CHAPTER 3:
----------------------------------------
“The wise seek not just information,
but understanding.
For it is not in the having of knowledge,
But in the application of wisdom,
that the true value of learning is revealed.”
-Excerpt from The book of the Phoenix-
----------------------------------------
Malakai woke up, blinking, his senses struggling to comprehend his surroundings. Though he remained in the sewers, an inexplicable change had occurred. The darkness that once engulfed him had dissipated, replaced by a gentle, pulsating glow from his palm. The light seemed to penetrate deeper into the shadows than it should have.
As he raised his hand, Malakai gazed in astonishment at the shimmering image of a fiery sun etched upon his skin. Memories of his encounter with the phoenix flashed through his mind—the blinding radiance, the overwhelming surge of power, and the sensation of something merging with the very essence of his being.
As if summoned by his thoughts, a deluge of notifications materialized before him, more organized and clear this time, hovering in the air like ethereal text.
[Fallen Star absorbed. You've gained 3 levels. 2000/2059 EXP. 4000 EXP granted, 50% diverted to nascent soul.]
[Abilities awakened: Flame Fission, Phoenix Pact, Herald of Ash, Ashbringer, Rat Vision, Rat Pact, Shadow Rats, Ratlock Tail.]
[Abilities upgraded: Phoenix Pact, Ashbringer, Shadow Rats, Ratlock Tail.]
Malakai's mind reeled as he attempted to comprehend them. The sudden rush of notifications was almost too much to process. One line in particular drew his attention, however.
[4000 EXP granted, 50% diverted to nascent soul.]
"The phoenix and I, are we somehow connected now?" Malakai wondered. Judging by the message that flashed before his eyes, it seemed the phoenix was siphoning power away from him. But then again, it was never truly his power to begin with. In a way, Malakai supposed it was actually the other way around - he was the one who had been granted a portion of the phoenix's strength.
A sudden movement caught Malakai's eye, and he spotted a group of rats staring at him from one of the corners of the room. Their beady eyes glinted in the dim light, and he could almost sense their unease at his presence. The sight of them triggered a memory, a fleeting image from the barrage of notifications that had assaulted him earlier. Something about an ability to pick a single lock.
Curiosity got the better of Malakai, and he decided to put this new ability to the test. He walked over to the door, the one he had bolted shut earlier for his own safety, and focused his thoughts on the lock. Almost immediately, he felt a strange sensation at the base of his spine, a tingling that quickly spread downward. Before he could even fully process what was happening, a rat tail extended from his lower back, snaking its way towards the bolt.
Malakai watched in amazement as the tail deftly manipulated the mechanism, the metal bolt sliding open with ease. In a matter of seconds, the door was unlocked, ready to be opened at his will.
The rats in the corner let out a chorus of terrified squeaks, cowering deeper into the holes in the wall. Malakai couldn't help but chuckle at their reaction. "Guess you guys aren't fans of your own kind, huh?" he muttered, shaking his head.
As he stepped back from the door, Malakai took a moment to assess his new appendage. The tail was long and thin, covered in coarse, dark fur. It twitched and writhed with a life of its own, while it had been easy to wrap it around the bolt, it was difficult to move with any amount of skill. He could feel that he had the ability to use it again, to pick another lock, but something told him it would be a while before it was back to full strength. A day, give or take.
After a few minutes, the tail retracted.
Malakai took a deep breath, trying to come to terms with his new reality. As much as he might want to deny it, to write it off as some sort of fever dream, he knew deep down that this was his life now. But what exactly that something was, he wasn't entirely sure.
Malakai glanced back at the door, now unlocked and ready to be opened. The temptation to explore further, to see what else was around, was almost overwhelming. But he forced himself to resist. Wandering around like an idiot with a loaded handcannon and no idea how it worked was a surefire way to get himself killed. He needed to be smart about this, to take things one step at a time.
So instead of venturing out into the unknown, Malakai settled back down on the cold stone floor and closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts inward. He visualized the notifications, the lists of abilities and their descriptions, and slowly, painstakingly, he began to sort through them.
----------------------------------------
Malakai set down the pile of wood he'd gathered from a boarded-up hole in the wall, the boards now splintered and broken from where he'd torn them free. Reaching into the shadows at his feet, he produced a small vial of viscous liquid, the consistency of honey but with a sharp, acrid smell. He poured a small amount over the wood, watching as it seeped into the cracks and crevices.
He was about to reach for the scrap of metal he'd been using as a makeshift flint when he remembered one of his new abilities. The power to set himself on fire. Malakai focused his thoughts, picturing the flames erupting from his skin, and in an instant, he felt the heat wash over him. It wasn't painful, but it was intense, a sensation like standing too close to a raging bonfire.
Malakai let the flames flare for just a moment, long enough for the oil-soaked wood to catch. Then, with a thought, he extinguished the fire on his body, feeling its heat dissipate as quickly as it had come. He was grateful that the ability didn’t seem to burn the rough clothes he had woken up in.
He placed a small pan over the burning stacks of wood, watching as it began to heat up. As he waited, Malakai turned his attention to the chunk of wood he'd charred earlier, using the heat to sanitize it. He scraped off small chunks of fat from the surface, letting them fall into the pan where they began to sizzle and pop.
Next, Malakai took the roughly cut slices of rat meat he'd prepared earlier and added them to the pan, the fat rendering out and coating the meat in a glistening sheen. The smell of cooking meat filled the air, and he couldn't help but salivate at the prospect of a hot meal.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Malakai added a pinch of the dried spices and nuts he'd scavenged from his rations, watching as they toasted and browned in the heat. Just before the meat was fully cooked, he used his ability to absorb the flames, pulling the heat into himself through his eye and leaving the pan to finish cooking as it cooled.
He was glad that the flames didn’t disrupt his vision.
As Malakai finished preparing his meal, he noticed a swarm of rats had gathered around him. Keeping their distance, watching him with wary eyes, but he could sense their hunger, their desperation.
Malakai decided to be generous, to share some of his bounty with these creatures that had become his unlikely companions. He took the scraps of meat and fat that he'd trimmed away and flash fired them with his abilities.
Then, with a flick of his wrist, Malakai tossed the scraps into the far corner of the room, watching as the rats descended upon them in a frenzy of squeaks and scrabbling claws. They fought over the morsels, biting and clawing at each other in their desperation to get a share.
Malakai watched, slightly disgusted but also fascinated by their savagery. These creatures, so small and seemingly insignificant, were willing to turn on each other at a moment's notice, to cannibalize their own kind for the sake of a meal.
As the frenzy died down and Malakai finished his own meal, he noticed a few rats lying motionless on the ground, casualties of the battle for scraps. He hadn't expected the violence to escalate so quickly, and a twinge of guilt tugged at his conscience.
Approaching the bodies, Malakai scooped a couple of them up and dropped them into the shadows at his feet, just in case he needed to cook more later. They vanished instantly, absorbed into whatever dimensional space his Shadow Rats ability granted him access to. It seemed to preserve everything that was placed inside of it, he had noticed.
The remaining body, Malakai decided to use as a test subject for his Ashbringer ability. He focused his thoughts on the corpse, picturing it burning to ash in his mind's eye. In an instant, the body crumbled, leaving behind a small pile of fine, gray powder.
Malakai scooped up the ash, examining it closely. As he did, he received a notification, a message that told him he could add this ash to his fire to increase its potency. Intrigued, he set the ashes in his palm on fire, watching as it flared up briefly before settling back down.
The effect was marginal, a small improvement in the fire's heat and intensity. But Malakai knew from experience that battles were won or lost on those small margins.
----------------------------------------
Malakai sprinted through the damp, dimly lit tunnels of the sewer, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to catch his breath. He heard the eerie, otherworldly screech of the methane wraith behind him. The creature was fast, its translucent form gliding through the air with a speed that defied belief. Malakai could feel its presence, a cold, malevolent energy that seemed to suck the warmth from the very air around him.
Rounding a corner, his feet slipping on the slick stone, Malakai heard the telltale hiss of the wraith preparing to unleash another explosion. He braced himself, ready to absorb the fire, but the concussive force of the blast still sent him stumbling, his ears ringing from the deafening boom.
Malakai had learned the hard way that while he could absorb the fire from the wraith's explosions, he couldn't do anything about the shockwave that followed. It was a dangerous game, trying to time his ability just right, to steal the flames before they could do any real damage.
But he was running out of options. The wraith was relentless, its single-minded pursuit driven by a hunger that knew no bounds. Malakai couldn't fight it head-on, couldn't risk using his own fire against it for fear of triggering an even bigger explosion.
So he ran, his lungs burning and his legs aching with every step. Malakai sent waves of rats ahead of him, using them as a distraction, a way to buy himself precious seconds of time. He kept one of them always in his shadow, a lifeline to his inventory, but the rest he sent scurrying into the darkness, their tiny claws scrabbling against the stone.
Twenty of the rats Malakai sent ahead to a spot he remembered from his earlier explorations, a narrow choke point where the tunnels converged. The other seven he kept with him, using them to draw the wraith's attention, to keep it focused on something other than him.
The creature wasn't far behind him, its screeches echoing off the walls, but Malakai didn't dare look back. He just kept running, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a plan.
And then, in a moment of desperation, Malakai had an idea. He focused his thoughts on one of the rats, picturing it bursting into flames, and then triggered his self-immolation ability. The rat exploded in a ball of fire, the sudden flare of light and heat causing the wraith to recoil in surprise.
It wasn't much, but it was enough. Malakai used those precious seconds to put more distance between himself and the creature, to give himself some breathing room.
He could feel his mana depleting with every use of his abilities, a dull ache beginning to throb behind his eyes. But Malakai pushed through it, knowing that he couldn't afford to falter now.
Malakai ran past the spot where he left the twenty rats, their tiny forms huddled together in the darkness. He kept going, putting as much distance between himself and them as he could.
And then, when Malakai judged the wraith to be close enough, he triggered the fire ability on all of the rats at once.
The explosion was massive, a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the sewer. Malakai felt the shockwave wash over him, a brief moment of pressure that left him gasping for breath.
But he was otherwise unharmed, protected by the distance he put between himself and the blast. Malakai skidded to a stop, his chest heaving as he turned to look back the way he came.
Where the wraith had been, there was now only a pile of goo, a viscous, bubbling mass that slowly oozed across the floor. The creature was dead, destroyed by the overwhelming force of the explosion.
Malakai leaned against the wall, his legs suddenly weak as the adrenaline began to fade. His head was pounding, his muscles aching from the effort. He knew he couldn't afford to linger here, not with the noise of the explosion sure to draw attention. But there was something he needed to do first.
The goo ignited as Malakai activated his ability. It was a pale, ghostly flame that danced across its surface. In a matter of moments, the entire pile was reduced to a fine, powdery ash, but this time an unmarred pouch full of ash had appeared as well.
Malakai dumped some of the ash out, letting it run through his fingers. It was different from the ash he had created before, lighter and more ethereal. He received a notification, a message that identified it as "ghost ash", a substance that was particularly effective against non-corporeal forms.
His mind immediately went to his rats, the shadowy constructs that he conjured with his abilities. Malakai knew that they, too, were non-corporeal, held together by his will and his mana. He wondered if the ghost ash would have any effect on them.
Focusing his thoughts, Malakai willed a single rat into existence. It appeared at his feet, a twitching, writhing and burning mass of shadow. He sprinkled a small amount of the ghost ash over it, watching closely to see what happened. The fire instantly turned a brilliant silver.
At first, nothing else seemed to change. But then, slowly, Malakai noticed the rat's form beginning to break down, its edges fraying and dissolving into wisps of shadow. The ash was disrupting the magic that held it together, causing it to fall apart.
Malakai quickly absorbed the fire that still lingered on the rat's body, feeling the rush of mana flowing back into him. It was a small amount, but every little bit helped.
The explosion was sure to draw attention, and Malakai didn't want to be here when whatever passed for authorities in this place came to investigate. He needed to keep moving, to put as much distance between himself and this place as possible.
It was clear Malakai would be facing danger no matter where he was. He gathered his belongings, making sure everything was secure in his inventory, and started making his way back to the old apothecary shop, the only place with an exit that he had yet seen.