Mordus

A small ball of energy materialized slowly before my eyes, expanding to a point where it approached my size. How long had I been here? Perhaps a couple of days, or maybe much longer? I couldn't tell; I lost track long ago. I had been floating in this empty void for as long as I could remember, and nothing important had ever happened.

What the hell was I? Why was I here? I couldn't even remember myself or my purpose. Was I being freed? Would I get to reincarnate? Dormant thoughts awoke, racing in my mind as I observed that energy expanding further.

Suddenly, a gigantic arm shot through the portal, tearing in my direction. In no time, its hand enveloped me, immediately restricting my vision. It prompted me to question my scale. Was it truly gigantic, or had my size diminished? Did I even start large? Perhaps I had shrunk to this pathetic size after all these boring years—or maybe I hadn't.

A burst of light assaulted me as the hand opened, gently placing me down into a transparent pot situated on a large, warn platform. My vision wandered, capturing the surroundings. A few steps away from the platform, I noticed a large round object containing raging flames. I had no idea what that was, but it wasn't my concern.

"Modus, the first of your kind and also the worst of your kind, the Heaven's Will has decided your fate." The voice seized my attention, prompting me to gaze in wonder at the large humanoid creature facing me. Was it talking to me? Am I Mordus? What kind? Heaven's Will? What was that? It didn't take long, as if the creature could read my mind.

"Yes, that is your name, Mordus," it said. Then, there was a brief pause as it inspected a small, vertical, and thin platform. "That is called Judgement Paper, Mord." Again? That was annoying. Anyway, it continued, "Mord, it doesn't look like you remember, so let me read it for you real quick. This is a summary of your life; it also contains your final judgment."

[Race: Phantoms (Discontinued)]

[Purpose: Become a threat, leave the abyss, and terrorize the surface.]

[Name: Mordus | Intellgence: Limited]

[Fullfilled: None]

[Major Sin(s): Ruined our creations, his race.]

[Final Judgment: Remodel into a living weapon (Skill)]

[New Purpose: Serving our precious creation]

[New Proprieties: Food, Dark Energy]

[New Abilities (Owner controlled): Predation (Weapons only), Shift (Weapons only). Phantom Form, Energy Control (Shared)]

[New Skills: None]

[Addition notes: One of the races we created in the abyss is expanding to the surface and disrupting the world's balance. We assisted one of the last remaining phantoms with his goal, bringing them closer, and aiding in the merging of their bodies, believing they were suitable for the task.]

How did I ruin my race? I don't recall anything like that happening. How could I, as a single person, ruin an entire race? "Oh dear, don't worry. The furnace will help boil your memories to the surface, but it may hurt a little, so bear with it," it said as it closed the pot with another transparent cover placed on top of the one where I was. "Truth be told, you were going to go inside anyway to melt you so I could reshape your priorities and abilities," then it paused, pondering for a moment, and continued, "Ah, now you know your purpose. I hope you won't end up failing again."

Hurt, what was that? Most of what I heard was strange, so I just huffed in annoyance, hoping it wouldn't be something bad. I watched as the creature lifted the pot and made its way to the furnace, then slowly placed it inside. "I'm called a dwarf, a 'he,' so you address me correctly the next time we meet." Whatever! It said as it shut the pot with a cover, blocking the outside view. All I could see now were the purple flames surrounding me; I still didn't feel a thing except the rising heat.

A long time passed with no changes; the dwarf would check now and then, occasionally. More time passed, and an annoying feeling started assaulting me. It was unbearable, forcing my body to act on its own. I began crashing left and right against the glassy walls in an attempt to escape this hell I had been set into. As the feeling intensified, I started feeling my body crumpling, slowly losing its shape. Time passed, and I lost my will to resist; I could no longer move my body. All I could do now was scream in agony and move my eyes around me.

Finally, my memories started to rise. I was created from darkness, my quest was to spread terror through the world and force it to develop faster. But somehow it went wrong; the more I ate, the more I forgot my purpose, and eventually, I didn't care anymore. Greed took over, and I went on devouring everything that came my way, whether it was worth it or not. My siblings, the ones who came into existence after me, were influenced by my actions.

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Eventually, we started devouring each other; nothing ever tasted better than our own. Most of us, including myself, were just oversized weak monsters because of the restrictions placed on us. We are a great disappointment to the heavens. Soon enough, our race was discontinued, preventing any new phantoms from appearing. The ones that met their demise never reincarnated, as a race couldn't just reincarnate into another race. It made me wonder Did the heavens believe in so much that it broke its own rules? I couldn't understand why. Why was it so special?

***

The furnace's door opened slowly, revealing the dwarf who pulled the pot from inside and placed it on the platform again. He shook it several times, and satisfaction washed over his face. "Perfect," he said as he removed the cover on top of the pot with bare hands. It made me wonder, can't he feel the heat? "No, only souls feel the heat of the Soul Flames, doesn't it make sense to you?" Huh? I ignored him as I couldn't understand what he meant. I felt the slope change as my body slid down the pot onto the platform. I lay flat on the surface as my eyes came into contact with the dwarf. "I'm sorry, but I have to remove some parts of your body and replace some," he said. Whatever, not like there was anything I could do.

Time passed slowly as the dwarf separated my body. Some parts were taken away far from my reach, and some were near—I assumed these were the parts that would be modified. I didn't know anything past that as the dwarf collected the remnants of mine and placed them back into the pot. Then, just as I started to feel solid control over my body again, he shoved it back into the furnace, and agony was all I could feel. I assumed the dwarf needed me in my current form; otherwise, there was no reason to send me back in. Eventually, the door opened, and I was taken outside once again.

Currently, I was being placed in a long object. Gradually, my body started seeping through it, and then more strange objects were inserted. I felt my soul merge with everything around me. I was left to cool down for a short time. I watched the dwarf eat something, looking at him in wonder. My long-forgotten hunger was coming back to life once again, and then he got off the platform he was sitting on and made his way toward me, speaking, "That was some good coffee; it is called a drink. Probably foreign to you." I didn't care about any of that, I just felt hungry. I closed my eyes in ignorance as he gripped the object surrounding my body and removed it. I was solid completely; moving my body was no longer possible, even though I felt free.

"Well, here we are finally. This may hurt a little, although I reckon you will be asleep through most of the process." Sleep? That wasn't bad at all since I was tired, but how? I thought I could never sleep in this state. No, it was near impossible. "Oh, I assure you. Maybe not naturally, but you will see," I caught his voice once again as I witnessed him lift a large object with a long handle. It looked scary for whatever purpose it had. This is called a hammer, well, a forging hammer," he said. Soon enough, the hammer came down, raining blows on me. Every hit sent waves through my body. As time passed, my consciousness started to crumble, and my vision slowly faded. Now I understood what he meant, but maybe a little too late.

***

My vision warped around slowly, capturing whatever I could see, yet there was nothing but darkness. Oh, precious memories. It kind of reminded me of my domain back before greed and hunger took over my mind. I pulled myself together, wondering why I was still in my phantom form. I remembered losing that unless I kept it somehow. I recalled hearing something about it from the dwarf, but that was owner-controlled. Then what did that even mean anyway? What the hell is going on? Maybe, just maybe, I had my freedom inside the domain. Nothing would confirm it better than that status thing.

[Name: Narco]

[Food: 0/1 | Dark Energy: 0/0]

Base abilities:

Predation - (Max)

-Restriction(s): Owner-controlled, Weapons only.

-Allows you to keep the form of what you devour.

+Manual Trigger

+Trigger Condition(s):

+The entire weapon must be devoured.

+The weapon must be intact.

Shift - (Max)

-Restriction(s): Owner-controlled, Weapons only.

-Allows you to imitate the form of a weapon you consumed using [Predation]

+Manual Trigger

Phantom Form - (Max)

-Take on your monster form.

-Restriction(s): Owner-controlled, Weapons only.

+Manual Trigger

Energy Control (Max)

-Locked, successfully pass the first evolution to unlock.

Narco? Whatever... I didn't complain, since at least I got to be alive. I took some time wandering around in this domain; God knows whoever owned it. Finally, I found something eatable – a large monster. One of those things that used to crawl on the ground, just way smaller. Well, a decent meal? It looked like whoever wanted to eat it seemed to have given up on it. I didn't wait for an invitation and made my way directly toward it. No matter how much I consumed, the hunger never seemed to go away, encouraging me to continue my meal.

Suddenly, as I was busy with my meal, I felt my side getting kicked heavily, and I stumbled, falling on solid ground.

"Who the hell are you? What are you doing in my domain?!" I adjusted myself as I directed my attention to the young phantom facing me.