On the base of a tree, lay a man with his tendons sliced. My carapace burned in green flames, its anti-magic aura preventing the human from teleporting away. If I took too long, it would eat through my armor, so I acted quick.

I stabbed the man's chest and sliced down, revealing his bloody insides. My scythe stained sanguine.

He cried and screamed for help. I blocked his mouth with a free claw.

I looked at his exposed insides. The organs I saw were proof that this creature was indeed an animal, but I still didn't understand how they were so different from all the other animals I've seen.

The squirrels I caught never covered themselves in material for protection. The birds I watched may have used sticks and such, but the tools the humans used were hardy and complicated, as if they were created for the very purpose they were used for.

I had to know everything. I reached a scythe through his open torso...

"Enough."

Suddenly, something grabbed my core inside my body. The flames on me weakened, flickering. I tried to shake free from the invisible grip, but I could barely move, as if I was paralyzed. The fire on me extinguished. The human was suddenly enveloped in a bright glow, and disappeared, leaving nothing but his ripped clothing, and his blood on my claw...

"Unnecessary torture, don't you think?"

A voice appeared near me. When I looked, it was a man made out of a pitch black material. His right hand and arm were steaming as if it had just been burnt. His glowing red eyes looked down at me with suspicion and disdain.

"You desire knowledge, I can provide."

Somehow, I understood the words he spoke. He waved away the wisps of smoke from his arm, and walked towards me. I backed away, cautious.

"Do not fear me. I am your ally." He offered a hand. "Allow me to enter your mind. I will satisfy your curiosity..."

I was hesitant.

"You find humans interesting, yes? Then allow me, and I will tell you everything about them. What do you say?"

I thought for a moment, before cautiously touching his hand.

The world around me suddenly warped and twisted until I landed in a completely flat plain of whiteness.

I looked around. Nothing but the distance the sky and ground meet in every direction.

A cloud of smoke puffed near me, and when it dissipated, it revealed a naked man with transparent flesh. His organs and bones are visible through his jelly-glass body.

"Better, is it not?" The demon appeared behind me.

"It is the body of a man, not the same as the one you caught, but close enough. Like this, you can experiment however you like. See whatever you like. Do whatever you like."

This human shaped shadow creature piqued my interest... I understood that I could benefit from trusting him.

I crawled to the transparent human, and pushed it to the ground. It bounced like a doll.

I twisted and turned it around. Seeing every corner of its insides.

Moments passed, I had split its skull open to see the brain, but there was nothing interesting in the end.

I looked at the demon.

"Are you satisfied?"

"..."

"Speak, I will understand your gibberish. I will teach you the common tongue soon enough."

"I see..." (“zckwck wckzkkckkxc”)

"Is there anything else you want to see?"

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"No... but.."

"Yes?"

"What are you?"

"Oh? Curious about me now? I am the one who guides. Your mother once benefitted from my help. Now, it's your turn."

"Why is it my turn?" I asked.

He looked at me, displeased for a moment, but he forced a smile. "She perished."

"..." When I realized, I thought it was a shame. I would not be able to repay my debts to her. But I thought that maybe that was a good thing, I could focus on understanding the humans.

"No matter. She was weak, and soft. But you... you're different. You don't fear humans, do you?"

"Why would I fear them?"

He looked at me, searching for the slightest signs he could read, but I was completely still.

"You shouldn't."

"I... see..."

"Monster, why don't we make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes. I will offer you my knowledge, and you in turn, will help me achieve my dream."

"What is your dream?"

"To end all of humanity."

"..."

The world flashed and I was back in the colossal and thick forest. Night drew near. The forest turned dim.

He was standing, with his hands on his knees as he panted, exhausted. When he noticed my eyes, he steeled himself and stood straight, hands on his back. "To achieve your desires, you need power. You are as insignificant as any other scypede, but that can change… with my help of course."

The shadowy man appeared in front of me, showing the way in the forest with his hand.

"Come." He said. "I found prey with a trait you will find useful for your manhunting."

...

I followed him for a long while, long enough that the burn marks on my carapace healed, and long enough that night came, covering the entire forest in darkness.

"Wait..." I said.

"Yes?"

"The darkness is not good..."

I looked around, I could barely see anything. Few monsters ever hunted in the night, because while the hunters gained an advantage, so did the hunters of hunters.

"I must burrow until day."

"No one can ambush you, I can see clearly in the dark. If a monster does attack you, it means they likely have night vision, something you want."

"I see..."

"Oh, and if you noticed, here we are." He looked at the darkness.

I crawled closer to see what he's looking at. It was a string of silk, thin as a spear. The web was covered in thin thorns. It connected to a place too dark for me to see. "Touch it when you're ready to fight it."

"What is it?"

"It's a- wait..." He noticed something in the darkness, and smirks. "Here it comes-"

A monster suddenly struck me. It bit my head with two fangs. It cracked my shell, but it was not strong enough. I stabbed onto it. I pierced something, but I could not see what.

It suddenly retreats from me, disappearing into the shadows. I heard it scuttling around, its rapid multiple footsteps all around me. It stepped on grass, soil, bark, and leaves. Whenever I faced it, its sounds appeared somewhere else.

"On your left." The shadowy man said.

“I know.”

I crawled forward, there was a wall of thorny strings blocking the way. As it ran around me, it created a prison.

I heard the monster rapidly approach behind me.

"Behind you!"

I suddenly flashed a green light, revealing the monster. It was a giant spider, with legs far too long and spindly for its body, and eyes so big I could see my own reflection. The stab wound I inflicted was visible on its face.

The creature was stunned from the brightness for a moment, I turned to face it, smoke spilled from my mouth as heat built up inside me. Then in an instant a mass of flames burst from my maw. Before the spider was fully covered it was able to jump away out of view.

The flurry of flames spread around, devouring the webs the monster created, illuminating the surroundings with the erratic lights of fire as it ate through the silk walls that caged me. The spider nowhere to be seen

“It’s too late, it’s realized it can’t defeat you. It’s climbing up the trees now.”

“Stop it from escaping.”

“Huh? No, I can’t always help you. I’ll bring you to where it is again once it thinks it’s safe.”

“No, stop it now.”

He looked at me with a raised brow, before sighing. “Fine, consider this as a demonstration of my power.”

He disappeared into the mist, and in a short moment something crashed on the ground near me. It’s the spider, with its face buried on the soil, and the shadowy man riding on its back with his hand phased through its head, presumably grabbing its core.

“Here, satisfied?”

The creature spasmed, attempting to free itself from the paralyzation. I looked at the demon, waiting for me to do something.

I finally understood. This human shaped shadow creature couldn’t be trusted. But I saw how useful he is, and he is one of the few sources of knowledge I have to understand what seemed to be an indecipherable world.

I walked towards the pinned down monster, and stabbed my scythes down its head before ripping it open and extracting its core. Its body went limp.

I felt something change within my body as my very insides reconstructed themselves, but somehow, my appearance did not change at all. The world around me lit up, colorless in the dark, but I could see.

“Good, I’ll look for more monsters with similar-”

I fired a string of silk from my back end, it stuck to a nearby plant. I disconnected it with my back legs.

The shadowy man was silent. “Did… you just do that?”

“What do you mean?”

“What about your fire breath, how many monsters did you kill to get that?”

“Just one.”

“Interesting… very interesting.” He laughed. “You are a deviant after all!”

“I don’t understand.”

“Deviants like you have incomplete souls. Some are so incomplete, that sometimes the curses attached to them become incomplete too.” He grinned.

“I don’t understand.”

“You will… eventually.” He crouched near my face, and rubbed the top of my head. “So, do you accept the deal? You’re much more unique than I thought you would be. I’m sure you already know how much you need me.”

I looked at his face. He couldn’t stop his smile as he imagined all the uses he could find from me. But I too wanted to use him. I have learned so much from so little time with him. He was a threat to my existence, but that is the cost of knowledge. There was wisdom in his words, wisdom I would not find anywhere else.

“I accept.”