Felix’s mind was flooded with information, even as his mouth and stomach were flooded with Father Sandra.
Coppery blood, mushy brain batter, crunchy skull chips… Memories of Sandra’s life’s work and obsessions reverberated in his mind. Images of people sacrificed, of standing side by side at the right hand of a godlike prince wearing an iron crown, watching over cities overrun by the walking dead, armies marching over once-verdant fields, now turned to ash, marching over the ocean and overrunning the armies of the moors who held the holy lands to the east. An image of a light from the heavens, God Himself, the visage of a faceless angel kissing him on the forehead and telling him “Good work, my son.”
Felix shook away the images. These were the fantasies of an insane person. The strongest intention of Sandra’s life had all been driven recycled into these delusions. If Felix didn’t reject those intentions, they would consume him and become him.
“Go to hell and take all your sick dreams with you, you bastard…”
As he refused to accept the priest’s wishes, he felt his body energize as his body absorbed the sustenance. The sweet taste of magic, vibrating with an electric undulation. Like something writhing, dying, but refusing to die…
Felix felt like vomiting. The predatory desire to consume was momentarily overwhelmed, both by the awful flavor of the weird magic coursing through the priest’s blood washing the inside of his mouth and throat, as well as the knowledge that he had just taken a mouthful of person who he could have become if he accepted the memories of the delusional dead man as his own.
There was also the part of him that didn’t belong in this world, crying out. It refused to believe he was a cannibal. Refused to accept the pleasure he felt in killing the priest. Refused to accept that this was real.
Finally, the dysphoria passed. He felt his body assimilate the corrupted magic and it became something new. Something powerful and uniquely his.
Congratulations! Your Devour Ability has been a critical success!
Human Template added.
Fast Learner racial ability is already known.
Corrupt Life Affinity has been rejected and become Curse Affinity.
You have unlocked the perception ability Eyes Over Living & Dead.
Curse Magic and Ritual Magic have been unlocked.
You do not yet know any spells.
Felix opened his eyes and beheld Father Sandra’s body twitching on the floor in a pool of his own blood. With his new eyes, he was capable of perceiving the subtle magic. He intuited that with time he would be able to interpret what he was seeing with greater understanding, but for now it was enough to know that the priest was dead. His body just hadn't caught up with him yet. He could see the faint, fading aura of magic coursing through the muscles as they spasmed.
An odd popping sound preceded a rift in space opening and the sudden crash of the dead man’s inventory spilled all over the cavern floor in a pile by their former owner’s corpse. Coins, keys, several lightning batons, an assortment of clothes and robes. Several folding chairs, a table, goblets, a barrel, blankets, a number of books and writing utensils and inkwells, and dozens of other odds and ends.
“I guess my theory about the pocket dimension not being able to survive its owner was right,” Felix said out loud to no one in particular. He was therefore surprised when he received an answer.
“Yeah, that was a good guess, nyah!” said a female voice in his head. “We’re lucky it wasn’t a soul bound inventory or bag of holding. Then we would have needed some powerful magic to undo the binding. Not something we would have found lying around in this cave.”
Felix reflexively looked around before realizing the voice was inside him.
“Status?” he asked aloud, feeling a little disoriented.
The voice in his mind harrumphed indignantly. It was a genuinely cute, high pitched sound.
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“The name’s Eva Fortuna, thank you very much. You can call me Eva or Fortuna, but don’t call me Status anymore. Yeah, I have status magic, probably because of our bond and because you’re an outworlder. And yes, I’ll feed you messages when you need them. I know you think of me as that status screen living in your head, but I’m not your menu or interface or system or anything like what you have in your world. I’m my own person and would prefer to be addressed as such.”
“I guess that's fair?” Felix said, scratching the back of his head. “I like the name Fortuna, so... I guess I’ll call you that. Not gonna lie, though. It’s a bit weird having a conversation with myself like this.”
“Don’t sweat it. You talk to yourself all the time. Isn’t it awesome that now there’s someone here to talk back to?”
“Not sure, really. That sounds like a thing a crazy person might do.”
“You don’t need to talk out loud by the way. Just thinking your responses should be enough. We can also communicate in images and impressions. Why don’t you try it?”
Felix wondered if perhaps he really had gone crazy. Was Fortuna real or was this all in his head? And where did she come from?
“Oh, don’t be a baby! I’m real. I know it was pretty jarring for you when I got snapped back into your mind, but if you try, I’m sure you can remember.”
Felix rubbed at his temples. Everything was foggy before he woke up to a mouthful of Father Sandra, but the memories were there.
Umma Ghula, the powerful jinn, had been summoned by Father Sandra. She had stopped time. Then they had a conversation. The jinn had been about to eat him when she drew out an entity in his mind-- Fortuna. Somehow,Umma Ghulah had been convinced to spare them. Hadn't some kind of deal been struck?
Felix bent down over to the pile of items strewn across the floor and started digging through it for the keys he knew were in there somewhere. While he was at it, he set aside three of the lightning batons he found as well. Just in case.
“Where are you, exactly?" Felix asked. "When you were fighting Umma Ghula you were a cat girl. I saw you. Why are you just in my head right now?”
“For the same reason Umma Ghula had a body earlier when the portal was open, but not now when the portal is closed. I think that once we get to a safe place, we should have a nice long chat about who and what we are.It was good for us that the ceremony did a lot more than old Sandy was expecting, or we'd have been eaten instead of ol' Sandy here."
He didn’t understand the implications of what she was to him yet. He knew she was a part of him and also distinct. Felix felt Eva Fortuna’s presence stronger than he ever felt when he had just thought of her as a status living in the back of his mind. Somehow, having her there was comforting and felt right. For now, that was enough.
“Thanks for fighting to protect me from Umma Ghula,” Felix said, trying to communicate gratitude with his thoughts. “I know it’s thanks to you that there was some kind of deal for her to let us go. I can’t really remember what that was but… Yes, I found them!” Felix lifted a fist in triumph after discovering the set of keys he was looking for under a pile of books.
He suddenly wished he had pockets. Or that he had gotten an inventory skill from the priest instead of access to magic he couldn’t use because he didn’t know any spells. After a month in this world, it was shameful his only article of clothing was a loin cloth.
“Hey, do you think any of these books be useful?” Felix asked, quickly perusing the titles of the books strewn across the floor. “Maybe Arcane Pictograms, or The Aether could be useful? I’m not sure these apply to me.”
“You can probably learn that inventory spell from a ritual magic book like that one,” said Fortuna. He felt Fortuna draw his attention to a particular book entitled, Common Rituals, a Reference II. “See if you can find any more books on rituals. Maybe he has the first volume.”
Felix felt his hackles rise and had the feeling of being watched. He took a look around at the unmoving minions still seated in the wide circle around them under their white blankets. They weren’t moving and didn’t seem to be a threat now that their master was dead. But something else tickled at his senses.
“Felix, go ahead and activate Eyes Over Living & Dead…” There was tension in Fortuna’s mental direction. Her words were almost a whisper even in his mind. He didn't question her.
It felt way easier to activate this skill than when he had learned to blink teleport. Maybe like his claws and tail, those powers that were tied to his actual body were more intuitive than using magic. Or it was easier now that he had Fortuna’s knowledge guiding him.
Through Fortuna, he understood intuitively that Eyes Over Living & Dead should let him perceive magic that coursed through anything that was alive. As well as anything that was animated with unlife.
“What is that?” Felix’s eyes narrowed, as he began to see tendrils of magic that had been invisible to the naked eye moments before. An icy aura began to take shape and he could feel its deep reserves of malice. The aura was vaguely person-shaped as it crossed the cavern floor and stopped over Father Sandra’s corpse.
Suddenly, two slender ethereal arms wrapped themselves around the body. With a speed that Felix didn’t expect, the body was violently dragged across the cavern floor and into the shadows.
Screeching hyena laughter as well as the sickening sounds of chewing and crunching could be heard from those shadows.
“That’s Umma Ghula taking her prize,” Fortuna said, sounding more serious than he had heard her so far. "It's part of the deal that we struck with her in exchange for letting us live."
The sloppy wet sounds of flesh being torn apart finally stopped and there was a lull before Felix heard a long satisfied sigh.
Then, from the shadows, out stepped a creature with icy blue eyes wearing pristine black robes and Father Sandra's face.
"Good evening children," said a familiar oily voice. "Did you miss me?"