Black Haze

Ethan once again returned to the cave by exiting the wall and slowly sliding down it while his face distorted in pain, when he opened his eyes when the first wave of pain was over he could see that Hazel had fallen asleep while the book was on her lap.

He let out a little laugh though he could feel the immense pain filling his abdomen and then spreading throughout every fiber of his body. After ten or so minutes the second wave finished and Ethan took off his sweatshirt and shirt because he was sweating a lot.

He closed his eyes and looked up waiting for the next wave of pain to come, then after a minute it did and lasted roughly twenty minutes. Each time a wave finished the next one was always longer and after a little under five hours, he opened his eyes and looked down at his hand.

He could feel a weird sensation while the previous wave of pain was happening, and when he looked at his hand he could see that there was seemingly black smoke rising off of his fingertips. The smoke itself didn't hurt, however, it felt like it was numb from being electrocuted.

He watched the smoke for that minute when he didn't feel pain and it reminded him of how the wolf's fur was constantly moving and releasing particles. Then realizing that it likely had to do with his affinity to the darkness increasing.

He continued to watch it, too sore to move, until the next wave of pain overwhelmed his body and senses. He gritted his teeth and tightly closed his eyes as the pain from the wave lasted a little over an hour.

After another two hours, he could tell that his senses had increased drastically and when the next relief from the torture he was going through arrived, he could sense that someone's gaze was casted upon him.

He opened his eyes and looked at Hazel, seeing that she was sitting there watching him. During the last wave, he could feel something off and now realized that it was Hazel watching him. He was too weak to speak so he used the ring instead.

"Enjoying the show?"

Hazel could hear the pain in his voice even if it was through his thoughts, after a few moments she spoke out loud to him.

"No not really…. I'm also not stupid enough to ask if you're okay, but I will ask if you still have a thirst for blood right now."

Ethan knitted his eyebrows then replied with the ring again. "No…? Why are you asking?"

Hazel parted her lips for a moment. "Your eyes are still red, I thought you didn't get enough blood out there but I guess I was wrong."

Ethan let out a small laugh, however, his face distorted in pain from doing that. "No, it's likely because my body is absorbing the blood I consumed and they'll return to normal when I'm done going through this torture."

"I understand."

Ethan watched her look down back at the book on her lap and figured that she went back to reading it, though he knew that she got so bored from reading it before that she passed out and fell asleep for a few hours.

For the next four hours, Ethan was constantly berated by pain and eventually didn't even get any relief from it, even if the freedom only lasted a minute. After those four hours, he began to breathe heavily and Hazel looked over at him.

He opened his eyes and could see that she replaced the book with her gaming console, but took a break when she heard his breathing. She wasn't expecting him to form a gentle smile when he looked over at her, but she did expect the violet color to return to his eyes.

"I- I think it's finally over…. Didn't expect it to take roughly half a day though…." Ethan let out a small laugh even though he knew it would hurt. Soon his breathing returned to normal and adjusted his body into a more comfortable position.

He parted his lips for a moment then began to speak out loud.

"I seriously hope that my body…. Doesn't go through this kind of pain every…. Time I consume blood, it'd be a pain in more than one way…."

Hazel looked at him for a moment then an idea came to her head. "Could it be because you consumed powerful blood from the Mana Beasts? I mean you're absorbing more than just their blood, so the more Abilities or Attributes they have and you absorb will likely make it more painful."

Ethan lets out a small laugh, though his face distorts into pain before he has a gentle smile on his face again. "Yea I was thinking the same thing, to be honest, I mean it makes the most sense and I know I gained more than last time."

"Do you know what exactly you gained?"

"I know of a few things for certain, however, over the next few days I'll likely be able to realize some other Abilities that I've gained. Two of the things I know for certain is that my affinities towards blood and the darkness have risen considerably.

I can sense a strange feeling if I focus on your blood too, nothing like the urge to hurt you, instead it feels like I can strengthen your life. If I had to guess, I believe I got the ability to heal other people through the means of their blood.

I'm guessing that I got that from the Unicorn, and something from the wolf I killed is this."

A black haze began to surround Ethan's torso and arms, then as it was extremely thick it dissipated and a black hoodie exactly like the one he took off earlier could be seen on his body. He shifted his arms around and the hoodie moved and followed just like it should if it was real.

"Good news is that I don't think I'll need to spend money on new clothes ever again."