Adjusting Sight
Inside of Aaron Stone's mind, the blinding light of AuthRecSys had passed, leaving nothing but the aftereffects of a flashbang behind. Soul looked around the void, trying to manually clear the brightness from his eyes. That light was something inhuman. Hell, it wasn't even godly. That light was something else. Something that not even the highest gods could attain. That was light that had no reason to exist. It was a void of colour.
Soul looked around, his eyes slowly but surely drowning out the colour-voiding light. He saw the faint outline of Aaron and the monster that had entered his mind. "Huh. So, they didn't take you with them? I guess Auth betrayed you." Soul said to himself, walking towards the figure that resembled the creature that invaded his mind.
Soul's hand outstretched, grabbing the creature by the neck as his eyes finally finished adjusting to the dying light. He was glad that he had actually got the right person, as it would not have been good for him to try to do the same to Aaron. "So much for a protector, eh? They left you behind. I bet that Auth promised you power, did he not? After all, there had to have been some incentive for you to take up this task. The challenge of invading my, and Aaron's, mind." Soul commented, intentionally trying to rile up the creature. He wanted to try and Corrupt it.
"Surely, you were meant to be paid handsomely for completing your task." Soul contemplated as the creature looked at him incredulously. "I have an idea. Do you want your revenge on AuthRecSys?" Soul asked, poking his own flesh with his finger. He only now realised how sharp his fingers were since he hadn't yet lowered his pain amount received. In his mind, he imagined a scale that went from 0 to 100. Soul made sure that dial was at its lowest point, that being zero. The pain would only get in the way.
"Well? I can grant you the power to become strong. You can become more powerful than AuthRecSys with my help." Soul coaxed the creature, drawing a finger across his skin, leaving a thin cut along his arm. "With my essence, also known as my blood, you can leave your natural boundaries behind. Join my army of soldiers. Become the first to embrace their fate. After all, we can take the fight straight to Auth once we have the power of numbers." Soul explained, opening the slit on his arm so that some of his Corrupted Essence could fall out.
"Ingest it if you wish to gain unimaginable power. Do not if you wish to keep yourself out of this grudge match." Soul finished, extending his arm and letting the pink Corrupted Essence drop to the floor. It took the creature a good two seconds to decide what he wanted. In a whisper, he asked Soul for a favour.
"...Please. Give me as much as you are willing to part with. I need the strength." The creature whispered as Soul let out a maniacal laugh. "Now, THAT'S what I like to hear!" Soul announced, grabbing Aaron's attention. He hadn't been interested in what Soul was doing until this point. Aaron appeared at Soul's shoulder, noting the dripping Corruption.
"So, what are you two doing over here?" Aaron asked with curiosity in his voice. "Well, I'm turning this guy into a Corrupted Soldier. At least, that's the nickname I'll give them. I'm kinda pissed off at Auth for messing with both of us, so I'd like to just have a little army behind my back so that we'd be able to overwhelm him with numbers in the future." Soul explained as Aaron nodded. "Well, I won't stop you. It might serve to help us in the future. Although will Oki turn into one of those? After all, you might be killed if Oki turns into a mini version of you." Aaron pointed out as Soul's expression dropped. "Oh. Fuck. I forgot about that." Soul sighed before an idea popped into his head, lighting up his face with realisation.
"What if I just give specific Corrupted Soldiers the ability to toggle their Corruption? Like how I can do it. That way, if we ever need to perform reconnaissance or hide amongst a crowd while needing my soldiers out for help, I can just have them disable their Corruption while remaining loyal to my cause." Soul spitballed, coming up with an idea. "I mean, that could work. It might even be better than not Corrupting them in the first place, as this way, you can have a hideable army. However, what do you mean by 'needing your soldiers out'? Surely they have to be out at all times, right?" Aaron asked in confusion.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Since I'm the leader of the 'chain' of Corruption, I can return all of my Corruption to me and willingly extrude it. Now, this means that when Corrupted Soldiers are present and in their Corrupted forms, I can absorb them into my body, keeping them safe. Think of it like hiding an army in your shadow or your back pocket." Soul explained, as Aaron just smiled. "You know, you may have gotten kinder to people, but you can still strategise like a damn megalomaniac. I like how you run now, Soul. Keep up the work. I want to see what happens next. Although, don't hesitate to call on me if you need another pair of eyes on hand. Remember, you have Boundless Interdimensional Summon. Summon me a vessel, and I'll inhabit it for however long needs be. Just make the vessel like my current body, or I won't come out to help." Aaron Stone responded before waving two fingers in front of his chin in a peace sign, vanishing.
"Well then. Now that that's out of the way, are you ready to become a Corrupted Soldier?" Soul asked, to be met with a brisk nod. Soul deepened the cut on his arm and extended it over the creature's mouth. As the pure Corrupted Essence flowed through its body, the sounds of bones disintegrating and flesh changing rung through the air as Soul looked at his new creation with a large, evil smile plastered to his face.
His first Corrupted Soldier.