A fleshy thud reverberated in the broken room. Almost all the walls had been ripped off in the fight. My chest heaved up and down as I breathed. Rays of sunlight bathed me with warmth and cool winds brushed against my sweat-ridden body. I tilted my head back, looking at the sky with a sigh.

  I’d done it.

  I wanted nothing more than to rest. To sit down and just waste away for days on end. But the Puppeteer’s horde was still coming. They were slower than before, and some had left the cohort now that his wires had been cut and the blessing lifted. Still, a stalwart few stayed true to their purpose. Most of them Unsung and strong Whispered. The ripples weren’t powerful enough for anything else to be in the mix.

  Brushing my hand against my chest, I felt warm blood coat my armor. Something had punched through when I was slung back by the red spear’s explosion. I wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon. And I didn’t particularly want to.

  The power was frighteningly potent. Probably way too strong for someone like me to wield it, even when empowered by a myriad of embroideries.

  The cracks lining my skin had begun to close and heal. At least the gamble had used up most of the surplus magic from the globe.

  My legs screamed as I forced them to move. I knelt by the Puppeteer’s corpse. His face was still twisted with disbelief and shock. Honestly, I kind of felt the same way. Killing him had been my reason for coming here. But never did I expect to actually pull it off just like that. Nothing ever went just like that.

  As I reached down to search his body for accolades, a golden whirlpool of power formed underneath. I recoiled back, scrambling on all fours and watched his body break down into wisps of ash, sucked into the golden swirl.

  “What the fuck…” I muttered.

  Take it! said Sera.

  “Take what?!”

  The power! Reach inside, infect, take!

  I wanted to protest, but his body was disintegrating fast. If I wanted a piece of the power-pie, then I needed to act before everything was gone. I swallowed and yelped, “Fuck!”

  Reaching my blackened hand into the golden siphon, I clenched my jaw. My hand disappeared inside, sinking through the floor like the golden whirlpool was a portal. Inside, it was cold, yet at the same time warm. One second, something on the other side brushed against my hand and burned into my skin. The other, something colder than ice washed over me. It grabbed a hold on me, pulling me deeper inside.

  I used my free hand to strain against the pull. A knot tied in my gut. It felt as if invisible hands crawled up my blackened hand and seeped into my skin. It felt as if it was eating me.

  I activated my blessing and grabbed a handful of the magic inside. With a grunt, I pulled. Threads yielded and bent in my hand. A cascade of cracking washed out from inside. The resistance disappeared with a loud snap and sent me tumbling back. I craned my neck and watched as the last of the Puppeteer’s body was broken down and swallowed by the golden light. And then he was no more.

  I looked down to my hand and flinched at the sight. A finger, bent and decayed, showing more bone than silvery skin.

  “God dammit!” I exclaimed and dropped it to the floor.

  Why does everything have to be so fucking gross?

  Watching the golden whirlpool fade away like it was never even there, I asked Sera, “What now? Don’t tell me I have to eat the fucking thing.”

  Of course not. You need only absorb it.

  I scoffed. “Yeah. Right. That’s reasonable and all. But how? You know humans usually absorb by eating, right?”

  I see. Yes. Then you will have to swallow it.

  My jaw fell open as I struggled to find the right words. “You’re kidding, right?”

  Her laughter echoed in my head, light and crisp like a chirping bird. I am afraid this is serious. Or you could hold off on absorbing it until you enter the next stage of acclaim. Your blessing should be strong enough by then, unless it changes again.

  My heart fell as I looked down at the finger. Touching it, it was still warm, though no blood flowed through it. How would I even begin to swallow a whole finger? Was I supposed to chop it up or something?

  Trembling, I lifted it to my lips.

  My word you are stupid. Her laughter echoed in my head.

  “What?”

  We do not have time to waste on this. Inject your thread into it. Like you did with the Cobbler’s vile shoes.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  I moved the finger from my mouth, slowly. If she’d been a second slower I would be gagging on a cut off finger by now. In what world was that a funny prank?

  Grumbling, I reached into myself for the threads that bound me and Sera as one. After using it once, it wasn’t very hard to replicate. Especially not with the remnants of the Puppeteer’s power still lingering inside.

  The dark thread poked out of my black index finger like a stinger. I pressed it against what remained of the Puppeteer with a drop of sweat running down the side of my head. With a poke, the stinger extended and penetrated the finger. Pulses of silver coursed through the thread like it was a straw. Little by little, the finger shrunk, even the bone folded in on itself and began to crumble. But nothing escaped the power of my thread. Soon nothing of the finger remained but the embarrassment I felt at almost swallowing it.

  When I closed my eyes, I could feel the power flow through my body, centering around my nucleus. I didn’t feel the need to guide it. My threads would lead it where it needed to go. I had faith in the power Sera had bequeathed to me, although it had changed to better fit me.

  After some time, a cold took hold in my gut. It spread out to flood my entire body, creeping its way through me like the warmth after swallowing a spoonful of soup.

  My eyes shot open and I ground my teeth against each other. The power was fighting me.

  Focus. Dominate it.

  Sure, that’s not at all easier said than done.

  Clenching my hands into fists I focused my magic into circulation. Wherever the cold went, my magic followed. I didn’t know how many minutes I spent like that, but when I finished, the cold crept back, then settled on one of my human fingers.

  Like a parasite finding a warm organ.

  My breathing slowed against my will. The pain dulled. The dark threads inside of me thrummed and knit themselves into a tight ball. They were satisfied by the meal as they wriggled out of the ball into the shape of a circlet with long drooping braids.

  In the next moment, my vision blurred. Gagging, I clutched at my stomach and doubled over as the threads shifted inside of me.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I hissed.

  She paused, long enough that I could hear the smile on her words. You are growing stronger. Wear your threaded crown with pride, Usurper.

  I didn’t understand what she was saying. All I could think of was the blinding discomfort of my insides twisting and braiding themselves.

  Cold pressure bloomed behind my eyes. I could feel it. The wires connecting the approaching horde were snapping. Breaking down one by one. His puppets were losing their cohesion, their sense of purpose. Now, the Puppeteer was truly gone. Now that I had swallowed up the last remnants of his power. The last sliver of his myth.

  My vision returned and I pushed myself to my feet despite the discomfort.

  Slowly. Power does not come without cost.

  “And did I just pay?”

  The same thing as always. A piece of you…

  I grumbled and pulled up my runes for the first time in a long time.

  Name: Caleb Kane

  Race: Human (75%) Nameless kin (25%)

  Title: One of reviled flesh, Outsider’s mark, Pact bound, Scourge slayer, Harbinger, Usurper

  Blessing: Shaper

  Acclaim: Unsung

  Accolades: Silent Scream, Battle-worn thimbles, Jackpot, Embrace of Innocence, Flesh of the damned, Old sword, Mask of Beauty, Corroded pocket watch, Shoes of Silent Passage, Threaded crown of the Usurper.

  Threaded crown of the Usurper

  Rank: Unique

  Type: Remembrance

  Description: An unseen regalia built upon the very tyranny of the Puppeteer’s myth. The shaper made the cruelty their own through a braided crown of silver wires and threads of dark intent, woven to rest on the very soul of its wielder.

  Embroidery: Dominate

  Effect: Enables the wielder to exert control over other beings and items.

  “Holy shit…”

  That might just be the one thing worth losing humanity for. Did this mean I could control others like the Puppeteer did? The power was a vile one. It was the reason for my loss of Gabi. But it was powerful. With preparation I could potentially build a small army of my own.

  Looking around, I was completely alone. So that experimenting would have to wait. Besides, I still needed to rest. I cast one last glance to the broken room, then left.

  My steps were heavy as I trekked down the hillside toward the city. I could have stayed in the palace-like building. But staying at the scene of a loud fight like that seemed like a bad idea in pretty much every conceivable way.

  Instead, I dragged my battered body into the city and found myself a nice and empty apartment complex. Breaking into one of the many homes didn’t prove too difficult when I could just smash the door clean off its hinges. Not that I did. I just forced it open and tied it shut behind me with a mass of threads that would have made the Whispered version of myself pale.

  Inside, it was clean and well kept. The decor made me think the owner was on the older side. The first thing you saw after entering was an old display cabinet, filled to the brim with porcelain plates. All of them had paintings of different people, but seemed to be part of the same collection. They almost looked biblical in a sense.

  I laid a hand on the glass door and admired them for a bit before heading straight for the kitchen. Cabinets of plain wood covered the walls. I headed straight for the largest one, bubbling with anticipation as I opened it. If a grandmother had lived here—a normal one—that could only mean one thing.

  The door creaked open but to me it sounded like the fanfare of angelic trumpets. The pantry was filled to the brim with food. Honest to god, non expired food.

  If I could see myself, I would have seen my own eyes sparkle. I filled my hands and arms with abandon and moved to the kitchen table. I pulled a chair out with my foot, plopped down on it and let the contents of my embrace spill out onto the table.

  Crackers, jams, sweets—all manner of food I’d been craving suddenly lay before me. Within reach.

  I cracked a jar of jam open and dipped a cracker. The sweet taste melted in my mouth on contact. I didn’t mind that the cracker was a little dry, the jam made up for it. It was hard to place exactly what type it was. Some indigenous kind, no doubt. But it felt nostalgic anyway. I closed my eyes and savoured the taste with a satisfied moan.

  Finally, some time to rest. Not that it would last long… As soon as the Shoes of Silent Passage recovered their charge I would be heading straight into the Forgotten Lands.

  The others were probably hoping I would deal with the Puppeteer and then return. But there was nothing there for me. Not without Gabi.

  Besides, the shoes allowed for travel no matter where I was. I could jump to and from the Forgotten Lands as soon as it came off cooldown. There was nothing that forced me to return here when I was finished. I could just go straight back to my cabin. The only thing that kept me from returning straight to my cabin to begin with, was the crowd that depended on me. But now, finally, I needed only to take care of myself.

  might take next week off to focus on the new launch and moving book 1 of Blessed to amazon.

  I'm not sure yet though, it really depends on how much time I need to waste on marketing and stuff.

  If posts halt on Royalroad, they will most likely continue at a slower pace on patreon.

  Again, this is for next week only.