Chapter 288: Soul Absorption and a Meeting

WOOSH! 

Before he could have a chance to guard, a set of ominous black strikes struck down behind Murus. At the next moment, a sharp searing pain flared up, coming from his right shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he immediately rushed forward, to create some space between himself and the enraged youth.

He knew what this pain meant, he already felt the loss of his right arm, he was a veteran of the battlefields after all.

Turning around to face his opponent, he just caught the glimpse of his limb liquefying and converge into the dark-green-skinned boy's body. A hideous smirk appeared on his face, his dark red eyes giving it an even more menacing, eerie presence.

He licked his lips slowly, before speaking. His voice was much deeper than how the boy spoke previously, guttural and hoarse.

"Thanks for that. You know how it goes… Limb for a limb. You crippled the boy, and now I crippled you."

The figure's voice startled Murus, he didn't know who this being was, but he was certain, that it was not the boy. This being was sinister, cruel, and bloodthirsty. A complete opposite of what he had learned about Aiden so far.

"Just w-who are you?!" He asked as he gripped the center of his now-pallid silver scythe tightly. Whoever this being was it had a tremendous presence. 

The blood-red-eyed Aiden chuckled at the bulky giant's question. 

"I am him, he is I." He spoke mysteriously. At the next moment, his eyes flashed as his lips turned into a cruel, vicious grin once again. "Anyway… Don't worry about it, you will soon join the collective…"

His body blurred, vanishing in the next instant. 

Murus immediately jumped back, raising his weapon in front of his body to block any surprise attack. Unfortunately for him, as he jumped behind, he felt the back of his skin being torn apart. A dark, set of ebon claws pierced into his flesh, digging deeper and deeper into his body. 

With great difficulty, he turned his head to the side to glance at the one that shockingly defeated him with such ease. As their eyes met, the cruel grin on the blood-red-eyed beast curved even higher, his lips parting, he uttered a single word.

"Absorb."

The next moment, Murus felt his body tremble and convulse. Ripples began to stride at the surface of his skin, he felt his muscles and organs contort. The pain began to fade, as his whole being, began to rapidly transform. His energy, his body began to merge into the alien body etched latched deep into him.

He knew it was over, he lost. He didn't know who this being truly was, or why did he unleash such a horrific monstrous existence. He just knew that no one, not even his master can save him now. 

Knowing there was no point to resist, Murus closed his eyes and sighed heavily. His mind was empty, he wasn't that afraid of death. After all, he could be considered to be his agent…

His last thought before the darkness overcame him, was that hopefully, with this, he had served its purpose and that Master now has a clear picture of what this creature truly was. He hoped he didn't fail his expectations…

In mere seconds, the once-powerful creature, a true reaper of the battlefields, a mysterious creature of unknown origins, Murus has vanished, his body, power, and soul absorbed by a fragile-looking, dark-green-skinned youthful figure.

As the tremendous surge of life essence flew inside his body, Aiden closed his eyes, with a satisfied contented look on his face. 

His voice that was previously deep, almost demonic gradually returned to his original vigorous youthful, healthy tone.

"Uhmm… Although I didn't want to do it like this, it is fine I suppose. He denied the revenge my servants have hoped for, so he had to pay for it himself. Yes… That's okay, I guess…" He sighed, lowering his gaze and slowly opening his eyes. Instead of the red, now it had returned to its original pallid golden color.

What was stranger, was that he could no longer feel the bloodthirsty creature's presence anywhere inside his mind, which was strange as he focused, he could feel each and every being he merged into his Primal Core. Now, however, the Worgen was completely gone, he couldn't feel him, nor could he feel any of his thoughts, his constant whispers...

Still, he knew he couldn't just vanish completely.

"Well, I can ask-" Before he could finish his thought, abruptly, the red, critical message that he received earlier popped up again. At the same time, he felt a tingling sensation at his right shoulder.

Focusing on the text at first, he opened it up, giving himself yet another surprising shock once again.

[New Critical Quest: Absorb to survive! - Completed!

Rank: A

Time remaining: 00 Hours 19 minutes 28 seconds

Objective: Absorb Murus to find your answers (1/1)

Optional: -

Rewards: [Soul Absorption] Primal skill unlocked and automatically activated for free for the first time.]

'A new skill? What does it do?' Focusing his mind once again, Aiden opened up the skill description. As he read through it, he finally realized what happened, and why he couldn't feel the Worgen anymore.

[Soul Absorption (Lvl -) - Primal Trait, available to Primals with Royal Heritage only. The second stage of [Primal Absorb], merging the lingering consciousness of the absorbed entity with the Primal. Overwrites any form of mental hold or guard that it may have. Note: Usable only once every 30 days. Warning: The merged consciousness's personality can have a permanent effect on the Host Primal!]

There was one more notification in the system that appeared shortly after the red text re-emergence.

[Due to the overflow of Life Essences, the Restorative Process has been automatically activated.

Primal Condition - 51% - Improving…

State Restoration Process Initiated…

Restoring Default State...]

As the messages kept going, he felt the tingling sensation in his right shoulder socked to increase in intensity. In the next moment, he felt the warmth of his skin, his body temperature began to rapidly increase.

Seconds continued to pass, as the heat became almost boiling. The surface of his missing limb' socket began to churn, ripples began to spread. Aiden could feel the massive amount of energies converge towards his shoulder, he could feel as they changed, transformed, slowly forming a small tiny dark green mound. The tiny protrusion didn't stay still, as the seconds continued to pass, turning into minutes, it grew and grew, slowly reforming his limb from the massive amount of energy he gathered.

Meanwhile, at the forefront of his vision, the strange text continued on.

[Primal Condition - 92% - Improving…

State Restoration Process Initiated…

Restoring Default State… Complete!

Converting remaining resources on improving host body...]

As his lost limb reformed, he felt no pain, only the calming warmth that slowly spread further and further as his limb gradually grow, reaching its original state in the end.

In the end, he felt the return of control over his arm. First, he was wary, he slowly tried moving his fingers, clenching them into a fist, while he was focusing on the feeling of it, looking for potential issues. 

Only Priests and Nuns, followers of the Gods should be capable of such feats. Creatures capable of similar feats were very rare.

Luckily he felt no problems, he could control his hand, fingers, and arm just as well as before.

Notifications kept incoming, he also felt the now-familiar sensation of the invading memories. Just as before, when he absorbed these higher-tiered creatures, their lives would flash through in front of his eyes as their memories and experiences would flow into him, pushing him further.

Before going through the skills, Aiden wanted to go through the memories of the being known as Murus. What actually was he? What did he do, who did he serve? There were many questions he still needed answers to, not to mention the quests, but he also had to know who was the being behind all his troubles recently…

However, before he could do so, suddenly he felt a fluctuation in the air in front of him. A dark portal formed in the air, as a shadowy thin-looking silhouette stepped out of it. 

He was covered in unnatural darkness, the tendrils of an unknown shadowy source wrapped him in constant obscurity. None of his bodily and facial features could be seen, only a moving dark silhouette stood before Aiden.

He held no presence, no aura, no power was oozing out of him. Still, Aiden's senses tingled, screaming to get away, this being was much, much stronger, much more threatening than anything he saw or felt before.

The shadow stood before Aiden, as the portal closed behind him. There was no movement, but Aiden could feel his pair of similarly dark eyes scan his entire being.

After a short while, the thin figure gave a slight, courteous bow.

"Greetings, kid. It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. I have to say… I didn't expect you to not just defeat my servant, but also absorb him. Pardon my abruptness, but I have to ask… Tell me, boy, are you an Ancient?"