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Chapter 23 - A Taste Test

Eira cocked her head in confusion. "Hold on, I meant, like, are you human or something else? What are you?"

"I'm, uhh, just human?" Kyrios replied hesitantly. He wasn't sure if revealing his species was a good idea.

"Oh, really?" Eira raised an eyebrow. "I somehow doubt that."

"You can't be human," Zeke chimed in. "I can tell mimics apart from their aura alone." He raised his staff, pointing it at the young boy. "Either you reveal your true nature, or we'll kill you. What will it be?"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" Kyrios stressed, lifting both hands up. "I'm not a monster. I'm just... different."

"We can tell," Zeke remarked. "Tell us everything you know. I consider myself skilled at spotting lies."

"Okay, fine. I was just hiding it for my own safety. The system says I'm a Whisperleaf taking a human host, but I'm still the one controlling my body and thoughts. So, maybe I'm still more human," Kyrios replied.

Suspicion crossed Kai's face as his eyebrows furrowed. "Whisperleaf? Never heard of it. Some weird plant?" He was already bracing himself for the inevitable with a firm grip on his claymore.

"I think so. It's most likely a parasitic plant that infects organisms and takes control of their bodies, but in my case, it's a little different," Kyrios explained, scratching his chin. "I haven't seen other cases of Whisperleafs taking a host and have nothing to compare it to, but something definitely happened when it tried to eat me. I think my disease must've somehow left my body and entered the plant. Now, we're a symbiotic relationship. At least, I hope."

Kai nodded, still suspicious. "Let me get this straight. So, you're a plant, but not entirely a plant?"

"As I said, I don't really know either. I was looking for other people to ask, but I guess you guys are as clueless as I am," Kyrios shrugged. "Still, I've got a ton of questions."

"As do we," Zeke interjected. "How did you survive here for so long without proper mana? How did you even get here in the first place? Are you sure you're not some sort of eldritch monster or if you're in control of—"

"Woah, woah, woah, hold on," interrupted Kyrios, laughing slightly. He hopped on his feet again and stretched his back. "Don't overwhelm me with your interrogations. Let's take it slow, okay?"

Zeke sighed in response, shaking his head. "Alright, alright. What are your intentions?"

"My intentions?" He raised a brow. "Finding the way out of here. I don't want to be in this hellhole any longer. Oh, and growing stronger as well. I'd love to join your party to do that. We can work together."

"No!" Kai immediately stepped in, tapping his feet impatient. "We don't need more kids in this group; you'll drag us down. We already have this little princess—"

"Shut—!" Elora huffed, breathing in as she lowered her voice. "The hell up…"

They gave each other a death stare as Zeke overtook the conversation. "We'll have to talk about that," he replied, sighing. "You may be an enemy, so we'll have to be careful. We can't be too careful in this place."

"Hey, who cares? He's a kid. Just let him tag along; it's not like he's going to do anything bad," Eira smiled, folding her arms. "Yo, I'm Eira. Nice to meet you!"

Kai shook his head, blocking their handshake with his weapon. "I think it's a bad idea. He isn't human, either."

"So? Elora isn't human either. You don't see her discriminating against you, do you?" Eira pouted, glancing back at Kyrios. "I mean, it's not like he has a weapon or anything. We can just keep an eye on him."

"That's not the point. The point is that we don't know if he's trustworthy. We can't just take in every stray we find," argued Kai, his frown deepening. "Besides, even if he is trustworthy, we'll die of hunger, especially as you eat every inch of backup food we get our hands on. How are you going to feed him?"

Eira crossed her arms, frowning back. "But he called me pretty!"

"Dumbass, he's a kid! And you're an adult, so stop trying to act all cute with him," Kai shot back, rolling his eyes. "We're not babysitting."

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"Whatever! You're such a party pooper," Eira snapped, sticking her tongue out at him.

Kyrios watched the exchange in amusement, grinning. "Hey, you guys are thirsty, right? Your lips and skin look parched. Let me help you with that," he chirped.

Eira paused. "Huh?"

"Just watch this." He gaped his mouth wide, and two crystal clear fangs emerged from his teeth. "You see these babies?"

"Uh, yeah? What's the point of showing them to us?" Elora asked, a bit puzzled. "An ability of yours?"

Kyrios plucked his fangs off. "It's ice. Eat it, sip it, let it melt, and drink it—anything goes. You'll get the hydration you need," he explained.

Kai slammed his knee and chortled. "Hah?! How can we be sure it's not poison?" he argued. "It could be a trick. If you aren't strong enough to kill us with brute force, you'll use dirty tricks like these. Even my dumbass is sure of that!"

"Hm, you'd rather die of thirst? Go ahead," Kyrios chuckled.

Eira extended her hand with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Don't mind me if I do a little taste test," she volunteered with a cheerful voice.

Kai rolled his eyes dismissively. "Do whatever you want. You're the one devouring all the food anyway—or should I say, the rotting flesh we barely manage to hunt."

Eira scoffed, brushing off his remark. "Fine, fine. Just pass me the ice, uh, Kyrios?"

Eira gingerly took the ice fang from Kyrios, eyeing it curiously. With a playful glint in her eye and a sly grin, she raised it to her lips, puckering her face as she prepared for the taste test. "Well, here goes nothing," she declared. Taking a deep breath, she nipped off the tip, making a face at the initial taste. A comical contort twisted into her expression as she sank the droplet. "Bleh, this stuff tastes like a bitter snow cone left out in the sun for too long!"

"What?" Kai asked, leaning in to see her face.

She took another bite. "Tastes like frozen misery," she quipped before bursting into laughter.

"Then it's not drinkable, is it?"

Eira paused for a moment, savoring the refreshing sensation that followed. "But you know what? It's actually not half bad when you're as thirsty as a desert traveler." With a playful wink, she handed the ice back to Kyrios. "Now, we'll wait to see if there's any poison, folks. But I think it's just weird-tasting, thirst-quenching, magical ice. Who's next in line for a taste of adventure?"

"Not me," Kai griped. “Get Elora or Ashen to taste. I don't want anything to do with his weird ass teeth."

Kyrios glanced at the white-haired elf. "So, how about it? You wanna give it a try?"

Elora took the ice, inspecting it briefly. She didn't look very thrilled about it. "I don't know. This seems too good to be true," she replied, a hint of doubt coating her tone. "I don't feel too comfortable drinking this. Maybe I'll wait a few hours to see if Eira's still fine."

Eira rolled her eyes. "Hey, don't talk as if I'm a guinea pig now. Now I'm getting worried."

"You volunteered yourself," Elora replied. "Don't blame it on me now."

Exhaling a deep breath of frustration, Zeke plopped himself down on the closest boulder he could find. "Sorry to butt in, but what is that ability? I haven't seen any humans that can grow fangs like that. Well, you said not human, so I guess something must've happened. I've seen similar abilities on beastkin, but those are just physical alterations," Zeke mused. "So, what's up with the ice thing?"

"Oh, the ice is just a byproduct of a skill I recently gained. I don't know why it can do that, though," explained Kyrios. "I think whenever I kill something and eat it, I gain its abilities. At least, that's how it's been so far, and I'm not entirely sure myself."

Zeke nodded. "I see. That's interesting. So, you're able to gain abilities from the monsters around here? Like the Riftborn," he commented thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "Do they have any side effects on you? And what abilities have you gained so far?"

Kyrios paused for a second and sat down under his nose. "Whenever I consume something, I feel a pain comparable to an intense burning sensation. It feels as if my guts are eating me inside out to reconstruct my body," he explained, rubbing his stomach. "I don't know how to activate some of my abilities. Other ones are simply incompatible. I don't know what that means, but I definitely can't use them."

"Incompatible? I've never heard of that," Elora chimed in. "Why are they incompatible?"

"It means that the ability isn't meant for his body," Zeke cut in. "They're extremely rare as people won't obtain skills that their bodies are incompatible with. It's the case for certain half-breeds who've had abilities passed down from their parents, but their bodies were physically incapable of utilizing them. For example, if an ability increases the grit of an individual claws, but that individual doesn't have claws in the first place, it'll be considered incompatible. Though for your case, boy, you'll gain the powers of whatever you eat. Naturally, you'll have some incompatible ones."

"Right... Then, those abilities of mine are simply useless? I remember having insect wings as an ability." Kyrios asked.

"Most likely," Zeke answered. "Unless you're able to take the host of an insect. You said you were in a human host, right? You'll only be able to use human abilities then."

Kyrios leaned in, his palms connecting with the ground. "But have a look at this," he mused as he raised his left arm. In a blink, a razor-sharp mantis claw extended from his limb. "Humans don't have these either, so how does that work? Why would wings be incompatible?"

"Good question." Zeke paused to gather his thoughts. "The explanation is simple. It's likely because the human body is more compatible with those claws than insect wings. I assume they would be much easier to control as well. Perhaps your ability is lending a part of the bones in your forearm. As I said earlier, it's only in sporadic cases, so unless an ability is out of the world, it won't be incompatible. Other times, it comes down to luck. Maybe we could use a system caller on you?"

"System caller?" Kyrios inquired. "What's that? Does it help in knowing my status and such? I've never heard of them before?"

"Yes. They allow you to read your own status and others around you," Elora chimed in. "They're quite uncommon since they're only found naturally around the Great Chasm. Most guilds have one for everyone to use. Others charge you for it. Either way, if you've lived far from the major cities, you've probably never seen one. We didn't have one at my tribe, either," she explained, pausing midway as she joined their little circle. "Wanna try?"