The raw power coursing through Elias was unsettling, like trying to hold lightning in a glass. The Eldritch's essence, rather than being neatly contained as a crystalline ability, felt like it had been violently stitched into his very being. His vision seemed sharper, sounds more acute, but beneath it all, a faint, metallic taste lingered on his tongue, and a distant hum resonated in his bones. It was the presence of the absorbed entity, muted but undeniably there, a part of him now.
He pushed off the grimy wall, his legs feeling oddly sturdy. The alley, moments ago a battleground, was now just a wet, trash-strewn passage. The rain had softened to a drizzle, washing away the last traces of the creature. No black crystal lay discarded on the ground, no evidence of its demise save for Elias's own unnerving sensation of absorption. This was the true nature of his cheat: complete, undeniable consumption.
As he moved, a thought, cold and unsettling, flickered in his mind: What if the mouth wasn't just a tool, but something… else? He quickly dismissed it. It was his cheat, his advantage. He had to focus on survival, on understanding this new reality. The game world was far more dangerous than any simulation. He needed to get out of this alley, away from the lingering scent of pollution that still hung heavy in the air.
He peered cautiously around the corner. The street beyond was wet and slick, blurred by the fading light. A few cars passed, their headlights cutting through the gloom, but no one seemed to be reacting to the chaos that had just unfolded metres away. The public truly was oblivious. This was a secret war, fought in the shadows, just as the game had portrayed. Elias gripped his right hand, the skin on his palm feeling utterly normal. His secret, for now, was safe. But the world of "ECU" was vast, its dangers far-reaching. And he was only Level 1.