< Class Skill Obtained: The Hungers Evolution - You are what you eat, you have a chance of being able to morph into living things based on what you consume.

[ Marius consumed ]

Ice Arts - You can create, shape and manipulate ice.

| 2.3 Strength added.

| 3.2 Dexterity added.

| 1.6 Constitution added.

| 6.4 Intelligence added.

| 0.7 Wisdom added.

| 2.9 Charisma added.

The words entered his head, but Alphonse was in no state of mind to take heed of them. The two groups–currently in a stalemate–watched Alphonse with a close eye. One group, wanting to rip his head off while the other looked conflicted. Lucus stepped forwards and brandished his sword towards the other group.

“Alphonse, what the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Lucus said, as his eyes turned cold.

Alphonse’s eyes returned to focus. Why can’t I control myself?

“It was his fault Isobelle was killed,” Alphonse said. “It wasn’t just Isobelle, Marius’ plan in the forest wiped out almost everyone.”

“To hell with that fucking excuse!” The man with the hammer said, his body jolted forward–his brows furrowed.

“Let’s all calm down… we can think of a punishment later–but now–we need everyone we can get.” Felecia said. Her conflicted gaze moved from the body of Marius–to the blood covering Alphonse’s mouth.

“They are both right. We need him, but he also should face punishment when we arrive back at the ship. It isn’t our place to be judge, jury and executioner.” Kristen said as she held her bow–an arrow nocked and ready to fire forwards.

“I can’t believe this! Siding with a fucking murderer, we should just-” The man with the hammer was suddenly interrupted as a spark of flame lit up the room. “Just what, Krayton?” Gabriel said–His brows locked downwards.

“That’s enough!” Lucus said, his voice bellowed in the room. “We need to continue with the mission–to get out of this godforsaken place. He will be under my supervision. I gather that’s enough?” Lucus’ eyes silenced the crowd and then moved to Alphonse. They told him that if he acted out of line, he would be sentenced to death. Is he mentally capable of it? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind.

“Shit, alright Lucus, but once this is over, we will have our justice.” Krayton said, his tense shoulders loosening a little–his respect–and fear of Lucus was clear.

“Alphonse, you will be in the front with Markus and I,” Lucus said as he dragged Alphonse to the front. Alphonse looked around as he saw haydon behind him, with a dagger at the ready.

“I wouldn’t hurt you guys.” Alphonse said in a muted voice, so only his group could hear it.

“How can we be sure of that Alphonse, you should have seen your eyes back there?” Kristen said as she shook her head–her hands slightly trembled–the sound of Marius’ head thudding to the ground clear in her mind.

I would never hurt my friends. I'm not that kind of person, Tehya… Alphonse said to himself, the words replaying in his head.

They had combined the two groups into one unit as they pressed forwards; they chose one of the two passages. The smell of dead flesh greeted Alphonse’s nose as they walked into a large room. Is this a torture room? Alphonse thought as he looked at the strange equipment that filled the room. Bodies, they haven’t fully decomposed yet… Tools lay beside their bodies as strips of flesh had been removed. Large cylinder containers–filled with a greenish viscous liquid. A small tube was connected underneath the cylinder and was then transmitted into the corpses. The strange liquid seeped down the tubes and entered the body.

“What do you think this is?” Tariq curiously touched the cylinder, humidity had caused drops of water to form as he wiped them away with his finger.

“It’s strange. It must keep their bodies… hydrated?” Gabriel thought as he inspected the bodies closer.

Alphonse walked over to the largest table of them all, a meat cleaver was lodged into the old-wooden table. Blood soaked Leather straps were tied around the handle of the weapon–or tool. Alphonse had a familiar feeling when he looked at it as he recalled his trait, [ Chef’s Kiss ]

His hands wrapped around the handle. It felt incredibly comfortable. The hand was perfectly formed for his hands as he attempted to pull it out of the table. Holy fuck, it won’t budge at all–someone must have used a lot of strength… Alphonse thought for a second and activated [ Swallowing Bite ] His teeth sunk into the hardwood and began stripping away at the wood. Now and then, he would shake the clever side-to-side, attempting to wiggle it free.

C’mon, stop being so stubborn! Finally, the weapon was wobbling freely. Alphonse stood atop the table and grabbed it with both hands. With all of his strength, he lifted upwards, pulling the cleaver by the handle. With a crash, Alphonse suddenly fell off of the table, cleaver in hand.

“Alphonse, stop playing around will you–It’s terrifying in here–I want to leave…” Felica spoke. Her previously conflicting eyes had completely disappeared. They had a purity to them which shocked Alphonse. Does she not think I’m a monster? He wouldn’t blame her if she did, Alphonse thought.

“Sorry…” Alphonse said. He meant it–and not just for playing around either…

“Just don’t do it again, okay?” Felecia said. Her eyes looked upset as she saw the bloodstained visage of him. I guess it’s true that in the face of death, you grow close. Alphonse shook his head.

“You know… you remind me of my older brother,” Felecia said as she rubbed her hands together. “Well, not the man-eating part… troubled is what I mean…”

Alphonse was taken aback. If I remind you of your brother, how fucked up is he?

Behind Felecia, one corpse sluggishly sat up.

“Felecia, watch out!” Alphonse shouted. He rushed forward and grabbed hold of her and sent a kick to the zombie’s chest, but it felt like kicking a wall. The corpse’s head slowly turned around–towards Alphonse–Its eyes were gouged out, but somehow it was looking straight at him. Its legs and arms cracked, the corpse’s tortured fingers snapped back into place. The greenish liquid that had filled its veins started glowing, with a thrust of its arm the shackles broke from its immense strength.

Another corpse suddenly sat up–then the next.

“Into the passageway, we’ll fight them there!.” Lucus quickly organised everyone as they backed their way into the passageway they had come from. The strongest fighters were at the front–that included Alphonse. Gabriel could hear a diformed group as they shot forwards. Their speed was shocking as they rocketed towards them.

“Everyone kneel!” Gabriel said his staff was filled with power as a fire spell fired forwards. The sheer heat of the skill almost singed their skin as it catapulted overhead. The powerful impact caused the zombie to stumble backwards, but that was it. It didn’t seem to do much damage and if it did–it clearly ignored it.

“Let me.” Alphonse shot to the front as his hand was placed against the cold, hard floor. The temperature of the passageway that had risen plummeted. An ice field flowed forwards. It’s not nearly as quick or as powerful as Marius. My intelligence must be too low. Despite that–the zombies lost their footing as they stumbled to the ground. It didn’t last long, however, their fists clattered against the ice, smashing it into shards as they got onto their feet and charged once more.

Markus got ready, his massive shield smashed into the ground. As the zombies collided against it, “Take this–you pile of rotten flesh.” Massive spikes grew out of the shield as they impaled the zombies. However, they continued to slam into the shield, breaking past the strong spikes as they soon smashed into fragments. Markus’s feet were sliding backwards, even with everyone using their strength and weight to prop it forwards.

“My turn!” Felecia held one hand against her chest as the other was firmly bound around her staff. A golden light appeared atop the zombies' heads as a holy light descended. The sound of guttural screams filled the hallway as their skin began melting away. Soon, the zombies collapsed onto the floor as the powerful light spell had eaten away their corpse. The only thing left were scraps of bone and ash.

“I didn’t know you had that kind of strength.” Alphonse said, his eyes resting on Felecia.

“Well, I unlocked it after our last fight. It says it’s super effective against the undead–If only I had it for that woman… thing.” Felecia wiped the sweat from her forehead. Oh, how good it is to be from class A. Alphonse thought as he looked at the destruction the spell had caused.

Alphonse suddenly felt his body lift from the ground, his neck tightly grasped. “How do you have Marius’ magic…” Krayton’s anger was about to explode as he tightened his grip even more.

Alphonse’s eyes turned wild, his stomach moved and acid leaked from his mouth. Spilling into Krayton’s hands. The acid began eating away at his flesh, even threatening to erode the bone completely. He knelt onto the ground–his agonising screams filled the hallway. Thanks to a timely heal from their own party, the acid gradually came to a stop.

Alphonse grabbed him by his long hair–his teeth projected a black shadow as he snarled at Krayton. Giggling voices entered his mind once more, urging him to kill. To eat and devour. “You are not my friend, I don’t need to protect you… Do I? Isn’t that right–mother?” Alphonse rambled on with a smile on his face. Krayton peered into Alphonse’s demon-like eyes.

Alphonse was hungry…