14 The holy bowels

The walls receded, the floor melted away, ashen red overlapped everything as Proteus sank and became submerged in a warm, slimy substance. He opened his mouth to breathe, but he started drowning in the tasty liquid. There were slippery things that felt like ropes on his hands as he descended so he pulled at them to drag himself upwards.

When his eyes were wiped clean of the blood he beheld a scene that caused him terror and confusion. The entire ground was composed of innards, which bulged and receded when golden coloured light moved inside them.

A grotesque amalgamation stood in front of him, a tower of organs piled on top and fused with each other.The base was connected to the intestines underneath, similar to how roots emerged from plants, the glimmering moved towards and was absorbed by it. The lungs, hearts, livers, stomachs and large brains all promptly began to rearrange themselves.

At that moment Proteus' consciousness became foggy, he saw images of people running into one another, skin, fleh and bones melting and coalescing until the thing had taken yet another form. Six enormous wings shaped from bones and lungs swayed from behind it, stomachs, livers and other unidentifiable body parts built the rest of the body in the shape of a human, as human as a decapod with spines for legs and a body of randomly assorted organs could be.

Fingers and teeth, as well as horns slowly grew out of its apex and twisted, creating a bowl around its skull which was covered in brains, eyes and mouths.

Seeing the giant approach would make any person want to scream in fear. Nevertheless, Proteus felt nothing of the like, he somehow sensed that the being meant no harm. However it was clear that its purpose was not peace, if anything its nature was that of some incomprehensible terror.

It walked slowly, and opened its mouths.

"We salute Proteus, the one not of this world. Should you engage with us we will offer a boon. We urge haste, for time is of the essence."

The words were formed from an ensemble of muted screams and crunching sounds, it was the same language that the humans of this world spoke.

When Proteus meant to respond to it verbally, to question it, he found his chest to be heavy and constricting tightly. Even after trying his hardest to expel the liquid in his lungs, he could not get it out. In this unfamiliar state he heard his own voice from a distance, repeating the words he meant to say, followed by low frequency vibrations gathering around him.

-What are you, what do you want?-

A pause, eyes staring so intently that they could spring out of their sockets, the mouths closed before they opened again.

"To access a mind of one of ours, such an... outstanding aptitude. Tell us, are there more of your kind aside from humans in the place you originated from?"

-You first.-

"We are the Messenger. Higher beings may speak through us, to communicate to the lower ones, that is our purpose. Reply."

-In the world from where I came, aside from regular humans, there are people with powers. These people are called 'gifted mortals'.-

The mass of organs were intrigued.

"Very interesting. Tell us more Proteus, we intend to learn many things from you."

-Why? You already know my name and where I came from.-

Proteus saw what looked like a smile for a brief moment, the Messenger were amused.

"The illuminating and generous Nomos that observes all has imparted us a great sum of knowledge." Their arms made gestures of grandeur. "Knowledge, which, although vast, is limited within the bounds of this universe, we do not know of things that happen beyond the fridges. But more importantly, we are honestly quite perplexed, that you considered yourself a human."

-Not anymore, this 'Nomos' told me that I am a ghoul.-

"How brazen." The being chuckled. "You should not speak of the first gods in such a manner."

As the Messenger said that, a powerful pressure weighed on Proteus, pushing his head and shoulders down. The pressure increased the more he waited, it threatened to crush him.

-I apologise, I didn't know- It stopped.

"This question was what you could consider an answer, you never were a human. No human could retain the [Soul] after being drenched in [Corruption] and no mortal [Soul] could so stubbornly resist the mellifluous wheel of reincarnation."

This was a revelation. If the messenger could be trusted, then Proteus had not been human from the start. A puzzling truth had begun to be unravelled. Was he a gifted mortal? Were gifted mortals not humans? What did it mean to "access a mind"? It was indeed a question, the kind that spurred more questions, while more things fell into place everything made less sense.

"Now we demand you tell us of what you knew, know, and of how you entered this world."

The Messenger gave him no time to think, they were drooling for answers, or puzzle pieces.

-Back in my world there are beings that possess supernatural powers, they bring harm to humans and therefore need to be dealt with. We eliminate them through various means, one of which is through combatants, teams centred around gifted mortals. A group of people worshipping a... something opened a portal to it, I fell through it. Then, a woman, 'Aslog', I think, took me here.-

The memory was not entirely clear, but the most important details were still there.

"Describe these beings which you spoke of."

It was too difficult to put into words, to convey the images in his mind. Proteus wondered, if he truly could transmit thoughts and words by thinking them, could he perhaps...

The images of the Rhombicuboctahedron, and of the woman made of light took lucid shape inside Proteus' mind and then they passed to the messenger, who's many eyes conveyed their surprise.

"You have met the sealed one. Did he exit the void space?"

-No, the gate collapsed before he could, but there could be more cultists hiding in my old world. They might already have opened an other one.-

"Thank you for your cooperation, Proteus. Farewe-" The messenger said while they turned around. Their attitude had changed, they indeed were in a hurry.

-The boon.-

They stopped moving. "Do not be impatient, our words do not deceive."

The messenger dissolved into the thumping ground and the space became blurred. As Proteus' vision adjusted, he was back in the church. Time was slowly resuming and Proteus' strength escaped him, causing him to fall on the floor, the caphalalgia hammered on his head while the nausea made him vomit.

• Mana 1/?

He passed out.

Half a day had passed since then. He had been told that the sister had called the local healer to look at his condition and that the reason he had collapsed was due to mana exhaustion. They had put him on the church's chairs while he was unconscious and eventually he came to.

Other than the incident with the Messenger there was no apparent reason as to why he had exhausted his mana. His head still hurt and he felt weak, but he had gained two vital pieces of information, that the messenger would grant him some sort of favour and that he could produce mana on its own.

• Mana 30/?

His mana had almost completely vanished and thereafter replenished itself this much in half a day, which meant that he didn't have to constantly think of ways to regain it. Inactivity must have been the requirement, in other words, rest. Proteus just sat next to the wall outside the church's hind area, where not many people would go. He spent the entire night sitting there, doing nothing, dozing off in short dreams and reminiscing.

His mind was disorderly. He was sure of it now, that his memories had been tampered with. First the laboratory, images in which the children including himself underwent inhumane experiments day in and day out, they were treated like disposable equipment, bound on tables and chairs as faceless adults operated on, force-fed and conditioned them. He had almost gotten away once, he had the feeling that that was true, however memories of how and where exactly were missing. How could he not have known all this time, did his telepathic ability only just develop or did he possess it from the start. If his memories couldn't be trusted, then what of Alexander, were his memories of him fabricated as well? Right then, the possibility of that was too high to dismiss. If his intuition was correct, then it was a lie after all.

One, two, three moons and a morning sun.

•Mana: 60/?

The start of a new day in his new life, Proteus made it his goal to uncover the secrets residing within himself and the past that was concealed under false evocations. He had to know exactly what he was, what had happened to him and how to rid himself of anything unwanted in his brain.

The three adventurers and the merchant had already been packing up the carriages and readying themselves for the long day ahead when Proteus met them. There were four wagons, two for products and two for people. He, the merchant, Ussiah, Elijah and the woman, who's name he still didn't know, sat in the second carriage. There were three other passengers who sat in the last carriage, they were an alchemist and two adventurers that he had hired as bodyguards.

The first day of travel was slow paced, they passed by the hamlet Proteus had been to before and a couple other villages on the way. On the third village they underwent an inspection and stayed the night. Proteus spent the remaining coppers he had on a bed in the crowded room the rest were staying at. The alchemist, his guards and the merchant had stayed in a high class inn which had the space for storing the carriages.

On the third day, at noon, the front driver abruptly halted.

"Elevas!" He shouted nervously.

Tension rose in the air as one by one the combatants exited the wagons. Large beasts that looked like wolves with five eyes, six legs with hard, bony protrusions and a long, scaled tail had blocked their way and were aggressively growling at them. A monster pounced at the unfortunate coachman, who was the first to notice them. Blood sprang out from his neck while he screamed.

Long red hair waved in the air as the swordswoman darted forward and cut the elevas' head in a fluid motion before slashing at one other that had come to her side. She swung the large blade like it weighed nothing, but the power of its mass showed once it struck. A loud sound echoed when the blade was blocked by the exoskeletal structures on the legs of the beast. Elijah and Proteus had exited the wagon last, Proteus went to back up Ussiah, who was cornered by three elevas and Elijah had climbed on top of the wagon to have better vision for his bow.

The monster's large bodies were a threat by themselves, the claws from their four front arms, which could strike from multiple angles, were even more so. The alchemist's bodyguards were occupied in the back and did well fending them off, everyone moved in a way that showed they new exactly what to do in this situation, non combatants tried to get out of view, the rest shouted loudly to intimidate the beasts, and they striked in the gaps of the armor.

Proteus had a range disadvantage compared to the elevas, but he was faster. Their claws didn't land on him, while he wounded them every time their necks or undersides became exposed. The beasts employed their tails in battle too, their bodies could conceal their prolonged hind parts until just before the impact. Their fast movements resulted in Elijah not being able to hit them with his arrows accurately, and even if he did the damage was little.

The three elevas were alternating attacks, their big bodies restricted the vision of their comrades when they stood in front of Ussiah and Proteus, one had opened its mouth to bite and Ussiah jammed his sword deep in its throat. The other two became increasingly slower due to the paralytic effects of the [Dark blood], that dripped from Proteus' cuticles when his nails absorbed force. Elijah shot arrows at the slower elevas rendering them partially blind, which allowed Ussiah and Cecilia to deliver grievous injuries with little delay.

Seeing their pack members injured or killed caused the elevas to commence a retreat. As they went away, one of the bodyguards tried to stab one in the back, but it hit him with its tail and broke his arm.

The elevas left and abandoned their fallen comrades.

Panting and exhausted, the adventurers sat down and caught their breaths. The alchemist treated the wound on the neck of the coachman by applying a brown powder to stop the bleeding and gave a painkiller to the bodyguard with the broken arm. After a short break the group started dissecting the monsters.

Proteus asked them what they were doing and they told him that the exoskeleton and pelt of the creatures could sell for a high price if they could extract it in a good condition. They also dug inside some sort of gland on their necks, one of which yielded a dark blue coloured crystal, that the alchemist offered to buy immediately.

"What even is that thing?" Proteus questioned after sensing high density mana inside of it.

"It is a mana stone. We were lucky to find one here, although I don't know if you can say this was a fortunate encounter." The alchemist explained. "Like humans, monsters have the ability to store and use mana inside their bodies. Monsters that live long enough start to produce mana stones within their bodies which can store significantly more mana than blood vessels, tissue and organs..."

And so he went on and on about how some creatures use organs to produce specific effects with their mana, ranging from body strengthening to external phenomena. Mana stones were regarded as a superior type of mana organ.

They loaded up the monster material on the last wagon and cooked the fresh meat over a fire for food. Proteus learnt that cooking meat completely removed any mana stored inside of it. After they were done for the meal and were well rested, all of them went to sit in the second wagon.

"Once fully formed some species can even use magic! How amazing is that! I wish humans could have such a useful and adaptable organ." The alchemist had not stopped talking throughout the hours they had spent at this location, Proteus had begun to think that the man did not need to breathe.

"But, aren't humans able to use magic too?" Proteus didn't understand what the big fuss about mana organs was about, the only difference was on how mana was stored.

"That is true, but you see the strength of magic one can use is very dependent on how much mana one possesses and humans are completely outclassed in that aspect, most human mages use the ether instead of their own mana. Not to mention how hard it is to learn, even the basics are out of reach for the ordinary individual, only the nobles know how to use actual magic, this is why people who can use mana properly are always taken in by nobles. They want to restrain the peasants from finding out how to use magic, so they shower the talented with titles and money to keep them on a tight leash, if they don't comply, well how do I put this..."

His face became stern.

"It comes down to assassination or liquidation. Not too long ago a group of mages were executed on multiple counts of treason for teaching the arts without the royal seal." The glint in his eyes returned and his voice became lively again.

"Now imagine if every human had the ability to use basic magic techniques due to a mana gland, or mana organ. Ah it is truly sad to be limited by the human condition..."

"Wait, if I remember correctly Proteus was sick the day before the trip because of mana depletion." Said Ussiah, who ignored the alchemist still speaking woefully with vigour in the background. Word travelled fast in small communities.

"Don't tell me... You can use mana too?" The leader asked. Her two teammates both simultaneously facepalmed.

"Cecilia, remember this is something you should keep as a secret... Until we learn how to do it too." Ussiah looked like he was about to cry.

"Sure, I can use it a little," Proteus said as he covered his claws in purple mana. "I'd love to learn real magic though."

"Whoa, so you can use materialisation and enhancement eh?" The alchemist touched and studied Proteus' hand and claws. "This reminds me a lot of the bright-clawed bear, what a shame that I wasn't able to get my research material due to that disgusting plague."

"Bright-clawed bear, it has scales behind its joints and claws that glow in a silvery green light, correct?"

"That's it! Have you seen one before?"

"Yes, you could say that I learned how to do this after being inspired by it."

"What about you?" The alchemist looked at Cecilia.

"I can use it to enhance my strength, apparently I've been able to do it unconsciously since I was a child." Cecilia boasted and flexed her arm. Proteus didn't understand how mana could aid the performance of muscles, surely it was different to how he increased the sharpness of his claws. He couldn't wrap his head around it as a concept.

"A natural born fighter." Elijah added.

"I am really thankful for your services so I will explain something as a reward for protecting me. Words and magic are very much connected and this is especially true for people who use mana. Such individuals are often bound by words, they can rarely break a promise."

"That's a hindrance only if you intend to break a vow" Proteus scoffed.

"Ahaha, that is true. But you should be careful nonetheless, you never know what kind of trouble words will bring you."

They journeyed to the second nearest town. The closer they got to Wior the larger and more well equipped the settlements became. The adventurer's guild there had personnel that bought the monster materials and also examined the value of the mana stone so that the party could sell it to the alchemist. The alchemist and his guards left the group hastily, it became clear that this town was their destination. Before they parted ways, Proteus bought a couple of healing potions from him, the same type the other adventurers had, he was told that they could instantly heal cuts and bruises and could even heal internal injuries when ingested.

'For how underdeveloped this world is, its medicine might be ways ahead from Agros.' If these were "basic potions", there was no imagining how effective other medications and drugs of this world would be.

For adventurers these potions were their lifeline, quite literally. They could be used in the middle of combat and would provide an increase in recovery speed for many types of injuries, they might even lower the risk of infections. It was something that many scientists in Agros dreamt of, a 'panacea'. That was just how useful these things were. Even if Proteus' healing speed was way above that of humans, there's no telling if he might ever need them or not, in the end it was better to be prepared.

Their stop at this village would take five more days, because the merchant wanted to get rid of some products or trade them before they set out again.

On the very next day, Proteus went to the local Adventurer's Guild to look for a job. There, he met the trio he had been travelling with and they offered him to join them on a monster extermination that was just one hour north from this place. They had seen his combat prowess and wanted him to join their party, which he reluctantly agreed to. They went together to the front desk to greet the blonde woman that was sitting there.

"Alright, please show me your tags, what about you young man?" She looked at Proteus, who didn't have any tag or other identification. He couldn't say anything, what if he uttered something wrongly and raised suspicion?

"Wait, you seriously don't have one? When did you become an adventurer." Said the surprised Elijah, unknowingly saving Proteus from a precarious situation.

"A few days before I met you, I didn't know I needed to have one of those"

"All is well, it's not really that big of a problem, however would you like to be registered?" Narrowed eyes and a smiling face that indicated friendliness, behind which hid calculative observations. The blonde woman was looking very, very carefully.

"Yes, if that is okay with you, but I don't have anything to prove my identity..."

"This is normal in places like these, the tag will become your identification after you acquire it. Please state name, race, former or secondary occupation, and residence."

"Proteus, therian, hunter, no residence, is that acceptable?"

"Oh ho, a therian?" She leaned into the desk and her breasts flattened and spread towards the front. She looked at his lower body section, searching for something. After she saw his claws she returned to a proper sitting position and completed the form.

"It will be ready in one to two days, please keep in mind that in case it is lost you will have to request a new one here or at an official association bureau. I wish you luck on your hunt."