I Devour the Leftovers

Chapter 2: The Parasite

The door to the Inner Sanctum slammed shut with a boom that echoed like a death knell.

Kaelen scrambled to his feet. He didn't run. Running would draw attention. He grabbed his bucket and rag, pretending to be engrossed in his work, scrubbing the same spot of floor until his knuckles turned white.

The heavy footsteps of Archmage Thorne echoed down the corridor. Each step was measured, heavy with power.

"Cleaning the floor, are we, boy?" Thorne's voice was dry, like parchment rubbing against stone.

Kaelen kept his head down. "Yes, Lord Mage. I was just finishing."

Thorne stopped in front of him. Kaelen could feel the man's gaze, cold and analytical, boring into the top of his head. The air grew thick, heavy with ozone and the scent of old blood.

"You were watching," Thorne stated. It wasn't a question.

Kaelen's heart hammered against his ribs. He thought about lying. He thought about begging. But he knew it was pointless. In the Blackwood Tower, weakness was a death sentence.

"I was cleaning, Lord Mage," Kaelen repeated, his voice flat. "I saw nothing."

"Liar."

Thorne reached out. His hand wasn't fast. It was slow, deliberate. He grabbed Kaelen by the back of his neck. The Mana Burns on Kaelen's skin screamed in protest, sending bolts of white-hot agony through his nervous system.

Kaelen bit his tongue to keep from screaming. He tasted blood.

"Your kind is useful for one thing," Thorne whispered, his breath smelling of sulfur and decay. "You are resilient. You survive the unsurvivable."

Thorne dragged Kaelen toward the Inner Sanctum. The door swung open again, revealing the aftermath of the ritual. The circle of blood was still there, and the glass jar pulsed with a sickly purple light.

Thorne shoved Kaelen to the floor.

"You saw the Vyre larva," Thorne said, picking up the glass jar. "A creature from the Astral Sea. It feeds on magic. It is a perfect weapon."

He uncorked the jar. A thin, greenish-black tendril slithered out, tasting the air.

"Unfortunately, it requires a host. A living battery to keep it alive."

Thorne looked down at Kaelen.

"And you, boy, are the perfect battery."

The tendril struck. It wasn't a bite; it was an injection. The Vyre larva burrowed into Kaelen's forearm, just below the elbow. It felt like a red-hot poker being shoved under his skin. It wriggled, finding a vein, and began to drink.

Kaelen screamed. It was a raw, animal sound that echoed off the stone walls. His vision blurred. He could feel his life force—his blood, his energy, his very soul—being siphoned away.

Thorne watched, impassive. "The parasite will keep you alive. Barely. It will feed on your vitality. If you do not feed it magic, it will consume you entirely, leaving nothing but a dried husk."

Kaelen writhed on the floor, his body convulsing. The pain was unbearable. He was going to die. He was going to be eaten alive from the inside out.

No.

A spark of defiance ignited in the darkness of his mind. He had survived the mines. He had survived the Mana Burns. He would survive this.

[System Activated: Alchemic Codex Detected.]

A voice spoke in his head. It wasn't a voice, really. It was a series of cold, clinical symbols and data streams that appeared directly in his vision.

[Host Status: Critical. Parasite Detected. Life Force Depletion: 45%... 60%...]

[Initiating Emergency Protocol: Symbiotic Integration.]

[New Quest: Feed the Leech.]

[Objective: Consume 1 unit of Mana Residue.]

[Reward: Basic Alchemic Conversion.]

Kaelen's eyes snapped open. He looked at his arm. The writhing bulge under his skin had calmed slightly. The pain was still there, but it was now accompanied by a strange, gnawing hunger.

Thorne chuckled. "You're tougher than you look. Good. You'll last longer."

He tossed a small, cracked crystal onto the floor next to Kaelen. It was a failed mana crystal, its energy unstable and chaotic.

"Eat," Thorne commanded. "That is your first meal. If you don't, the Vyre will finish you before sunrise."

Thorne turned and walked away, his robes billowing behind him.

Kaelen lay on the cold floor, panting. He looked at the crystal. It radiated a faint, sickly light. It was poison to any normal mage.

But to Kaelen, to the thing inside him, it was food.

He reached out with a trembling hand. He picked up the crystal. It was cold to the touch.

He didn't hesitate. He didn't pray. He didn't cry.

He opened his mouth and bit down on the crystal.

Crunch.

The taste was like rust and battery acid. It burned his tongue, his throat. But as the shards dissolved, the parasite in his arm surged with energy. It stopped draining his life force. Instead, it began to process the raw, chaotic mana.

A warmth spread through Kaelen's body, replacing the cold agony.

[Quest Complete: Feed the Leech.]

[Reward Acquired: Basic Alchemic Conversion.]

[Status Update: Host Vitality Stabilized. Parasite Satiated.]

Kaelen sat up. He looked at his arm. The bulge was smaller. The pain was gone.

He wiped the blood from his mouth. His eyes, once filled with fear, were now cold and empty.

He had a parasite. He had a System. And he had a purpose.

Survive. Evolve. And one day, make Thorne pay.