Charlies mouth was filled with many new bony protrusions. Though smaller, they were sharp and pointed just like his fangs. The new teeth bent inwards rather than straight up, feeling closer to hooks than anything else.
What just happened?
Uncoiling himself, Charlie shot forward back to his cove and bade all caution to the wind. Charlie was lost for words, but remembered he was not safe and needed to seek shelter immediately before he could even attempt to process what had occurred. Once he was back and safe, he could then explore further.
Though Charlie may have been reckless, he was no fool. Instead of spending time ascending the steep walls of the coves, Charlie chose the ground floor and would deal with whatever would come his way. The shadows provided minimal cover at his speed, and though Charlie had evaded all of the creatures successfully, he had still attracted a lot of attention.
Charlie could have retaliated, and some part of him begged him to, but he decided against it, the new discovery about [Devour] had consumed his mind. His serpentine form allowed him to coil his body in ways that could dodge an incoming attack and have minimal impact on his overall speed, but that didn't always deter the hungry creatures.
A large and hideous beast, with a litter of Sklite close behind, was hot on Charlies stub. They snarled, and screeched angrily when Charlie would dodge an attack, but the second they got a whiff of the mushroom, everything turned silent. Charlie spared a second to look behind and found that the small cavalry had already dispersed, the scent of decay had scared them off.
Inside the mushroom cove, Charlie caught his breath and attempted to calm his heart, maintaining his top speed for such a distance was still too much for him. What he had just done was not only downright stupid, but it also betrayed everything he had done up until this point, yet Charlie couldn't find it in himself to care.
What did you do?
Charlie couldn't help but direct his question to either [Devour] or the System, hoping for some sort of answer to manifest itself. Yet none came, no sudden whisper of understanding from the System nor any reply from [Devour]. Of course Charlie knew they wouldn't reply, but... stranger things have happened.
Think think think... What was the description again?
Charlie, having finally caught his breath, thought back to the Dream Realm and tried to remember what [Devour]'s description entailed.
[A wretched power, manifested from bottomless hunger.]
No... No it wasn't there... What if.
{The Challenge}
[Cursed and blessed at the same time, your journey is one of Hunger. Your power is to Devour that which is precious, steal the sacred and become more than your Creator.]
Steal the sacred?
Charlie flicked his tongue over the pointed teeth that lined his jaws and could feel their serrated edges. They felt cruel and menacing. Charlie imagined them tearing into the skin of his target—refusing to let go, greedily bringing the flesh deeper into his jaws as he bit down.
Charlie counted a total of ten new fang-like teeth, with two real fangs at the front that he had since the start. There were sizeable gaps between them, unlike what he had as a human, but they were real. He had teeth again.
But how?
If Charlies reasoning was correct, what {The Challenge} spoke about was using [Devour] to consume the precious, and in his experimentation, Charlie found out it referred to the translucent gems. When he Devoured the gems, Charlie was granted experience towards his total level.
But what did sacred refer to? The teeth? No, that didn't make any sense, why would teeth be sacred? Is it something else?
Even if the teeth were sacred, Charlies new fangs looked nothing like the teeth of the Sklite he had consumed.
His mind spun out of control trying to come up with some sort of connection to the insanity that just transpired. Every new hypothesis Charlie had come up with felt just as likely as the last, which was getting him nowhere and quickly.
Charlie couldn't help but feel frustrated when there was no answer to explain the new additions to his mouth. They were of course an incredibly welcome change, any addition to his limited pool of weapons and tools was bound to be a boon.
Without any other leads, Charlie decided to visit the Dream Realm and see if there were any changes that might shed some light on the situation. Even if he wanted to go right now, Charlie hadn't been awake for too long and had yet to feel even remotely tired.
Charlies tongue flicked over his new fang-like teeth as he focused on what he had learned so far and re-adjusted his plans for the rest of the day. There had been a lot of progress on the Sklite end of things, Charlie now had an easier time controlling how they moved about. If he spent time on learning even more about their patterns and opportune locations to dump the slime, Charlie might be able to effectively avoid the ire of the swarm.
There was another matter that needed to be addressed and planned around—his stomach. Since the latest level up, Charlie had progressed through the digestion of the corpses at an unprecedented speed. If he were to continue like this, then [Devour] would become a liability. Charlie realised he'd need to find even more locations to seek shelter in, while [Devour] did it's work. Which meant he'd have to spend even more time searching every nook and cranny for a suitable safezone.
Tiresome, but necessary. There would be no do-overs if Charlie would have to go through [Devour]'s strange change in the middle of enemy territory. He was certain the creatures wouldn't give him the time of day, allowing him to finish... whatever [Devour] had done.
With little left to do in the mushroom cove, Charlie set out in search of safezones to retreat to. The day had already proved to be interesting, and another mystery was added to the quickly growing pile.
Charlie ventured out and explored a great deal of the cave for the remainder of the day, and empowered by his thirst for knowledge, Charlie had few issues coming across a couple of possible spots that he had missed before. Using the elevation that climbing atop the coves provided, Charlie was able to easily avoid traversing the long and winding paths of the caves floor.
On his way there were some peculiarities that Charlie noticed. Primarily in the Sklites, and in extension, every creature that lived this high up in the cave. There was a frenzy to their already chaotic movements, somehow even more pronounced than before. Massive herds of creatures were moving from place to place and causing terrible carnage on their way, throwing the already furious ecosystem into further disarray.
Yet it was not the herds of maddened creatures that worried Charlie, it was the ferocity in the Sklites that felt unnerving. In the mere few hours since Charlie had last seen them, they had undergone a terrifying change. The once fearful and skittish lone Sklites now roamed in packs, charging large prey with murderous and suicidal intent.
Whatever had worked them up must have done a real number on them, the swarm was likely to show soon if this continued on for much longer. Charlie decided that staying out of their way would be the safest option right now, and allow them to vent their anger on the unfortunate might save him from their wrath.
The journey extending outside his cove had taken a few hours and exhaustion had yet to set in, but Charlie could feel himself slowing down. The maze-like path atop the coves felt increasingly more difficult to traverse, and Charlies movements started to feel sluggish.
Unwilling to prowl for much longer, Charlie safely returned to the cave to rest. The frenzied Sklite were still rampaging somewhere off in the distance, but here, in the strange zone of decay, Charlie was safe. Few dared to approach, even fewer could handle the putrid scent.
Charlie wasn't entirely immune either, but, as long as he kept his tongue inside his mouth, the stench was bearable. It dulled his senses, true, but in the heart of the mushroom cove, that was a fair tradeoff in Charlies eyes.
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The mushroom that hugged Charlie from all directions felt pleasant on his scales, moist and soft, almost feeling comfortable. Every time that Charlie entered the cove, he made sure to avoid the mushroom from ever touching his eyes, but now, he found himself mentally preparing for the worst.
Procrastinating a touch, Charlie decided to take a closer look at the mushroom, steeling his will against the drippy and viscous slime. He couldn't see any holes, or identifying markers to give away the source of the slime, until Charlie used a dry part of his stub to wipe some of the slime away.
Only then did he notice the mushroom almost sweat out the slime. Murky precipitation collected on the skin of the mushroom, which then quickly pooled together and formed a slow, but steady, stream of slime. It poured off of the tips of the mushroom and collected somewhere below the gravel.
On closer inspection, there was something strange with the floor as well. When Charlie first invaded this cove and made it his home, the only notice he had taken of the floor was its sharp gravel that dug into his scales. Now that he had a chance to really take in the surroundings, Charlie noticed that the gravel had long been smoothed out. It had turned round and felt pleasant when Charlie slithered over it, no longer irritating his scales.
In between the round and grey gravel, Charlie could see long, thin and fleshy strings spread in all directions. Using his stub, Charlie dug a small hole in the gravel and exposed the mushrooms white flesh.
These are... roots?
The slime would drip through the rounded gravel and back onto the roots, which then was quickly absorbed. Charlie had become fascinated by the process and concluded that it likely re-entered the mushroom, eventually returning to the cycle and pouring back out from the top. But the question still remained... why?
Charlies curiosity had only grown the more he observed the changes in the mushroom cove, so much so that he had almost forgotten how exhausted he had become.
What reason would the mushroom have to do this?
Charlie couldn't help but think the worst in these situations. He had a poor track record when it came to this human-controlled cave, everything inside here had turned out to be either deadly or straight up lethal.
The walls and floor that surrounded Charlie all let off a dim light, yet the gravel did not. Now that it was smooth, Charlie could feel a difference in the texture from the stone outside; it was softer and almost... alluring. After taking another look at the stone, Charlie had come to realise that, maybe, it wasn't stone after all.
Maybe they're... bones?
If that were true, then hundreds of bones were being digested by the slime right beneath Charlies scaly underside. Charlie remembered the Sklite he had brought back to the cove, and the jelly-like consistency it had turned into overnight. The bone had taken the longest in turning into jelly, sticking out long after everything else melted away. Yet, after taking another look around, Charlie failed to find even a scrap of evidence of it ever being here. This entire time, Charlie had been on a mountain of bone without ever realising it.
Charlie had taken refuge in the mouth of one of the most dangerous beings this high up in the cave, and somehow survived through his ignorance. Charlie originally thought he knew why the rest of the creatures avoided this place, but it seemed he had drawn a poor conclusion.
Reality was far more terrifying.
Even after coming to understand the true nature of his slimy hovel, there wasn't much Charlie would do different. He was still immune to the digestive slime and it still provided the most defense against the dangers that lurked outside his doorstep.
If this cove truly did digest all these creatures, it was probably nearly time to feed again. Judging by the difference in the state of the bone beneath him from the days prior, Charlie at most had another two, maybe three days. It would be up to him to be ready for when that happened, and to get as far away as possible until it was over. Whatever that would happen, was bound to be insane, just like everything else Charlie had experienced so far.
Having procrastinated long enough, Charlie finally shut his mind up and simply shoved his head into the mushroom.
It was soft, if not a little gross.
Delighted that the slime didn't hurt his eyes, Charlie made himself comfortable and allowed his mind drift away into the slumbering darkness. The added luxury of the soft mushroom lulled Charlie deeper and deeper into the sweet embrace of sleep. The powerful image of the Lightless Door gave Charlie enough focus and clarity to fight back, and keep hold of his dwindling mind.
Soon, Charlie found himself returned to the dark world, guided there by the memories of the Lightless Door. It almost felt like an anchor, no matter how hard the sleep threatened to take his mind away, the Lightless Door would always keep him within its reach. Charlie still wondered what this place was, the strange limbo between sleep and the Dream Realm, but didn't allow his mind to wander for long. As always, he was here on business.
Summoning the Lightless Door and feeling the, now lessened, drain on his being, Charlie crossed through and into the blackest void. An infinite field of smoke expanded in all directions, before violently crashing into the boiling sky that made up the distant horizon. Among the turbulent clouds, the shadow Serpent sat upon its mystical throne atop the Systems text.
Charlie was about to rush to get closer to the text in the sky but something strange had happened. Instead of his being moving closer, the entire landscape shifted and closed the gap, bringing Charlie exactly where he wanted to be. Perplexed by this sudden change, Charlie couldn't help but look around and confirm that, yes, he had in fact moved the world around him.
Happy with this little discovery, Charlie turned his attention to the Systems sacred text - and that's when he saw it.
[Desecrated Thief]
[An Unknown power manifested in secrecy, hidden away from the eyes of envy and jealousy.]
[The Sklite were the first to know of such a loss, forever marking the Thief as their mortal enemy.]
Under {Epithaph}, Charlie found a new entry named [Desecrated Thief] and it held many answers—and created even more questions.
The whispers of the System were greedily absorbed, not even an ounce of their meaning would escape Charlie.
A part of {The Challenge} had become clearer with the guidance of the System and the appearance of [Desecrated Thief]. It referred to stealing the sacred and [Desecrated Thief] solidified Charlies opinion that he had finally succeeded in that task. Even though Charlie didn't know what desecration was, the System brought him enough understanding to know that he had done something... unsavoury.
The System might have granted him such knowledge, but there were still too many gaps in Charlies understanding of the world to bridge the gap and form concrete connections. In Charlies original world, there were no such concepts as holy, sacred or even their unwelcome counterparts: unholy and cursed.
His previous world had no concept of creatures that broke all reason and understanding, nothing to hold sacred or to condemn and curse with such intensity, or with such religious zeal. Life was fickle, short, and everything was shit. There was no room in their life for a God that refused to help.
Charlie hoped that one day he would be able to bridge the gaps between the two worlds, and eventually come to understand the many mysteries that plagued the land.
The "Unknown power" must have been referring to whatever [Devour] had done after it consumed the two translucent gems in the Sklite. But, what did it mean that it was manifested in secrecy, away from envious and jealous eyes?
Sure, Charlie tried to hide himself when [Devour] had begun its strange work, but he doubted that the System would refer to that as secrecy. Nothing to do with the System was simple or straightforward, and as mundane as this.
What, or who, were the jealous and envious eyes? Was something watching him? Even now? Whatever it was, it had missed Charlie stealing something from the Sklites, hopefully that would be to Charlies benefit.
What worried Charlie more than what was watching him unseen, was the second description of [Desecrated Thief].
[The Sklite were the first to know of such a loss, forever marking the Thief as their mortal enemy.]
If Charlie understood it correctly, then that would mean that he was almost certainly dead and his body had yet to catch up. Whatever Charlie had stolen from the Sklite had marked him as their mortal enemy, which probably meant that they would attack him on-sight.
Charlie followed that train of thought, reluctantly, and concluded that the reason the creatures were in such a frenzy, was because they were searching for him. In fact, alongside the large creature, some had found him before he went to sleep in the mushroom cove and had retreated when the scent of decay became too strong. They might return to the swarm and convey his location to the masses, which would prove... deadly.
If the Sklite were to simply send the entirety of the swarm and drown the cove in a mass of bodies, Charlie would perish without having a single chance of retaliating.
It should have been terrifying to realise that a wall of frenzied teeth and roiling flesh could collapse on him at any moment and snuff out his life with less effort than a candles flame. Charlie simply couldn't bring himself to feel any fear, not anymore.
Charlies mind, instead, had turned cold at the idea of a mortal enemy, and it felt almost offensive to be pit against a mere Sklite. Charlie only felt contempt for the pitiful creatures.
They can rage to their hearts desire, and die in unbridled fury when Charlies venom would sink its fangs into the depths of every serpent-fearing Sklite.
Charlie knew that the feelings were not truly his own, but he no longer felt the need to suppress them. The challenge of not only surviving, but slaughtering the Sklites swarm brought... satisfaction. It started to feel exciting, to feel revitalising and Charlie could feel it bubbling away deep inside of his being. It felt good to allow himself to feel something, but Charlie needed to put them away from now and focus.
Charlie temporarily unlatched himself from the murderous thoughts and continued reading through the Systems changes, of which there were many. Charlie had somehow nearly reached level four already, only being twenty percent away. His [Devour] had also mysteriously gained another twelve percent and sat at a strong twenty eight percent, which was beyond anything Charlie could have hoped to achieve. [Devour] was going to take forever to level up, but now... there might be hope in greatly speeding up the process.
The only {Epitaph} that had remained within expectation was [Hollow Fang], progressing to thirty percent. After comparing the changes, Charlie had come to think that there must have been some multiplying interaction that boosted the experience gained from [Devour] after meeting another part of {The Challenge}. The idea was still in its infancy, but right now there wasn't enough information for any other theory.
These were all welcome discoveries, but as always, there was more research and time required to completely grasp the changes.
He had come to wrong conclusions before—the mushroom cove actively trying to digest him came to mind—so Charlie would keep his thoughts under control for the time being. It was good to be prepared for any circumstance, but unnecessarily filling his mind with useless conjecture would do nothing but harm in the long run.
There was plenty for Charlie to do before the cove finished digesting the bone, so he left the Dream Realm and returned back to the waking world without wasting any more time. Charlie had already brewed an insidious idea for how he would deal with the cove, but it would have to wait. There were still a few days before of preparation left, so he had time to experiment.
Charlies new fangs itched in anticipation.