章 4: Death's Gift

Azrael laughed again, waving a dismissive hand. "In exchange for your service, I'll spare your life this time." His amusement faded, gaze turning cold and resolute. "But make no mistake, I can't bend the rules anymore. The next time you see me will be the last time we meet. You get me!"

I knew that already, Ken thought bitterly. "I said I want more." You know what I desire. He stood and met Azrael's stare.

Azrael smiled patronizingly. "When the last immortal's soul is collected, call for me. I'll pay extra then."

"Deal," Ken grinned sharply, body still trembling from the lingering pain. "Now explain this 'gift' clearly."

"I granted you the power of Rejection and Possession," Azrael said, holding up his index finger.

"Rejection allows you to sever Meta-Objects from physical forms by touch, while Possession grants you dominion over them. Thus take them as your own." As he spoke, he pretended to pluck something invisible in front of him and pulled it toward his chest in a clutching gesture. "By temporarily absorbing them into your soul, your soul then becomes a conduit," He tightened the grip.

"You can then seal a Meta-Object into one of the nine artifacts, then use it however you please," He pointed to the chain in Ken's pocket and smiled. "To be more precise, I gave you Possession and your soul gave itself Rejection – and by using both, now you can extract..." He grabbed at the air again.

"...and seal." He rapidly followed by slamming the imaginary object into his other hand, as if he clapped.

Ken just stared at Azrael, blinking in confusion.

Seeing this, Azrael's eyebrows shot up for a moment, "It appears a demonstration is in order."

The angel swiftly moved closer to Ken and gripped his shoulder firmly. Ken tensed, unsure what was coming. Azrael maintained eye contact whilst his hand went up as if he pulled something out. Suddenly Ken found himself floating above his now lifeless corpse collapsed on the ground. His physical vessel lay inert, limp, and vacant, emptied of spirit, mind, and consciousness.

"What the?!" Ken exclaimed in shock, glancing down at his lifeless body while Azrael stood over it, smiling at Ken's hovering soul.

Ken willed himself to return, but his detached soul could not re-enter the empty vessel. Azrael had completely separated spirit from flesh. And was holding the spirit with his hand.

"This is extracting."

"Let me back!" Ken demanded, trying in vain to return to his physical self. But the angel maintained possession of his soul.

Azrael ignored him, prodding the vacant husk with his foot. It remained limp and unresponsive, vacant eyes staring blankly ahead. Ken could only watch, unsettled by the sight of his hollowed-out corpse. "I used Rejection to sever soul from flesh, and Possession to keep hold of it."

After a few more disturbing moments, Azrael leaned down while holding the soul. The angel then completely sucked it into himself through his hand for a split instant after which he then slammed Ken's soul back inside the boy's husk, hence allowing it to rejoin his body. Ken felt himself getting pushed back as sudden lucidity returned to his physical form while his limbs jolted back to life.

"This is sealing," Azrael said, as he stood straight. "Take and keep, or take and release. The choice is yours."

Shaking his head as he hopped up on his feet, Ken said, "This means..."

"Yes, this is how you capture the souls of the nine in those artifacts," Azrael confirmed casually, examining his nails. "So don't lose them." He glared sharply at Ken, eyes narrowed. "This is also how you can Extract, Seal, and even mold anything metaphysical."

Hey! Ken's brows furrowed in concentration.

He just said anything metaphysical… not just souls. The keyword here is Meta-Object! This essentially means possessing conceptual things. With Possession and Rejection, I can own Meta-Objects by detaching metaphysical essences from physical forms I physically touch, then seal those Meta-Objects I capture into the nine artifacts to use at my will. Meta-Objects could be souls, skills, ideas, concepts, knowledge, or memories, so everything abstract that exists but has no physical form.

The only condition here is that Meta-Objects must be tethered to a physical container.

This could work! I can find something Meta to help track the immortals. Maybe I could...

"Smart kid," Azrael clapped slowly, smirking mockingly. "You're limited to the nine artifacts though. One cannot house two Meta-Objects at once."

Wait! Ken's eyes widened in realization.

Hold on!

That means!

"Correct," Azrael affirmed Ken's unspoken deduction, tilting his chin up. "Besides there is another condition," Azrael stated.

"Huh!"

"Depending on your strength and or your target, some Meta-Objects are a bit harder to sever," Azrael added. "So you need to do some pounding to get them out."

Ken clenched his fists as he grinned. This "gift" has a fatal flaw, he thought irritably. Still, I can turn it to my advantage. I can make this work. His face set with determination.

Ken drew the artifact chain from his pocket, examining each link closely. He then looked at Azrael. "And after sealing a Meta-Object, how do I access and use its power?"

Azrael smiled cryptically. "Use Possession on it," Hinting at the chain.

"Huh!"

"You know kid; there are other words one can use to express thoughts instead of huh!" Azrael mocked.

Ken cringed. Just imagine passing the chain through your skin, merging it with your soul. He instructed himself.

Ken sighed as he furrowed his brow in concentration. He visualized the chain sinking into his hand, its cold alloy blending seamlessly with his inner being.

Instantly, the artifacts vanished within his flesh. But a black-inked tattoo tracing their form remained etched onto his skin.

Awed, Ken grinned. "It worked! And the tattoo looks great too."

"Not bad," Azrael said. "Now, to get it out, use Rejection."

Ken focused, willing the chain out. It reappeared on his hand, good as new.

Once a Meta-Object is sealed within an artifact, I can absorb the whole chain through Possession. That merges it fully with my soul, allowing me to directly access and wield the contained powers.

He held up his hand, tracing where the shadowy tattoo had formed.

With the chain a part of my soul, its sealed Meta-Objects respond instantly to my command. I need only imagine their effects to bring them into reality.

And if I were to extract another Meta-Object in the future, all I must do is use Rejection to safely remove the chain from within myself. That returns it to its physical form, ready to imprison new Meta-Objects once more. Ken continued, his understanding growing by leaps.

Azrael nodded, pleased with Ken's progress. "Let's get you set up," He said, glancing right of Ken. "You almost had your wish granted, you know," He added, nodding towards the ground.

Ken followed Azrael's gaze and saw a fist-sized stone lying several feet away. He wasn't sure what the angel was getting at.

Azrael strode over to the rock and peered down at it meaningfully. "Everything in this Dark Forest will make sure to kill you," He stated cryptically.

Ken had heard whispers of the Underground's horrors during his captivity up on the Solo-Ground, right before he was taken down there. The criminals spoke in hushed, fearful tones about the fate that awaited them below. Ken picked up scattered fragments - tales of ravenous beasts and lethal terrains. But he was not ready for what was to come.

"Even a small pebble like this," Azrael leaned down and lifted it, then stood up and moved his hand holding the stone towards Ken. "So to prevent your instant passing, you need something that will allow you to survive in this place for long enough to make yourself stronger."

Ken walked over until the rock was parallel to his sight, to examine the stone. It was unremarkable in appearance - dull gray, rough-edged, seemingly bland. "It's just a rock," Ken stated.

As Ken reached out hesitantly to touch it, Azrael continued. "This very rock nearly killed you before that stain did."

Ken jerked his hand back in surprise. The thought of such a mundane thing almost killing him made his skin crawl. Just how many hidden brushes with death had there been?

"Hein?!" Ken wondered.

"This is a Camouphage," Azrael said. "In its original state, it's a hairy slug. Though it remains a shapeshifting beast that can morph its reconfigurable and transformable flesh rapidly by rearranging and multiplying its cells microscopically. This lets it disguise itself as objects like trees or rocks, or transform into deadly creatures." The Camouphage was made of Reconfigurable Metamaterials.

I don't get it!

"Right now it's trying to blend into the environment since it remains a vulnerable living creature that must mate, hunt, and sometimes hide to survive."

Wait! If it can become a deadly force, yet it's trying to hide as a rock. That means…

"Bingo,"

Stop interrupting my thoughts already. Ken sighed internally. "Why tell me this?"

"To comprehend something fully, you must first understand its nature," Azrael replied. "Only then can you attempt possession, or you won't succeed in properly extracting and sealing a Meta-Object."

I see! So I need to observe and learn. Great! Another thing to worry about.

Another condition.

"So I'm supposed to take its shapeshifting power?"

"No. I wouldn't recommend it; this ability is useless to you now."

"Then why?"

"This is just bait." Azrael tossed the stone westward away from them.

Time unfroze, and began moving except for Ken's would-be killer. Though the three looked like they were surrounded by an invisible dome that separated them from the environment around them. The rock hit the ground and began morphing rapidly into a colossal winged serpent with gleaming yellow eyes.

The giant snake locked its yellow eyes on them for a brief moment.

Ken recoiled in terror since he was scared stiff of snakes. Not long ago, they threw snakes on him while he slept, reveling in his fear.

They did it just to have fun.

So seeing that giant snake made his skin crawl, grin vanishing.

The snake's gaze shifted left, towards rustling trees. Ken glimpsed something flickering spectral in and out of sight. Red eyes drew nearer, resolving into a hulking white wolf with crimson irises. It emerged, many times bulkier than a rhino into the glade. Its fur was ordained with strange red veins and ruby-like circles.

"That there is a SpiritShifter," Azrael explained. "It shifts its body on command between spectral and physical realms." Due to its metamaterial composition. "Incorporeal as spirits, they glide unhindered through solid objects in the physical realm, yet are vulnerable to metaphysical forces and still can feel what goes through them. So, basically, they can feel pain even though it won't affect them in any way. Tangible as flesh, it can be harmed only by tangible means. This grants them preternatural mobility and stealth, allowing them to stalk prey undetected across both dimensions."

"Fascinating!" Ken yelped, bewildered by the standoff.

"Just watch," Azrael said calmly.

The SpiritShifter's crimson eyes bored into the Camouphage, the red veins covering half its face glowed as its white fur was rippling when it moved. Paces away, the Camouphage held its serpentine form low to the ground, translucent wings folded at its sides.

Tension hung thick in the air as SpiritShifter and Camouphage circled each other on the glade's edge, two predators poised on the brink of battle. A growl rumbled deep in the wolf's throat, hungry for the taste of its foe's blood. The Camouphage tensed.

The moment the two predators locked eyes upon each other in the dimly lighted glade, the forest erupted into violence.

With a bone-chilling roar that shook the ancient trees, the hulking SpiritShifter wolf charged, crossing the distance in blurring seconds. With an earsplitting shriek, the Camouphage rolled out of the way, just avoiding the charge by a hair's breadth. The evasion turned into a diving lunge as the serpent plunged, venom dripping and fangs bared, toward its foe. At the last instant, the wolf flickered immaterial, and the Camouphage's deadly strike met only dirt.

Wheeling around, the serpent's diamond-hard tail lashed out. It clipped the SpiritShifter's spectral form, eliciting a pained yelp though no physical damage was done. In answer, the wolf sprung up and closed suddenly tangible jaws around the tail's midsection with the force of a steel trap. Bones crunched audibly between the fangs wrought from an alloy stronger than steel.

Writhing in maddened agony, the Camouphage attempted to slip free, but the SpiritShifter's grip would not be broken. Instead, the serpent reconfigured its shattered vertebrae on the cellular level, morphing them into razor-edged spikes that impaled the wolf's mouth from within. Howling, the SpiritShifter was forced to release its hold, black blood dripping from its maw as it retreated.

Pressing its momentary advantage, the serpent struck again, movements blindingly fast despite its enormous size, striking its fanged maw seeking physical flesh and bone. But the SpiritShifter was swifter, dissipating into mist to avoid the snapping jaws, and gliding back out of reach. Solidifying behind the Camouphage's winged form, the wolf savaged the thin membranous skin, shredding holes in the wings with its terrible claws.

Enraged, the Camouphage whirled, morphing and lashing out with spiked tails, writhing tendrils, and wickedly curved horns emerging from its armored scales. But the SpiritShifter flickered between states maddeningly out of reach each time, dancing just outside the blurring attacks. From every angle the assaults came, yet none could touch the vexingly elusive wolf.

Meanwhile, each spectral counterattack brought fresh waves of rippling agony to the serpent's body. It was obvious that the Camouphage had never faced a SpiritShifter that was seemingly vulnerable yet untouchable. But it was far from defeated.

Fang and claw collided repeatedly as the shapeshifting snake and flickering wolf crashed together at the glade's center. A thunderous dissonance of snarls and hisses echoed through the trees as the titans grappled.

The glade became a swirling vortex of tooth, claw, and ever-shifting flesh as Camouphage and SpiritShifter clashed again and again beneath the cold light of Sawad.

As blood poured from a hundred wounds, the Camouphage changed strategies. When the wolf materialized for another bite as it sprinted towards its prey, the Camouphage reacted instantly. Its flesh rippled, reshaping into a giant spiked urchin-like form to meet the assault head-on. The spikes shot outward, spearing through the air like living javelins.

Azrael was unfazed though Ken reacted intuitively by covering his head with crossed arms, the spikes bounced off the invisible shield that protected the three.

Whilst the SpiritShifter was a fraction faster, flickering out of the physical realm scant moments before being impaled. The spikes passed harmlessly through its ghostly form. Focused on its target, the SpiritShifter instantly pounced back to physicality, all four sets of claws finding purchase on the Camouphage's dense, spike-studded shell. Steel claws fractured the hardened shell, fissures spreading rapidly across the surface.

Sensing the breaking point approaching, the Camouphage violently reshaped itself once more. The Camouphage bellowed in pain and fury, its flesh undulating as it reconfigured into its scaled reptilian form. Lashing like a serpent, its powerful tail battered the wolf's body. The SpiritShifter released its hold, shifting immaterial to avoid the brutal impacts.

Pressing its counterattack, the spectral wolf darted back in, scything through the Camouphage's newest morph with its razor claws. Each strike brought fresh waves of agony.

Writhing in retaliation, the Camouphage sprouted dozens of tentacles from its amorphous body, swatting at its tormentor. But the SpiritShifter was always one flickering step ahead, effortlessly evading the flood of beatings. The wolf's razor fangs sheared off any tentacle that got too close during its brief tangible phases.

Back and forth the shapeshifting frenzy raged. The Camouphage cycled rapidly through forms - armored, spiked, and clawed - desperately trying to land a decisive blow. Meanwhile, the SpiritShifter darted around the glade shifting between mist and flesh, an ever-changing blur of fur and fangs.

Slowly but surely, the Camouphage weakened under the relentless assault. The SpiritShifter could smell its foe tiring and sense victory approaching at last. With a howl that shook the trees, the wolf renewed its attack, phasing through the Camouphage's latest misshapen form again and again, persistently deepening the creature's agony.

Reeling in pain, the Camouphage made one final desperate gambit. Its flesh melted down into a writhing puddle, oozing between mud and roots to hide amidst the undergrowth. Shielded by the earth, perhaps it could regenerate just enough to escape.

"What a boring display," Azrael said. "This Camouphage is still young." Hinting at the Camouphage's inexperience in using its powers during the fight.

Is this boring! Ken thought as he watched bewildered, grinning in that moment.

However, the SpiritShifter's prize would not be denied. Following the lingering scent, it stalked to where the Camouphage hid and became tangible. Massive claws shredded through dirt and vegetation, exposing its cowering foe with callous efficiency.

Too exhausted to morph again, the Camouphage could only squirm helplessly as the SpiritShifter's jaws closed around it. Bones crunched between merciless fangs forged from an alloy stronger than steel. The Camouphage shuddered once...then moved no more. With a sickening wrench, the SpiritShifter severed its head. Tossing the limp body aside contemptuously, the wolf threw back its head in a chilling victory howl.

"Now that you get the SpiritShifter's ability," Azrael glimpsed at Ken. "Go take its power."