Befouled Heart

[Rank: Corrupt]

'H-How...?' his eyes widened.

He read it again, pinching himself to ensure he was still awake. How was it possible? An item being a higher rank than the beast that dropped it.

Of course, items had a different ranking system to monsters, and a Fright should have dropped a Warped item, and yet, here in his hand was a Corrupt heart dropped by a mere Fright.

'A mere Fright? I really have gone insane'

It simply did not make sense. An item from a beast should never surpass the beast itself, else dreamers would simply hunt weak monsters in hopes of Warped and Corrupt items.

What was different about this arachnea? What allowed it to drop an item a class above itself? It should've been impossible. Unless...

At thought appeared in Lex's mind that hoped to solve this mystery. However, the thought itself was nearly as implausible as the mystery.

'Perhaps it's heart was that of a Demon, the same level on the ranking as Corrupt. But then...how on Axel did it manage to acquire a Demon's heart? That would be absurd. Yet, it was the only thing he could think of. Else, perhaps the system itself had gone insane'

The only way to find out was to dig deeper, yet he'd have to be much stronger in order to accomplish that. After all, something capable of giving a Fright the heart of a Demon had to be at the level of a Demon itself...or perhaps stronger.

After harvesting some meat off the Blizzard Arachnea, which was bound to be just as vile as the creature looked, the world was shrouded in darkness. Night had come. It was time to head back into the cave and call it a night.

After climbing back into their humble abode, they started up a fire. After all, they were living in one hell of a cold region; it was gelid, especially in the cave.

"How was your life back home? Do you miss it?" Hanz asked.

It seemed the fire had brought out deep feelings from Hanz, the mood had also reached Lex.

"Honestly, back in the dark forest, I want nothing more than to return home. In fact, at the end, I even considered killing myself just to escape it"

Hanz was taken aback. Yet, considering the state he found Lex in, it made sense. That place must have been a real hell if it was capable of breaking someone that badly.

Lex continued:

"But now that I'm out, even though we almost died today, I don't really miss back home. I know it sounds stupid and edgy but back home it was like everyone just wanted to control me. One step out of line and I'd end up with bruises, whether that was physically or mentally. Here, I feel like I'm free. No one to impress and no impossible expectations of me...I could die here right now and honestly, I'd be alright with that"

Lex seemed in his emotions. He'd never shared with someone like this before. It felt foreign and uncomfortable. He wondered if it was one of the items the young man possessed that was causing this. Yet, it was not.

In reality, it was likely a mix between the calmness of the fire and the slight bondage they gained fighting the arachnea together.

"I get that. But for me, I still miss the real world. I mean, don't get me wrong, it has a lot of bad things. And for me, it's almost as hellish as this world, forced to work everyday with little education. I got this cybernetic due to an accident with one of the machines, trapped my arm and had it amputated. But nevertheless, I have people to return to, people that need me. You know?"

Lex nodded, slightly ingenuine. Sure, he had his younger brother, who was currently suffering just like he had before the slumber, all expectations now placed on him. He wouldn't put it past his parents to have already considered him dead by now. It's not like they cared much about him. If they did, why subject him to so much mental torture for years.

They didn't care for his health at all. To them, he was a tool.

However, he did recall a time when it wasn't like that. Oh, how he missed the days when he was just a simple boy. Ever since he proved be a so-called 'genius', he'd never been free of their manipulation.

A little potential caused them to form a plan to turn him into a tool for their success. Now, his brother was likely to become their new project.

Lex sighed, thinking of the suffering his brother was likely enduring right now. Perhaps he too believed Lex was as good as dead in this world. Or perhaps he believed in him to survive. There was no way to tell in this hell.

Suddenly, Hanz coughed. It seemed the black smoke was getting to his lungs.

It was time to put out the fire, and go to sleep.

"I'll take watch first. Let's switch in four hours"

Hanz nodded. Soon, he was ready to sleep on the cold, stone floor of the cave. Still, some warmth was left from the fire, helping his comfort ever so slightly.

A little later, Hanz had fallen asleep. Since he'd slept here for what Lex assumed to be almost the entire time of his slumber so...oh, he hadn't actually asked. Still, he was used to the cold, hard floor of his abode, so getting sleep wasn't as hard as it was going to be for Lex.

Bored, he looked down at his Dao. The black blood on the Fright they'd killed covered the blade entirely. Lex thought it was a good idea since he was unsure when he'd get access to a good amount of blood next.

Suddenly, he remembered he hadn't read the ability of the heart yet, too stunned by it's rank to think.

[Item: Befouled Heart]

[Rank: Corrupt]

[Item Ability: Turns the users blood into a deadly poison when consumed. Additionally, the user will become immune to all poison]

'Holy shit'

Lex's eyes widened. Then a horrific thought entered Lex's mind...

The food was poisoned.