"LIAR!"
The scream of ripped through Seed's apartment, a jagged blade of sound that shook the walls. The crazy female ghost stood inches from him, her mutilated mouth open, teeth shining like broken glass. Her long black hair spilling over her face, but through the strands you could see her angry white eyes.
"Am I beautiful?! Am I beautiful?! Am I beautiful?! "
she hissed again and again with her pale claw-like hands reaching for Seed's throat. Seed stumbled back, his shoulder slamming into the coffee table.
His mind raced, snagging on a childhood memory. Something about Saying she's neither beautiful nor ugly, or throw candy to distract her. Seed's eyes looked to a dish of candies on the table, left over from a hallow en neighbourly gesture. He lunged, grabbing a handful, and hurled them at her.
"You're neither!" he shouts, voice cracking. "Not beautiful, not ugly!" The candies scatter across the floor, and the ghost freezes, her head tilting as if confused. Her form flickered, like a glitching hologram.
Seizing the moment, Seed snatched a small hand mirror from the table, he pushed it toward her, forcing her to face her own reflection. "Look at yourself!" he yelled. The crazy female ghost recoiled, a loud screaming tearing from her throat. Her hair lashed out, cutting seed's cheek, but she staggered back, her form transforming into white smoke, With a final, ear-splitting scream, she vanished, leaving a scorched mark on the floor and a metallic smell in the air
[Death Absorption in progress...]
[Death energy increasing>>>124>>>167>>>220]
"Ugh!"
Seed collapsed against the wall, his chest heaving, the knife falling to the floor. His cheek throbbed with pain.
[Death inheritance in progress...]
"What now?"
He pulled up his sleeve, black veins had started spreading, crawling up his forearm like roots, pulsing faintly. He stumbled to the bathroom, flicking on the light. His reflection in the mirror different from what he remembered seeing this morning, his hair visually longer than before now.
[Ghost hair inherited]
Did defeating the Crazy Female ghost mean he had absorbed a portion of her powers now? That would explain his new long hair?
"ah shit, how would I explain this in this station now" seed grumbled while feeling the long hair and looking at himself in the mirror.
The thought of Detective Delgado's suspicious stare made his
stomach hurt. He had to give a statement later that morning and showing up with long hair that he didn't have a few hours ago wasn't going to help his already flimsy story about
Rebecca's "freak accident."
He went back to the living room with the scorched mark on the floor looking so out of place in his plain apartment. The book of death sat on the coffee
table, its cover shining as usual, Seed grabbed it, his fingers brushing the leather as He flipped it open, the pages settling on his profile.
[BOOk of Death: Entry Profile]
[1666th Entry: Seed Wallace]
[Status: Bound Human+]
[Level: 1]
[Death Energy: 220/500]
[Corruption: 6%]
[SP: 0]
- Strength: 8
- Speed: 7
- Dexterity: 15
- Constitution: 10
- Perception: 11
[Privileges]
As the User of the Book of Death, you shall be granted privileges for one who wears death as armor.
[1. Death Prediction]
Random deaths shall be predicted upon each page, giving the user the opportunity to save a person or not.
[2. Death Note]
Uses Death Energy to grant the ability to kill anyone by writing their real name into the book of death while picturing their face. (Does not
work on the undead.)
[3. Death Inheritance]
You inherit a portion of the abilities of those you kill and the chance to transform into them and wield their full powers once. The higher your level, the stronger the ability.
[Abilities+]
-ghost hair
[4. Death Absorption]
You absorb Death Energy to level up. Leveling up strengthens and increases the abilities and privileges you have.
[5. Stat Modification]
You can use points awarded after each level-up to increase your various stats. Upon reaching a collective threshold across all stats, your Constitution shall be upgraded.
Seed stared at the Death Inheritance line. "Ghost hair? That's it?" he muttered, tugging at the long strands. "What am I supposed to do with this?" He leaned closer to the Ledger, his voice sharp. "Hey, book. You gave me this creepy hair. What's it do? How do I use it?"
The book pulsed,Words shining onto the page, their ink like blood dripping down.
[Entry Query Acknowledged]
[Ghost Hair: A fragment of the Crazy Female Ghost's power. Tap into your Perception to feel the Death Energy within you. Channel it through your veins to command the hair at will. With practice, it may bind, strike or defend. Higher Perception sharpens control.]
Seed's brow furrowed. [Perception: 11] The book had said it governed his ability to sense the supernatural world and handle Death Energy precisely. He glanced at his forearm, the black veins still pulsing faintly.
"Feel the Death Energy, huh?" he muttered. He closed his eyes, trying to focus, to sense whatever this dark power was. At first, there was nothing but the beating of his heartbeat and the distant sound of the city outside. Then, a cold, heavy sensation stirred in his chest, like as if the gravity in the room just shifted and made the air heavier, It flowed
down his arms, into his fingers, and up to his scalp, where the hair felt
alive, tingling.
He opened his eyes, willing the energy to move. The long strands of his hair twitched, then rose, floating as if caught in a breeze.
They stiffened, crackling faintly, like static electricity sparking. Seed's jaw dropped. "Holy shit," he whispered, a grin tugging at his lips despite the absurdity. He tried to make the hair curl, to move like the crazy female ghost had, but his focus slipped, and the strands flopped back down.
"Damn it," he muttered, shaking his head. Still, the brief success left him awkwardly impressed. He'd made his hair move, actual ghost
powers.
The clock read 12:15 a.m. Exhaustion hit him like a wave, his body aching from the fight and the book's draining energy. He still had to face Delgado in a few hours, and showing up looking like this, with no good
explanation, was going to be a nightmare. He needed rest, needed to clear his head
before the station.
Seed dropped the book of death on the coffee table, next to Lila's photo. Her smile seemed to flicker in as he stared at the reminder of why he was doing this. "I'm still looking, Lila," he whispered, his throat tight. "I'll
find you, I promise."