The impression they gave Michael was unmistakable.
Parasitic.
It reminded him of a parasite he had once read about.
Spinochordodes tellinii.
A horsehair worm.
It infected insects, most commonly grasshoppers and crickets, entering their bodies when they consud contaminated material. At first, nothing appeared wrong. The host continued feeding. Moving. Living normally.
But the parasite grew. It fed and coiled itself within the host's body cavity, absorbing nutrients while remaining hidden.
And when it reached maturity, it took control.
The infected insect, a creature that instinctively avoided water its entire life, began to behave differently. It wandered without purpose. Paused at strange intervals. Lost awareness of danger.
Then, inevitably, it approached water.
And it jumped.
The insect drowned itself, not out of instinct, but because the parasite inside it needed water to complete its life cycle. Once subrged, the worm erged from the drowned body, leaving behind only a hollow shell.
Michael stared at Cedric, Lucien, and Alaric.
The comparison settled into place with chilling clarity.
They still moved.
They still breathed.
They still spoke when spoken to.
But sothing inside them had already taken root.
Sothing patient.
Sothing waiting.
Through the Eye of Truth, he saw the small faces shift beneath
Cedric's skin. They did not appear as separate organisms, but
fragnts of sothing larger, rearranging continuously beneath the flesh.
Michael followed their line of sight.
The endless twilight stretched outward, crystal veins pulsing faintly beneath the ground.
Sowhere in that direction was the source.
The origin.
The water the parasite needed.
Or the opposite. The place drawing them in.
Movent entered the edge of his perception.
A group of figures crossed a distant ridge.
They moved in a straight line, boots scraping crystal-veined stone without hesitation. Their weapons hung at their sides. Their eyes faced forward.
Michael recognized their armor.
Another expedition team.
He had seen them hours earlier. Alert. Careful. Fully aware.
Now they walked like sleepwalkers.
None of them reacted to distant faceless shapes. None glanced
toward Michael or his group. They simply continued forward, toward
the sa unseen destination.
Michael's frown deepened.
This was not the first ti.
He had noticed isolated individuals before. Always those who had absorbed the orbs. Always drifting toward the sa direction.
It was no longer coincidence.
Beside him, Arianne's breathing grew uneven. Her grip tightened around the reins of her Fla Lion. The beast stood close beside her, muscles tense beneath ember-colored fur, golden eyes flicking between its master and the retreating figures.
It could feel her fear.
Michael felt a faint trace of pity.
She had already lost two contracted beasts to stronger faceless creatures through a mont of poor judgnt. Now sothing worse had taken root inside her.
He shifted his attention back to Cedric, Lucien, and Alaric.
For several seconds, nothing changed.
Then Cedric stepped forward.
Lucien followed.
Alaric moved with them.
Perfectly synchronized. Michael's eyes sharpened.
"Cedric."
No response.
"Lucien."
Nothing.
"Alaric."
Not even a flicker.
They walked past him toward the distant horizon.
Arianne's voice trembled.
"They're going too..."
Michael stepped directly into their path.
Cedric did not stop. He adjusted his angle slightly, attempting to
move around him without awareness.
Michael released his mana.
It spread outward in a controlled wave, settling over the three n
like invisible pressure.
A suppressive field.
Not enough to harm. Enough to stop.
Their bodies halted mid-step.
Muscles tensed. Veins rose faintly beneath their skin.
Through the Eye of Truth, the faces beneath their flesh reacted instantly. They shifted violently, pressing outward as if resisting him.
Cedric's foot trembled.
Then pushed forward.
Slowly.
Against the pressure.
Lucien and Alaric did the sa.
Michael increased the pressure.
The air thickened.
Still they leaned forward.
Arianne covered her mouth, horror widening her eyes.
Michael increased it again.
Cedric's knee bent at a dangerous angle. Bone creaked faintly. He did
not react.
Lucien's shoulder tore slightly. Blood seeped through his sleeve. He
did not slow.
Alaric's ankle twisted. His heel dragged against stone.
They continued.
Michael understood imdiately.
If he held them like this, they would destroy their own bodies just to
keep moving.
He released the field.
The pressure vanished.
They staggered once, steadied, and continued forward as if nothing
had happened.
Michael watched them go.
Watched their backs shrink into silhouettes against the dim horizon.
Beside him, Arianne broke.
Her Fla Lion shifted closer, lowering its head beside her shoulder,
rumbling softly. It could not understand the cause, but it understood
distress.
Arianne clutched her chest.
Her breath shattered into sobs.
"I should have listened."
Her voice cracked, dignity abandoned.
"I saw them grow stronger. I saw them absorb the orbs and nothing happened. They fought better. Moved faster. And I thought... I thought I was the only fool standing still."
Her shoulders shook violently.
"I couldn't take it anymore."
Tears stread down her face.
"I should have listened to you."
The Fla Lion pressed closer, its warmth grounding her, tail flicking
restlessly.
Michael did not answer imdiately.
He understood her.
The pressure of watching others advance while you remained behind.
He understood it intimately.
But his thoughts had already moved elsewhere.
He too had used the cultivation orbs.
Not many.
Not recklessly.
But he had.
The difference lay in how.
Michael lowered his gaze slightly, feeling the faint ache deep within
his soul.
He rembered the first orb.
He rembered the faces.
He had not trusted it.
So he had forced it through Lily's Law. Her devouring trait.
A law capable of consuming anything that contained essence.
Breaking it down. Stripping it to its purest components.
It did not matter whether the essence ca from flesh, crystal,
poison, or stranger origins.
If it had substance, it could be devoured.
The limit of the Law was his own limit. Michael had forced the orb through that process.
Only after it had been devoured, purified, and reduced did he absorb
what remained.
And the difference had been undeniable.
No faces appeared beneath his skin.
No infestation.
When he used the Eye of Truth on himself, he saw only his own form.
More than that.
The fracture in his soul had eased.
Not healed completely.
But softened.
The devoured essence had repaired part of the damage.
Proof appeared imdiately.
Several dozen contract slots had recovered.
Michael crouched beside Arianne.
Her Fla Lion watched him closely, but did not interfere.
He placed a steady hand against her upper back.
"Breathe," he said quietly.
She tried.
Failed.
Tried again.
"I knew it was wrong," she whispered. "I knew it was too easy. But
every ti nothing happened, it felt like I was the only coward."
Her fingers tightened in the lion's mane.
"I couldn't keep falling behind."
Michael kept his voice calm. "I'll see what I can do."
Her head lifted slightly. "You can fix it?"
He did not promise.
"I'll see what I can do."
To her, it was enough.
Her breathing steadied slightly. The Fla Lion relaxed by a fraction, sensing her emotional shift.
Michael's gaze returned to the horizon.
His expression hardened.
He was helping her.
He was not indifferent enough to watch her be consud.
But that was not the only reason.
The condition of his soul mattered more than anything. Ascending perfectly required it.
And the fragnt he had devoured had already proven sothing
undeniable.
It could heal him.
Not completely.
But enough to matter.
If a fragnt could do that,
Then what about the source itself?
His thoughts sharpened.
Hesitation remained. He understood the danger. If the ruin could
infest others, the origin could be far worse.
But hesitation also ant ti.
And ti ant more unknown changes.
In any case, he could not leave the ruin imdiately, which ant he
had only one option.
Advance and find the source.
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