Chapter 1: Nick
A moody-looking youth with a frail, almost weathered body lay down next to a campfire housing some roasting meat. His gaze was weary, looking over his shoulder and checking the surroundings here and there, as if he was worried that somebody or something might sneak up on him.
Nevertheless, his hand didn’t loosen the dagger holding the roasting meat on its end, probably for his own protection in case anything did attack.
After a few moments, the meat seemed all but done, and the frail young man swiftly lifted the dagger up to his face, chomping down on the meat with a ferocity matching even the wildest of beasts.
Nick’s face was full of glee as he chowed down on the succulent meat, practically on the verge of tears.
"I’ll never get used to this!"
Of course, Nick was only a food enthusiast. As someone who had grown up poor, coming to this place was almost a heaven-sent for someone like him — who never had the chance to try out delicious meat growing up, only ever surviving on cheap nutrient solutions.
But this wasn’t the real highlight of his day, though; no, that would be the small, slightly glowing spherical ball of rock sitting next to him under the crackling light of the campfire.
Finished with his food, Nick looked down at it with fiery greed and swallowed the thing whole.
It was about the size of his thumbnail, so it wasn’t too tough to swallow.
But the flavour or toughness of the small rock wasn’t of any concern to Nick.
Instead, it was the enchanting voice that had just whispered in his ear, though that was only an illusion — the voice could only be heard by him.