As the smile disfigured their faces, morphing their eyes, they said the words again.
"A body that will never scar."
They said it twice. Five times. Nine times.
"It's your turn. In the end, you passed this to me. Not because I was weak… no, no, we are still both weak. These aren't my words to say. So say it. And do it with the smile your mother always told you to wear."
"A body that will never scar."
As he said those words for the tenth time, he did it with a smile—the smile he had once engraved into his very skull with his bare hands. In that very instant, everything went dark. There was nothing around him but darkness, but then, one thing—and only one thing—appeared before his eyes.
[RESIDUE]
NAME: Keruim White
CURRENT RANK: [Dross]
ESSENCE: 0 / 1,000
TRACE: The Unblemished
DESCRIPTION:In the end, you will always be alone. You are waste. A stain on someone's boot. A roach. And a roach deserves nothing.CONDITION:The body will return to its original state regardless of trauma. No residue from the world can stain this vessel. No scars can bear witness. With this, your pain will be ignited and amplified, regardless of how unnecessary the pain is.COST: [The Spoken Soul]Purity allows for no shadow. A vessel without blemish cannot contain the whispers of the mind. That which is conceived in silence shall be birthed in sound.[CONSTRAINT: Externalized Cognition]The user is incapable of internal monologue. All logic, planning, and intent must be articulated verbally at an average volume to be processed. Silence is the death of thought.
Wait, what?
"Huh? What the fuck do you mean?" The words spilled out of my mouth. "Silence? Haha, I tried. I can't do it. I can't speak in my mind."
I felt a surge of panic. The Spoken Soul. Incapable of internal monologuing. "Hahaha! What the fuck? Wasn't the curse of being 'Unblemished' enough? Hahaha!"
Cost. This damned cost. I would have to live a life while never being able to think a private thought in my own head. As the surroundings rushed back to me, my mind was somewhere else entirely. Or so I thought.
"What do you mean? So if someone talks to me, I won't be able to stop the words that come to my mind instantly? I can't plan in my head? Hahaha! I thought I had one curse, but no… no… this… how can I even live? Wait, how will I live? There is no way I can die. But I could be used as food… that is what will happen. And my words will get me there. I can't plan. I can't plot. I can't do noth—"
My hand flew to my mouth, but the words were already out. Looking around, I saw everyone staring at me. Between the cracks of my fingers, my voice broke through in a calm, conversational tone.
"I thought I was talking in my mind."
Again! This was a curse. I couldn't even make my voice lower. Everyone would hear. Hahaha! I couldn't even whisper. That was another death sentence in here.
The boy in the corner had suddenly started speaking so everyone could hear. They all looked over.
"Why are you speaking so loud? Oh my fucking god, what is with people speaking so loud?" Jessica snapped. "Do you want us to fucking die?"
Hearing those words, thoughts came out of my mouth like a flood. How could they not? When someone speaks to you, you immediately start to think. And that's what happens.
"It's not my fau—"
"Huh? Talk correctly! What are you even saying?"
"I didn't mea—"
"Stop speaking so loud!"
"Im not tr—"
"You, shut the fuck up!" Elijah shouted from across the room.
"You need to shut up, too!" Isaac said, glaring back at him.
"You want to fight, bitch?" Elijah said, starting to walk toward him.
I can't stop talking.
"What the fuck are y'all doing? Do you want us all to die?" Lia interrupted.
"Y'all need to quiet your voices, mate," Mateo added.
"Tsk. I don't care that you're a woman, you can still be thrown to the orcs too, bitch!" Elijah said, pumping his fist toward Lia.
"Everyone, stop!" Abid faced all of them, his expression fierce. "All of y'all are so fucking stupid. Do you want to die? You over there, trying to fight when there are way too many enemies out there. You're trying to get us kill—"
"Shut the fuck up, wannabe leader—"
Before he could finish his words, a light erupted from Abid's hands. Silence. No one spoke.
That light... I want it. Why couldn't I get something like— Before Keruim could finish the thought out loud, his hands clamped over his mouth, cutting off his voice.
Abid looked at everyone, who was now silent. "You're worried about fighting, but in the end, we need food. We need to talk about who will go out there and kill orcs for food, because that's our only source. You're more worried about fighting, but we need to live."
"Tsk. I'm not going out there—"
"But you need to. You want this power?" Abid raised his hand, showing the light. "You want the power to be able to kill those orcs and goblins? Then you need to be in a desperate moment. You need to be on the verge of death. So, you will need to fight."
"But there are so many of them out there! You want us to throw our lives away for some power? You don't have power if you're dead," Mateo said, questioning the logic.
"But in the end, you're dead anyway, aren't you?" Abid scowled. "There are seven of us. We will go out in groups of twos."
Y'all will all end up dead. You're too wea— Between the cracks of Keruim's hands, the words kept spilling out.
"The fuck you call us? Weak? What can you do?" Elijah scoffed, looking at Keruim. "Anyone who pairs up with you is already dead."
Everyone just looked at him, trying to understand how this little boy, out of everyone, could call them weak.
"Tsk." Through the cracks of his fingers, the words came out like a flood. "Have y'all even killed before?"
Oh my god, I didn't even want to say that. This cost... this cost is too much.
Everyone looked at the kid with sunken cheeks.
"Aha! You want to tell me you have killed before? What a joke," Elijah said, ridiculing him.
"Tsk. How many people have you seen up close, dead? Have you even seen someone have their body eaten by maggots while they were still alive? And then dying because they bit off their own tongue? And then you watched as they choked on their own bloo—"
Slap.
Before I could say another word, I bit down on the hand covering my mouth. This cost… before anyone could add to what I said, I tried to move as far away from them as possible.
As everyone watched the boy walk away after dropping that bomb, they could do nothing but look at him with shock.
"Umm, okay... um..." Mateo said, trying to comprehend what Keruim had just said.
"Tsk. He's just lying. Forget about that bitch. What's the game plan, 'Leader'?" Elijah said, making fun of Abid.
"We will go out in groups of twos. We only have two weapons ," Abid said, glancing at the corners. One was a weapon sickle shaped. It was the same one abid used to slay one of the said gods (orcs), and the other weapon was a club with spikes—a drop from a goblin Elijah had picked up while fleeing.
"No, that makes no sense. There are six of us. Two will stay, because remember—it's not just orcs and goblins we are wary of. It's humans, too. two stay, and the other four go out to scout. See what's near us. I doubt any of y'all remember the layout."
"That's a shitty plan," Lia began. "First of all, you just said it's not just orcs and goblins, it's also humans. I see a lot of humans around us. Again, you want us to put our lives in another human's hands?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I want you to do. You will never survive alone. That's a guarantee. You have to put your life into someone else's hands, and they will have to do the same. If you want to live, that's what you'll have to do. You want to survive? In the end, this place isn't about thriving or finding peace. It's about surviving