"All this for a damn 'eat me' joke? You're a sick fuck," he hissed.
Gaius burst out laughing, spinning lazily around him in the air.
"Haha~! Okay, yes, I did always want to say that. But no, I'm not joking. I'm being completely serious when I say you should consume me. Or at least, this essence of me."
He floated to a stop in front of Cain, then flipped upside down like a child hanging from a branch.
Cain blinked, taking in the sight. So much for the calm, stoic general from the history books. Honestly, at this point, he wasn't sure Gaius could lead a squad out of a wet paper bag.
Gaius grinned wider.
"Here's how Gluttony works. It has three methods of use. First, you can consume non sentient things to build resistance and sensitivity to their effects. Say, you eat fire magic. Your resistance to it grows. So does your affinity for it."
Caius brows knit together. That statement alone sounded nonsensical. Who in their right mind would try to eat fire magic? Let alone any other form of magic that could rip their bodies apart?!
"So you're telling me I'm supposed to just start chewing through spells like they're snacks?"
"Not chewing," Gaius said, flipping midair like a lazy acrobat. "Absorbing. Devouring. Inhaling. Metaphors aside, your body will know what to do when the time comes. It's instinctual. Trust me."
Cain didn't.
But he stayed silent as Gaius continued.
"The 2nd Method is the one you will be using today with me. This one is more... refined. You absorb essence. Not flesh. Not blood. Just the imprint someone or something gives off. Like the scent of a flower."
Cain frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You inhale a part of their being. Their presence. Their emotional weight. Their strength. It's subtle. Like tasting their soul through the air. It doesn't destroy them, just takes something small. Enough to gain insight. Enough to borrow a piece of what makes them powerful. The flower wilts," he added, his tone unusually soft, "but it blooms again with time."
Cain cocked an eyebrow, already sick of Gaius' weird and disturbing metaphor. Seeing the look on the young student's face, Gaius let out an annoyed groan.
"Ugh! You are soooo difficult. I'll explain it in simple baby terms~! You consume the skill, they lose it for a bit but it comes back after a while. Most of the time it comes back stronger. Better?"
Cain shrugged. "Not particularly."
Gaius groaned again, spinning once more in exaggerated frustration before suddenly stopping mid-air with a sharp grin spreading across his face.
"Well, lucky for you, we're not even at the juiciest part yet."
Cain arched an eyebrow, already regretting asking.
"The third method," Gaius said, his voice dropping a little, "is the one the whole world knows and why my student was feared as such a monster~!"
He floated downward, his grin fading as his voice lost some of its playfulness.
"This is where you take the gift. Not the body. Not the magic. The one thing that made them special. Their skill. Their blessing. Their talent. Whatever it is that set them apart."
Cain stared at him, saying nothing.
"You rip it out. Tear it from the roots. And once it's gone, it doesn't grow back. They never get it back. They live the rest of their life without it. Powerless. Broken. And if they were lucky enough to survive the process, they get to remember exactly what you took."
Gaius stopped spinning. He hung in the air, still and quiet for once.
"But here's the thing. You can't just do this to someone. You have to dominate them completely. They can't resist. Not physically. Not mentally. Not even spiritually. If there's even a flicker of fight left in them, the process backfires. And if it does, it's not just you that suffers. Gluttony turns on you. Chews you from the inside."
Cain's brow tightened. "So what, you're telling me this is only useful against the dying?"
Gaius nodded.
"The recently deceased. Or someone so defeated they've lost the will to stand. That's the only time it's safe. Anything else is suicide."
He floated into a cross-legged position again, hovering just in front of Cain.
"It's not a method you use lightly. Not unless you're prepared to take the consequences. Because once you steal someone's gift like that, it becomes yours forever. But they lose it. Forever."
Cain's eyes narrowed, just slightly.
"That's why people fear Gluttony," Gaius added. "That's the part that makes others call you a monster."
He waited a moment before smiling again.
"You think my disciple was a monster?" Gaius asked softly. "She was the farthest thing from it. It was the traitors who turned her into one. They feared her power and twisted the truth to suit their lies."
Cain frowned. "Then why did they hunt her? Why did they call her a monster?"
"Because Power breeds fear and greed which in turn fuels lies," Gaius said quietly. "Because those who cling to weakness always need someone to blame."
Gaius's spirit flickered softly, the pale light barely cutting through the void. "She was never a monster. Not truly. She fought with honor and purpose. But those who envied her power... they turned her name into a curse."
Cain's eyes narrowed. "So it was lies, then?"
"Yes," Gaius whispered. "The real monsters are the traitors. I do not know who they all were. My memories of them are fragmented, lost to time and pain. But I know this. They took pieces of me. Parts of my body, my power, shattered and scattered among them."
The spirit's glow dimmed briefly.
"They craved what I could not give them. Immortality. Their greed drove them to betray everything we stood for."
He paused, his voice low and steady.
"Now consume this husk and make your way up to the surface. You have two people's revenge to carry out now, no?"
Cain could finally see something he could recognize in Gaius' expression. It was pain, anger, rage….and compassion. Not wanting to let someone who despite their short time knowing each other had shown him genuine care. The corners of his lips curved up into a sad smile.
"Thank you…Master… I will fulfill your wish."
Cain opened his mouth and chanted a word inside his mind that he had used for so long.
[Consume!]
Gaius' form began to flicker as if it was being pulled towards Cain's mouth like a black hole. The smile never left his face even as he faded into particles of light that disappeared into his mouth.
[Gluttony has been activated]
[Skills have been Acquired]
[Skill: Blink]
[Skill: Mana Recovery EX]
[Skill: Immortality (Degraded)]
[Skill: Combat Instincts]
[Skill: Manipulate Status]
As the world around him returned to darkness, Cain could only thank the vestige of his Mentor before he passed. With the chain of the necklace that had led to this encounter wrapped around his hand, it was finally time to leave the Abyss.