Devour

About a minute ago…

From the corner of his eyes, TJ could see Magnus' eyes fixed on the ground, but his mind was clearly somewhere else. His brows formed deep creases of worry, and one time TJ noticed his face showing frustration.

'Those two must be talking to each other, searching for a solution for my situation,' TJ thought, referring to both Magnus and his copy. He then observed Magnus' expression gradually shifting from desperation to hesitation to clarity.

'Don't fucking tell me those idiots are thinking of agreeing to Matt's bullshit.'

That would be the stupidest thing Magnus could ever decide on. And TJ wasn't about to let that happen. No way in hell would he let himself become some unknown being's puppet, even if that meant the end of his life. Hell nah.

So before Magnus and his copy could arrive at a stupid conclusion, TJ pulled his mind inward, muting every stimulant coming from outside. He focused on that sensation he had felt the first time he sensed mana. By now, he knew he had a natural talent for perceiving everything that happened inside his body.

Magnus himself was of a similar case, as his Perception was able to match his other stats despite receiving minimal boosts from Atlantis. Which was probably why Magnus had never bothered boosting TJ's Perception.

"Don't you fucking dare think about it," he told Magnus.

"But dude, you're—"

"Shut the fuck up. I've got this."

TJ concentrated on his heart—the organ that had been injured by Matt's knife. Though the knife had gotten to his heart, supposedly enough to kill a normal person, it was but a mere prick to him, therefore allowing himself to survive long enough before Summer rushed in and healed the wound. The poison had successfully penetrated the organ, though. He knew this; he could feel it.

As to how it was able to contaminate his soul? He ain't got no fucking clue.

All he knew was that he had to somehow tap into the thing causing the infection. Not the poison per se, more like the thing emitted by it. What did Magnus call it? Right, the Aura.

He wasn't the best at sensing Aura, since his Perception excelled more at control rather than detection. That was also how he was able to learn how to control mana and learn skills so easily. That said, he was still somewhat adequate at perceiving Aura, especially ones that were within him.

The Aura given off by the poison partly resembled the familiar one he usually sensed from dark element mana. However, there was something else fused with it; something more feral. It was almost as destructive as the dark element's Aura, but the vibe was slightly different. Whereas dark element's attribute told of a cold and unfeeling sense of pure destruction, this foreign energy's attribute spoke more of a primal desire to kill and rampage. It thirsted for blood.

Like those hellhounds and other monsters he had encountered.

At first, TJ tried using his own dark element mana to counter this wild energy and force it to submit. The result? It became even more ferocious. It clearly despised being forced.

So then TJ attempted to drive it away. But the energy rebelled in response. TJ then used fire element mana to burn it down. That ended up backfiring on him; the energy hungrily ate the fire mana to fuel itself. It grew slightly bigger, able to infect TJ's heart—and possibly soul—even faster.

At that moment where about eighty percent of his heart had been contaminated, he pulled out all the stops and just blasted all kinds of mana into the energy.

And that brought terrible news to his body. It couldn't handle the big battle currently taking place inside his heart and most likely also his soul.

A huge part of him knew this would result in his death, but he refused to yield. Until finally, his mind went blank. His consciousness was gone, and so was his heartbeat.

Well, the latter remained true for a little longer, while the former got rebooted soon after. So while Magnus and the others had started undergoing the first stage of grief, TJ's consciousness was transferred to a state between life and death—like a computer stuck on the startup screen.

He opened his eyes. Not really because he didn't exactly have a face. He just felt as if he was opening his eyes, revealing the sight before him. It was a world of gray. Or, more precisely, a graying world, with no exact texture or shape filling the space around him. The small space nearest to him had Auras of different colors moving about. But up ahead, a relentless storm of gray was rapidly devouring all the colors. And even further ahead, the world had turned completely black.

TJ's figurative eyes moved down to observe what he looked like. He was in the form of a white energy orb with a slight tinge of red, floating still while different colored waves were constantly passing him by.

As he looked back up, the storm of gray had already covered a great distance, and was now only a few meters before TJ's spherical form. He had no time nor chance to evade it. The storm indiscriminately swallowed all the colors around him.

As if on instinct, he mustered whatever kind of strength he had in him, causing the red glow of his form to brighten amidst the storm. Not long after all the colors had perished, the storm of black arrived. But TJ refused to waver. He turned up his glow, ready to withstand the oncoming darkness.

The black storm mercilessly devoured the space around him, leaving only the void in its wake. TJ desperately held on, but some dark tendrils managed to slither their way into his orb, wrapping themselves around him and shrouding his glow. He was being swept away, and there was nothing he could do about it.

In fact, the black tendrils gave him a strange sensation that made him reluctant to keep fighting. They made him want to give in to his primal desires; to destroy and devour. It turned out that the black storm embodied a deep and intrinsic hunger. It wanted to consume, ever-hungry for more.

And swayed by this desire, TJ's glow began to dim. It was as if he was willingly giving in to the hunger. However, distant echoes of voices suddenly reached his metaphorical ears.

'Son, I may not be able to spend much time with you, and I know I'm away from home far too often. I'm aware I may not be the best father, but know that you're always in my heart.'

'Tyler, dinner's ready! Come down here this instant or I'll confiscate your computer!'

'Dude, I promised your mother I'd pull you out of your room. So I got us a ticket to this movie that just came up…'

'What the heck, TJ?! You literally confessed to Emily, that senior with ginormous tits? After just one brief conversation? Man, I don't know if you're brave or straight up shameless.'

'Happy birthday, Tyler! Your father and I got you a little gift!'

'Sweet dreams, honey. I love you.'

As the voices neared, the hunger's grip on him loosened. And as he felt his mind becoming clearer, another orb was born out of the darkness. It was dim and tiny, but he knew it had the potential to grow. And for some reason, the orb was able to persevere in the middle of the ruthless darkness.

The tiny orb was where the voices came from.

TJ knew what to do next. From his own orb, he sent out a sliver of his consciousness, creating a thin but sturdy string that connected himself and the new tiny orb. Through this string, he then transferred all that was precious to him. His memories, all his feelings and love for his family and friends.

All that made him human, he salvaged from the hungry maws of the black storm. Even though the storm would devour him soon enough, he knew he had managed to preserve his humanity. And with the unbreakable string connecting him and his humanity, it didn't matter if he became something else. He would still be his parents' son, his friends' introverted friend, and Magnus' best friend—no, brother.

Shortly after, the black tendrils had completely enveloped his own orb, quickly blending it with the world of darkness. He could feel the hunger creeping in, but this time he was able to keep it under control. Meanwhile, the once-tiny orb now had grown to be four times bigger, its reddish glow unwavering amidst the darkness.

Gradually, as the storm settled and he fully became one with the darkness, his heart started beating again.

His eyelids fluttered open, and he woke up with a bestial scream.