CHAPTER 156: CHAPTER 156: SEEK IT!

Chapter 156 – Seek it!

The moment Kaden added his stat points, he instantly felt the effect. His will became stronger and firmer, making it easier for him to withstand the stressful situation he was in.

His perception too was enhanced — now he didn’t even need to focus much to sense up to five hundred meters around him. And right now, he was sensing the arrival of his dear friend... well, that’s what Asael called himself at least.

"Friend, I see you’ve woken up. That’s quite daring of you, sleeping so soundly with how the nights here are." Asael said with a subtle smile as he approached Kaden, his body now completely healed and clean, wearing brand new black clothes given by Kaden.

Kaden looked at him with a blank stare. "You say that, but you were here snoring the whole time. Hell, I didn’t even manage to sleep properly because of that."

"If we were attacked, I would have been the one surviving, not you."

Asael waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, friend. I’m not going to argue with my friend." He then slowly sat down in front of Kaden with a big, eager smile.

Kaden frowned immediately. "Why are you looking at me like that? And wipe that smile off, it’s disgusting."

Asael, once again, ignored his words. "You have clothes, potions, and all. That means... you must have food, right? Give me some, please. It’s been ages since I’ve eaten a proper meal. I’m tired of the corrupted undead flesh." His voice held clear disgust at the end.

But Kaden was even more disgusted. "How can you eat such a thing? I mean... how are you even alive while eating such a thing?"

He was curious — genuinely.

Because he could sense the strong power of death inside the undead and knew that eating them was dangerous.

With his current body, he could probably eat them without suffering any major effect, but how did Asael manage it?

From what he had noticed, except for his rare shadow affinity, there was nothing else special about him.

His question made Asael frown with disgust, as if remembering something vile, before he finally sighed.

"I don’t mind telling you, but I’m kind of starving..." he said with an exaggerated sigh, as if he might collapse at any moment.

Kaden’s lips twitched, but he still took out some bread and water from his space ring. He didn’t mind anyway as even without considering the fact he had enough food for a year, Asael had protected him during his transformation.

It was the least he could do.

Asael took the bread and started eating with haste, but even while hungry, the way he ate was strangely... graceful. There was a certain habit, a lingering poise, in every movement.

That’s when Kaden noticed that Asael was... quite handsome.

And maybe because of how he acted with him, Kaden hadn’t really noticed before how every word, every mannerism, carried a refinement that was not common for someone of ordinary birth.

’A noble... from which stronghold?’ he wondered. He didn’t think Asael was from Waverith — otherwise Kaden would know him... assuming his family also wielded a shadow-type Origin.

That was likely. After all, Origins were tied to families. Rarely did someone obtain an Origin outside of what their family possessed, except in the case of strange, unique variations.

Kaden’s thoughts were spinning rapidly, trying to guess Asael’s background, before being pulled out of them by the man’s voice.

"That was... surprisingly good. Who would have thought I’d be satisfied with simple bread and water one day?" Asael said with a strange smile, almost melancholic. But he shook his head and focused back on Kaden, who was looking at him intensely.

He smirked flirtatiously.

"Don’t stare at me like that, friend. I’m an easy guy, I might fall for you," he said with a coquettish, almost girly tone.

Instantly, goosebumps crawled over Kaden’s skin as he immediately put distance between them, looking at Asael as if he was the greatest abomination he had ever seen in his life.

"Asael, I swear to the most holy, you do that again and I’m going to fucking kill you," Kaden growled through gritted teeth, his voice heavy with irritation.

Asael burst into laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Gods, Kaden, my dear friend, why so serious?" he said, wiping a small tear from his eye — tears of joy.

It’s been a long time he had cried... even longer the last time it was tears of joy.

He smiled, this time simply, normally — and somehow, that made him even more handsome.

Kaden cursed.

"Hahaha! You’re so fun to be with, friend. But anyway... you asked how I survived here eating those flesh?" Asael said, his tone turning slightly serious.

Kaden nodded, though he didn’t move closer — he stayed far away from him.

Asael chuckled softly before replying,

"Well, I guess you don’t know this... or maybe you just didn’t think about it too much. But let me teach you something, Kaden, my friend."

He paused slightly, letting the words settle before continuing.

"In this world of Fokay, there’s one rule... one concept that encompasses all living and non-living beings alike. Do you know what it is?" he asked.

Kaden didn’t know the answer at first, but he thought about it.

And with his intelligence stat at work, the answer came surprisingly fast.

Asael had mentioned Fokay, and if there was one thing Fokay was known for - especially to a Darklore native like him - it was...

"...evolution?" Kaden muttered, slightly uncertain.

Asael smiled. "Exactly, evolution."

"Nothing remains stagnant in this world. Everything evolves, and that’s how Fokay works. Anything refusing to evolve... won’t last long."

"And if there’s anything humans have more than most others, it’s the ability to adapt and evolve in any given environment.""

Instantly, Kaden understood how he survived here.

"Yes. I survived here by doing exactly that... evolve."

"I knew from the beginning that I couldn’t stay without eating, so I needed to find something to eat. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Kaden, my friend, but there are only corrupted undead here... so can you guess what I did?"

He didn’t wait for an answer.

"I ate them. It was that or die. And I chose to do everything I could to survive. But I wasn’t foolish, you see — at first I only ate small parts of them, just enough to sustain myself. Even that was hell, as my body rejected it violently."

"I started bleeding black blood, I hallucinated, I had nightmares of my own death over and over... my strength diminished greatly as well."

"But guess what?"

He looked straight at Kaden, whose eyes now held a glimmer of awe.

"Well... I ate them again. Small parts only agein. And as time passed, I — my body — started to get used to it. I grew bolder, ate more of them... and so on, until one day... when a little madness overtook me... I ate their very dead heart."

Kaden shuddered at the last sentence, but Asael’s smile only grew wider, touched with concealed madness.

"And oh... what a delight it was. And it seemed that was the trigger, because after that day... I gained a very interesting trait. One that helped me survive here until now."

He finished speaking, locking his twin pools of shadow on Kaden’s bloody red eyes.

"So, Kaden, my friend... seek change. Seek transformation. Seek evolution. After all, anything stagnant in this wretched world is fated to be devoured... as the seed of another’s evolution."

—End of Chapter 156—