“Aaghhh!!”

Jason fell to the ground, clutching his head as agony burst in his head. The massive influx of information was far too much for his mortal mind to handle.

He could feel massive volumes of knowledge flood into his mind, entire libraries’ worth of knowledge crammed into his poor brain.

The rough, rocky ground scraped against his body as he writhed around, arms, legs and tail striking the rocky outcroppings nearby, but that small discomfort was barely registered in his pain-addled mind.

He waited, agonizing seconds taking seemingly an eternity to pass. He waited, hoping for his mind to assimilate all that knowledge and adjust to it.

But it didn’t. The pain was unending, and so was the knowledge being poured into his brain. He realized, then, that it would not stop. That if he did not do anything, he would die.

‘No! How can … it be?’

‘How could I possibly … … die here?’

The moment he knew he could truly die here, that his existence was at stake, his clouded mind condensed into a razor-sharp will.

‘NO!’

His will, tempered through the hardships of his life, refused to allow him to die.

But of course, this was no silly fantasy with happy endings. Just because he had a strong will, does not mean that he could suddenly burst with power and demolish all that stood in his way purely because he believed so. He needed to do something.

At the edge of death, his devilish instincts flared, and he slowly, painfully, turned his head and gazed at the nearby soul of the devil he slew.

‘A lifeline!’

Something deep inside told him, that if he devoured that soul over there, he would gain an opportunity to reverse his situation.

So he placed his palms on the ground, and slowly tried to crawl to the soul.

His hands grasped the warm, rough ground. Now that he was attempting to move, every discomfort seemed to be amplified a thousand times. The rock scraped his palms. His gaseous body ached. If he had sweat glands, there would be a pool around him by now.

Agonizingly slow, he crawled to the soul.

‘One hand in … front of the … other. Right … hand, le…ft hand. I … must get … there. No c-c-choice.’

After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the soul. He panted hard, mind already growing hazy once more. He slowly reached out to it, to eat it, to devour it.

With his trembling, ethereal hands, he grasped the soul. Somehow, he was able to hold it, but he shoved his questions in the back of his mind. He held it to his mouth, and his instincts told him to eat it, like he would eat anything else.

A dark cavity, lined with multiple rows of gleaming, needle-point teeth, opened up vertically on his head. He quickly shoved the soul in his gaping maw and chewed, savoring the soothing, calm energy that seeped out and swallowed.

[ granted. +100 Essence of Sin]

A cool, refreshing sensation spread throughout his body, and Jason sighed in relief as the throbbing pain subsided. After spending a few blessed seconds enjoying the cool sensation, he snapped out of his reverie.

‘Shit! I hope I still have time!’

Taking advantage of the respite, he looked at the interface, and looked at the rewards. He stared, shocked, to see that a massive amount of options, several thousand pages worth, had appeared, and it was increasing even now.

Several messages had also appeared.

[Downloading records of possible rewards. Note: It is possible to choose a reward while records are still appearing.]

Quickly, he searched around the rewards for something to help stop the pain, or he was pretty sure that he would go insane, or his soul would shatter.

The advantage of having all this knowledge being shoved in his soul was that he could now recall all the possible rewards.

Which one to pick? The system provided a basic description of the items, but he doubted that the only effects of the items were the ones stated. The ratio of raising soul power did not match with the cost, and either they had other effects that were not stated, or the cost of raising soul power was not linear to the amount of soul power increased.

Either way, he had no time to consider the ramifications of the choices further, and chose the best possible choice.

His mind focused on his choice, the . While it did not raise as much power as the soul gem, there must be another reason for its cost. And the tremendous pain he felt originated from his brain. He was essentially making a bet, but he chose the brain as it might be able to help him in his specific situation right now.

[ chosen. -100 Essence]

A brain materialized in his grasp. It was the color of wrought iron, and shifted and squirmed in his hands. He suppressed his disgust and held it up to his head. It was large, larger than his head. The grooves and ridges of the brain moved, the grey ridges occasionally turning gaseous and shifting around to a new pattern, before consolidating. Much like his own body, he noted.

After studying it curiously for a moment, he put aside his thoughts. He had to consume it to save himself, despite how unappetizing it looked.

Jason sighed, and he opened his cavernous maw once more, and in one go, shoved the brain inside.

He closed his jaws, and his razor sharp teeth, shredded the fleshy organ, pungent juices flowing out.

He resisted the urge to throw up, and forced himself to chew it. It tasted horrendous, like a dead fish left out in the open for three weeks. With all his will, he slowly, laboriously, ate it, and swallowed.

Immediately, he felt the effects. He felt a strange, warm energy flow out of the brain, and into his. It was comforting, like settling beside the fireplace in a cold winter night. He felt the energy reinforce his brain, strengthening it, and his soul.

His soul pulsated, and it grew slightly, barely noticeable if it wasn’t his own soul. The pain, dulled by consuming the soul but slowly creeping back, was repelled once more. This time, in a more permanent fashion. It faded to the background, and he now felt that he could withstand the influx of information from the mark.

His body reacted too. The ominous, pitch-black gas that made up his body shifted and roiled. It’s color slowly lightened, turning into a lighter shade of iron, much like the brain he had consumed.

Memories flowed into his mind, this time not from the warm energies of the brain, but from within his own soul.

‘What is this? Are these … inherited memories?’