Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale-
The behemoth breathes that were tinged with a glint of of heavy conception and analysis brushed against Vermur's face as stared at this creature. This thing. This unknown entity. This... this demon of the sort. But could one really blame him for his thoughts? No. For he was but a simple child whose gaze reflected this behemoth's horrendous figure.
His body was still. His muscles partially flexed so he could have to chance to spring away when he needed to and...
"HHAAAR!"
Thumb, thumb, dash!
Thumb!
Ensure that his swift escape was not meant with any other intruding reactions from his body as he quickly dashed away from the monster, but not fast enough to put him at safe distance from it.
Compared to when he first gazed upon it and now its horrendous figure still caused a faint shudder to pulse through his entire body witha discomforted look that twisted on his face.
In his eyes, the beast its head rectangular wide yet bent in the middle with a nasal that took a deep brown color, long ovular eyes that were pitch black in colour with faint sleeves of white at the their corners. Its mouth was also wide and bore many teeth though blunt. Its younger was a light colour and the gums in its mouth seemed to a pale pink colour that pulsed with black bulging veins within. It towered at a magnificent height of over 300 cm. Its fur a deep brown as well that was dimly painted by the white flakes of the blurry cold winds of this snowy terrain.
Its arms were long and so were legs that both bore four fingers and toes. With blunt gray claws.
Inhale. Exhale. In hale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale.
The beast gazed no rather looked down at the boy that stood before it with a deep neutrality in its eyes. It's black eyes that looked even darker and deeper than tge night sky that hovered above.
Its breathes. Sounded tired yet measured. Calm yet... strangely intimidating. It stood with its legs and back slightly crouched which now made sense of how Vermur was able to see what he gazed upon.
And speaking of Vermur, whose body was still partially and unconsciously tensed up as well his razor alert mind which was hinted off by his every small eye adjustment as he gazed upon this beast. Scanning it from head to toe without fully breaking eye contact. How though?
He didn't know. He didn't even know why his body was reacting this way or did he, but just couldn't fully make sense of this alienly familiar sensation that crept and rested about in his small and slightly frail body?
For non of that mattered because Vermur had made some new summaries for the occurrence before him. One, was that he needed to run and fast. Two, and why? Well, that was because... whatever this creature was... or whatever purpose it had. Its gaze, its gaze gave away the obe thing Vermur had finally noticed as he scanned it. A deadly keen observation of him. His breathing. His blood flow. His tensity. His alertness. His observations and even the slightest movements he made. This beast, with is dark motionless eyes observed Vermur so much so that even if he was to run away...
Inhale...
"Dang it."
It would simply stretch out its claw. Its large and heavy claw down on this boy no its 'prey' to put it down in one, swift, strike.
"Hmph. Hmph."
Vermur closed his eyes as a faint chuckle escaped his closed mouth.
The blurry cold winds of this terrain blew gently against his body and its frail frame as it painted him whiter and whiter with every passing flake that fell and rested onto his body.
His breathes were faint and yet deep. Deep so that he could catch every particle of oxygen that lingered within this stale cold air.
And then...
Thumb, thumb.
Dash!
Thumb, thumb, thumb, thumb, thumb, thumb, thumb, thumb.
He ran. Not fast, but efficiently, carefully and with a lightness that enabled him to do so on the snowy ground that lain under his small yet heavy feet.
He ran, hus heart heavily beating as it pumped blood all through out his body. With the little warmth that it bore so that it could help his already freezing body to move across the sickeningly cold atmosphere that surrounded him as the little heat it provided helped melt and loosen his muscles just enough so that he could his escape.
Or....
Thumb, thumb.
So he thought.
Thumb.
His right foot dug faintly into the snowy ground.
Thumb.
His gaze keenly fixed on the path a head. The path he once frivolously skipped so that he make hus way to... find all the beautiful things in this world. One that he had no knowledge of.
Thumb.
None of about himself as well. None about the he felt nor thought about. And so he was like an ant. An ant that had stumbled into a domain that retracted all its memories. All its sensibilities and knowledge. Making ut easier. Easier prey. More fun to mess around with. More enjoyable to torture and confuse and yet this ant...
Despite facing all that. Looked with a keen focus, a steady breath, numbed but still enthusiastically unconscious body that moved on its own even when his mind had departed from its control over his body and got lost in thought. This ant... had even bigger goals than the predators around it. And that was...
'Not now... not until...'
Thumb, thumb.
Swuuuush!
"I have them... all, the beautiful... the beautiful things... not until they're all... mine!"
As his next step slightly plunged his left foot a little deeper into the snowy ground as he he crouched his body, his heart racing. His breathes rapidly intencing. His muscles flexing with a brim and unknown, unrecognised and alien strength that he had never planned to use. Well, at least not until he needed to and right now. He needed to just that.
'Up, up and... away!'
He thought as his body then rapidly lunged forward with a slightly blur that might've scared the soul out of a human but...
Not this monster. For it was neither human nor alive. It was simply...
"Huh?"
Another predator whose purpose was solely and had complete focus on one thing right now and that was...
Vermur. Whose focused gaze on his front was slightly obscured by the partial flickers of his pale black hair follicles across his eyes as the winds of terrain blew against hus body. Swaying from left to right. And from right to left. But... this was something that had obscured by an even greater occurrence that he simply.
Thumb, thumb, thumb.
Couldn't.
Thumb, thumb.
Ignore.
'What the-'
Bam!
"Cough!"
A thunderous yet soft explosion blared out as we see a helpless Vermur squirm and cough under the palm of this beast.
"Cough, cough, cough. Dang it."
He cursed and coughed as his eyes, sgot wide open with a panic that even this beast. Could see in his eyes.
"Dang it, Dang it! I thought that... cough! I thought I had a shot at running away. Cough!"
Vermur coughed and blundered under a small and struggling breath as the weight if this beasts claw effortlessly weighed and weighed further down on its body. Crushing it slowly and painfully.
He felt it. The weight of this beasts claw. The pain the excruciating and endlessly seeping pain that coursed throughout his entire body. From his cold skin. To his tense little muscles. To the edges of his bones. And slowly into the marrows of these bones. The pain. It seemed in. Slowly and wholely. Yes, even to his mind. That screamed at him to do something. Anything. Just as long as he could escape this... already fated situation.
And slowly his breathes dimmed. His blood flow ceased. Hus head swelled as hus all ready squirming body calmed as it slowly set down towards the surface of the snowy ground.
Slowly and slowly and slowly and slowly and slowly. And first hist chest that tinged from the slightest contact it made with the cold ground as it settled on it slowly. And... his head. That shivered fiercely. With the last of the strength that he had saved to scream. But for what. And to who? Who was who even or what was a who? He didn't know. And so, he smirked and mummered with a trembling and faint voice that could barely even scare a fly, "M-my my... this... this is where it all ends huh? No. It can't..."
As a tear fell from his right eye that rested with right side of his face on the snowy ground as he added, "Wh-when... I... haven't even... haven't even... haven't even... got to..." as his gaze then weakly and barely shifted up towards the dimly lit dark night sky and finished, "Start... my journey... for all the..."
He said as his breathes gave away and his voice weakened even further, "Beautiful... things... haaaah."
He said as a long, weighed and reminiscent breathe escaped his mouth. Not out of reluctance. Not out of relinquish to his purpose. But from an uncontrollable reaction to a fated and deadly action.
And as his eyes closed and his blurred. He thought if something that might've been irreversible to a normal dying person.
But not to Vermur, for he was all but normal. And he thought, 'Lord... please... help me.'
Was it out of instinct? Or could it be out of habit? Or was it his mind simply spilling the last of unknown information that he long never had a clue about. A mind confused about itself. Truly less to say that this whole situation as well.
But this time... this time it didn't feel unknown at least... not fully. But... he knew what he was doing what he was calling t even as he drew his last breaths or....
Tsszt!
'Huh?'
The breathes that were meant to reform him. And fir once he felt it. Not the confusion. Not the excitement. But the affirmative reassurance he never thought he'd get to feel. Ever.
[Conditions have been met.]
A systematic voiced churned in his head.
[Reward for completing the first quest have been fulfilled.]
[Awareness score; 6/10]
[Self drive score; 5/10]
[Dependency score; 10/10]
[Total score analysis: 21/ 30]
[Percentage result: 70%]
The voice went on and on this confused the dying Vermur's consciousness with every word it spoke and finished.
[Conditions to unlock first half of the 'First Reward' have been met.]
[Master Vermur, has been recognised and deemed worthy of dreaming with a little help.]
'What the...'
[ The first half shall now be granted....]
[Congratulations Master Vermur, you have unlocked the first half of the 'First Reward'.]
[And have gained recognition of 'Pxylus'. And shall be granted use of the dream system.]