Chapter 7: Parasites "He’s barely in there, but his soul is still exerting control, mindlessly assimilating," Micah mumbled in observation. "Feral, debt-wracked, dark-glazed eyes, and now, necrotic," the girl stared pointedly at the black lines spreading over Finn’s body before turning fiercely to Micah, "and you say he’s still in there...?!" "Isn’t it curious?" Micah chuckled absentmindedly, missing the dangerous tilt to the girl’s tone. "Curious?" Micah suddenly felt a cold breeze from behind, snapping him to attention. He finally realized the implied meaning behind the girl’s tone. "Just wai—" "—THEN WHY ARE YOU JUST WATCHING HIM DIE?!!" Her fist smashed right down the center of Micah’s head, driving him into the ground from his crouched position like a suddenly compressed spring. He lost his balance entirely, collapsing backward to the floor, stunned. He grasped his head between his hands, before letting out an overly dramatic wail of pain as the girl pushed him aside, crouching carefully before Finn. "You damn violent woman!! This is why you aren’t in a relationship yet!!" He wanted to say more, but a sharp, soulless stare from the girl made him swallow his next words. "Y—y’know you’re supposed to be my student, right...? And students respect their teachers..." he mumbled, sitting up. "Like you care about that stuff," the girl scoffed, before her voice took on a very serious air. "Micah, we need to help him fast. He’s on his way to becoming a corroded vessel!" "Relax..." Micah replied half-heartedly, cracking his neck to ease the slight pain of the previous blow. The girl really hadn’t held back. "He’s not gonna turn into a vessel at all. Look carefully..." The girl, genuinely concerned for Finn’s safety, huffed at the lackadaisical attitude of Micah, but still looked more carefully at Finn as he devoured the Shambler slowly. But despite her best effort, she saw nothing that wasn’t already apparent to her even after watching for a few seconds. "We don’t have time for this, Micah! The Arcanists will be here any second now! Just tell me what’s going on!" "Tch. I guess you still have a long way to go," Micah remarked before flashing forward right next to her just as she was about to retort. "He’s already in a necrotic state, which means his mind should be fully lost," Micah waved a hand right in front of Finn’s eyes which were glazed over with a deep blackness, "At this point he’s basically an animal. Any movement at all should trigger a frenzied reaction—" "He can’t see." The girl finished, watching Finn’s lack of reaction to Micah’s waving hands. "Or hear, or smell," Micah added. "Basically, he cannot sense us at all. But if I release a soul mass..." A small bird-like mass emerged from Micah’s shadow, and immediately, Finn’s attention snapped straight at it, before he disregarded the soul mass and re-focused on his devouring. "He can still sense it..." the girl muttered. "He can sense any soul mass in the vicinity, and more importantly, still decide whether or not it is worth his time." "That makes no sense," the girl shook her head. "That would mean his soul is powerful enough to maintain dominance even in a necrotic state. What kind of chaotic soul mass can then force soul debts, enough to rid him of his senses, if his soul is so strong?" "Choatic soul masses..." Micah corrected with a smirk. "I know that," the girl cut him off, affronted, "even I can sense he has more than one assimilated soul mass." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 "Of course. You’re my student, so that much is expected. But can you sense how many?" he smiled knowingly. The girl frowned. The fact that Micah had specifically pointed this out must mean Finn’s assimilated soul masses were enough to draw his attention. Not just anything could draw his attention. She could sense, at most, three soul masses within Finn’s body. But she knew that was definitely not the amount. So, accounting for Micah’s high expectations, she doubled that number, which was already high for an uninitiated soul mage like Finn. From what she could see, he couldn’t even be called a ’qualified revenant,’ not to talk of being close to an official Ossuarist. She was about to call out the number ’six’, but she stopped and added another three, totalling a frankly insane ’nine’. "Whatever number you’re thinking of is wrong," Micah spoke abruptly, as though sensing she was about guesstimating. "He has at least twenty." He deadpanned with a playful smile, turning his gaze to Finn, who continued to devour the Shambler, reducing its large mass steadily. The girl short-circuited. Unable to form any words for a short few seconds. Only the sound of her rapid breaths were heard. "That is—that is a Sepulchre House’s Scion level of soul strength," she stuttered. "Solidly, the soul strength of a Sepulchre House’s Scion," Micah emphasized, "he’d not only displayed Embodiment Manifestation, but also, Shadow Manifestation." The girl panted heavily. "...and likely without guidance too," he nodded at the revenant’s blackened body a distance away, his meaning already easily understood by the girl. Finn had likely come to get something from the revenant — most likely knowledge. It was something they had seen happen dozens of times — people discovering they had a talent for soul magic and deciding to do it on their own, unwilling to be bound to the regulating Ossuary body. They ended up having to deal in underground methods to get information, meeting up with Revenants, and at the end of the day, becoming one themselves. It had always puzzled Micah. Chasing for a frankly unrealistic idea of freedom to the point where they joined an organization that claimed not to really be an organization, but actually was an organization? It was a weird and confusing logic. Because at the end of the day, Revenants lacked the depth and wealth of knowledge the Ossuary held. Most of the time, especially at the grassroots, they ended up becoming vessels corroded by wills and debts of chaotic soul masses, wreaking havoc to the normal populace, and needing to be purged by official Ossuarists. Speaking of which... The body of the revenant in the short distance away began to twitch slightly, as the corrosion from the Shambler taking control earlier had continued slowly. Now, he was at a threshold where the Shambler, being devoured by Finn, could use the body as a medium to save itself. It was a primal attempt to survive now that it had come so far. "Isis..." Micah called out to the girl, jarring her from her spiraling thoughts, "go take care of that," he motioned like it was a nuisance. Isis stood without debate, ready to purge the increasingly spasming body, but just as she moved, she abruptly stopped, turning her gaze to the doorway where Micah was already staring at. A team of Arcanists, led by a slim, feminine-looking man with blond hair and striking blue eyes entered the building. The man had a handkerchief covering his nose, and his face was scrunched up in disgust, as though there was a vile stench polluting the air." "Now, what are you fooken parasites doing in my city?!"