A dull throbbing headache and a desert in one's mouth is the wake-up call of a chemical enthusiast. Adding to that the tumulus events from the last days, Luke’s body rang a wake-up call like a bell from a church tower. As soon as the mind and the body restored their connection, the body started blasting noise and screeching in rebellion. The nervous system was replaced by glass which has been repeatedly shattered. The muscles replaced by led sand heated over the flames emitted from fractures and breaks in his bones like volcanic pathways burning him from the inside. Lungs as if filled with dust reacted to the call to arms by sending the whole body into spasms while he coughed as if the lungs decided to escape his inner battlefield.
Throat as if coated with sandpaper carried the stale, yet moist air into the rebels bringing a surprising amount of joy and relief. After the violent coughing fit the eyes made their presence known, burning like brimstones the moment they were opened. Sending throbbing pain into the brain behind them.
Swaying like a drunkard Luke tried to position himself on, what he soon came to realize, was a bed. Some old beaten-up mattress covered in different rags and shredded fabric became the place of his wake-up.
It took a few minutes for the first clear thought to settle in his head, the brain fog clearing away surely but surely. Aches in the body became bearable and the confusion cleared away after the memories of what transpired in the last few days hit him.
He didn’t want to believe it, but even without checking, he could still feel the influences of the powers that took hold of him. His heart, while weakened, still fueled the body with warm power. While the oily sickness still pushed against his mind trying to drown his thoughts.
He resolutely decided not to think about what he saw while unconscious.
*Nope, nope, nope”
He looked at his limbs, legs were still quite fucked. At least the skin seemed mostly healed, even though fresh and pale pinkish. So was his chest though some scars were still visible.
*Oh, nice, the tattoos are still there*
The arms were still visibly Void Tainted, thrumming with silent power. Looking into the emptiness of the Void for too long made the oily feeling crash against his mental walls and threatened to drown him.
He switched his focus to his surroundings. Still in the sewers, that was for sure, no windows, the air was damp and the smell was still there, but much, much weaker thankfully. The stone bricks were still the same but also cleaner and more maintained. Within the room he was in there was only the bed, a table with some water in a cup a plate with a pile of something green and white on it, and a cupboard.
His stomach growled like mad, yearning for the paste-like thing on the plate. He had to yield, plus he survived so much poison already, which was a little bit more.
Greedily drinking the water and mashing the thankfully tasteless paste into his mouth with his bare hands he started thinking about what was next, and what happened to his little friend.
“I see you are finally awake?”
To his surprise Luke jolted, spilling the contents of his cup all over himself. He looked wearily at the source of the low, clicking voice.
*It’s the Crab Man, his name was… Monsoon, yeah, Monsoon.*
“…Good day to you mister Monsoon? Thank you for your hospitality and for not eating me.”
“You are a weird one, aren’t you?” Answered the over 4-meter tall amalgamation of stone crab with an old man. He was standing relaxed, even smiling, Luke didn’t feel nor see any energy focusing around him, yet he could see that just the power resting within the creature would be enough to destroy him easily. Compared to it he was a bug.
“Yeah, I get that a lot. Thank you for taking care of me, and sorry for destroying that dead puppet thing, I get that belongs to you?”
“Indeed it did, but don’t worry about it, rebuilding it will be a hassle but not a problem. Mind answering some questions for me?”
“Sure, not like I have any other choice.”
“Good, good. First of all, what are you doing here? In my part of the sewers. Did you enter here on purpose or is there a breach in the barrier that I have to patch up?”
“I got slammed in here by some fucking Nazi Giant after I punched, spat on and cracked his horn. Besides that I have no idea, a weak ago I was a normal bloke walking around unaware of any of this crazy shit.”
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“Fucking knew it, those damn Atlantians doing what they please with my domain…wait, what did you say, you were Normal? Normal as in non-magical?”
“Yeah, after I broke the fuckers nose in a bar fight he slammed me with magical power, that awakened that whole Void consumption within me, and a week later he came in to finish me off and said that filth like me belongs in a sewage, battered me against the floor and flushed me down a canal, after that I woke up quite messed up, killed some bugger slime with a soccer kick, wrestled with a dog rat, managed to get a basic hold on the powers within, took a deadly amount of drugs to numb the body and mind and then fought against your Puppet. I do remember igniting it from the inside but I don’t remember how I finished it off.”
“…that is really, really curious. And you don’t belong to any of the families or bloodlines? You were never introduced into the real world?”
“No, the blond bastard said something that I am an amalgamation of different diluted bloodlines, carrying the Void predisposition, and by a twist of bad Fate they finalized with me.”
“That is hugely fascinating, just the fact that you survived Crossing the Veil with your mind still functional is uncommon! Children born and raised with the Normals need to be prepared and shielded during their first crossing. You being ripped into the realm of magic must have been torturous.”
“Quite so, the visions, the soul rendering flame and my eye bursting with pain as if ice shard were shredding it is something hard to forget.”
“What about your powers? You must know that your kind is rare even amongst the magical. A sentient that is at its core tainted with Void rarely keeps its mind in a working condition once it connects to the Empty. Even then most were told to quickly slide into madness. The dissonance between the powers of creation, and the entropy constantly consuming the edges of their mind and body were said to drive them into maddened rage and self-destruction.”
“Yeah, I don’t really know what to say to that, this is honestly horrible, my body is screaming at me constantly from where the Void took residence, but it’s possible to shut it out somewhat. I have some experience with that. The pressure on the mind is harder, it’s like a tidal wave pushing against me from every corner mashing and trying to drown me from within. For now, it’s under control at least. That other energy helps to keep the body in control from the Void spreading.”
“That was my other question for you, your kind is known for disruption of the natural and unnatural. The more powerful you are the less reality becomes possible. You hold no previous training and have the Void to disrupt your focus and usage of Mana. How can you even strengthen your body, much less ignite my Puppet?”
“I don’t know, I did notice that disruption part. The glowing globe shattered whenever I tried to influence them with the Void and to manifest anything outside of my body was impossible. I read a lot of books and novels so decided to try something I read in them. I wasn’t going to try any random words or sigils into magical spells, I’m not suicidal. I tried to guide whatever was inside me to control the Void spilling within, after that was taken care of I wanted more light. So I tried a fireball, didn’t work so I tried a spark, it coated my skin burning it a bit but was manageable, I had a lot of time searching for the exit so I tried and tried until I could make a decent Spark Burst and some light. Repetition is the mother of progress I guess.”
“So it was you who shattered my globes…eh, no matter, get up and come with me, we will talk in the hall.”
Spinning around with its limbs clacking on the stone tiles the massive creature exited the room squeezing through the massive door. It was still mind-boggling to Luke how easy all this is right now after all that despair and madness.
*Oh well, don’t question it, go with the flow.*
Getting on his feet he was surprised how much better he already felt. Walking behind the creature he stretched and tightened his muscles. While he still felt weakened, he felt much better than in the sewers before. The fever was gone, and the bones were mending. The toxins must have left his body when Monsoon nommed on him. The body was healing rapidly, a small miracle.
At the end of the hallway, the Crab Man opened huge, metal doors. 4 meters wide and at least 7 meters tall. You could easily drive a truck through here. The door must have weighed tons, being made from thigh thick slab of iron. Luke was really happy with the fact that Monsoon wasn’t his enemy right now. Those granite claws grabbing the metal left visible imprints without any issues.
They entered a huge hall, cluttered with tons of what could only be described as magical trash. Piles upon piles of trinkets filled the floors, cabinets, and tables. The floor itself was so covered that you had to hop to reach any clear footing the crab man's limbs left.
Not even looking behind him the monster said: “Sorry for the mess, I didn’t expect any visitors.”
Continuing on their journey they reached what was probably a workstation for the crustacean. A huge desk by human standards, made from solid stone stood 2.5m tall. Behind it a granite pillar served as a resting place for the crab carapace, the colors of both blending in almost perfectly if not for the shell's metallic glint.
With a plum of dust, the giant plopped its huge behind on the stone chair behind the desk. Resting its human half on the top of the desk and making some ruckus clearing space. Luke coughed in his hand, making it known that he himself was still below the desk.
With a small chuckle from above him, suddenly he felt the earth move under his feet. The floor shifted, and as he fell he snugged into a rock chair that shot out from the tiles under him and lifted him to the eye level of his host.
The desk was full of instruments of unknown purpose, body parts, and mechanical parts cluttered the space. Pushing away a glass magnification instrument on a rusty, metal arm to make himself more visible, Monsoon said:
“I’m sure you have some questions, and I am willing to answer them. After that, we will figure out how you may repay the damage you have done and from that, we will continue further.”