Down With The Sickness
Chris was standing next to Sarah; she was tense about the test he was about to go through. The point of the test to weaponize his "curse" into being his biggest strength, but first, he would need to cast the premade spell.
"Chris, focus, alright?" Said Sarah as she smacked him on the shoulder. He nodded to her and said, "I am SOOO ready to cast a healing spell."
Chris was looking down at his right-arm, the golden lettering had faded and now resembled a standard tattoo from Earth. [That is so…foreign.] thought Chris as he touched the sore part of his forearm. [The burning sensation is not there, and the irritation is nonexistent…I wish we could have had some of this stuff!]
The script that the tattoo was written in is the same runic text that ancient people used. They invoke emotion and feelings when they are amplified by mana. Some historians believe they were crafted by the Gods for Mages, but it is unsure as other cultures have similar developments.
As Chris was reabsorbed by his magic, he could FEEL it call him.
Sarah was ready for the test and prepared herself, she looked over to Chris who was rubbing his arm, [Why do mages always feel that way? Magic isn't very impressive at this stage in his path.] She shook her head, "Chris, stop messing around!"
He turned and said, "Right..right, what? What are we doing?" to which Sarah let out a large sigh. "Kid, I need you to heal me…you know, with your spell? I want to see how much damage it does." She had lowered her defense; the physical attack or spell would ignore the power of her Vitality. People do this strictly for testing purposes and training their bodies. It generally is not practiced because it makes someone vulnerable for a short amount of time.
"Um, Sarah, my mana probably isn't back yet…" Chris cut off when he felt the energy surge to the site of the tattoo. "Right…free healing spells, but they will hurt you, are you sure?" asked Chris.
Sarah nodded, "This will be fine, I still have a lot of HP for you to get through before you do real damage to me. Just try to focus on letting the energy go to the spell model and PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT IT MAKES YOU DO AND FEEL!" She was yelling at him because he had closed his eyes.
[That warmth, it is so nice..I should do this when I get done taking a bath! Not the time, but it is a good idea. Okay, Enlightening Word…come on out!] The energy was flowing within his body, it was like a raging current of ethereal light. The waves were noticeable, but they added to the mysteriousness that the magic represented.
Chris opened his eyes, [Woah…] he could see that current of power flowing into his body, it was circling beneath his skin. For some reason, it appeared to be alternating and staying at specific frequencies before moving along. [A wave and particle behavior, amazing. Am I a medium for light?] Chris had the sudden feeling that he was a fiberoptic cable and that the light was just flowing. [But it isn't very fast at all, if anything, I would say it is SSSSLLLLLOOOOOWWWWLLYYYYY moving, like syrup.] The strange rushing FEELING and visual viscosity that he was witnessing was causing him some conflict. [Maybe the slow light is my own?] He thought as he directed a vacuum force to the blank space on his arm. The light that was slowly splitting off of it began to swirl and pour into the lettering.
[Idam Dukkham] Chris felt this word echo through his being. [What the-] Chris felt a strange sense enter his body, it was from the spell model. [This..is..pain. It means that this IS pain. The enlightened word is "pain"?] Chris was confused, the strange meaning behind the word was resounding within his mind. [No, that isn't it. It is the identification of pain…why do I feel strange?] Chris could still see the mana flowing and he could see Sarah standing there, she was waiting for him to act, but this profoundness that was resonating through him. It was like he told his deepest and darkest secrets, the ones that he was killed with. [I am naked..but this person understands it.] The spell model that was directing the mana, was made by another, and this person was clearly no stranger to despair. [Idam Dukkham is the word, but it doesn't even come close.] Chris could feel the path laid out. [This is the path to Nirvana; I can feel it. Do I walk it?]
The spell model was complete, he just had to inflict enlightenment on another. He raised his hand and felt Sarah become available as a target for the spell model. Arching yellow light came from his fingertips and as it reached Sarah it became twisted; the enlightenment was being altered.
"WAIT!" Chris had forgotten that this would be dealing damage instead of healing, the feeling of approaching enlightenment was ironically…intoxicating.
The beautiful and crackling yellow began to shift as it landed on Sarah's arm, he could view as his mana permeated her body and identified her most recent wounds.
"ARGH!" Yelled Sarah as she felt the full brunt of the "attack." It was undoing the natural healing that her body had done…
Her hands and feet began to crack and bleed as the flesh split. Blood was released onto the sewer ground. Sarah felt her Vitality slip and a coldness was washing over her body.
[GODS, WHAT UNHOLY MAGIC!] Said Sarah as she tried to walk away, the pain in her feet from her last training session was making it difficult.
The weakness and fatigue that she felt were obviously not real, she was in perfect shape, but the sudden reduction in her body made her shiver.
"Sarah.." Chris said as he was following her, she looked like she was shaken.
They had gotten to the ladder and Sarah climbed it, then she sat on the small deck that was raised over the tunnel. She pulled out an orb that would help with the lighting.
"Your hands…" Said Chris as he went to feel them, the blisters and cracks made it seem like she needed to use more lotion, but it was tinted in a purple hue. The blood was lightly brown, almost like it was old already.
"What the hell happened?" Asked Chris as he noticed that Sarah was feeling her face.
"Umm..Kid, it seems like you have a deadly curse. It feels…awful. It is like I have the Cold-Sickness, but I am in the middle of it." She touched her face and patted her eyes.
Chris was confused about the "Cold-Sickness" but her eyes…they seemed to be more wrinkled. "Sarah what is wrong with your face?" he asked. In return he received a hateful glare, "It seems like your "healing" does the opposite. Not damage, but something else."
Chris nodded, [Maybe she is dehydrated? How would that work?]
Sarah let out a large sigh, she was clearly not happy to be looking worse. Chris dangled his legs, "I didn't want to hurt you, I am sorry."
Sarah looked at him, "Boy, you are strange. Do not feel pity for me, you must treat everyone as a potential rival and show them the respect of one if you wish to become somebody WORTH admiring one day. Your spell honestly did not even hurt that much, had I been using my Vitality, it would barely impact me." She was feeling a little hurt, but it was mostly her pride, she never like to be pitied for being a weak daughter. She had earned her scars on the battlefield, but she knew that this kid had no frame of reference.
After activating her Vitality and resuming the flow of life, she pulled Chris down the ladder, it was time for the next step.
"Alright kid, remember when you made Bethany and I your Allies? I need you to do that, but to a Slime! Hahahaha!" She cackled as she felt her skin tighten and her lethargy fade. [It is temporary, but that is POWERFUL to have by default. If he can pull this off, he might be a monster…]
Chris was walking next to her when he felt the woman next to him disappear, a strong burst of "sewery goodness" was splashed as she burst down the hall.
He stood there and heard footsteps coming back, the bag that she had was nearly full as it squirmed in her left hand. The right hand held a lone Slime that was repeatedly trying to stab her and failing miserably.
"Kid, I want you to think of this Slime as your best friend. The goal is to make it register as an Ally, remember the "plan?" Sarah said as she sat the bag on the ground and held Mr. Slime out in front of her.
"Uh…alright." Said Chris as he thought, [Mom worked for this last time…but how do I feel "good" about a creature?] He felt strange as the clear conflict was in his mind.
[Looks like I am going to have to view the Slime like Sarah, like me. It is just a being that is looking to survive, and I think I would like to help it…] He focused very hard, [Let me heal this "thing" …wait, no. Let me heal my mother.] Chris could feel that pull, it was trying to bridge a gap, he had fought with this monster and nearly got "barbed" by it. The pulling was unnatural, but it was following into uncharted territory. [I want to HELP my FRIEND, Mister Slimy.] He tried to picture enlightening the Slime, letting the golden energy flow and restore its body.
"IT WORKED!" Said Chris as he felt the Slime shift. It wasn't "friendly", but it was curious as to why the large being was no longer "food".
Sarah let it go and watched it roll over to Chris. "Uh, Sarah, what if it hurts me????"
Chris began to back up and the Slime was rolling slowly, it seemed less dangerous. There was a psychic intuition that Chris could feel, and he KNEW that the Slime knew as well.
[I doubt I will pass the cuddle test…] Thought Chris as he began to cast [Enlightening Word], the flow was MUCH faster, it took over a second to fill up but it was ready to fire. He had two targets available to him. He thought, [Slime!] and at that moment, the light shot out. The arching waves of yellow light were traveling to the target and the Slime was none the wiser.
"It…it is..bubbling?" Chris said as he heard the Slime sizzle from the cast. It was evidently burnt in the past, or maybe it had never been injured before.
Chris felt the Slime shift emotions and attempt to attack, but he felt that the connection was NOT being closed. [Again!] He thought as the attack began to fill up the spell model, the intimacy of Nirvana was so very appetizing, but this was not the time.
Once again, the light burst from his hand and landed on the Slime, it was a few feet away and it began to turn purple. The sizzling was much worse, and the Slime began to deflate as the guts were spilling out of the "rubber" outer wall.
Sarah walked up and felt the Slime die. Chris felt a sense of despair for killing a friend…
"Sarah, I didn't like that, not one bit. I feel like I just stabbed my friend." She placed her hand on his shoulder, "It is okay, it will be easier next time, trust me. But there is a goodness that has come out of its death. You are stronger, and it has helped you survive the future. Be grateful to the monsters of this world, without them, we would be weak beings." She pulled him down the sewer, this would be the training that Chris is going to need.
[I need to work on this while he has the feelings available. If he can reliably make the Slime his ally, then he will be powerful, but practice must be done.]
(I made the Enlightening Word come from a Noble Truth in Buddhism. It is the first path, it means identifying the pain, and it basically revolves around the idea that you have to identify the issues of pain in your life before you can even attempt to fix them...I think.)
(AN- Please let me know how this chapter was, I just kept in most of the stuff I would have cut. I think it makes it harder to follow, but that is not really up for me to judge...
I might do a rewrite at 30 chapters, Idk. People seem to stay with the novel, but I am barely getting any traffic, and I don't really want to sign a contract with WebNovel. I love them for providing opportunity, but I doubt I could keep up with any real quality...if this even counts as half-way decent...
I think I am just going to keep pushing through, one day at a time. I don't want to drop this story, I enjoy writing it, and it lets me talk to myself for an actual reason! Thank you for reading!)