(Written while listening to: "In the Maw of Ouroboros" by David Csontos on YouTube)
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Laito was worried.
The moment the possibility that his thought could be compromised, he had activated an old trick from his schoolbook.
More precisely from his precious UTCb(wip)!
Cook number 2 said: "Control your thoughts at all times, for there is a high chance your ROB can read your mind."
The rugged man was definitely not a ROB at all, but the technique Laito trained zealously still applied.
But.
"I certainly cannot, oh, Old One!" The man responded to Laito's thoughts.
"I just have eyes that see… Yes! I am a very good noticer. I had to become one to survive. What to see… and what not to see. Oh Old One! You are most certainly speaking… Your beautiful light is speaking to me!" The man rambled and Laito didn't like the contents of the ramblings.
'Really? How does that work?.' Although Laito had asked that question, he already had an idea.
Once the problem occurred, Laito once again focused on properties of his still slightly unfamiliar "body" and had a hunch about something.
And that hunch was correct.
The man continued to stare with mad eyes without answering Laito's question.
He didn't hear that this time.
Because Laito discovered that when he "thought", these "thoughts' were causing slight ripples in the light his body produced. Alongside with very tiny essence expenditure.
So tiny that it didn't even get acknowledged by him.
"So you "saw" me thinking? How about now?" Laito increased that essence put into 'thinking'. Although the amount itself wasn't substantial as far as Laito's reserves were concerned… it was enough that it caused the air to vibrate.
It produced actual sound.
The man lunged to the ground(a patch of stomach flesh not covered in digestive acid) and prostrated himself.
"The almighty Old One spoke to me! I am not worthy!" The man started to humble himself and tooted Laito's horn for some reason.
'Allright. And these he won't be able to "see".' Laito thought while eliminating the essence leak completely.
It worked.
'Now that it's taken care of, let's figure out what the hell is going on.' Laito decided.
Laito looked closer at the man.
It was hard to judge his age, but Laito guessed from the features for him to be around his mid-thirties.
He had a very long and rugged black beard and hair that already had some rare streaks of grey in it.
His eyes were sunken and filled with earlier mentioned madness.
He wore a brownish robe that looked like it was made from badly sewn patches of skin.
Hopefully not human skin.
He also had a weapon tucked behind the rope that served as a belt for his attire.
It was a long serrated harpoon, made from some kind of bone.
The man was also incredibly dirty. Laito guessed that If he had a sense of smell, then the man would stank incredibly.
Probably just the same as their current location.
"Who are you?" Laito had a lot of questions and since this man saw him as some "Old One", the floating orb of light still hasn't decided whether to behave grand and try to pretend to be some god… or to just behave like his usual self. He decided to play it safe and be cheap on word count.
"Oh Old One!" The man started speaking still on the ground.
"I am but a castaway, surviving the belly of the beast and seeking… Yes! Seeking! Seeking a living god to serve at last!" Thus spoken, the man rose from prostating himself and onto his knees. He raised hands above his head and continued with fever fervor.
"This lovely wretch you see, oh Old One, is stricken by a curse! I must attend to the faith of a living god, lest I will be consumed by madness… alas… all the gods are dead! The wicked writings say so! So I was lost, trying to worship lesser beings… It only made things worse! But today a new dawn came upon me! Praise be! Oh, Old One!"
—
'Thats… not exactly what I asked for, but okay… Let's try another angle.'
"Why are you here?" Laito asked.
"Oh, Old One! You know!" The man answered without hesitation.
'No I don't. What the fuck. Just answer my damn questions.'
"Answer still." Laito noticed that although he got slightly annoyed, the feeling of disgust he felt towards literally everything in this world, did not apply specifically to the man in front of him. Strange.
"Yes Old One! The reason why I am here, is that it is the fault of a foul curse that befallen me and my kin! It calls itself Nightmare Spell and brings death and transformation upon my once peaceful world!"
'Yup. Figures. The guy in the Dream Realm is Nightmare Spell's chosen. Let's see if he gets into a flow and tell me his life's story… I might get some useful information!' Laito was glad that he got a potential informant on the current state of Dream and Waking worlds.
The man took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He lowered his hands and has clasped them together as if he prayed.
He spoke somberly.
"
It all began on THAT day."
"Before that, I was a happy man."
"I had a family. A gorgeous wife… The most precious daughter a father could dream of… a beautiful house, car and respect!"
"I was a well known doctor… but then…"
He lowered his head, hid his face in palms of his hands and spoke with anger:
"Then… I fell asleep! And then… the Nightmare began! It was long, long time ago... but I remember it to this day… when this curse whispered into my ears its wretched words for the first time!"
"And it never left… even after I defeated its trials and escaped… it followed me back into reality!"
"It gave me some supernatural powers… in exchange… it took everything else."
"I thought this nightmare would be over the moment it said: "Wake up! Damian Schneider"... but. it. LIED!" He spat each word with barely contained rage.
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[16 months left until MHA plot beginning]
[Chapter End] The story is not over yet
My tipping jar: [email protected]/marasis (change "@" into "a")
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Author notes:
I'm suffering from a minor lack of inspiration.
Thinking about taking a week long break.
I'll see. For now:
See ya soon!