Reopening his eyes, Tintless was greeted by a majestic oil painting fixed firmly onto the wall of the austere peach-colored house.
" As expected, the house appeared." He smiled before saying,
"You can come out now."
Although Tintless did not have the ability to voice out his thoughts, the tiny yellow boy was connected to his consciousness.
He was simply a part of him, yet existing in a different body, having different thoughts and seeing reality from a different perspective.
The phenomenon that he was, came to be a week ago when Tintless finished his energy refill on top of the hill.
The Equilibrium Interface had, without his request, opened before him and displayed:
[ SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
CONGRATULATIONS;
Your energy has been refilled; 100%
You've unlocked a new level in your aspect; (Elastic Body, Level 2, Stretchborn)
Your corruption advances. The Mole grows. The Equilibrium Interface is satisfied.]
Fervent, he had opened up the Aspect tab and read the description:
[ ELASTIC BODY LEVEL 2 (STRETCHBORN)
One Mole's corruption is awful, but for effective results, numbers are cardinal.]
It took a while for Tintless to understand this part, and after giving his hypothesis a try, it worked.
A tiny being extended from his body and became independent.
He saw what it could see, heard what it could hear, and communicated with it.
He felt happy.
He was no longer alone.
'However, each time I summon the tiny being, my energy depletes faster...and am bit gloomy as opposed to being happy.'
With this thought, the tiny yellow being, now sitting on the armchair, lowered its head, knowing it had to go back to sleep.
"Don't worry. I promise to summon you again, friend."
Tintless felt sorry for the tiny being as he extended his hand and watched it walk onto it before merging with his body.
"Jeez, he did not seem happy."
Soon after this, he walked out of the living room and, by means of opening a door, entered a room.
It had a properly made bed with brown bedsheets, a study desk on the left, and walls lined with planks bearing beautiful intricate patterns.
Having grown accustomed to the beauty of this house, he reached for a linen bag and unzipped it as he sat on the bed.
Inside were a number of ancient relics... no, Emontarion Cores he had successfully stolen from the beautiful yet treacherous island.
"Who could have thought that the circular objects covered in sand were dead Emontarion Cores?"
He recalled the moment he discovered the spectacle.
At the time, he needed something to motivate him to run through the island as he did his exercises, and so imagining that he was some infamous thief was his idea, and the pile of objects scattered across the island were treasures he sought.
At first, what came into his possession were red armor and weaponry embedded with a gold star, copper coins, and all types of armor and clothing, each wielding a pattern of its own.
But then he came across an Emontarion Core.
With his energy better than what it initially was, he scanned the island and sea once more and spotted more than a thousand cores.
These became his new target, for their glowing appearance perfectly fit his fantasy tale of them being ancient relics, and now he was putting the thirtieth core he had successfully stolen into the blue linen bag.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
He tiredly walked back to the living room and hurled himself onto the sofa, lying face-up and staring at the white-painted roof.
"According to the Equilibrium Interface, this house should be doomed within a month, but the feasting bird outside contradicts this. Once it's done consuming the flesh of dead Emontarions outside, it will likely come looking for food in this house."
His eyes felt heavier with each thought.
"I must leave this place in a week or two... yeah, a week."
Just as his eyelids completely closed, the sun outside appeared to be setting, making the rays passing through the red curtains suffuse the room in red, save for the turbid ceiling.
Just then, a gold luminous spot appeared.
It meticulously moved on the ceiling for a while,completing a magnificent glowing carving of a gigantic pawn inscribed within a circle.
"Mmm, this looks awfully familiar. Oh, it's...God."
And just like that, he fell asleep in the austere yet elegant falling white house with the magnificent golden glowing image of God staring at him.
Forty-five minutes later, enjoying the tranquility of sleep, Tintless was jolted awake by a layered eerie voice.
"Hey, you still alive, little creature?"
His eyes, regaining their strength, could not make out any image.
Immediately, he knew that nightfall had arrived, the landscape had shifted, and he was now in the Land of Shadows.
Not moving from his spot, Tintless, though still tired, replied with his hand,
"Alive and kicking, Mr. Demon."
Mr. Demon was a mysterious voice that echoed from all corners of the Land of Shadows, and though it was scary, it seemed not to have any resentment toward Tintless.
Thus, he was not wary of it.
Coincidentally, the strange energy radiating from all corners of the room bore a strangely similar resemblance to Mr. Freak's, only it was weak as hell.
Too weak for the Equilibrium Interface to even read.
The two, over the past week, had grown familiar with one another and conversed from time to time, sharing information they had learned in this weird world they had found themselves in.
"Good to hear that."
Although it was completely dark, Mr. Demon somehow could see Tintless.
After a pause, he said in his layered voice,
"Little creature, you are yet to tell me about the hierarchy of this world of yours. Who holds the most power?
"Power?"
"Yes, and whose will is imposed on others regardless of their opinion?"