Aire let out a low, whispered groan. His leg had twisted awkwardly against the hard floor.
"This fucking stupid leg," he muttered, dragging himself upright to massage it. "They should've just cut it off," he added under his breath, reaching for his walking stick out of habit .
"Where the fuck is it?" he snapped, eyes scanning the cold, blood-stained room.
It had landed on one of the corpses.
"More crawling. Great," he sighed. Then took a deep breath. 'Calm down, Aire. No need to start bitching about everything,' he told himself. 'You're safe now. You're fine.'
He crawled slowly toward the stick, resting his head against a corpse once he reached it. 'I'm sure Crass wouldn't have minded,' he told himself, before turning his attention to the book.
Those final words from the candle still echoed in his ears. 'Your freedom depends on it.' What had it meant?
Whatever it did, Aire decided not to dwell on it too much. The witches couldn't be trusted, and the same went for their talking candles. For all he knew, it was just trying to make this more entertaining for the witches watching.
However, he knew that if he wanted to survive in this hell-hole, he would need to learn how to use his new powers, and quickly. And right now, this book was his only lead.
He lifted the book up into the light, studying it for a moment. 'This isn't human flesh is it?' he thought, noting that the texture was wrinkly and dry like aged skin.
「A special viewer has sent you a message. Interact with your chain to read it.」
"Fuck, not now," he muttered, swiping the notification away.
"Okay." He took a breath and opened it. 'What mysteries lie here?'
:{Dear Diary. I'm scared.}
Aire stared at the line. 'Is this all?' No spells. No witch secrets. Just... fear.
"The fuck is this? Did I just get scammed by a candle?"
An instant later, the ink on the paper twisted, words moving around the brown-stained page to form new sentences.
:{Today I discovered that I am a witch of black. What will mother think? What will father do?}
Aire waited for the words to move again.
:{There is no place for a black witch in the city. I fear I'll be sent to the vaults once my studies are done.}
:{Dear diary. The vaults are no place for a little girl. Much less a bloodmaiden such as I.}
:{A scripture from the Book of Noctis, to ease my sorrowing heart:
O Noctis, Mother, veiled in night,
Though fear may strip me, of all my might,
When terror meets my fragile soul,
Thy gaze restores, Mine shadow whole.
Through Thee I walk, through darkness near,
A slave to Thee, yet lord of fear.}
The words echoed, unspoken, yet loud inside his mind—
「You have heard a whisper of the world. You have the qualifications to begin its understanding.」
"What?"
A sudden wave of power surged through him. His eyes rolled back. And for a split moment, a starry endless night expanded in his sights. One among them, bright and white, turned black.
And then he was back.
「New vow unlocked: Fearful Gaze」
「Description: When fear stares unto you, Noctis stares back.」
Aire took a moment to recover.
Whatever had just happened to him left him feeling... stronger. Older. Not in the way of aching joints and sagging skin; but in the way dead things were old. Like an old god forgotten by its people. Ancient.
Just as he reached for his chain interface to learn more about this new vow, a string of notifications popped up infront of him:
「Rewards processing complete!」
「Viewer Milestone reward: Shared Drone Vision (66 seconds).」
「Global Rank Milestone reward: Cruxfix Talisman (single use).」
「Local Rank Milestone reward: Healing Brew (single use).」
「Vanquished Monster reward: Human Centipede Stitches (brewing item).」
Aire stared at the notifications, a small grin on his face. Even though he had no clue what half of his rewards did, it meant his odds of surviving had increased. It meant freedom was no longer a just bad pipedream.
"Thank you, gracious viewers," he said, tipping an imaginary hat to the hovering drone.
"I will make sure to remember you all, when I'm dry fucking you with my cane," he laughed, giving them the middle finger.
Just then, he heard something sloshing behind him. He turned around, slowly.
One of the orphan corpses ahead was twitching, something shifting inside its bloated belly.
"Oh, come on. I barely had time to breathe. Just give me a few more—"
The belly burst open.
Chunks of flesh and half-clotted blood splattered the room. A fat piece flew into Aire's mouth.
He spat it out with a gag, wiping his tongue, "Fucking hell."
A worm, white, slimy, and covered in blood writhed in the air.
Aire backed away, cane and book in hand. A sour smell had filled the room, making his eyes tear.
Then the thing's head split open like an unholy flower.
"You can have the corpses!" Aire barked, inching backwards. "Just stay the fuck away from me!"
However, the thing seemed to want live flesh more.
It jumped out of the belly with speed Aire did not expect it to have. And slithered on the floor, the mix of slime and blood making slish-slosh sounds as it moved closer.
Aire's back hit the wall. No where to run.
「A viewer has sent a superchat!」
「Who else wants to see the filthy mongrel die? :)」
His blood boiled.
"I'm not a mongrel!" he shouted.
The thing lunged at him, a spike of sharpened flesh extending from its mouth.
Aire blocked with his book. It slammed off, skittering across the ground.
The thing slithered, aiming to come at another angle, but Aire was faster.
He threw his book at it. Pushing off the wall with his good leg to cover the distance.
The worm tried to dodge, but Aire was already there. He recovered the book mid-motion and slammed the edge into its slimy body.
Squish.
Blood and pus sprayed everywhere.
The worm didnt scream. It just shivered, twitched, before lunging again.
Aire tried to dodge. But a cripple body isn't built for agility.
It buried itself in his shoulder. Pain, and sickness washed through his body in mind numbing waves.
The things body began pulsing, as if trying to inject something in him.
"Fuck you," he growled trying to grab it. "You're not turning me into a Changed."
However it was hard to get a good grip on its slimy skin. He pulled and slipped, and fumbled to rip it off. Before deciding to stab his cane into it.
The worm let out shriek, but did not let go.
Aire stabbed again. This time, he felt the pain as well. It was widing his wounds. But he didn't care. Pain was but a small price to remain human.
'One more.'
This time, he rammed the cane in with everything he had.
The cane dug into his shoulder, crushing the worm, but tearing the wound wide open.
「You have vanquished a changling.」
「Processing rewards.」
Aire slumped, chest heaving and shoulders shaking. Tears streamed down from bloodshot eyes.
"This hurts," he whispered, trying to mask his sobs. "Fucking hell, it always hurts."
「20 new viewers have tuned into your station.」
「10 new viewers have tuned into your station.」
"I hate this place."