Blasphemy! This voidly void monster would dare to pounce upon Earl Earle Earlando Earlson Earlacle the Fourth's holy body! An attempt to sully his reputation and countenance! He would tolerate no such thing! Not to mention, it was hideous. Worse than the mush he saw earlier in the day. He could see veins pumping a muted purple all throughout its near transparent quadrupedal body nearly the size of his bed, each and every organ on full display. The mouth seemed more designed for crushing than chewing, having no teeth. A very painful crushing, most likely.
"Oof!"
Earle dived forward, underneath the intangible void monster that only he could see, going prone in a display of mastery. All his practice tripping over carpets came in handy as he controlled his descent. It was admittedly quite a bit more painful than a carpet, diving straight into a rose bush and sliding over the decorative rocks. Who came up with the bright idea of placing rocks on the side of the garden path? Was all the brick not enough for them? The bumbling buffoon. Curses upon him and his descenda-! Ah... It was his father who did this...
Now Earle not only had to deal with an intangible void monster that only he could see, but also brace himself for a curse that was self-inflicted. Curses! He was shivering in the dirt from pain and fear for a possible mortal crisis, far worse than dealing with the void beast. It was well known that curses without a will to guide them were like a wheel spin; he could only hope that it was nothing too dangerous.
Paralysis!
Oh no. No, no, no. Earle's entire body seized up, his muscles cramping painfully. It felt like he would burst open. The duration, what was the duration? If it was anything more than half a second he was done for. The void monster would eat him alive, and Mayid wouldn't even be able to help him, since it was an intangible void monster only he could see - Earle was too paralyzed to notice Mayid's obvious amusement.
Half a minute!
NOOOOOOO! IT WAS THE END! IT WAS TRULY THE END THIS TIME! The beast sauntered forward, savoring the smell of despair wafting off of Earle. The paralysis ended just in time for him to see his end. The void beast separated its jaws wide, distending them like a snake, and went down to consume Earle.
"MAYID! REMEMBER ME WHEN I'M GONE! FOR YOU WILL HAVE NO MASTER TO MATCH MY LIKENESS!"
He let out his finest war cry as the beast approached.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Its jaws closed with a snap, an incredible force behind them. And passed right through Earle. It was intangible, after all. Earle, paying no heed to the fact that he was still alive, squirmed on the ground with his eyes closed.
"Take me, vile beast! Remove me from this mortal plane, if you so dare!"
It tried. It really tried. No matter who much it went chomp chomp and nom nom, it couldn't eat Earle. The beast was in despair. It had been exiled by its brethren, left to starve. And when it finally found food, it could not even eat, as the beast was intangible. It wailed a mighty wail, finally understanding what it was truly dealing with. It collapsed to the ground, giving up on its own life.
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"TAKE ME!"
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It took some time before Earle realized he wasn't going to die. He stopped squirming and stood up, dusting himself off a bit. It was sad that his clothes were ruined, but a necessary sacrifice for survival. Or not, since the beast couldn't even touch him. However! For this humiliation, Earle would end its life! It seemed like that was what it wanted anyway, sprawled out like an emo elf who kicked a flower and experienced extreme regret, so no harm done. Luckily, Earle was still holding onto the stick he was using to play wizard. Every plant here was magically charged, so he could use the stick as a wand for casting. Now was the perfect time to use his favorite spell. There weren't many opportunities to do so; it was highly malicious, almost pushing beyond Earle's flimsy morality.
"Spirits of life! Grant me your power!"
Power gathered, currents of emerald flowing toward his wand from every direction.
"Deliver unto my foe the suffering of an endless vitality!"
The power consolidated.
"Overheal!"
And released toward his foe. Just as it was about to strike, the beast perked up, looking sort of... excited?
Nom.
It ate it! It ate his spell! A spell meant to cause intense suffering in the target through rapid cell division! He meant to give the beast cancer, but since it consumed his spell... And the spirits would be unsatisfied without stimulus... He would be hit by a backlash!
"Damned beast! Just how much do you intend to make me suffer!"
The void monster - which was dubbed Rami by Mayid, who was still watching on the sidlines - looked infinitely more happy than it was just moments before. It finally found something it could really eat here! It didn't think that there were any nom noms here, but it was just highly diffused compared to its home! If it relied on the creature in front of it to gather the nom noms for it, it could live!
While Rami was hopping around, Earle sank to his knees. The backlash was starting to kick in: he was overflowing with vitality. All the harm done in this battle... was done by him, to himself! He was covered in scrapes, scratches, and bruises. It was too embarrassing to even stand due to the backlash; he was being forced to experience a romantic interest and intense arousal toward Mayid. He wasn't sure how long it would last. He could only hope and pray that it wasn't permanent.
"Master, are you alright? Was the backlash severe?"
"Mayid, let me rest for a moment. Just let me rest. And please, don't look at me..."
Earle dropped further, making a four-point, almost five-point contact with the dirt. All he could see was dirt. All he wanted was dirt. All that was in his mind was dirt.
And Mayid.
No!
Dirt!
Only dirt!
Dirty dirt!
Dirty thoughts!
About Mayid!
Earle found that he was crying very often these past days. Too often. This world, and everything within it, was terrifying. He decided to let go. He didn't care anymore. So what if it was shameful? He stood up.
"M-master? That, is that what they did to you? Pffffft... Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh."
He was flushed red. And feeling very indignant. This was the last time he'd call upon life spirits for the foreseeable future. He walked to the gate. His only salvation. Leaving this place behind meant leaving behind everything that he was within it. He would become a new Earle. One without these budding feelings within his heart. Mayid and Rami followed close behind.