Beneath the warmth of a warm, amber flame...
Cole roasted meat.
He died a total of at least twenty times. Why?
Because it turned out the Man-Eater had several toxins in various parts of its body. Originally, Cole couldn't properly discern which were safe and which were poisonous. Some parts and organs that didn't possess any signs of toxins were actually lethal.
Pulmonary edema, convulsions, brain and kidney damage, and even tissue decay were some of the several causes of his deaths. There was a point where Cole was forced to bite his tongue due to paralysis just so he could revive.
After numerous trials and errors, Cole separated the edible from the inedible. There weren't any plants to use as seasoning, but Cole was accustomed to eating such things, despite being a good cook.
The meat was cooked tenderly but tasted bland. "HMMMM... I owe Vanity an apology sometime in the future."
'This meat is more bland than False Earth meat,' Cole thought. 'As long as I'm stuffed, I guess.'
Cole's normal build gradually resurfaced. Physically, he began to look much healthier. Wiping the crumbs off his face, Cole introspected for a bit.
There was neither day nor night, so he couldn't calculate the passage of days. Oblivious as he was, Cole treated the time like it were night and slept. If True Earth's "False years" were faster than False Earth's normal years, then he didn't have too much to worry about. A little well-deserved rest wouldn't hurt anyone.
Cole laid down and observed the sky above; the way it seemed to be swirling was mesmerizing, to say the least. He couldn't fully picture what caused a peculiar realm such as the Aught to be abandoned, especially considering the nature of Indulgers.
"Just what exactly is lurking here?" Cole muttered as his lids shut.
Unknowingly, Cole slept.
In his sleep, he saw the deity sitting quietly near a grave. Beside her was Vanity, who gazed sadly at her, and right behind him was the Potter, who wore a disappointed face. Their bodies were lit by a glowing orange light that fell upon the tombstone. Cole watched them from a distance in silence, his body static as it flickered back and forth.
'He's here!' She spoke with an eerie whisper.
Cole inhaled a sharp breath of air and sprang up reflexively!
Wheezing violently, Cole's lungs couldn't sustain much oxygen. His eyes rolled in their sockets and sank into his skull. Before passing out, he caught a clear glimpse of the impressionistic blend of colors sinking into the faded focal point, simultaneously making way for the storm clouds. The focal point then fell into the greyish-white clouds and hid.
Cole died again.
When he revived, the sky returned to how it was when he first arrived: a chaotic clash of lightning and wind. A change of weather? A change in seasons? The realm dwindled on a thin line of logic.
'Good thing I long since abandoned logic.' Cole rose from the ground.
"There must have been a release of deadly gas from the occurrence. Then again, I could just be applying logic instinctively again," Cole speculated. 'Okay, maybe I haven't fully abandoned logic.'
Cole wasn't too bothered by what killed him; he was still pressed for time, after all. Having little consideration for the creature's remains, Cole left the body and proceeded on his quest. At that point, his face had a more serious look painted on it.
The deeper he thought he went, the more identical certain landmarks and structures seemed.
'You've got to be kidding me.' Cole rolled his eyes, his voice frustrated.
From his point of view, he was going in circles. The only fact that kept him sane—and the assumption false—was the dead Man-Eater and the destroyed land structures he never encountered. Each time he felt like tearing his hair out in torment, those two factors kept him calm.
Cole scuffled through the hard floor, his eyes faltering. 'This is torture,' he thought. 'I have a right to give up, don't I? Why do I keep going this far for a stranger?'
'Those words I told the Potter... I didn't mean them! I was just trying to pull his heartstrings and get an easy solution from him. Things weren't meant to be this bad. How many days have gone by!' Cole fell to his knees.
'Just how many...' He scowled, toppled over, and died.
'I don't want to revive,' his fading mind thought.
But his wish remained ungranted; he resurrected, though not in a way he expected. Cole was hanging in mid-air—well, technically, he was being carried by a Man-Eater. His shirt was caught in its sharp fangs; even the beast didn't notice Cole was alive.
Unlike the previous Man-Eater, this one resembled an overgrown vulture with spikes piercing out of its back like spines, large cat-like eyes with a frightening focus, and, of course, razor teeth and sharp claws.
Cole was nearly fed up at that point. 'What is with this rinse and repeat cycle?'
His eyes caught a short glimpse of a tall pillar covered in veins, resting on an isolated yet tall cylindrical structure growing further away.
Cole squinted his eyes. 'Could that be my checkpoint?'
SCREEEEEEEEECH!
'Huh?' Cole shifted his gaze forward.
From what he could tell, the Man-Eater was headed to a sort of large nest.
'Hmmm...' Cole was unmoved.
First, he swung his hand to and fro, then his feet, then his waist, and finally his upper body; the result was Cole twisting forward, releasing the clothes' fabric from the teeth.
The fabric tore, and Cole was pushed back by the wind. The creature noticed and turned its piercing gaze towards Cole, only to see its prey with spread arms and a mocking grin as the wind pulled him like a used rag.
SCREEEEEEEEECH!
The loud cry alerted others of its kind from the nest; exactly four vulture-like Man-Eaters flew from their nest and targeted Cole. The first Man-Eater flapped its wings and propelled itself towards Cole.
SNAP!
By the time the Man-Eater shut its horrendous beak, nothing was in between—neither flesh nor bone, just gusts of wind.
Cole re-emerged from a monochrome canvas of nothingness into physical form. Similar to a kite, he floated above the creature's body, his hands spread like a plane as his body cut through the barriers of air.
SNAP!
Another made an attempt but failed; Cole rolled on the second one's large feathers.
SNAP!
He vanished and resurfaced on the spike of the third, crouching on its pointed edge like a martial artist. Cole baited the others and threw himself off as all of them raced to snag the concluding bite.
SNAP!
He disappeared.
Reappearing right above their heads, Cole tensed his fist and struck them down with a single blow—at least four of them. The air circulated from the impact, curling them as they fell to the ground.
The last Man-Eater was more violent; while Cole was off guard, it swooped in and snapped its large, crooked beak at him. Thanks to his sharp reflexes, Cole straightened his body.
Using his hands, Cole obstructed the creature's beak from closing by pushing it back through two of its fangs while he pressed against its tongue using his feet. Due to Cole's monstrous strength, the Man-Eater couldn't devour his body.
Out of desperation, the Man-Eater charged towards the tall cylindrical structure, beak first. Cole's body slammed against the hard material as it tried to shake him off.
Despite getting scratched by the rough stone, Cole didn't flinch for even an instant. He countered with rabid growling and a grim facial expression.
The creature changed course and went towards the storm cloud. Cole kept his position firm, unyielding despite how much the Man-Eater tried to shake him off.
Coincidentally, they passed through the clouds and managed to dodge some of the lightning bolts safely, at the same time...
ZZZZZZZZZ!
'Everything's... s...l...o...w...i...n...g... d...'
They steered toward the focal point; different colors swirled at its edges. Cole and the creature's eyes shrunk as they became entrapped in a daze. The Man-Eater's wings flopped, and so did Cole.
Two objects pierced through the clouds, falling to the ground below. Of course, they were none other than Cole and the creature's bodies, engulfed in an angry blaze of fire.
Cole's smoldering body crashed at the top of the long structure; the monster's corpse landed at the edge but fell off due to the force of its collision and the immense heat surrounding it.
Beside a well-crafted tombstone, decorated with beautiful flowers of variant colors and a soft atmosphere, Cole's body burnt to ash.