There was no response, but silence.
Then, a movement occurred. The tunnel stretches wider, unnatural, suddenly shifting as though the cavern itself was alive. And from the shifting darkness, something emerged.
A figure….no, not a figure. A presence. Its shape was fluid, flickering between forma…sometimes humanoid, sometimes monstrous, something that is very hard to define. But its eyes, a complete void of endless darkness, bored into him.
"You consume."
The entity's voice did not echo in the air, but directly inside his skull. Crawling through the cracks of his mind, sibling claws into his thoughts.
"You grow." it took a step forward.
"But do you understand what you are becoming?"
It activated gluttony inside him. Which leads to an increase in hunger. His chest felt like burning. He collapsed on the ground. His claws reflexively clenched against his chest.
He can't answer.
The entity tilted its head, as though studying him, dissecting him with its gaze.
"No. You do not understand. Not yet."
Then, it moved. A black blue…faster than anything he had faced before. He didn't even had the time to react before the entity's form crashed into him, sending him skidding backward across the uneven stone.
Pain flared through his back as he struck the cavern wall, but he didn't hesitate. If he hesitates he will die. He moved on pure reflex, his claws slashing through the air.
But his attack met nothing. The entity had already vanished.
A sharp pain erupted across his side, a cold, piercing agony that wasn't from claws or fangs, but something worse.
Something inside him. His breath hitched as his vision sawm, his body looked up as an invisible force tore through his mind, unraveling his thoughts.
Fragmented Memories, pieces of himself ripped away, devoured by unseen jaws. This sent unimaginable pain to him.
"What are you?" The entity whispered, its voice was full of curiosity. Be snarled, pushing through the immense pain, forcing his body to move. His senses are distorted and broken.
He tried to look for the entity. But its presence was everywhere and at the same time nowhere, a shifting, writhing thing that refused to be pinned down.
The pain sent him to question himself. Is he weak? What is all this evolution about? Is he weak? No he wasn't weak. He won't be a prey. Others are the prey I am the predator.
The voice of the Abyss stirred, flickering back to life like a dying ember reigniting.
[Host is under cognitive attack. Initiating defensive protocol.]
A surge of clarity slammed into him, severing the entity's grip on his mind. The voice of Abyss came at the right time, or he would have become a mad beast without consciousness.
The Whispers of the entity flattered, the suffocating pressure easing for just a fraction of a second. And that was all he needed.
He moved. Putting all his strength into his legs. He jumped forward. Faster than before. The darkness warped around him as he longed, his claws slicing through the space where the entity stood.
Expect a psychological attack, which can confuse anyone, and destroy their Consciousness. It didn't have any physical attack.
A scream..in human, shrieking, reverberating through the cavern walls.
This time his strike connected.
The entity staggered, its flickering form faltering, losing shape. For the first time. It felt real. Tangible. And the real thing could be destroyed.
Feeling it, he smiled. Recalling all the pain it caused him. He didn't stop. He tore into it, his claws raking through its unstable flesh, black ichor spilling into the air.
Its form convulsed, shifting wildly struggling to escape. But he didn't let it. He sliced it at full speed as many times as he could.
His chest pain increased, as he smelled blood. He grabbed the writhing mass, his fangs sinking deep into the essence of the entity itself.
It screamed. A wail of agony. Of furt and fear.
The darkness around them trembled, the cavern shaking as the entity's form collapsed inward, its existence unraveling pulled into him.
Devoured. A rush of power flooded through him. Cold. Shrp. Foreign. And the Whispers ceased. The cavern returned to its normal state.
And then, the voice of the Abyss spoke.
[Assimilation completed. The host has acquired a new ability: cognition.]
He exhaled, his breath ragged, his body had slowed and healed all its injuries from the collision. All the essence absorbed into his body, become a part of him.
The presence was slowly fading away. The entity's Whispers started to become weak. But its knowledge remained. And as his vision cleared, as the last remnants of its attack faded from his mind...
He understands. This was no mere ordinary cavern. No simple hunting ground. This place was a graveyard for many.
A prison for things that should not exist. And now, as he took a piece of it into himself. He has also become the thing that should not exist.
His lips crumbled into a slow, predator grin. Good.
He sat there, as its attack effect remained.
The cavern was still. Not in the way of a quiet night, where the air felt light and the world rested. No, this was different. The abyss was never this quiet.
It was the stillness of something unnatural. Something is wrong. As if everything is paused. And waiting for something to come. What is it?
He looks around. And he could feel it.
The remnants of the entity devoured still lingered inside him, could a s sharp jagged glass pressing against his mind. Its Whispers had long ceased, but its knowledge remained.. heavyweight coiling in the depths of his thoughts, silent but ever-present.
He exhaled slowly, letting the sensation slowly settle. His body still trembling from the rush of power, but the hunger was already gnawing at him again. Always hunger. Always need more.
His gaze drifted downward, to the black ichor pooling at his feet….the last remnants of whatever that thing had been. It didn't dissolve like the bodies of lesser creatures. It remained, tick and viscous, pulsing faintly as if clinging to the last shreds of existence.
It still wants to be remembered even after its death.