A boy with purple hair was gathering skinless bodies on a small platform under the water. The platform was too made of corpses, but he wanted to study specific ones with the most damage.
Elias observed the pile he had gathered and sighed, "Whatever horror is waiting for me is mostly using slamming attacks."
Indeed, the bodies had their muscles and bones broken in such a way that only a direct slam into something huge could cause them. The horror seemed to be huge and slam its victims to death.
Some had their ribcages cracked and ribs broken, while some had shattered spines and collarbones.
Elias chuckled as he sat down on a skinless body.
So not only will I have to be fast and nimble, to attack I must use something akin to a spear or sword.
A creature capable of slamming its victim to death would have a thick hide. Only sharp objects capable of piercing and saturating all the force into small parts should damage it.
Elias was not very nimble, nor did he have any sharp blades. He believed that if he were to fight the monster now would be akin to suicide.
Thus he was wandering around the mountain, thinking of what to do next.
Now that I think about it, how exactly did the pond strengthen me?
Elias immediately looked down at his bare body; his muscles did not increase in size or look any different. Intrigued, he went to some dead bodies and picked one up.
He grimaced before trying to laugh at the body and tore it apart.
It is like my base strength has increased. So if I train my muscles properly, will I become stronger?
Ahh how cool it would be if I made a combat system here… or was it called fighting style
He remembered some basic exercises from the tribe but did not think that those from the tribe would suffice.
Elias paced around for a few minutes, immersed in thinking about a possible fighting style and how he would develop it in this river.
A disturbingly sincere laughter echoes around the corpse mountain. Laughing, Elias picked up the corpse of a young man. The corpse only had a cut in the neck and was rather intact; Elias nodded in approval before holding its hand.
It's only meat now… I'll lock the memory if it haunts me. I have nothing to lose after all.
Elias moved its hand, silently observing the whole dead body move.
Elias shook his head and started peeling every small part of fat from the body, not even able to vomit.
He had nothing in his stomach, as he gained energy by absorbing the river itself.
He spent hours inspecting and moving the boy, having it do various actions such as punching, kicking, or even emulating running.
Elias was quite satisfied with the result of his experimentation and threw the body aside. He used other bloodless, skinless bodies to hold the body of the young man before muttering,
"thank you."
Elias then started doing several stretches, moving his body methodically and carefully. He first stretched his arms in various different ways, feeling his muscles scream under pressure.
He then stretched in a way which made his chest and back strain and open up; and continued stretching every part of his body, every limb and every major set of muscles.
Indeed, he had used the fact that the bodies were skinless and bloodless to his advantage, the bodies revealed each muscle and defined them clearly once he had trimmed the fat.
With each movement stretching or contracting visible muscles he could create a set of stretching exercises to make sure he is nimble and healthy enough to train properly.
"Now let's do this every few hours for days." Elias sighed, staring at the wall of mist. Something told him that this was going to be a long journey.
***
[Have you ever killed someone]
The voice lingered in Flieday's mind for longer than usual. Flieday inwardly felt quite conflicted, wondering what twisted game the voice would make them play. She knew that the voice was something way beyond herself thus, she had to be vigilant.
"No."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, testing the voice's capabilities.
If I were forced to kill Hadrien, would I be able to do it?
[Do you want to live?]
"Yes."
No! I cannot kill him; He is my partner. That is the right thing to think.
[There is a needle in your heart. If you do not do as I say, you will perish]
"Is there one in Hadrien's heart too?"
[No. there is no need to do so. It will take him days to revert.]
Flieday's lips trembled for a bit, then she opened her mouth to say something before closing it. In the end, all she said was something emotionless.
"...What do you want me to do?"
[Place a heart of a Chinen like you on this bedrock tree in three Dawnlays.]
What?
[The heart should not be of you, but it can be of any other Chinen. It would be better if the Chinen is similar to you.]
"Why d-"
Before she could ask about something else, a pale hand grabbed her, her bare body shimmered with light as a covering enveloped her.
The pale hand dragged her away from the warm pond, away from Hadrien. It had her go from one crack to another before she was thrown out of the bedrock tree.
Before she could understand anything, she saw something horrifying.