“Ẏ̴̱ô̸͙̼ủ̸͇ c̴̀̐á̵̤͛n̵͆ ̶͠sè̴͔e̶̛̽ ̶̘̖̉m̶͑̐e…” It said, in a gargled and slightly mocking tone.
Soren simply stared back into its abyssal eyes with a blank expression on his face. Although his emotions had been stripped away, his ability to think had still not been. Though he doubted that would last for long.
Whatever this thing is, it seems to enjoy ssing with its food. Why is it trying to converse and not consu more of my emotions? Motivation behind my thoughts is still present, regardless of my current indifference.
Like a spectator, he scrutinized the 'child's' face and other features more closely. Beyond the unnaturally pale skin, there were a few other significant features that caught his attention. Both of its ears were pointed, resembling an elf, but they were also marred with countless blemishes. From the ear to the left, a viscous black fluid seeped out slowly, similar to what was trickling out from the entity's eyes. The other ear appeared to be very damaged or injured; noticeable scars could be seen even from a distance, as if soone was trying to rip it off.
He also noticed that the tentacles wrapping around him were sowhat see-through. Although, he wasn't completely sure if that was simply the effect of his skill or not.
Could this thing be so kind of ghost or spirit? Since the being was able to talk, he decided to ask it directly.
"What exactly are you?"
A child-like laughter rang across the fractal-flooded adow. "I̷̓ d̷͎͘o̴n̷̤̈́'ṫ̷ ̶̬̀kn̶͝o̸͐ẃ̸.̷͘.̵.̷̽ͅ"
Soren tilted his neck slightly. "You don't know?" Could it be trying to consu to understand more about itself? No, it might simply be trying to find a new aning for itself through my mories and emotio—
Suddenly, his string of thoughts disappeared. Like a puff of smoke, they dissipated in the wind, as if the bonds connecting them to him had weakened. And yet, he knew for a fact that he did have those thoughts. The mory still existed. He observed the child's lips slowly curling up into a smile.
"I see, so you consud my string of thoughts. Interesting."
The entity didn't reply. It simply dug its skin-like tentacles into his body much more deeply than before.
Soren realized that ti was running out. He had to think of sothing quick to escape this predicant. If the creature before him managed to consu even his motivation for thought itself, he might never even find it in him to escape his own death. It had already proved itself capable of such feats.
Let's analyze things from the beginning. I first heard its laughter around the exact ti I gained consciousness. The pain ringing in my head at the ti made it very hard to distinguish, but it was definitely there.... Whatever this thing is, it must have clung to at that mont, and managed to steal a portion of my hearing without noticing. But how did I recover my hearing then? Did it simply give it back to to ss around? No, there had to have been sothing that caused my hearing to return…
His mind was racing with ideas—Soren realized that the entity consuming his fear might have been a blessing in disguise. Without it, he might have been panicking at this very crucial mont.
It seems the process of consuming thoughts, emotions, and senses is not gradual, but instantaneous. It completely eradicated my sense of sll in an instant, rather than diminishing it scent by scent. There is clearly an interval to this... If I can grasp that, I will know how much ti I have left before I am dood…
The key to escaping this predicant must be the sa one I used to restore my hearing. What exactly did I do just before my hearing returned that could have triggered it? I can't rember... His thoughts froze. He can't rember? Did it not just happen to him? The only possible conclusion he could reach, aside from the possibility that he was sohow a dentia patient, was that the mory of the event had been consud without him noticing.
15 seconds have passed between consuming my thoughts and consuming this mory fragnt. Is that thing getting faster? It was indeed becoming faster at consuming him. And from what he could rember of the previous consumptions, it was getting exponentially faster. He knew by now that he probably had less than a minute left before the creature consud everything.
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Since the mory of the event is gone, I have to instead, piece together a conclusion of what happened, and fast. What exactly could I have done at that ti to cause my hearing to return? What events happened before then? I rember picking up a book... Ah yes, my Soul Weapon—The Records. I rember there was a status sheet showcasing all my information. Wasn't there a title denoting my status as a 'Traveler' too? There was also a section titled Vocation, and mine was apparently 'Scribe'... Ah, there were skills ntioned too…
Knowing myself, wouldn't the first thing I would do is try to test those skills?
It was a simple guess, but one that ca with a gamble. Maybe it was due to him being a 'Spectator' in his own body, but he could think much more retrospectively about himself in this current state.
[Eyes of the Fairy] is what I am currently using to see this... Thing. There was also another skill ntioned... Sothing to do with chronicle? What was it…
Even if I don't rember the na anymore, my abilities are clearly activated through thought. So what if I just think of chronicling sothing right now? His eyes shifted to the entity wrapping itself around him.
Like this thing in front of , for example.
Suddenly, the glowing book in his hands, which he had montarily forgotten about, began to glow once more. Blanketed in a sheet of golden light, the ethereal fla like pages turned swiftly until they stopped on one peculiar page. A fountain pen imrsed in fog manifested itself and began to write strange symbols across the shimring empty chapter. Soren's eyes refocused beyond the flood of fractals, observing the strange glyphs being etched in golden light.
The once cold smile present on the child's face warped into a frown. "N̷̫̑ó̵̥.̶̹͆.̶͖̒.̶̦͝"
Soren felt his lips curling up into a smile; his emotions were returning to him. "I am feeling.... Happy?" His smile widened. He didn't know what exactly he was feeling at that mont. Was it relief? Hope? Or just pure joy? He could only describe it as a sense of euphoria. It felt as though all the weight on his shoulders had vanished, and if he lifted his feet just slightly off the ground, he would float in absolute bliss indefinitely.
"It seems my hypothesis was correct! Chronicling information sohow had the effe—"
His thoughts trailed off into a dead end. Why?... His eyes stared at the entity coldly once more. It was frowning deeply. "M̵̞̍u̸s̵̑t̸ ̵̂c̵o̷n̷s̴̚ǘ̶m̴͒ë̶́.̸͑.̸̊."
Must consu, it says?... But my emotions returned... Ah, did it manage to consu my mory of its existence?.. The effects of my skill must have been canceled... I don't rember the features I chronicled about it... His thoughts suddenly beca sluggish. He could no longer even feel the motivation to think anymore. A wave of indifference crashed against his body, and now he was fully subrged in it. A drowning man that knows he could not swim back up to the surface.
"I... guess... I lost..." he muttered. His eyes slowly began to shudder as if the weight of an entire mountain pressed down on his eyelids. His mind had finally given up. So what if he was consud? It did not matter to him one bit. Death felt much more comfortable, anyway…
The entity slowly wriggled its tentacles in a dance around Soren's body, smiling once more.
"I̷ w̵ȉ̵n̸.̵.̴.̸͒."
With its abyssal eyes, it watched as Soren's body turned cold and limp. There was no resistance left in its prey. Despite the minor challenges this one posed compared to other humans it had consud, it was still the victor in the end. The emptiness it felt inside could finally be filled—restoring the hole in its existence. The mories of this human were quite delectable. mories of past lovers, caring grandparents, an interesting board ga, and even the joy of entering an institution called a 'University.' Such peculiar mories, unlike anything it had consud before…
And yet it knew that there was much more to this peculiarity—that there had to be another reason it was attracted to this lowly human from oh so far... What exactly was it? His mories were clearly far more interesting than anything it had consud before, but why did it feel like there was more to it than that…
And so, it drew its spiritual breath once more, inhaling the sweet, sweet nectar it was drawn to in the first place. The mories of that lowly human continued to seep out into its body, one breath at a ti. It was only on the last breath that it felt it—the thing it was seeking all along. Hidden in that human were mories more delectable than anything it had ever consud before.
mories that instantly killed it.
The mont the entity breathed in this final bundle of mory fragnts, it felt its own existence fracturing to pieces. And yet, it did not care. For the briefest of seconds, it felt whole again. This was not sothing it had expected, but the madness contained within those mories was akin to a bright light luring insects to their deaths.
"Ä̷̺́H̸͎͝Ḫ̴͊H̵̪͌H̵̞̕H̴̪̅Ḥ̷̊H̵͖̉H̵̝͗!"
It no longer knew whether it had perished in absolute bliss or in the festering flas of madness and chaos. Or maybe… Both.
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