Chapter 3: 

Once the dust settled, Saiph tried to see who would come out on top with that last exchange.

 

He waited and waited but there seemed to be no movement.

 

He gathered his courage and left the crevice that he was hiding in to take a look.

 

Getting closer to the head stewards and looking at him with the help of the dim light of the yellow rocks, he saw a lot of blood seeping from the chest area. He began to poke him with the pickaxe he’s been holding onto for a long time, but the head steward was none responsive. 

 

He got close to check for a pulse but there was nothing.

 

Standing up in this dim corridor with a gloomy expression. He looked at the location of the floating head and was hesitant to take a look. He built up his courage and walked toward the not-floating-anymore head and flipped it over to see the face. Suddenly, a weird black slime jumped out of its mouth and into his.

 

He began to try to take it out but could not get a good grip on it. He suddenly started to feel extreme pain at the roof of his mouth that was traveling to his brain.

 

He started to shout and yell for help but no one could hear him.

 

Eventually, the pain began to recede and he realized that the black slime had dug into the roof of his mouth.

 

He felt an extreme sense of worry and disgust, he attempted to try and pull it out. But by doing so, he experienced extreme pain.

 

It felt like the slime had extended tentacles like arms all around his brain. It gave him a creepy and nasty feeling.

 

He didn't know what to do and could only place his hands on his face as though he could bypass his skull and rip out those wriggling tentacles like things from his head. 

 

After panicking for a while, he began to feel that the unnatural feeling he got from this thing was slowly diminishing. It was starting to feel more and more like it was part of him, like it was a natural part of his body.

 

It felt like a very unnerving experience.

 

But soon, he felt like there was something trying to communicate with him. He didn't know why he knew, but he was sure that this thing wanted him to close his eyes.

 

Saiph was a little hesitant, but eventually closed his eyes to see what would happen, since he had a feeling that this thing wouldn't hurt him.

Once he closed his eyes he saw a strange sight.

 

 

Looking at this strange table and all these words made him overwhelmed. Being born in a remote village and with no parents for most of his life meant that there was no chance that he would come in contact with reading and writing.

 

So when looking at these words and numbers, he had no clue what they meant. But when focusing on the words, he found that for some reason, he would get its meaning.

 

Saiph was baffled by this strange situation, looking at the points, he understood that it can be used to improve the other numbers, while the numbers beside his body parts are indicators of how well he can use them.

 

There are many body parts listed, from his hands and feet, to organs like the brain, eyes, and intestines.

 

Looking at these, he was curious about what would happen if he tried to change these numbers.

 

Thinking this way, he began to believe that this may be a golden opportunity for him to change his life.

 

This thought gave hope and excitement even while he was in this dark corridor surrounded by dead bodies. 

 

But, everything has a price.

 

Saiph began to have a great feeling of hunger, he had never felt such hunger before, he had an instinct that it was coming from the new thing that became a part of him.

 What made him panic even more, was that the “thing” seemed to be experiencing an even crazier hunger than he was experiencing. He felt like it was trying it’s best not to consume him and seemed to forgo its reservations at any minute now. 

 

He didn't know what to do at this moment, he was desperate to find a solution and remembered that he left his food back at the mining area he was excavating with his fellow miners.

 

He started to wonder if he should start running towards that location but then notice the bodies laying around. 

 

Hope began to appear in his eyes, the stewards may have brought food with them when going in.

 

He began to scramble and search the bodies for anything to eat, and luckily for him, he was able to find food in one of the sacs a steward was carrying with him.

 

He gobbled it down and was expecting it to at least alleviate the feeling of hunger. But to his horror, the strange feeling of hunger did not subside, he even felt that it would only be satiated by a specific type of food.

 

He was gradually losing all hope, he was confident that if he didn't satiate this creature inside him, he would be eaten alive, starting with his insides. 

 

However, that thought made him realize something. 

 

Remembering the floating heads reckless action of attacking the stewards and seeing the sight of bodies with obvious holes in them. Saiph's face lost all color.

 

“Does this thing want me to eat humans?”

 

Looking more closely at the scattered bodies, they all seem to be missing the same part of the body, the place above the navel. 

 

The only one who didn't have that missing was the head steward. 

 

But Saiph didn't want to do such a vile and disgusting act. He started to think of any possible outcome that doesn't end in him becoming a cannibal.

 

Then he thought that maybe that the floating head could be a replacement, perhaps his hunger could be satiated by the meat of a living or recently dead creature. Perhaps all the evidence doesn't support it, but it was a much more appealing conclusion than before.

 

He took a knife from one of the dead stewards and went to cut off a part of the floating head. To him this floating head was an animal, but a strange one at that, he just assumed this creature’s ability to float and attack came from the black object that transferred to him, since he didn't know all its abilities, he assumed such was the case. 

 

Which was why he thought it could be eaten just like any other animal meat.