The boy's presence grew increasingly malevolent, his irises now a ghastly emerald hue that pierced the shadowy gloom. A chilling smile stretched across his lips.
*Knock knock*
The boy knocked the stone wall with his boney hands and yelled "I've subdued the fiend!"
Then, a sudden ominous *thud* echoed through the chamber as a section of the ancient stonework crumbled before him, exposing a dwarf with a mane as fiery and untamed as the mane of a lion itself. Yet, rather than the expected terror, the boy's visage remained eerily serene.
The diminutive figure in the heart of the stone prison didn't recoil at the sight of the dwarf; instead, he greeted him with a smile that bore the unsettling warmth of a predator recognizing its kin.
"Greetings, number 18," the dwarf spoke, his tone as jovial as it was unnerving. "Master has crossed paths with many fiends in his time, but never has he been granted the privilege of conversing with one, not to mention subduing him." his eyes gleaming with a macabre curiosity towards the malnourished boy standing in front of himself.
"I've heard that fiends can grow at a rate that defies comprehension for most of the original inhabitants of this world, Zyrix." he said, the air thick with a sense of foreboding. "Fortunately, we infused 'you' with the master's "intent" during the infancy. To attempt such a feat upon a fully developed fiend would be impossible. How are you feeling?"
"Fine" The boy, a mere shell of innocence masking a monstrous spirit, nodded solemnly. "Although I do not have any memories of this 'master'. I can sense an invisible connection that compels me to submit myself to him." he whispered, his eyes cold and distant.
"It's understandable, after all these years of deep slumber. The master's intent has deteriorated. So it doesn't contain any memories." the man stepped back, giving space to the child to place his foot out of the stone prison. "What about 'your' own memories? Did they suffer any damage?"
"These memories." he shook his head, his voice echoing through the chilling silence, "speaks to me about the colorful tales of my old world. It was a fun place to be and helped me mold my character to the better." The boy spoke reminiscing the events that happened all throughout his life on earth and in Zyriz.
"Also, even when it was a "baby's" consciousness. It took the master's intent a full 11 years to influence it." He said slowly, giving weight to his words "It means.. the 'original' boy's desires were just that strong even at that point in time..... He harbored great ambitions of his own. Even now, when I look in too deep in my mind, I feel strong desires.. gnawing at me to manifest them..." he said feeling elated within his own skin.
The dwarf was amazed by the boy's speech.
It must be known that when a foreign intent takes over a person's consciousness. It doesn't "control" it but rather influences it to indirectly change their decisions. It consumes their desires to take root and grow inside them assimilating with them in the end. Which means that the person's memories remain intact, his desires, his habits, his potential all remains intact.
If we take an example, In case of 'number 18', the master's 'intent' influenced his mind to feel that he's a part of master, that he has to use himself for master's revival. As this all happened, his original and most primordial will of a normal human 'staying alive' and his independent desires such as loving girls, eating good, etc. must've dwindled. However, his potential, his manner of speech, his abilities, his physique and his memories all remained intact.
That's why it was even more amazing for the dwarf. Since the boy was only learning for a little over two months after reincarnating, it was not possible that he could speak so smoothly in the language of this world. Think about it, he stopped his mental growth at just 2 months of age. But it was also not fully unbelievable to the dwarf because it was not a normal human child. It was a fiend.
A fiend is an otherworldly soul that sometimes gets accidentally sucked into this world rather than continuing its reincarnation cycle.
The dwarf had no knowledge on the topic of fiends so he didn't doubt it's heaven defying learning speed. That's because these fiends appeared very frequently and whenever they appeared, it meant that huge waves were going to form in the world of Zyrix. Still, he was quite amazed.
[Did he learn it all from his memories of those 2 months in this world? What a terrifying learning talent. Thankfully, I discovered him early]. The dwarf let out a breath of cold air.
Thinking more on this topic he became paranoid if such a fiend can really be subdued by the master's deteriorated intent?
The dwarf became eerily suspicious of the boy, despite the apparent assimilation of the master's will. He harbored an unsettling doubt that the child's mind had not fully succumbed to the 'master's' influence. If the youth truly belonged to their fold, the dwarf was determined to impart every bit of knowledge he gathered throughout his life so he could revive the 'master'.
He contemplated a simplest test to ensure the boy's allegiance - observing whether he concealed any thoughts or emotions. Amongst those who share the same 'intent', a sense of familiarity often prevails, that makes it deceiving one of their kin almost impossible through their own morality.
"What are your desires? Tell me" he asked with threatening tone.
"To revive master" the boy said without skipping a beat. Which relaxed the man a little. But he continued asking other questions.
Dwarf: "What are your 'original' desires?"
Boy: "Dom....
.....women... I want to bed all the beautiful women around the world. I want to sleep with the queen.. the princess and the witch..."
The dwarf rubbed his beard in thought. "Is that so...hmm..that's understandable I would've made all the village women pregnant if that wandering warrior didn't curse my manhood" he reminisced about his young days.
Boy: "..." looked at the man with empty eyes for a brief moment as if he was looking at trash.
Dwarf: "Ahem.., anyway now tell me about your traits. your habits. likes dislikes" Saying this, he snapped his fingers as a green smoke surrounded the boy's face
Boy started narrating everything truthfully : "I like big boobs, plump figure, thin figure will also do, clear smooth skin, long feet, cute face, black eyes..." he kept going on and on that even the dwarf thought he was no competition for a materialistic world like earth but then the boy's answers started another topic, grabbing his attention "lazing around..... living... money... growth... learning..... planning.... playing.....becoming powerfull"
"infuse my will into master.... revive master..... eat tasty veggies... make master happy... smiling....."
the air took a darker turn as his answers started becoming slow and short and more brutal...
"cutting..... slashing... killing.....murdering........thrill........."
After the boy stopped answering for about five minutes. The dwarf nodded his head and snapped his fingers dispersing the green fog around his head.
[Hmm, other than an intense sexual lust, he is only an ordinary boy. The longer the gap between his words means the deeper he has buried them in his heart. Most of the mortals have these kind of hidden desires in their heart to kill and to enjoy thrill.]
He was happy because of two things. First, he will be able to use these desires to better control the boy but more importantly he was now certain that the boy's inner desires were fully infused with master's will. Even though he didn't have the satisfactory level of desires towards 'master' as per the dwarf he was not too worried, because they always grow as the body mature.
"Alright. you've proven your loyalty. Is there anything you wish to ask me?" the dwarf said, standing a little over the boy's height.
The malnourished boy nodded "Please tell me what do I need to do to help in master's revival?"
The dwarf smiled from the boy's question, he said "Cultivation."
"Cultivation?" the boy enquired.
"Yes cultivation, the ancients called it 'Tapas'. It is the practice of increasing your spiritual connection with the heaven and earth. Through it, you understand the secrets of the universe, using them to strengthen yourselves."
"You need to cultivate to create a strong body. So the master can use it as a vessel for his all powerful soul."
"But" he said "Your body is too weak right now.. so you cannot start cultivation for another 3 years. Otherwise, your talent will not be able to unleash it's full potential."
"Then what should I do?" The boy with the dark eerie pupils inquired with a sense of unusual urgency.
The dwarf was elated looking at the boy's imperativeness to become a good vessel. "Hmm.. since you have good learning talent. I want you to do two things. First, you have to learn about the basics of cultivation in this world. For that you'll be attending the clan academy with the other children. Learn from them and familiarize yourself with them."
"And second?" the boy asked with a pitch higher than his normal voice intending to quickly end this conversation, but the dwarf did not notice such change.
"And the second...heh... you'll like it." the dwarf smiled "I want you to give birth to a thousand descendants in this clan... Kuhhahaha"
"W-what? How will I do that? I'm just a ch.... Anyway, how will I get so many women who want to carry my child?" The boy asked his fast paced question as his face lit up in an involuntary smile.
"Khuahahaaha, don't worry about it, number 18. You just focus on familiarizing yourself with this clan. As for your second question. I may not look like it but I'm the grand elder of this village. If I introduce you as my adopted heir, which woman will dare to disobey you? Humph."
The boy showed a happy expression on his face which didn't match at all with his deathly aura.
"Number 18 huh... will that be my name?" He asked diverting the topic.
"Well.. we can't use that officially now..... hmm what was it? Aha, Bubblefin Rykharth. It was given by your parents in the church."
"Uhh.. forget it that's a bit too....Oh yeah, I remember some obscure language from 'my' original world that I learnt. That'll be...ash... "Asht Dash"! It means no. 18 in that language. How's it?" he said.
"It's your choice. Do whatever you want with your name." The dwarf said, whose only interest was researching new ways to revive their master. "Now come with me...let's introduce you to the clan". he grabbed the skeleton like boy, disappearing from the dark area together.