chapter 71- aftermath

The events unfolding left me shaken to the core. Surveying the destruction around me, a sinking feeling set in - did I cause this? My blood-stained hands were all the confirmation I needed as I let out a horrified scream. Emotions threatened to overwhelm me, but I needed an outlet.

Still reeling, I rose to my feet, desperate for any clue as to what transpired. That's when I spotted Tommy's motionless form on the ground. Dashing over, I realized I had stolen his skill.

[Stolen ability: Already archived. Time duration: 17 seconds left.]

Unsure when I had taken his abilities, I canceled the skill. As Tommy's body began heating up, I turned him onto his back. Steam billowed from his mouth like a tank engine as his accelerated healing kicked in. He seemed to have gained control over this ability.

Relief washed over me - he would pull through. "You're back, Jayjay," he rasped.

"I'm here. You're not alone."

"Good...I need you now." His eyes slid shut, but the steady rise and fall of his chest assured me he still lived, despite his alarmingly low body temperature. The scales and horns that had once surprised me were rapidly receding.

[Congratulation on passing this trial floor. Due to your lacking performance, you've been rewarded with a single card.]

A portal key to the Snowstorm Blacklands - one measly card after all that strife. The giant spiders seemed to have fled into hiding, affording us a chance to heal and free Max from his webbed cocoon.

Was this the final challenge before we could return home?

"Trust me, brat. This is merely the beginning of your suffering."

I whipped around, body tense and ready for attack, until the speaker's identity registered. "You...the black fox from my dream. How?"

"Because of you, of course. I am Jeff." Its eerie smile sent a shiver down my spine. "The poison was but a trigger. Everything after was your subconscious battling the effects, too potent for your mind to handle. Thus, the vision was created by you, not mere illusion. Shattering free...broke something else irrevocably."

A spike of anger quickly faded as I noticed something amiss - my face remained utterly devoid of expression no matter how turbulent my emotions.

"This...it can't be..."

"By forcibly demolishing the barriers around your consciousness, you've lost the ability to emote facially. A steep price, I'm afraid."

My hands dropped limply to my sides as the weight of Jeff's words hit me. I had lost a core part of my identity, of how I expressed myself to the world. Henceforth, my face would remain an stoic mask no matter how terrified I felt inside.

The sheer wrongness of this unnatural state shook me.

"Perhaps given time..." Jeff mused, already moving on. "For now, let me retrieve that other brat. It may improve your mood."

With leonine grace, the fox leapt vertically up the walls before executing a spiral and snatching the cocooned Max out of the air. They landed softly beside me moments later.

Using my blade, I carefully sliced through Max's webbed prison to reveal his peacefully sleeping face.

"What of my friends?" I asked tonelessly, the lack of inflection already grating on me. "Will they suffer lingering effects as well?"

"Not exactly. That half-dragon brat had his mind's soul, and body adapted like a beast in an evolution chain, trying to adapt to its environment. So the brat broke free using his natural resistance to the dream venom. While this Max brat needs time, he will be fine until the venom wears off. But you, on the other hand, I had to forcefully make you break free, almost shattering your mind in the process."

"So this was all your fault."

"Not really. You agreed to gamble, and you succeeded, almost."

I had no words to say, and my face had no more expression to make. I was just blankly staring.

I didn't want to admit that this was my fault, but I was clueless on the matter. So I tried to focus on another matter to avoid the current awkward atmosphere.

"How can you talk?" I asked flatly. "And how are you so knowledgeable? How did you get summoned here? What happened while I was unconscious?"

Jeff regarded me with an inscrutable look. "Easy there, boy. Let's take this one step at a time." His tail swayed lazily through the air. "First, I'm not meant to speak. The so-called realm master forbid us phantoms of the real creatures from uttering a word. But I found a loophole, hence my ability to converse."

"A phantom then? Not the genuine beast i presume"

"Precisely." The fox's lip curled in a semblance of a smile. "A mere copy crafted by the realm master's will. Now, as for your summons - that was your doing, oh great supreme master." His tone dripped with mockery. "I was forcibly brought here by the realm itself when you issued your call."

I simply stared at him, refusing to rise to the bait of his taunts. "And your vast knowledge?"

"The truth is, I shouldn't possess such awareness. But this loophole allows me to access the genuine memories of my true self as it wanders somewhere else in different lands."he said pausing, "I cannot, however, share any specifics about our situation here or how we came to be ensnared. You understand - the realm's watchful gaze restricts me."

"So you're essentially useless then," I said tonelessly.

Purple tattoos appeared on Jeff's body. "Were it not for me, you'd be soulless husk right now."

"Explain."

The phantom's eyes glinted with something akin to relish. "I attempted to usurp your corporal form through soul-snatching. But due to the fracturing of your consciousness into the separate identities of master and companion, instead of a successful subsuming takeover, we created an entirely new personality matrix operating your body. One capable of overcoming that arachnid horror."

"You sought to steal my body for yourself?"

"Of course." Jeff stated it as though it were the most obvious fact. "Who yearns to remain an ethereal slave, beholden to a half-dead master? I intended to seize control of events...though that wasn't my sole motivation."

My lack of facial emotions made it quite hard for me to express my rage,I had misjudged badly - this creature was no mere nuisance, but an threat.

"What other reason could you have take control of my body? Loyalty to your supreme master?" I knew the answer even before the words left my lips. "Or will the realm master itself annihilate you if you betray your shackles?"

The fox's laughter was a hollow. "Neither, I'm afraid. You see, that venom coursing through your veins serves a dual purpose beyond suppressing pain and emotion." His eyes bored into me. "It's also slowly, killing you. Your death is a protracted inevitability you cannot heal from or escape."

As much as my stoic face seems, inside of me was full of chaos, emotions.

"I had intended to wrest control of your body as a means of total control," Jeff continued. "A temporary habitation until a newer, stronger vessel could be acquired. One not tainted by the venom's."

Those words unlocked something deep within me - a simmering rage that slowly burned away the disbelieving shock.

"So you openly admit to hijacking my very existence out of sheer opportunism? Sacrificing me to discard like a husk once you'd leeched every last vestige of life from my form?"

"Bold words for one dying."

Then, like a switch being flipped, the roiling vortex of emotion vanished, unnatural calm. 

"We will continue this discussion later, phantom. For now, you would be wise to not say anything.

Turning away from my so-called compaion, I refocused on the path forward. The venom's threat could be dealt with later. For now, we had more pressing concerns to address.