restaurant. This was the fun way to travel. Cindy's shop was next.
I jumped from one roof to the next using my telekinesis to guide my jumps. It was important to practice my jumping skills. Especially when I didn’t really have experience with moving around.
I was pretty good. Floating was much slower and less fun. Jumping had so much momentum to it. I could power up my jumps with telekinesis not only conserving stamina, but speeding up my drop speed, softening my landings, and extending my reach.
A little later and I’d entered Cindy’s shop. It was empty. Maybe she was in the back? I looked to Snowball. She didn’t say anything. I guess I can look around.
The weapons on the walls all looked to big for me. Everything but the knives and daggers. “Wow! Look at that sword!”
I ran over to get a better look. The weapon in question was hanging off a few hooks. Snowball warned me not to touch it but I really wanted to.
The weapon reminded me of Isaac’s old grate sword. The blade was silver and had multiple curving spikes. They looked like claws.
This type of blade was more for heavy bleed damage. The kind of wounds that would be hard to stitch up.
The handle of the weapon was long indicating it needed both hands to wield. My third eye sparked to life and the grate sword floated up off the wall and came to rest in my right hand.
It was heavy! I just about fell over when a hand reached for the handle and held it up for me.
“What do you think your doing Lady Aku? Don’t you know its dangerous to use a weapon far larger than yourself?”
I looked to the owner of the hand. It was Cindy. She looked like she wanted to run me out of her shop. Her eyes seemed to cut into me like sharp needles.
I felt her pry the sword away from my small hands. She was also having a little trouble with the weapon.
“How did you even reach this? I cant even do that.” The little blacksmith that could shook her head then looked to the empty spot where the sword used to hang.
It seemed like she was trying to figure out how to get the weapon back to its home. How did she get it up there in the first place? That was probably back when this world was made of pixels.
This was not someone I could afford to anger. She was strong. One look with my third eye showed the insane aura she projected.
It was as dense as the toughest steel armor. Fighting her would be akin to committing suicide. This is my first day of life I refuse to waste it on something like this.
Cindy wasn’t my enemy she was only worried about me. To fix any miss giving’s I lifted the weapon using telekinesis and watched as Cindy’s eyes widened.
“I’m sorry I’ll put it back.” The sword lifted into the air and was set back down on the hooks. It settled into place and everything was back to how it was.
I looked to Cindy hoping she wouldn’t be mad. To my surprise she smiled. “Be careful. I don’t know what I’d do if one of my creations was involved in hurting you. How do you think I’d feel?”
Is this what it feels like to have people that care about you? First Poppy now Cindy. Isaac was so lucky. This kindness… it’s not really directed at me. She thinks I’m someone else.
Why did these people care so much about Isaac? don't they know he’s a monster? At first it was nice but now that I know they think I’m him I was starting to get annoyed.
It’s not a bad feeling though. I now found myself trying my best not to do anything that would hurt these people. Its strange. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way.
What if she betrays me wont it hurt more if I get attached? On second thought I don’t like it. Snowball chimed in with an “It’s a good thing.”
“Are you here for your sword? It’s ready. I just finished polishing it not to long ago.” I can see why Isaac had multiple pictures of her.
She was really pretty. Not in the same way as Poppy. Poppy was pretty in a fruit about to ripen sort of way. While Cindy had fully bloomed into something beautiful.
It looked a bit strange with her size but there was no doubt in my fractured mind that Cindy was a grown woman.
I wish I was curvy. Even Poppy has more curves than me. I’m flat like a wall. I wonder how she got so curvy? The centipede is curvy to. It eats a lot. Maybe if I eat a bunch of food I’ll grow to.
I shouldn’t get distracted, now wasn’t the time. The sword was ready. That's good. I needed a good weapon. “Yes, how did it turn out?” I hope I'm not acting funny.
I’m taking a huge risk in coming here. For all I know this lady has a secret button under the counter that sends signals to my guild mates
Isaac doesn’t have any memories of anything like that, but then again Isaac is also forgetful sometimes.
The short master Smith walked back behind the counter and reached into her inventory pulling out a newly forged weapon. “Here it is fresh out of the oven.”
Oh, so swords are baked. Neat, I wanna bake to. I hear cake is really yummy. cake aside, the weapon was so cool looking.
The blade was as thin as paper. The black obsidian looked like shiny smooth glass. It was kind of tiny. like a mini short sword. Almost dagger size. Compared to me it was basically just a short sword.
The handle was long enough to fit two of my hands but short enough that I could use it one handed. Isaac intended it for high mobility.
Despite my hatred for my brother I agree with his decision…. He was still a monster though.
What I found interesting about the weapon was that the entire thing was made of the same blood obsidian. Everything but the small multi colored gem embedded near the bass of the blade.
The gem pulsed and on closer inspection had thin veins of focus spreading throughout the weapon. They were so feint that I hadn't noticed them.
I checked the weapon. The only thing that really matters was the durability. Things like attack power were silly.
The sharpest sword did not exist. It did not matter weather your sword was made of steel or wood. The sharpness was the same regardless. The only difference was how well the material could hold its edge.
Since the blade was so thin it would cut better than most weapons but if the durability was bad then the blade would snap in half at the first swing.
I was surprised to see how indestructible this thing was. The gem was even more interesting. It was classified as a mana stone.
Apparently the stone could hold a little over one-thousand focus. That was a nice boost to my reserves. It was about a 20% boost to my focus bar.
The system called it focus but the lady told me its actually essence. I went ahead and pushed one-thousand points of focus into the gem.
It took about ten seconds but I managed to fill it to the brim. The veins now glowed with a prismatic light and the weapon now pulsed like it had a heart.
The real cool part was that the blade started to circulate the energy crating a small aura around it.
The aura boosted the swords characteristics. As long as it had power running through it the sword would constantly be buffed.
Physics aside. An aura could actually turn this blade into the sharpest sword in the world. Maybe I can influence its development if I use it long enough.
My natural regen started to draw in essence from my surroundings slowly filling up my focus bar.
It did this by having a natural siphon. The energy was constantly being pulled from my core and through my body.
This provided me with a basic level zero aura while at the same time creating a stream inside of me that would continuously pull raw essence into my core.
If I had the time I could create a better cultivation method that would replace my essence with qi. That would be nice. I’d be the strongest player alive.
Then again I don’t want to mess with the multiple power systems at play. Worst case scenario I’ll end up throwing my power systems out of whack completely destroying them.
“Good job! This is a nice weapon. I love it.” Cindy smiled proud of her work. She really made something special. The blade was made just for me. If I provide her with more materials what else could she make?
“You are welcome. I worked really hard on it. Mana stones weren’t originally what I was going for but you said you wanted to be a spell blade so I did a little experimentation with the infusion process and managed to turn the weapon into both a sword and spell medium. You can use it to hold focus and power up your magic. It currently has ten mana stones inside of it, but I can add more once the weapon finishes solidifying. Its truly the first of its kind.”
The system did inform me that the weapon wasn’t done so it’s stats were slightly reduced. Searching Isaac’s memories told me this wasn’t an actual thing in-game and that this was a product of the new world.
I could use this for magic? I don’t know any spells. Relying on the system is kind of scary so I don’t think I’ll be using it for that purpose, at least not if I don't have to.
I had to thank her. “Thank you. This will come in handy.”
She responded with “What will you name the sword. A hero’s sword needs a proper name after all.”
A hero’s sword? That’s right I am a hero. I looked to the weapon in question and thought about what I was going to do with it.
I might be a hero but this wasn’t a hero’s sword. It didn’t look like one. What were my goals again? I want to protect the country and explore the world. Then there’s also the mission to bring everyone home.
Why I wanted these things is because the country was as much mine as it was Isaac’s. Exploring the world was obviously one of my goals since I've been trapped for so long, and freeing the players.
That was simple. If I save the players then they’ll see me as a hero and I won’t be called a monster anymore. I’ll be loved not because they think I’m Isaac but because I saved them.
I’ll show that stupid brother of mine! I’m no monster! I’m a hero! I’ll prove them all wrong. Maybe they’ll finally like me and we can all be friends.
As for the new weapon. The dark glass reminded me of that place. At first when I saw it I thought it looked cool. But then when I looked into the darkness of its black obsidian.
It reminded me of the hole. Once you see it, it’s hard to un-see. The name was obvious. “I think I’ll call it, Edge Of The Abyss. It suits the weapon.”
It only made sense when you’ve lived the way I do. This weapon while amazing was commissioned by Isaac. He also created the hole so it only made sense to call it that.
I dropped my new sword into my inventory. Cindy didn’t look happy with the new name but didn’t say anything.
“Do you need anything else Lady Aku or can I get back to work now? You know I’m still working on your armor.” She tapped on the counter with her fingers as if she was eager to get to work.
I couldn’t blame her. She was a busy lady, I shouldn’t take up to much of her time. “Yeah that’s all I needed. Thank you, I’m very happy with your services.” I smiled to show gratitude. She smiled back.
We said our goodbyes and I was out the door within moments. Now that I had a proper weapon those drug dealers were as good as dead. The centipede perked up.
I should of picked better words. The centipede gave out what sounded like a war cry. I don’t want to kill that many. Maybe we can leave most of them alive.
A second later I felt three of its limbs stab into my arm. I dare not scream. Instead I crouched down hugging Snowball doing my best not to draw attention and failing.
At best I might be able to convince people I had a tummy ache. It's voice echoed in my head. “kill! Kill! Feast!” It was unbearable.
That noise! The growing frequency! That dam buzzing! I can’t take it anymore! Stop! I’m sorry!
The only way to make it stop was to do as it says. The words slipped out of my mouth “Please stop. I’ll do it.” My voice was a whisper but it didn’t matter.
Silence
The noise was gone and I was left a sweating mess. I was so disgusted with myself. I just wanted to do my own thing but here I was a slave to a monster. I had sold my soul to it and now it was time to pay up.