Our steps are pretty loud in the silence of the hallway.
Why isn't there any fucking bird or some shit to do ambience noises? There should have some, it's getting uncomfortable.
My hand twitch, the snake inside my throat, the coils grab my guts and move.
If I don't like something. Get rid of it.
Even if I don't like this feeling. Sometimes. It does give great ideas.
That's why I'll put on my big boy pants cause apparently the old guy is too stuck up in his ways.
He should learn from this younger generation he's trying to protect so damn much.
"Balrow"
The sound of footstep behind me don't stop "Yes?"
Taking a big sigh, my eyes roam around, probably just trying to distract me for the talk.
Yes I'm wondering if this place is good enough for testing of course.
But....that's clearly not the whole truth.
Something rise up in my throat. Pushing me to advance, to do it.
So I do.
"Listen, this whole shit. I don't know what is it. It's fucking useless, I don't know why you're thinking that's a smart idea. Maybe it's because of pride, or whatever. I don't care"
I don't listen to the footsteps behind me, I just focus in front of me. Memories bluring with the presents, my dream, my mom flashing in my mind again.
"Just. Next time, don't do it. Or like, at least think about it." My sigh is pretty big, a mix of anger and utter dissapointment I didn't have the time to let out while growing up.
"You can keep your secrets or whatever, I won't force you to say anything. But, next time think about it. Hiding shit to the people you're trying to survive with isn't the best of ideas"
Say the guy that's hiding more secrets than dead bodies.
Ignoring my thoughts, my feet keep going, don't really know why to be honest, but a voice resonate in the hallway.
"I will"
Alright, alright. Don't know if I believe him but at least the silence is better than before.
My coils move again. Can't it calm down for one second? Fuck that always happen whenever I find a way to get stronger.
Stopping myself midstep, in the middle of the hallway, I turn around and look at balrow.
"Alright, alright, good."
My hand claps together. Time to switch subject.
"So, what about the skill?" before he answer, my hand come up. Shutting his answer as I realize how vague my question is.
My coil move. And again, I remember why it's useful as it fuel my thoughts for once.
Balrow don't talk a lot. He need clear and concise questions.
"Alright, let's try again. What's your skill called already?"
Clear enough.
His eyes move, looking at something before he answer "the towering mountain shield form"
Really, those names are always crazy. But speak of a great amount of potential power.
I lick my lips, remembering something "is there something called (common) beside it?"
He nod.
Good, just like Jenna. This common skill, soooo powerful. Fuck I'm hungry.
I swallow saliva. I'm salivting, too much, too fast.
My fingers come up to rub the part between my eyes. "Damn, why does this sound like xianxia so much, actually" just trying to distract myself from my hunger.
My fingers freeze as I realize something, my memories and thoughts just connecting too fast now that it's fueled by those coils. From remembering the common, to another system skill I completly forgot about.
Does skills have descriptions?
My heart beat a bit faster, hungry for information.
"Actually, is there any description?" he look at me.
Concise questions ludger. He doesn't seem to understand what I'm talking about "description"
I lick my lips. How do I describe a video game description of a skill to an old man? Should have asked jenna earlier.
"Like, more words? Somewhere under it? More details or information about it?"
He look again before answering, switching his shield from his right hand to the left one. "There is the level."
Very well no visible description, what about this then? "What if you inspect it?" He stop for a second, his eyebrows scrunch as he focus.
1 second.
2 second "nothing"
Nothing!? "Nothing? Even when you inspect it? Well now that's strange" My hand come up to touch my chin, rub it, like some kind of evil villain. But without a goatee.
Why the comparaison with an evil villain? Well, pretty simple. It's because of the entire reason I'm rubbing my chin.
The entire reason I'm looking at balrow and acting like I'm thinking about something.
When I'm not. I know what to do and say.
I'm just trying to calm the fucking coiling hotness in my chest. The one that's been starting to plague me since the whole start of my little interrogation.
Fucking annoying.
Think about other annoying things ludger, like this system, I want to figure out that system.
My mind flash. My status, no my stats.
[Ludger emellini
-body: 10
-mind: 10
-magic: 2
Essence: 25/100
Tier: tutorial attendee
1 free point.]
This free point sound tasty.
But whatever, whatever, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter at all.
I barely give any attention to what the system shown. it just shown my experience and my tier too, when I just said the stats.
Why?
Another thought flash. Something about my title having a description.
Whatever whatever later. The coils slide around inside of me, making me think too much, too fast.
Focus on something else.
Looking at balrow again my hand come down from my chin.
"Well, that's strange. Looks like we'll need to test some things first" My coils push, the rest of my sentence take a poisoningly sweet tone "How do you feel about a small spar? Just to see if anything changed?"
He nod and lift up his shield to ready his strap.
I gulp, not because of anything anyone could guess.
It's not a normal swallow. No.
It's the kind of swallow that happen when someone salivate too much, when they think about something terrifyingly tasty and alluring.
It's as if someone just shoved a full ribsteak, cooked by the best chef in the world, right under my nose.
It's sound just so tasty.
Something make me want to spit out this notion. No it's not like a steak.
My hand clench, my blink my eyes manually. I've been staring too long at balrow.
Food can't be alluring. No matter which spices, chef, or technique you use. Food cannot make me feel that much of an intense hunger, that much of a desire.
Only something like power could.
Something like the proof that having a skill make someone more powerful.
The proof that by just killing, and training, and abusing this bitch of a system, I could be powerful.
My hand squeeze nothing. But damn it squeeze.
It squeeze hard. Trying to resist this sweet poision.
But it coils and coils. Using my own nightmare against me. Using my own desire for control, my own starving for it against me.
Powerful people aren't helpless.
They aren't.
I contract my body. In the way that will hide my small shaking, the kind of shaking you'll get because shivers of anticipation washes over your body in droves.
Maybe I would be able to resist this disgustingly sweet coils inside me if it were another day.
Any other day.
But right now. Between the kidnapping. The stress. My last dream.
And what happened in the bathroom last time.
I just barely can't.
The only reason I'm not freaking out right now, as the inside of my guts are ravaged.
Is simply because our desire align.
I want to test the skill. That's true. It's not something as hard to do. It's not something as hard as killing twitchy. It's not something as hard as using a point that could break my mind in half.
This is my only salvation.
And my only fear, because the more normal the goals. The less resistance put. The less resistance put?
The more influences it get.
My eyes are straight on balrow, barely giving him any attention.
Something else have my attention.
And I just have an opportunity to test it again.
Time to a spar.