Ichor Cell-Chapter 7: Taking a walk

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Alex set down the last crate of the day. He had been hauling various boxes of produce back and forth for hours, and even his enhanced physique was starting to feel the strain.
“Are you telling me that you do this every day?” He asked sceptically, turning around to look at Grenil.
The shopkeeper had his back turned as he finally closed for the day, the last rays of the setting sun casting long shadows along the street and dyeing the world orange.
Turning around, the old man grinned at him with schadenfreude.
“Well, to be honest, no.” He said, his grin widening further at Alex’s nonplussed stare. “I usually just go to the back to get whatever the customers want and hand it to them. You made everything much quicker and more convenient.”
Over the course of the day, the old man had gotten more familiar with Alex, his fear slowly fading away with every order given. By now, he completely treated him like a regular young man, not scared to joke and mess around with him. Alex was relieved. He was quite honestly not a fan of being looked at like some sort of psychopath.
“So you were just using me as free labour.” Alex stated wryly. “I should have guessed.”
“Well, what did you expect? You offered to work, and I don’t really have any extra work to do, so I had to create some.” The older man shrugged.
“I will remember this.” The young man threatened, clenching his fist at the shopkeeper.
“Sure you will. Just make sure to also remember to be back here by tomorrow morning.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alex challenged. “I worked for you, my debt is paid.”
“Boy, do you really think that half a day of dragging boxes is enough to pay for a new door, a whole crate of produce, as well as the loss of profit from opening later than usual?” Grenil countered, leaving the young man speechless.
“Well…” He drawled out. “Maybe?”
The old man dragged the ruined crate over to the shattered doorway and positioned it to block off the entrance. “Well…” He copied Alex’s drawl, “You thought wrong.”
“Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m famished after a whole day’s work.” He rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Now that Grenil mentioned it, Alex
was
beginning to feel a light burning sensation in his gut. He hadn’t recognised it at first, but now that the other man brought it up, he realised that these were probably the early symptoms of the all-consuming abyss he had become last night.
‘But now comes the question of what I should eat.’
He thought.
‘Or, to be more precise, what I
can
eat. I really hope I don’t have to eat exclusively humans. I don’t know if I can deal with that.’
“Then let’s get to it!” The old man exclaimed and spread his arms wide, showing off the room.
“What do you…” Alex trailed off before raising a sceptical eyebrow. “You mean we’re gonna be eating only fruits and vegetables?”
“Yes, what’s wrong with that?”
“Well… Isn’t there at least some meat somewhere? I need protein.” He hesitantly replied.
“What the hell is protein?” The old man gave him a puzzled look. “Also you really are some sort of noble aren’t you? No normal person would expect meat for a regular meal.”
‘He seemed so intelligent and normal that I forgot that I’m talking to a person from an ancient society.’
Alex bit his lip.
‘Of course they don’t know what protein is, and neither can they afford meat. Stupid. But I guess it’s not really a mistake if it helped sell my story of being a noble with brain damage.’
“Oh yeah, sorry about that.” He chuckled awkwardly, “Anyway, pass me that banana.”
Grenil gave him another condescending stare for such a blatant change in topic and handed over the banana. Peeling it with a speed and ease that would make a monkey jealous, Alex inspected the fruit in his hand.
“Well.” He muttered quietly, taking a deep breath and pinching his nose,
‘Here goes nothing.’
Flavour exploded in his mouth.
It is said when people go through a particularly traumatic experience, they tend to unlock their inner poet. The mind will conjure up expressions and metaphors potent enough to stun the living and wake the dead. Ballads for the ages are born, describing just how awful the experience they are going through is.
And in the moment that Alex bit down on that banana… He did not experience any of that. The banana simply tasted like a banana. No disgust or gagging, just a regular old -though particularly delicious- fruit.
“Mmmm.” He hummed appreciatively before swallowing. “This is really tasty! Where did you get it?”
“What do you mean?” The old man asked as he was peeling his own. “It’s just a normal banana I got from the plantation outside the city.”
“So all bananas taste like this here?” Alex asked excitedly.
“Yes.” Grenil confirmed. “Why, are you used to them tasting different?”
“Yeah I am… I wonder why?” Alex contemplated for a bit before suddenly remembering.
‘Oh right, I seem to recall something about bananas tasting different in the past, but that variety died out from some virus or something. So, this is what banana used to taste like a hundred years ago? I’m jealous.’
‘Well, at least I get to experience it now.’
He shrugged, digging into the previously extinct fruit and grabbing some other produce for variety.
As the two of them got busy eating, they settled into a comfortable silence, interrupted only by the sounds of chewing and grunts of approval.
“By the way, why did you look so scared of eating just now?” The old man asked Alex when they’d finished, throwing a glance his way.
“Uh…” Alex thought about what to reveal, “I recently had an unfortunate experience with food, so I’m a little traumatised.”
‘And what an experience it was.’
He thought to himself.
‘Even for me that was pretty awful.’
Alex had always been somewhat insensitive, even as a child his parents had wondered if there was something wrong with him. In fact, it had gotten so bad that even he had begun to suspect that he was some sort of psychopath.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please it.
‘I guess instead of being a psychopath I’m just a man-eating monster.’
He thought, the thought wiping the smile from his face.
‘I wonder if I was turned into this because of who I am, or if I am the way I am because I was a monster all along. A pointless chicken or egg question.’
“Must have been quite an unfortunate meal.” Grenil nodded sagely. “Why, when I was younger, I once ate a strange mushroom with a fascinating colouring in the hopes it would give me powers. Let me tell you, what I did behind those bushes that day…”
Alex zoned out as the old man launched into a disturbingly detailed recounting of his bowel movements. While his mind wandered, he realised that although the normal food hadn’t messed with him in any way, it had also done almost nothing to assuage his hunger. The gnawing pit in his stomach was back, its hollow claws digging into his insides.
‘Fuck, I guess I really do have to eat people, don’t I?’
He bit his thumb,
‘I wonder if I could get away with just drinking some blood or something? What about animals? What to do…’
“…and I obviously couldn’t have that, so I laced his food with the mushrooms as well. He still doesn’t know to this day that I’m the reason he shat himself at his sister’s wedding. Hey, are you listening?” His contemplations were interrupted by the end of the old man’s tale, none of which he’d heard.
“Of course I’m listening. How could I ignore the words of my elders?” He lied with a bright smile on his face. “I’m just wondering where I should go find shelter tonight, since it’s about time I left.”
The playful frown on Grenil’s face melted and was for once replaced by a serious expression. The old man crossed his arms and leaned back against a wall.
“So, you’re leaving?”
“Well… yeah?” Alex gave him a puzzled look. “That was the plan.”
“That’s true, but we agreed on that this morning.” The old man shook his head. “Now that I’ve experienced your help I want to keep you around. Stay, work here. Unless you have somewhere to be or something to do of course. Your family is probably looking for you, though they probably won’t be excited to learn what you’ve been doing here.”
“My family…” Alex’s face darkened.
‘They probably have no idea where I am, and I’ve been gone for over a day with no warning. I bet dad’s really angry, while mom’s worried sick. As excited as I am about getting magic, I wish I’d at least had the opportunity to say goodbye or warn them. And Mia… of course this happens just as I finally get a girlfriend. I hope she doesn’t think I left her.’
Grenil quickly realised he had struck a nerve and forged onwards in a panic. “So you should stay! I’ll even pay you!”
“What do you mean by that?” Alex let the other man off the hook for his misstep. “Were you planning on having me work for free?”
“…I might have?” The shopkeeper gave a noncommittal response.
Shaking his head, Alex turned to check if it was safe to leave, just in time to see the last rays of dusk kiss the top of the giant cube. Turning back, he hesitated.
“…Fine.” He finally agreed. “I’ll stay here for a bit, but I’ll have to leave eventually”
“Great!” Grenil beamed.
“Well, I’m off.” The young man stepped outside. “I’ll be back tomorrow before dawn.”
“Oh right, I forgot to mention, if you still need to go out, you should be careful.” The old man warned. “The city guards were out in force today; I saw them questioning people on my way here. I don’t know if this is somehow related to what you did yesterday, but I thought you should know just in case.”
“I’ll be careful.” The young man nodded and walked out of the shattered doorway. “Thanks for the heads up.”
Finally out, Alex took a deep breath of fresh air—the shop wasn’t the most well-ventilated building he had been in—and looked around.
First, he needed to be able to find his way back here, which would prove challenging with no map—physical or otherwise. Fortunately, the building was positioned right at the edge of what he now knew was simply the commoner’s district, not the slums. Those were even further towards the outskirts, with even less oversight from the guards.
After memorising the rough position of the two mountains relative to his location, Alex’s thoughts turned to the more pressing issue of his growing hunger.
Even in the time spent waiting for the sun to go down, the pain had increased noticeably. It was still nothing compared to what he had experienced the previous night, but it was still a cause for concern.
The fact that a whole “meal” lasted him only one day was worrying. However, he was relatively sure he only got hungry so quickly because of the various energy intensive activities—namely regrowing an entire limb—he had engaged in the previous night.
Resolved to nip the problem in the bud, before he once again turned into a ravenous monster, Alex set out towards the true outskirts of the city. He could have completed the journey in but a few minutes with his newfound speed, but people were still out and about at this time, and running at the speed of a car was not how you avoid drawing attention. Thus, he took the scenic route to learn the lay of the land, get familiar with the area.
Wandering through the dusty, dirt-packed streets, he marvelled at the wealth disparity shown in this city.
He saw a family of six packed like sardines into a hut not much larger than his studio appartment, privacy nothing more than a myth. Comparing it to the colossal mansions he had seen just a few miles away, the gap was incomprehensible.
‘Well, not like modern day earth was any better. In fact, I’d say the gap between a billionaire and the average person is even greater. Fascinating that even ancient societies had a fairer wealth distribution than the so called “civilised” modern man.’
He shook his head in disappointment.
When the last of the light faded and the number of people walking the streets dwindled considerably, Alex finally arrived at the true slums.
The streets stank of human waste, puddles of filth littering the space between the rotting, half collapsed houses. The people inhabiting the area weren’t much better; furtive figures darted through the alleys, while beggars lined the street, their weak calls for help falling on deaf ears.
‘I guess the drug trade is going strong even here.’
Alex thought as he watched a man twitching on the ground, some sort of herb strewn about his position.
‘Not that I blame him. What else can you do when born into these circumstances? I’d also do my best to escape reality.’
Doing his best to ignore the poor souls littering the sidewalk, Alex moved deeper into the slums. Considering the mess he had caused last time—one he was sure was going to come back to bite him in the ass later—he was going to make sure no one found out about what he was doing this time.
Of course, ideally there would be nothing
to
find out, since the plan was simply to take some blood and leave before they even woke up, but no plan survives first contact with the enemy. He knew perfectly well how little he actually knew about himself now, so planning for every eventuality was a must.
In this case, that involved finding the loneliest, furthest little shack in the worst part of town and feeding on its lone inhabitant. If there were other people in it, he would simply move on.
Was Alex scared that something would go wrong and he’d hurt innocent people again? Yes. Did he feel guilty for experimenting with another living being’s life? Most definitely. Was any of that going to stop him from ensuring his own survival? Absolutely not.
Finally arriving at the real city outskirts, Alex realised that he may have miscalculated. Instead of finding the worst of the worst, the greatest rejects and biggest failures, what he saw was many times better than anything he had encountered in the slums or even in the commoner district before that.
He hadn't thought much of what Grenil had told him about the main industry in this city; his mind hadn't made the connection between a vast agricultural industry and, well, the agricultural industry.
Instead of more slums, hectares upon hectares of farmland and grazing fields spread out before him in all directions as far as the eye could see. There was a surprising variety of plants being grown within the same climate, though he guessed magic changed the rules of what was possible.
‘Well, that’s unexpected.’
Alex hesitated,
‘I guess I should go back and find somewhere more towards the middle?’
Turning around, he threw one last glance over his shoulder at the bountiful fields before heading back into the unsavoury part of the city.
Deftly weaving his way through the cramped huts, guided by what little moonlight filtered through the cloudy sky, Alex searched for a suitable target. Now that the sun had gone down and night had fallen, the only people still moving through the alleys were of dubious inclinations.
“Excuse me…” Alex muttered as he squeezed past a hooded individual who was clutching something under his robes. The shadow of his hood did nothing to hide the bloodshot glint of his eyes from Alex’s improved sight.
‘Just don’t do anything stupid, man. I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.’
Unfortunately, it was at this exact moment that the other man decided to do something stupid.
A quick shuffling sound was all the warning Alex got before he felt a force impact his back with a thud. Turning around to ask what the man’s problem was, a searing pain suddenly spread from the point of impact, as if a knife had been driven into his kidney.
His anger ignited, and before he could think, he lashed out and backhanded the man in the face. With a horrifying crackle like popping bubble wrap, the man’s head turned 180 degrees and his body was sent flying into the wall beside him, sending out a spray of splinters.
Dropping to one knee, Alex didn’t have time to concern himself with his opponent any further as he tried to clutch his burning side. Twisting sent an unprecedented spike of pain up his spine all the way to his brain, his vision going black as he fell forward, unconscious.