The newcomer, known as Tichaona, crawled on the ground as he tried to find a spot where he could hide. His life bar was in the critical levels and he felt great suffering within his body. He had landed near the very entrance of the Ethereal Woods and could hear wolves nearby. He was petrified that the wolves would smell his blood and get drawn to him. He figured that he had to camouflage himself and hide at an obscure spot.

He layered his body with dirt and leaves and made it seem as if he blended in with the environment. Tichaona knew that all he needed to do was rest for 2 or more days until he was completely healed. Since the purple entity had stated that all the 1000 were immortal, unless their life bar reached zero, his body would regenerate and put itself back together, however it also depended on the level of damage. The more battered the body was, the more likely it was going to take for it to fully recover, but that meant he had to recuperate for at least 2 days before planning on doing anything else, but what if they eventually found him?

Tichaona could still identify Shami and Tanatswa at a distance due to his navigation points gauging the distance between them. If the distance got shorter it would mean that they were in pursuit of him and he would have to move farther away to get to safety. Probably Tanatswa was working on making the girl recover before considering chasing after him and it would explain why he hadn't come to finish him off.

What Tichaona didn't realize was that his ability, Barrier to Entry, could hide his presence from anyone's tracker. It was a passive quirk that came with his power, thus, he didn't need to worry about them because they clearly wouldn't be able to find him. This information wasn't apparent to him, thus, he lamented their possible arrival before he had fully healed. Apart from them, he felt unsafe with all the hollowing and the ghostly sounds that came from the woods. It was as if there was a gathering in there and he couldn't make out exactly if they were organic sounds or just the wind moving way too much to the point of misguiding his ears. It was a rather insomnia conducive situation and he would have to contend with laying low for now. As the time passed, he became more involved with talking to himself.

"So we failed to kill them, damn it, we have to recover quickly, we have to or else it's late for us. Yeah, that guy could stop my attacks, I think we underestimated them. Should we level up and then kill them? Wait, they would probably be doing the same, but if I were to just kill one of them I would have the upper hand, just think about it, level 5 up in this bitch and things would get better. But what if we made peace, no, no, it's too late for that.

With what we did to his girlfriend, he is probably out for blood. We need to get stronger because only the strong have control. Wait, be quiet." he said to himself, getting jittered upon hearing something. He could hear violent thuds from afar, deep in the woods and he wondered what it was. Was it a wolf, a creature he had not encountered or a strange phenomenon? He reclined in anticipation, with his eyes looking at the woods. Soon enough, the source of this unrest was shown to be the dark figure who came riding his dragon with the black miasma of death around him. The beast of an entity, rode its dragon and seemed to be heading his direction.

At this moment, Tichaona was met with a rather cruel predicament. Was he going to run? He was still far from being mobile and even if he tried, he would expose himself. His camouflage was well made and it was probably going to fool anyone, but could it fool this thing? He hoped that' that would be the case.

The dark figure paused close by but seemed to be scanning the area is if it wanted to identify something. In a matter of moments, the dragon's tail yanked his body from the ground and coiled around him. He felt squashed and the fear he had skyrocketed. The dark figure looked at the man's body and it was unclear what it's intent was. It's usual poisonous air ability was not used on him, but since it was his first time encountering the dark figure, he had no idea that he was lucky to be alive at the moment.

The dark figure's body looked like it was wearing some military gear or armour, but the black miasma made it seem as if it was a silhouette of such since the smoke blurred out any necessary details. As Tichaona watched closely, he noticed the figure raising its hand and then trying to pull off something on its face. A clicking sound occured and he began to see the face of a light blue skinned lady with white eyes. Her hair seemed entangled by the rest of her outfit, but for the most part, Tichaona could only see her face. This came as a surprise, but moments later, the dark figure began to speak with a ghostly voice that seemed to have high reverberation.

"I see that you are not one but a collective whole of a conflicted identity. Let me free you from your suffering." she said, raising her hand then striking Tichaona's chest. The hand phased through him but when it pulled out, a soul that resembled him began to cry in anguish as the dark figure eviscerated it with her hand. Tichaona's body then went pale for a moment and then got rejuvenated. It was like he was waking up from a deep sleep, but not himself. His mind felt light and unpolluted.

The secondary entity was dead and what remained was a rather sober person, devoid of insanity. The dark figure then said with a smile, "Hmm, you have now been freed from the drawbacks of the assimilation method, I hope this will be a esson to your kind who wish to attain power by any means necessary." Tichaona seemed perplexed at the same time frightened by what had just transpired, but managed to muster the confidence to ask the dark figure a question.

"What are you and how did you free me from him?" he asked, shaking to his core.

"I am one of the sentient beings that came before your kind, to this place called Goshem. When you kill another individual and take their experience, you also gain their consciousness. The consciousness you were sharing seemed to be in conflict with you and it would at times take over your body.

Now that you are free, realise that the assimilation method may gave you power but you will have to share a consciousness with all those you have killed. Those with a strong will can only tame their multiple minds and function as a stable living organism. Desist from it if you wish to live like a sane person." she said, looking at him, with curious eyes.

"So that was why I ended up doing all those things, I am grateful towards you." he said, thankful despite being terrified by her.

"Do not thank me so soon, I may show acts of kindness from time to time, but I never act without ulterior motives. You have a unique gift that I believe will be useful for my cause, as such, I am willing to cultivate your growth so that when the time comes, we may face my brother." she said, now grimacing her face.

"You want to use my power to kill your brother?" he asked, perplexed as to what her real angle was.

"Yes, my brother is the most powerful being on this planet and he slaughtered our brethren. You may not know this, but this planet was created by one of the gods of creation, an entity that only cares about creating the highest most optimum environment to cultivate a species to the peak of it's evolution. That is why you have been amassing strength that is not common to your species.

A select few from my planet were chosen as what you would call beta testers. We were supposed to be evaluated by the god who created this planet to affirm that his creation was indeed a success, but just when we had finished what we had to do, instead of returning to our home planet, the general consensus was to stay. We obtained special gifts and abilities that we could never get from our planet, thus we became power hungry and remained. However, my brother got impatient and sought a method that would make him reach his supremacy faster. He is a titan of strength that needs to be destroyed. I will make you a useful tool to make his demise a reality."

This revelation had blown his mind away and he was certainly curious as well as shocked about what lied before him in the future. Based on the dark figure's story, she was definitely an alien, but it seemed like the circumstances that brought them to Goshem were a matter of them volunteering and not them actually having died to suicide. If that was the case, how the hell did all the 1000 end up here in Goshem when it seemed as if the commonality of them being here was that they all died in their past lives.

He pondered this and wondered as well how this woman would make use of him. Before long, the dark figure began observing him and gave him quite a disturbing grin of interest. She then said to him, "Apart from the training I will make you do, I think for the price of not killing you, I could indulge in the act of recreational procreation with you. You see, I lust for organisms with high genetic potential and though I may appear like this, our physical composition is pretty similar. Do not fear, for it is rather a privilege that I would allow you to taint my body. So once you are ready, I will have my feast."

Tichaona went to a state of panic. He was happy to be alive but to have to fuck this being seemed like a legitimate nightmare, though her face looked relatively pleasant, there was a high chance that everything about her body was probably unsavoury at best. There was not much he could do and he unwillingly complied. The dark figure then made the dragon loosen the painful grip of its tail and carried him comfortably. The dark figured then returned to the Ethereal Woods with his body and what Tichaona would see inside would alter his perspective on life for good.

Tanatswa tended to Shami's wounds and mostly rested with her. He would interchange between looking out for Tichaona's return and administering medicine to her which he made through the guidance of the custom goal mechanic. Shami had been in pain for the first day and her jaw was still a wreck. On the 2nd day, her jaw reformed and she could speak more comfortably. Tanatswa was there when she reclaimed her speech and she asked him, "Did you get him?" Tanatswa simply replied, "I think I did, I can't seem to find his body or maybe he left for good after our fight. I made sure he wouldn't have a reason to return. So how are you feeling now?"

"I feel better. This body heals pretty fast. I am pretty sure if we were back home, a doctor would probably give me 6 months of recovery or some shit like that, but I guess I will live." she said, faintly.

"Well, as long as you are alright." he said, in a poignant manner.

"Tanatswa, I think with what happened with our fight, with that guy, and also to us that night, I think I want to thank you and at the same time apologise to you for how I have been treating you. You're a really helpful guy and you didn't abandon me at all. Thank you." she said, as she cried.

"You don't have to apologise, I am past that, all I care about is getting you better." he said, caressing her face and wiping away her tears with his fingers. She then told him, "Come closer."

Tanatswa moved in close to her face and they kissed. The kiss had a long pause and then they looked at each other. She then said, "If you wish for me to be your girl, I think I would be okay with it." He smiled and then hugged her. The hug was a warm embrace, but she then complained, "Hey, not too much, it hurts back there." Tanatswa immediately began to feel awkward, but she laughed because she somehow expected him to overplay this romantic moment. They then slept beside each other and as Shami dozed off, he began think about his plans for the future in Goshem.