The first time I feasted, it felt normal. The second time, my body was craving more. The third time, I couldn’t live without it; the fourth time, I had already become dependent on it. Such is my curse.
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Kai knelt down, his pupils dilating as he felt the creature’s razor-sharp teeth dig into his stomach. Blood and adrenaline rushed through his veins, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. He grits his teeth in anger and raises an intertwined fist as a primal howl escapes his lips. Onyx sped forward, baring his fangs at the purple creature. However, before he could return the favor, Kai’s fists glowed with a soft light and then shot toward the monster’s skull. The sickening cacophony of snapping bones and agonized hisses echoed through the air, sending shivers down the spine of any who dared to listen.
The thing fell, grabbing a piece of bloodied armor and flesh along with it, and it stood there dazed, the ebony scales still stuffed in its mouth. It twitched, daring to get up, however, Kai would not give it a chance. He screamed once again and lowered his fists upon the creature again, and again, and again. Letting out anguished grunts each time, his hands became a bloody mess, and pieces of bone and brain remained stuck between his fingers.
The creature stopped moving, and Kai took a step back, leaning above it. He blinked rapidly, his pupils constricting as his vision switched between his hand and the humanoid corpse lying before him. His breathing hastened, and he smudged the blood and parts on his clothes as he tried wiping himself.
Onyx watched from a distance, taking half a step forward before stopping, his pupils widening. The purple creature’s skin turned a bright red, and before either of them had time to think, its body exploded into a million pieces, littering the ground with mangled flesh and dirty blood. Some of it landed on the moon petals, bloodying their beautiful flowers. Most of it, however, landed on Kai, whose horrified expression amplified tenfold as blood painted his face red.
His entire body shook, and he remained unmoving, the shock driving his mouth to stay agape. He gulped, swallowing some of the creature’s blood. Kai’s heart instantly raced as a half-euphoric, half-disgusted feeling rushed through his body, and he had to stop himself from licking his lips clean.
Minutes passed, and he stood unmoving before the bloodied patch of flowers, grass, and himself. He didn’t care about the sharp pain coursing through his body, how could he? His perforated clothes meant nothing to him, and neither did the blood littering his body, both his own and the creature’s. All he could think about was the drops he swallowed, the euphoria that rushed through his veins and into his brain. The sweet taste of the red liquid lingered still on his lips. A smile broke out on his lips, laughter escaped his body, and he brought his hands to his face. Pressing his fingers against his cheeks, he scraped at his flesh and finally brought his palms down, taking away most of the blood with them.
What… have I done?
He yelled inwardly, however, he already had the answer. I killed it… I tasted it… it was- However, before he finished that thought, a burning liquid climbed up his stomach, into his esophagus and finally, he bent down and threw up, right where the creature once stood, now nothing more than a bloody hole.
Kai threw up everything he ate and drank, and kept going for several more minutes until he only had stomach acid left.
Taking off the tattered, bloody clothes, he threw them to the side and took off his scaled armor, now with a brand new hole in its midsection. He barely managed to flick his wrist and pulled out a clean cloth, wiping away the blood on his hands and what remained on his face, then threw it on top of the clothes. Now, almost naked, Kai’s shocked mind began returning to some sense of normalcy and began inspecting his body with the little sanity he had at that moment.
The skin on his belly had been scratched and torn apart, bits of flesh hanging in the air, ready to fall apart at the gentlest breeze. Blood covered his lower upper body, the shape of a mouth engraving itself onto his flesh. Besides that, a few dozen miniature holes littered his legs, arms, and chest. A piece of bone stuck out from one of these wounds, and Kai reached for it with a trembling hand. He whimpered while taking it out, despite its size being no larger than a large pea.
Its. it's bone… Kai thought, horrified as he looked at every wound. They’re everywhere…! Pieces of bone stuck out from almost every hole, be it shallow or deep, and those deeper ones… Kai feared the worst. Damn it! He didn’t panic, his heart still raced after all, and the only thing keeping him from collapsing was the adrenaline and cortisol keeping his body alert. He pulled out two red pills and instantly swallowed them, prompting his body to begin healing the wounds, however, the bone shrapnel stuck inside would have to be pulled out manually, and the wound on his stomach would need a few days to fully heal.
Onyx approached, smelling his companion’s body, and trying to give him a gentle, consoling lick. However, Kai dodged, prompting Onyx to lower his head and yelp.
…
A small fire crackled behind him, in the bloodied hole where he burned his clothes and armor, unable to keep them or to keep looking at them anymore. He changed into a pair of loosely fitting clothes, still as black as before, and donned a new coat to cover his head with.
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Onyx stood behind him with a lowered snout, trying not to bother the solemn atmosphere he suddenly found himself in.
Kai brought a finger to his mouth, wiping his lips before licking them, a pit forming in his stomach as images of what just happened flashed within his mind. He did it, he drank blood after so many years. The excited, childish disposition he had when he was a kid had disappeared, replaced by horror and terror, and a morbid euphoric feeling he started longing for.
…
“Let’s keep going, boy,” Kai said in a soft voice after stashing away a few silverish-green strands he picked out from within a tree’s bark. Onyx followed silently, feeling that his companion’s heart was still in turmoil after what happened.
Spirit vine grows inside old trees, Kai told himself, trying to flood his mind with anything he could. It’s mostly used for mid-tier mana potions as it absorbs the life force of trees, which it then converts into mana it uses to grow, like photosynthesis. He picked up another strand, forcefully pulling and ripping it in half. And now it’s dead…
Placing it within his ring, he stopped before the tree, and dug his hand into the bark, then pulled and stripped the rotting log. He winced in pain, the bone shrapnel stuck into his body sending sharp waves of pain all over. About a dozen strands of spiritvine lay underneath, which began squirming like worms upon being discovered. Kai’s hand shot toward them and grabbed as many as he could before snapping them free of their roots.
“Still need more,” He mumbled, glancing inside the ring where about four hundred strands stood motionless. “After that, we need to look for Emberhorns. It should be shedding season so with enough luck we’ll find them lying around.”
Onyx tilted his head and walked in front of Kai, his tail lowered, however, he sniffed the air. Trying to detect some in advance, just like with the Horned Pig, heh, he’s smart for sure.
Normally, Kai would be amazed, however he barely had any energy to bend down and look through the grass. As Onyx looked, he’d sometimes shove his hand into another bark, pulling another dozen spirit vines and storing them into his ring. “Just a few more and we’re done.”
Onyx barked, his tail wagging slightly as he shot toward a small patch in the forest. He reached down and brought something between his teeth. A scarlet stick-like object, which Kai immediately identified as an Emberhorn’s antler. He smiled, albeit reluctantly, and pat Onyx’s fur. “Good job boy, we only need nine more and a dozen spirit vine strands and then we can go back… and the sooner we do so the better.” He whispered the latter part of his sentence, reminding himself of the wounds he sustained.
“Woarf!”
Onyx dashed forward, bringing another two antlers with him before sprinting elsewhere. Kai, on the other hand, punched another tree and gathered a few spirit vines which then disappeared into the ring. Well, that’s done… He thought, his spirits unable to be lifted even with the prospect of about a thousand merit points in total.
His hand shook as he wiped it clean of bark and rot, however, the only thing he was reminded of was the blood he wiped and burnt. He staggered, leaning against a tree for support, his legs weakening as his stomach growled. Falling, he supported himself against a tree pulled out a piece of dried meat, and began chewing on it. Its former acceptable taste turned into a disgusting, vomit-worthy object Kai could barely bring himself to swallow. It threatened to climb back his throat, however he punched his chest, and pushed it down, making sure it stayed there.
It’s fine, it will fade away… He thought to himself, sure that the rejection he faced from his body would soon disappear. It has to.
Meanwhile, Onyx returned with another three antlers, and a wagging tail, as he smelled the curated meat. “Woof!” He barked demanding for his fair share after placing the final task items on the ground. A soft smile creased Kai’s lips, accompanied by a genuine chuckle. He waved his hand and a few dozen pieces of meat appeared before him, which Onyx instantly gulped down and swallowed in one go.
“Good boy.” Kai disheveled his fur and picked up the antlers as he stood up. “Let’s go, we have enough.”
Onyx licked his lips and placed his snout under Kai, gently bringing him to sit on his neck as he walked back toward the city. “Thank you,” Kai said with genuine gratitude and focused on healing himself and preventing any infection from spreading from the bone shrapnel stuck in his body.
The way back to the city was uneventful, they didn’t meet anyone or anything, or at least any that was smart enough to stay out of his way. There were the occasional hares and horned pigs, but those low-intelligence species fled in terror upon seeing the Obborik.
Finally, a few hundred meters before the city gate, Kai descended and Onyx returned to his small size. Kai also put back his mask and walked out from the forest as nonchalantly as he could. The guard, the same man who saw him out, didn’t stop him from entering, nor did he check his identification.
The sounds he almost grew accustomed to mixed into a cacophony of laughter, yelling, chatter, and banter. His footsteps and everyone else’s combined into a drum that beat rhythmically with his heart. He dragged his legs, the pain from his wounds spreading throughout his body, and he suffered in silence as he carefully passed by the large crowds, heading straight for the bar he sat at. I can’t go to the guild, not yet… I must… take care of this first. He thought as his vision turned into a blur, a blur which spun around him as if he were in a carousel.
The sounds stopped. That’s good… he thought as he reached for a door handle, and he let his entire weight fall onto it as the door slammed open. His body collapsed, his vision collapsed, his hearing ceased and every sense in his body halted its functioning. The pain was no more, it disappeared like the win, and so did his sense of self as his consciousness faded.