Twin Tongue

Slash—!

Plunging the dagger into the Horror's skull, its writhing body stilled, and its vacant eyes ceased their torment. I brought a swift conclusion to its suffering. Glancing ahead, I confronted a multitude of Horrors, eager for an opportunity.

Upon locking eyes with them, I observed their ominous presence.

To my slight astonishment, instead of following suit with the other Horrors, some of whose instinctively understood the strength I possessed, slowly backed down.

The Horrors surveyed the stacked corpses on my back, their gaze shifting back and forth as if witnessing a grotesque mound layered upon itself.

For others, it might be a source of food since there's a bit of soul left from there which I could still vividly feel. 

Nevertheless, the Horrors were reluctant to let me proceed, as I needed to shed some of the carcasses from my burden. Despite the fact that the figure had yet to impart any knowledge of alchemy, I recognized the potential usefulness of these remains.

By the time they start feasting on these corpses, it's not as potent as it is now.

Hence their next course of action was justified. They started leaving the place, knowing this part of the island was 'marked' as my territory. 

Like when a new predator came to a place making its way to its own territory, these Horrors subconsciously made me the owner of this part of the island.

After they fled like scared cats, I started clearing the area by using the daggers to pick up the body parts of the Horrors I killed. 

When I was doing it, I realized something.

First, it's hard to discern what kind of Horrors I'm fighting hence it is unknown to me to pinpoint what to get.

Hence giving each Horror a name would be nice. Even though they have different features and characteristics, some Horrors are derived from what I've known.

'Though, I have to think how to name them. Then, when I did, I'll try a lot of different things once I've learned alchemy lessons from the figure.'

The second I'm having a problem with is the lack of storage where I can store my kills. 

There's no way I can carry all this baggage, no matter how important they were. If I did, my performance might lessen, knowing I have to give my all on everything as it can cost my life with just slight complacency.

"Now then..."

Right after dismantling all the corpses, picking up the organs I could get which slightly disgusts me, I sucked it up and readied myself.

It took half an hour till I picked up the most important ones to bring back once the figure started teaching me about alchemy.

'Done,'

With my sixth sense technique honed to such a degree of mastery, I can perceive everything in my surroundings meters away from my position. I'm relying on it for any incoming attacks that might surprise me, but that's unlikely.

Those Horrors might've gotten afraid of me.

Considering this, I opted to take the initial step of my journey at this very moment.

Securing a spot.

Retrieving a cloth from my bag and selecting a lengthy, well-shaped branch that had fallen from the trees earlier, I skillfully folded the cloth around it. With the knowledge gleaned from the figure, I began applying the techniques I had learned.

Manifesting the essence of my soul up to my hand while pointing the tip at the cloth, I muttered, "From my palms, let the fire dance, the flames take form, in a mystic trance."

"Incite."

A huge amount of fire burst out of my palm to a very large degree that pursed my lips in excitedness, knowing my hard work started paying off.

Soon, the cloth caught fire, transforming my makeshift assembly into a torch. Now armed with this fiery tool, I could navigate the densely wooded and stony terrain of the island.

"While securing a spot, I better hunt some Horrors along the way."

…

If one had to say why no one was using Horror as some sort of sustenance, well, that's because some or most Horrors contain contaminants in their body, possessing some poison that the humans aren't aware of.

But the humans found a way to use these corpses aside from using their carcasses to wield a weapon. Of course, I'm talking about the food.

And what is it?

Horror Distillation.

Just like how humans worked their water as either they came from the sea or dam, humans developed this kind of distillation due to the soul.

Well, it's all about it anyway.

One can remove the toxins inside a Horror's body if one tries to inject their soul into the corpse. Once someone did it, it would look like it came from any other animal as it became raw and out of contamination.

The problem is time, once again.

It will take a week or so before removing the toxins and contaminants in its body. 

But that is not a problem for me.

With a complete soul at my disposal, utilizing a portion of it posed no issue. The process accelerated significantly, as the figure had informed me that purifying the Horror's body of toxins hinged upon the purity of one's soul.

"Let's see…"

The spot I'm taking was near the river that connects to the water outside of the island itself. Yet the Horror dwelling underneath the water was nowhere to be seen even though I've killed a few Horrors living in this place.

I've also used the Horrors I've killed to fish out the Horror but in the end, it never came out which means only one thing.

That particular Horror couldn't get in. Probably due to its massive size. 

Hence I'm taking this spot.

Right after, I started building my hut, even though it's just pieces of wood meshed up together. Unlike the figure who can make a beautiful one, mine is like the lowest quality, likely created by an amateur.

It took a few hours to finish it all together.

Up next, I made a wooden, ragdoll chest to store my belongings. Though this chest is far from imagination, what I needed was just things to store my luggage.

"Great,"

I was satisfied with how my first day in here turned out.

...almost satisfied, again.

Rustle—!

Observing a Horror emerging from the stones through my side window, I let out a sigh. I decided to leave my hut and addressed the looming presence.

"Are you here to destroy this hut?"

The Horror before me bore a grotesque visage, with twin cavities on its face where eyes should be, but instead, protruding tongues writhed in a macabre semblance of a smirk. Moving on all fours, its tail wagged eagerly, betraying a sense of predatory anticipation as if it had found its ideal prey.

Seeing that it was not perturbed and scared of my presence could mean that this Horror was far more dangerous than the other Horrors.

"I see."

It's decided, this Horror will be the first one I'll be naming.

"I'll call you Twin Tongue."

I'll write its information later on.

Step—!

The Horror took a step while I brought out the dagger I was hiding on my sleeves.

Assuming a stance while facing the Horror indifferently, our fight started with us locking gazes at each other, determining the strength and weakness of our opponent.

In an instant, as we took simultaneous steps towards each other, we vanished from our respective positions, leaving behind only a fleeting memory of the encounter.

'Huh!?'

Halfway through closing our distance in just a few seconds, my eyes widened when Twin Tongue stood upright and used its deadly claws to attack me.

I tried to defend myself and deflect the attack of his both claws, yet being a smart mindless Horror if I put it into the right words, Twin Tongue used its foot to kick me backwards.

Thud—!

The issue arose when the momentum of the kick was inadvertently directed towards the hut I had just constructed. Helplessly, I couldn't intervene to halt the destructive force that had been set in motion.

'No!'

Colliding with the hut, I hastily wiped bloodstains from my mouth, spitting out a broken tooth. Surveying the aftermath with a disappointed expression, I took in the unintended destruction wrought by the forceful impact.

Then, my gaze moved forward.

Amidst the wreckage, the Horror, Twin Tongue, stood upright, towering at a height of five meters. Giggling as if reveling in the chaos, its imposing stature and nimble demeanor were evident, making it clear that this creature was both sizable and agile.

"Now you've done it,"

Retrieving another dagger from the ruins of my chest, I clenched it tightly, bloodshot eyes fixated on Twin Tongue.

"I was having a great first day…"

Scratching my hair with annoyance, I started moving forward while musing inwardly, taking an assumption of something.

'This thing isn't mindless…'

Indeed, the seemingly mindless nature of Horrors could occasionally give way to surprising intelligence driven by instinct. Observing Twin Tongue's movements, a conclusion began to form in my mind.

'Subconciousness.'

This was the first time I met a Horror on this island who gained subconsciousness, thus leading to the conclusion that it had gained a soul, which could mean it had developed an essence, hence it could use an element that I'm not aware of.

'I have to know what element he is wielding.'

It would be dangerous if this Horror could wield an unknown and complicated element.

With a slight pause, both our bodies moved towards our opponents. 

As Twin Tongue reverted to all fours before preparing to launch its attack in its customary manner, I braced myself, knowing that what had happened once would not catch me off guard a second time.

Anticipating the repeated assault, I adeptly defended myself against Twin Tongue's attempt to kick my abdomen. Having already experienced this attack, I swiftly maneuvered to the ground, leveraging my dagger to slice through both of its writhing tongues.

"Kreee—!"

Momentarily outbalanced, I tried to attack Twin Tongue once more when its hand-stretched at me as the ground quaked.

'Hmm!?'

A mud wall materialized in front of me, but I dismissed it with a swift kick. My adversary, now visibly frightened, started fleeing in sheer terror.

I tried to chase it, only for muddy ground to appear on my foot, getting me stuck with it.

Frowning and discovering the element used by the Twin Tongue who just escaped my grasp, the Horror fled like a scared cat before the mud disappeared on my foot.

"Why are you running away!?"

I was so infuriated.

"Do my hut at least!"

Yet my voice only met with silence.

That Horror just went here to pick a fight, destroyed my hut, and once it saw that its disadvantageous for him, it escaped?

Talk about being pathetic.