Demonic Devourer's Development

While I paused, in part from shock, in part from caution, the Rock Crawler kept talking. Or, I assumed it was him and not someone else hiding nearby—but that was just far-fetched.

"Phew. Good thing that you stopped, pal. There's no reason for us to end up in one body, right? He-he. That would just be nasty. I'm lucky I noticed the buffs on you in time, or I wouldn't have thought to stop you at all! But, hey, how about helping me get out of that web now? Did you place it here? That's some sick stuff. I've never seen one like it before. Where did you get that host of yours and where can I find one like it, too?"

I let my hand drop. "Another draining curse?"

"You bet! So, will you help me here or what?" The Rock Crawler tugged on its head again, but fruitlessly.

I narrowed my eyes.. Marianna said nothing about the creature being possessed… But if she knew where exactly its lair was, and with how talkative the Rock Crawler was, I doubted she wasn't aware of it. In other words… She sent me there, to what—die from the Rock Crawler's hands? Or for the two of us to kill each other…

Either way, she withheld some vital info, and it made me wonder what else did she lie about.

"I will, if you tell me one thing first, Rock Crawler—"

"My name isn't Rock Crawler. That's the species of my host! I'm Naread Myriad-Marvellous-Monikers Eadnera. Cool name, right? And I can insert any moniker into it, since it had myriad of them written right in, so if you want to call me just The Cool Guy, be my guest! Just help me out first, will ya, pal?"

Right now I wanted to behead it even more than I did before Naread began to talk. "Tell me, Naread, do you have poison resistance ability? Your host, I mean."

"Huh? What a weird question to ask. Sure I don't! I think nothing in these mountains does except for the green dragons. Though, they are technically not even live here, anyway, they just come around for the mating season and stay only for long enough for their eggs to hatch. Why dragons like to mate with dragons of other colours? I wish I knew. It makes no sense! White dragons don't care about cold, but greens aren't that good with it. Now reds, them I can understand. Reds and whites fit together, but greens and yellows?"

Naread became so distracted by the sound of its own voice that he forgot to even try to get out of the web. I was tempted to just leave him here and leave, but decided, while I was at it, to find out what he knew about Marianna. This guy was an endless river of information… and while he could've been lying too, the only way to know for sure was to ask and see if they will contradict each other.

Right now, they already had.

"Do you know about a draining curse that lives in dragons and calls herself Marianna… something-something?"

"Marianna Something Something? No, but I know Marianna Jesebelle Turia Regis. Oh, you must be meaning her, right? That bitch!" Naread's voice, chipper before, suddenly turned dark and vicious. "Always sending just anyone she could at me. I'd like to see her with broken wings sometimes, starving to death and with no one to be her next host…" Then, chipper again, he asked, "Hey, did she send you too, what is your name? Oh, you didn't tell me. Is it something as cool as mine? Is it as cool as your host? It looks cool. Kinda like bugmen in the caves below, but with adjustments. Is your host a mutant or something?"

"My name is just Voren." I took in a deep breath to offset my annoyance at least a little. "Why would Marianna send someone at you, Naread?"

"I dunno, maybe because she's a territorial bitch! I swear, if she found a way, she'd place a quest for my head in the Adventurers' Guild. Ever since she came here, she was all like, "this place is too small for two curses, blah blah blah". I swear, she's one step from risking it and killing me outright, but who would in their right mind want to risk their lives that way? I understand dying from a dumb accident, or weather, or starving to death like a total dumbass, but dying because you decided to take another curse on and they turned out to be a better sucker than you? That's just lame."

"Uh-uh. And she totally doesn't want you dead because you talk so much…" I muttered under my breath. Inwardly, I asked, 'If this guy's host dies from thirst or hunger while stuck in my web, would it transfer him into me?'

'That's really a grey area… I don't know. Please, don't risk it. These curses are stronger than me, they will drain me in an instant! I can just tell from how they sensed my spell on you from the distance you were at.'

Oh? That was interesting. 'Marianna noticed me from farther away than Naread. Does that mean that she's stronger?'

'Possibly. It's all in the magic sensitivity. Whoever has more of it can sense magic better and on bigger distances. It's very important for spellcasting, so I need EXP to level it up too, you know. Will you free Naread now?'

I looked at the centipede that began to try to free itself again. I was almost sure that it would get itself out rather sooner than later—it didn't look that weak, even though cursed beings usually all were. It made sense to free it and didn't make it angry, for now. Then, when its suspicions are low, I would devise a way to kill it safely.

I had a newborn hatred of draining curses brewing in me now, and a belief that the world would be much better off without them.