Chapter 264: You are...

Everyone climbed back on top of Sheeby and prepared for their takeoff. Maria and Jacob sat nearest to Sheeby’s face. He allowed Maria to control where Sheeby flew since she was much more likely to listen to her. As they soared gently towards the small lake in the ground, Jacob began talking with her to pass the time.

"Do you remember what if felt like to transform by any chance?"

Maria was surprised to hear Jacob ask this question. She raised her eyebrow before responding.

"Maybe. Why do you ask?"

"It’s just... I guess there was one thing I do remember from the time I was transformed. I don’t know if it’s because of my perfect memory now, but all I could remember was this insatiable hunger that would never go away. It was just driving me beyond insane. It was almost like I was stuck in some sort of paralysis while the most delicious smelling food you could think of was constantly teasing my nostrils, all while it felt like I was starving to death. That is probably the best way I could describe my feeling."

Maria nodded and looked forward.

"To be honest, I don’t know if what I felt could be considered a feeling at all."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I just felt nothing."

"You didn’t feel anything?"

"Well, I don’t know if it’s better to word it as I was lacking everything compared to simply having nothing, but wouldn’t that be the same?"

"Would it be?"

"That’s what I’m trying to figure out. It was like I was in this constant state of numbness while nothing could hurt me and no thoughts could form. Does that make any sense?"

Jacob laughed.

"Nothing of this makes any sense. We’re riding a dragon during the end of the world with a mark from a corrupted deity on our arms. We are beyond sense at this point."

Maria chuckled and grabbed on to Sheeby tighter.

"You make a good point."

Sheeby landed gracefully and started drinking from the clear lake. All the woman and men split off to go do their washing as far away from each other for privacy. Jacob noticed Slimo’s expression was slightly pale as they walked away.

"Everything okay?"

Slimo jumped.

"Y-Yes! Just... could you maybe wash yourself far away from me? I don’t want to be by your... world serpent if you would."

Jacob blushed severely and darted away from him.

"WHY WOULD YOU CALL IT THAT?!"

It didn’t take long for all of them to rid themselves of the filth plaguing their body. Jacob finished washing his face and stared at his reflection. He looked much older than he remembered. The stress of the last year had seemingly been aging his face much more.

"I wonder how many of us missed a birthday. Not that it really matters right now."

He slowly put on all his clothes before sliding his armor over himself. As he walked over to the group, everyone was waiting for him patiently.

"It’s about time. Hurry up before the monster of this lake tries to eat you."

"If there was a monster, he would have attacked us already."

"He did. Me and Maria took care of it though. Completely naked too!"

Jacob’s eye twitched slightly.

’Was that last detail really necessary?!’

He sighed and joined the place at the front of Sheeby with Maria. The group flew for what felt like twelve hours. The jungle appeared to be getting closer, but at the same time it felt like they made no distance at all. Slimo started to get agitated seeing the lack of progress.

"How the hell is this place so big anyway?! This makes absolutely no sense! At the speed we were flying, it feels like we could have lapped Paria’s territory by now!"

"Just be patient. You have to remember this place is meant for giants. One step for them is probably going to be like one thousand steps for us."

Suddenly, Sarah’s stomach started growling loudly. She blushed and hid her face. Lidia noticed what was going on and waved to everyone else in the group.

"Anyone else hungry? Maybe we should stop to look for something to eat."

Suddenly, she pointed at giant round plants sprouting out of the ground.

"Maria, tell Sheeby to land by those plants. They look a little familiar."

Maria nodded and commanded Sheeby to rest, which she happily obliged to do. They gently fell back down to the earth and landed on some soft dirt. Jacob looked at the plants around him in awe. These were not just any plants, but massive fruit bushes with all kinds of succulent treats. The kind that Lidia had initially spotted were what appeared to be giant blueberries. She jumped on top of one and grabbed a handful of its sweet skin, reaching it towards her mouth without hesitation. Maria called out to her before she could take a bite.

"WAIT! What if it’s poisoned?"

Lidia looked at the fruit then back at Maria.

"It’s probably fine!"

Then, she took a bite. It was indeed a giant blueberry. Lidia start shoveling handfuls in her mouth to appease her hunger. Sarah meanwhile was taking small portions of all kinds of berries and mixing them together into a concoction of juices.

Jacob’s mind raced with all kinds of thoughts as he helped himself to his own giant peach.

’This can’t possibly be good for my diet. It feels like my gut is going to explode if I keep eating!’

As Jacob was reaching the center of his peach, he bit into something extremely hard. However, his teeth were so strong he accidentally bit right through it. He spit out the weird taste and looked at the peach again.

’What the hell is this?’

There were small white lines tracing through the peach. It was in the place the stem was supposed to be, but Jacob didn’t remember the stems being so tough before. He bit out a larger area around the strange white material and studied it further by tracing his hands along the edges. His heart was telling him to stop eating and investigate, but his brain was in a world of its own now. He craved more of this perfect, delicious treat that laid before him. It was all his for the taking, and no one was going to take it from him. Not even Maria, Lidia or even Sheeby. This was his and his alone. He would kill anyone to protect this tressure.

Suddenly, Jacob slapped himself in the face.

’Wait, why am I thinking like that? The fruit isn’t that good.’

But it was. It was beyond good, beyond anything he had ever tasted in his life. This fruit, this god-like gift was the only thing that had ever appeased Jacob’s insatiable avarice. He was going to eat it until it was all gone, nothing left, not even the bone.

’Bone? Why did I just think that? Is this bone? What is going on?’

It was too late for him and everyone else. He noticed Lidia and Maria had already finished their first fruit, which meant they were coming for his next. He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to finish it as fast as he could. Then, he needed to eat all the ones around his too. He started closer to them than everyone else, so they were all his. He couldn’t let anyone take his prizes. Jacob furiously ate through the rest of his fruit before jumping to another one. His stomach started rounding from all the fruit he ate.

’Just one more. Just one more and I’ll be satisfied!’

Jacob dug his teeth into the next fruit he could, chewing through its sweet inside and soft outside. He began to wonder if he was losing control of himself to his power, but he didn’t feel weird at all. All he wanted was a small, sweet treat, and after everything they had been through already, no one could really blame him for craving such a thing. Jacob was nearly done with his second fruit before he looked over to see what the others were doing. They were all doing the same thing: devouring fruits at an insane pace. They were catching up to him quickly.

’Faster! I have to eat faster! Just one more couldn’t possibly hurt!’

Jacob jumped to one closer to everyone else to assert his dominance. However, before he could take a bite of his fruit, he noticed something horribly wrong. Tears were streaming down everyone else’s faces as they were stuffing their mouths. It didn’t look like they were enjoying the fruit at all. Jacob shook his head and slapped himself.

’It’s a distraction! They’re distracting me from eating to buy themselves time!’

Jacob continued his feast trying to ignore his friends. However, their faces kept popping into his brain with each bite.

’Urgh. Why the hell do I keep thinking about them?! Focus, Jacob!’

Maria’s sorrowful expression flashed in his head. He stopped eating and spit some fruit out.

’Maria...’

He looked over where she was eating her own fruit.

’Maybe just the quickest check wouldn’t hurt. Just one more bite and I’ll check on her...’