“Shut up, you!” I sprang to my feet, ready to make a run for it. “[Light]!”
I let out the Skill through my hand, and a burst of blinding light pierced the darkness, revealing the noisy beast, hoping to find a mouth I could bonk or something. The screaming thing turned out to be a familiar friend of mine: The Armoured One’s Mind. No, that one died. I squinted and got a closer look at the creature. It was a big brain, yes, but not him.
This one was much more pink and handsome than the grey blob that was afraid of me. The light was fading, but it seemed to have scared the Mind shitless, because it quieted down quickly afterwards.
My surroundings were pitch black but my eyes were adjusting to the dark. I was able to see the outline of its tentacles draped on the ground like a bunch of instrument cables strewn out everywhere. I began to suspect I was back inside House Ravenclast’s walls, though which building or basement this time was anyone’s guess. No wonder why the Family never sent anyone to find me— they could use bugs to just kidnap me at will.
“Poor thing,” I whispered to it. “I must have caused you a lot of pain by kicking you by accident.”
The Mind didn’t respond to me, thankfully. But I could see that the thing was covered in scars and wounds. A massive bludgeoned hole was drilled into where one of its eyes were and bright red blood flowed into its folds from it. Chains from the ceiling pierced through several of its folds, leaving tiny gashes from the hooked barbs at their ends, keeping it suspended slightly above the ground. Most of its mass drooped to the cold stone floor anyways. Whatever Avatar or Armoured One this thing belonged to certainly didn’t go out peacefully.
For some reason, the eye wound pained me whenever I looked at it. Was it simple Ravenclast cruelty or was it mercy that this was all they decided to do to it? I couldn’t tell or lecture anyone. I wasn’t exactly one who could have the high ground anymore. I was used to gore and blood, thanks to horror movies. Now that I was in one, the sight of blood still didn’t bother me. But this thing hanging here, helpless like a prisoner, did something to me. It wasn’t fear, but something like sadness. Like it was my fault I didn’t show up in time to heal it. Was that me or the Plus Menu?
However, the rational part of my brain took over. I didn’t know where I was, and I didn’t know what this thing would do if I freed it. For now, I knew one thing for certain: When in doubt, check my Plus Menu.
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— Armoured One’s Mind, level 30 [Severely Wounded]
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Well, duh. The tag wasn’t helpful at all, but I tapped into my magical Core. I could probably harvest status points off of it since I would be able to see the glow surrounding its gaping wound. But surprisingly, it wasn’t the usual red aura. It was a deep purple. Wouldn’t it be terrible if I healed it? Forget it. I healed a dinosaur before, and this thing was slightly bigger. I had 2000 or so Magical Power— I was going to use every point of it. Maybe you could swing around and break a hole in the wall for me like a good little, heh, huge brain?
“First,” I muttered to myself as I carefully stepped over one of its tentacles. “Severe wounds probably needed to be cleansed, huh?”
I dropped the Oblivion Staff out of my Item Box and channeled my magic. It might be a bad idea to start experimenting now, but I knew I needed out of here quickly.
“[Deep Wound Cleansing]!”
A strange lightness enveloped me. It was a floaty feeling, like I was in a lake. However, my insides felt like they were soaring, and the energy released from my arm to my staff felt looser than the usual electrifying heat. The magic that shot out of the Oblivion Staff’s skull was bright white, sinking into the Mind’s purple wound like teeth. I felt my clothes flutter from the rush, but it was energy, not wind. There!
A red glow emerged from the center of the purple wound, and thankfully, the brain only squealed during the process. Whether that was a painful one or not, it didn’t matter. I checked the tag above its wound. [Wounded]. Wonderful. I snickered. How lovely of the Plus Menu. It made the process easier for me by color coding everything. Now that it was red, I supposed I could heal it the rest of the way. But, it was suspiciously quiet and unmoving.
“You’re not playing dead, are you?” I muttered. My eyes fell on a tentacle, and then I kicked it. Nothing. “Why don’t you freak out anymore? Hello?”
The big guy still didn’t have an eye, but its wound was significantly cleaner. A dot appeared above the plus symbol, indicating that I probably gained more status points for healing it. Healing it would stop the bleeding, but I didn’t know if it would grow an eye or something back. After all, when I healed things before, the wound merely closed and the bleeding stopped. Well, I didn’t know if healing the wounds around the chains while they were still stuck inside of it would be a good idea, so healing its eye wound was the only thing I’ll do for it.
“[Major Healing]!” I held the Oblivion Staff high.
The magic surged through me again in waves of sparks that snapped down my spine and gushed out my wrists in rivers. The skull rattled, spewing out the azure energy out of its jaw directly at the wound. Heh, I grinned, though my teeth rattled. This was the feeling I was used to. The flow of blue mana cracked its magical knuckles before it punched me square in the chest, bursting through me. My ears popped. Ironically, that was the worst part. But I saw the red gaping aura cool down, leaving pink healthy brain flesh in its wake.
As expected, the creature shuddered violently. Oi! Chains rattled. Screeching and squelching surrounded me as it threw a tantrum. Something shot out beneath me, slapping my feet. My world flipped as my butt landed on stone with a thud. I groaned. Then another tentacle whipped right past my face, slicing the air in front of my head. Shit! It was sucking its loose ends back into itself! I rolled just in time as several more slithered by me. I panicked, dancing like someone was shooting bullets at my feet as the brain sorted itself out. Then it fell silent.
I straightened my clothes, wiping the sweat off my brow, and calmed myself down. Neat. It still was blind, but maybe it felt a bit better after collecting its little brain tentacles back into itself. I, for one, was happy that it didn’t try to grab me or something during the ordeal.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
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Notifications
> Saved! Cleansed Armoured One’s Mind’s severe wounds! Host has gained 100 status points! [Total: 415 status points]
> Healed Armoured One’s Mind. Host has gained 150 status points! Host has leveled up! [Level 23] [Total: 565 status points]
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Well, would you look at that. Wait, I glanced guiltily at the Mind. I guess he couldn’t see it. I still was puzzled over one thing. 565 status points to invest in myself, but I was at a loss of what to do with them. Maybe… Attack Power? So I could bust through the wall the old fashioned way? Then what, Kathleen? That little fright and the tentacle dance I did was too close, so perhaps I should split it into Attack Speed and Movement Speed. And the rest in say, Wisdom? Nah. Constitution. What if one of them hit me? What difference does it make? Bah!
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Notifications
> You have added 265 points in Attack Power. You now have 1000 Attack Power (E).
> You have added 250 points to Movement Speed. You now have 750 Movement Speed (E).
> You have added 50 points to Constitution. You now have 1050 Constitution (E).
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Kathleen Ravenclast
Human Healer, level 22
(No party affiliation)
[Light Element]
Attack Power: 1015 (E)
Magical Power: 2809 (D)
Constitution: 1050 (E)
Wisdom: 100 (F)
Movement Speed: 750 (E)
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Lovely. My Status was looking quite monstrous, as always. With the burden of making incredibly important decisions for my future lifted, I decided to focus on the present. Where the hell am I? How do I get out?
That butterfly brought me here, but I was unsure of the reason. Staring up at the darkness, I didn’t see any Plus Menu tags or unusual activity, meaning no one was watching me make a fool out of myself with the brain. Surely, it didn’t just prank me and drop me in a dank cell somewhere. Our captor seemed like they were taking their sweet time to come and collect us.
That was fine for me. With the Mind’s tentacles littering the floor now removed, I could walk wherever I pleased. The second I took a step, however, the ground shook and chains rattled behind me. Goosebumps crawled up my spine. I spoke too soon. Something was watching me. It was my fellow inmate. I turned to look at him, staff ready to give him a taste of my 1000 Attack Power. Unfortunately for me, it was just silently swaying in the wind, like a rear view mirror ornament. But I knew it was observing me.
“I healed you, sir, now what?” I frowned.
Something big and black smashed into my head, but no pain arrived with it.
Instead, a memory came to me then. Blood killed it, but it was the horror on that Adventurer gal’s face that struck a chord in me. How did she commune with it again? A Skill that I didn’t have, but also a specific gesture. Ah, I remembered. I stored the Oblivion Staff in the Item Box, and stood up straight with my arms raised up at 45 degree angles. I held them up for a minute and felt weirdly calm.
A strange sensation poked at my mind. But I knew I had to complete the ritual gesture. I dropped my right arm down and raised my left fully up above my head, standing in an L pose. A full minute later, the pressure on my head turned into a searing pain. I gasped. Shit! A vision struck my mind.
I heard heavy breathing, and heavier footsteps. Thunder and rain pounded in a symphony of despair, with the scraping of metal dragging on slick cobblestone and dogs barking chasing behind. It was a vision of being chased, prey being hunted and knowing its time was up. The cobblestone turned into steps, the shroud of grey turned into twisted iron gates. An eight fingered hand shoved them open, and stumbled up a set of stairs into an ancient looking house.
I watched as both hands shut the door, working on an incredible amount of padlocks and deadbolts, pushing furniture in front of it before shuffling through a hallway. Pounding crashed into the frame, like a tsunami struck the house. A cone of vision, lit up by a beam of light, passed through several doorways into one peculiar study. A desk with an array of apparatuses and strange tools stood forlornly in the corner. It was a station for some macabre crafting or dark art. The eight fingered hand swept everything it could off a small corner of the desk, slamming a blank piece of paper and ink well down, frantically writing something on it. Surprisingly, I could read it all.
— WHAT ARE WE TO YOU? DO YOU WISH TO WATCH US SUFFER? O, SKY, O, BEARER. OUR BLOOD IS NOT AN OCEAN YET TO MATCH YOUR BRILLIANCE. HEAVEN’S SAKE, havemercyonus, seek, Seek, SEEK…—
Something burst through the door, followed by dogs and cursing men. The hand that held the quill was dragged away, leaving a black scar of ink tearing down the middle. I heard the crunching of bone and dogs growling savagely behind me, but I didn’t want to look. The workshop station and the paper became stained with blood before they could complete the message…
I gasped, pulling at my throat. The Armoured One’s Mind’s presence suddenly dimmed. It was no longer looking at me. I stepped towards it cautiously, my breath still shallow. Nothing.
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— Armoured One’s Mind, level 30 [Inactive]
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Inactive? Well, rest well, buddy. I’ll be sure to pass whatever you were trying to tell me to the right person when I can. Something clattered underneath the big brain, sounding like wood clattering. Against my better judgment, I ducked under a couple of loose chains and tried to fish it out. It was a stick of sorts, but the tag rolled away to the other side when my hand bumped into it. I muttered a few choice things to myself as I scooted around the Mind beneath a few loose chains. I found that it was quite cramped in here with a big inmate taking up the center.
As I was grumbling and fumbling my way in the dark, I froze in my tracks. There, in addition to the thing the brain dropped, was another peculiar Plus Menu tag resting against the pit’s wall. It stared right at me.
Man. I should really do something about my Wisdom someday.
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— Hunter’s Workbench. Integrate? [Y/N]
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-X-
“Heresy!” One of the Watchers shrieked. The bells dangling from her blindfold cap jingled as she shook her jaw in utter disbelief. “Utter heresy!”
A chorus of hissing ensued, but a swarm of stone butterflies fluttering by silenced them, landing on Elise’s arms as she watched the Great Mirror. She, too, was silent and disbelieving. Yet, she was utterly captivated by the creature in the mirror. The Mind did not attack her— it screamed. It let out a cry for help, shaking the Cosmos and the rafters as its strangled terror rose to full height.
Impossible. Beautiful. Terrifying.
Not only did the creature, that Kathleen, manage to calm it down, she actually spoke to it. The gestures so many Watchers had practiced before only to be devoured, this Kathleen had been received with open tentacles. The strands of flesh shot out of the mind, wrapping the girl’s head as she stood with her arms outstretched.
And she survived.
A truly horrifying thought filled the space between Elise’s ears. Kathleen Ravenclast was the one who was going to heal the Bearer. No, she was going to free it once and for all. This truth Elise was certain of. And she was horribly jealous. How dare that creature take her Beloved away from her?
“What do we do, Esteemed Mistress?”
One of the Watchers asked, though it sounded more like a plea. Elise gripped her butterfly pendant, calming herself down by stroking its veiny wings. If Kathleen, that cretin, were to take the Bearer lightly and Elise was the one to bring her to it— wasn’t that enough to prove her love? That Kathleen was not worthy of the power coursing through her?
Elise Ravenclast had to drink Kathleen’s blood. She needed to have that power. The thought of drinking a bastard’s blood and the humiliation made her angry. The more angry she felt, the more desire blinded her. The butterfly regenerated again and again, eventually leaving a small pile of granules on the table before her. The Watchers huddled away from her, scared of what she might do to them should one of them utter a sound.
Through gritted teeth, Elise’s mind sharpened to an image of a certain dead Brother of hers, lying in his bed. “Send… him.”
“At once, Mistress,” they all cooed.
Father, Mother, Emily, Ethan… You all shall witness the great restoration of our Bearer… and my love.
Elise thought this, but was completely distracted by Kathleen’s odd behavior as she continued to watch her. One moment she was staring off into space and the next she was laughing or swearing to herself. Then, she sneezed before crawling beneath the Mind. Elise was perplexed. She would truly never understand these Bearer spawnlings. But to capture a beast and drink its blood, one needs a lure.