Tara focuses on the channels, on the connection, on the flow. He's discovered he can control it—narrow it, widen it, reduce it, increase it. But he can't stop it completely. The Void Binding Elixir holds the channels open, prevents them from closing fully.
But what if he keeps trying? What if the elixir's effect weakens over time? What if constant pulling can overcome it?
He pulls. Hard. Focuses all his awareness on narrowing the channels, on closing them, on stopping the flow. The channels resist, held open by the dark magic, but he keeps pulling.
Minutes pass. Hours pass. The storage counter climbs: 125,000 units. 130,000 units. 135,000 units.
Tara continues pulling, focusing all his awareness on the channels. Slowly, gradually, he can feel something changing. The channels are becoming more responsive, more controllable.
"Come on," Tara thinks, pulling harder. "Close. Just close. Please close."
The flow reduces to a trickle, then to almost nothing. And then...
It stops.
The flow stops completely. The channels are not closed. But no energy is flowing from Tara to the demon.
"Yes!" Tara thinks, triumph filling him. "I did it! I stopped it!"
Tara maintains the pull, keeping the flow stopped. He isn't going to let it start again.
But then, something unexpected happens. He continues pulling, trying to close the channels completely, and suddenly... the flow reverses.
Instead of energy flowing out, energy starts flowing in.
"What?" Tara thinks, shocked. "Energy is flowing... in? From the demon? Back to me?"
He can feel it—the demon's stored energy, flowing back through the channels, returning to Tara. The connection is reversed. He is draining the demon, sucking its energy back.
"Whoa," Tara thinks. "I can reverse it. I can pull energy back from the demon. I can drain it!"
The demon feels it too. Its stored energy is being pulled away, drained, stolen. It tries to resist, tries to pull back, tries to stop the flow. But Tara is stronger. He maintains the pull, draining the demon, reclaiming his energy.
A struggle begins. The demon pulls, trying to keep its energy. Tara pulls harder, trying to take it back. It is a tug-of-war, a battle of wills, a fight for control.
But Tara has the advantage. The demon is bound to guard the artifact, to protect it as ordered by the mage. It can't attack Tara, can't destroy him, can't stop him. It can only resist, only try to hold onto its energy.
And Tara keeps pulling.
The demon's stored energy flows back: 15,000 units. 10,000 units. 5,000 units. The demon's form wavers, weakens, becomes less substantial. It is losing its stored energy, losing its power, losing its strength.
"Come on," Tara thinks, pulling harder. "Give it back. All of it. Give it all back!"
The demon resists, fights back, tries to hold on. But it is losing. Tara is winning. The energy flows back, returning to Tara.
2,000 units. 1,000 units. 500 units.
The demon's form becomes translucent, weak, barely there. It has lost almost all its stored energy. It is still bound to Tara, still connected, but now it is powerless, weak, unable to do anything.
And then, the last of its energy flows back. The demon has nothing left. Its stored energy is gone, completely drained, all returned to Tara.
But something else is happening. The demon's form is fading, dissolving, breaking apart. Without energy, without power, it can't maintain its existence. The connection between them is still there, but the demon itself... the demon is dying.
"Wait," Tara thinks. "Is it... is it dying? Can demons even die?"
The demon's form becomes increasingly translucent, increasingly insubstantial. And then, with a final shudder, it collapses, its form dissolving into nothingness.
"Seems like I put the eternal hunger to an eternal slumber," Tara says.
But as the demon dissolves completely, something flows back through the channels—not energy, but something else. Something more fundamental. The demon's essence.
It flows into Tara, filling him, changing him. And then, words appear:
**DEMON DEFEATED: Xyl'tharoth, the Eternal Hunger**
**Essence Gained:** 1,073,742,000
**EXP Conversion:** 16,777,219 EXP
**Level Up!**
**Level Up!**
**Level Up!**
...
Tara feels something shift inside him. The essence is being converted, transformed, becoming experience. And that experience is making him stronger, more powerful, more capable.
**LEVEL 24 REACHED**
**EXP Remaining:** 4
**Stats Updated:**
- **m:** 48
- **v:** 24
- **Energy Generated:** 13,824 units per second
"Whoa," Tara thinks. "Level 24? That's... that's a lot of levels. This demon was powerful. And my stats increased! m is 48 and v 24. I'm generating 13,824 units per second instead of just 1. I went from a AAA battery to a nuclear reactor! Quite the promotion! Woohooo!"
He can feel it—he is bigger, stronger, more substantial. His form has grown, his power has increased. And he has new abilities available.
**ABILITY POINTS GAINED:** 23
**NEW ABILITIES AVAILABLE:**
**Demonic Fission (Rare)** - Able to divide into multiple parts. Upgrades by level. Can absorb parts created by itself. Cost: 3 points.
**Dash (Common)** - Move to another location swiftly. Cost: 1 point.
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**Claw (Common)** - Attack at a distance with energy. Cost: 1 point.
**Fear Aura (Uncommon)** - Project an aura of terror that weakens enemies. Cost: 2 points.
**Shadow Step (Uncommon)** - Phase through shadows to move undetected. Cost: 2 points.
**Energy Blast (Common)** - Release stored energy as a destructive attack. Cost: 1 point.
**Devour (Rare)** - Consume materials/creatures to gain temporary power boosts. Cost: 3 points.
**Corruption Touch (Uncommon)** - Corrupt objects and creatures with dark energy. Cost: 2 points.
Tara looks at the options. Dash will let him move. That is the most important thing right now. He needs to escape, to get away from this place.
He selects it immediately: **Dash**.
**ABILITIES SELECTED:**
- **Dash (Common)** - Level 1
**ABILITY POINTS REMAINING:** 22
"Okay," Tara thinks, a surge of excitement running through him. "I can move now. FINALLY! Mobility! I've gone from 'decorative paperweight' to 'rolling stone.' Metaphorically speaking. This is the best day of my afterlife. Time to get out of here."
He focuses on the ability, and information appears:
**DASH (Common)**
- **Energy Cost:** 500 × 48(m) = 24,000 units
- **Distance:** 10 meters
- **Duration:** 100ms
- **Cooldown:** 2 seconds
"24,000 units per dash?" Tara thinks. "That's a lot. But wait, I'm generating energy constantly. Let me think..."
He generates energy at a rate of 24 × 242 = 13,824 units per second. The cooldown is 2 seconds, so if he dashes every time the cooldown is ready, he'll spend 24,000 units but generate 13,824 × 2 = 27,648 units in those 2 seconds, for a net gain of 3,648 units per dash cycle.
"Wait, that's actually sustainable!" Tara thinks, excitement building. "I generate more energy than I spend! The cooldown is 2 seconds, which means I'm generating 27,648 units during the cooldown, but only spending 24,000. That's a net gain of 3,648 units every 2 seconds!"
The realization hits him. "So I'll dash every 2 seconds—using the full cooldown. That way I'm moving 10 meters every 2 seconds—5 meters per second average speed—and I'm gaining energy instead of losing it. That's sustainable. That's smart. And I have stored energy as backup, so I'm good to go!"
But more importantly, he can move. He can escape. He can get away from this place, from the mage, from the horror.
"Time to go," Tara thinks.
Tara activates Dash, and suddenly he is outside the room, in a corridor. He waits 2 seconds, then dashes again, moving further away. Each dash moves him 10 meters, costs 24,000 units, but by waiting 2 seconds between dashes, he is gaining energy instead of losing it.
He continues dashing through the hideout, finding his way out. The mage is gone, the demon is dead, and Tara is free.
Finally, he finds an exit—a door leading outside. He dashes through it, and suddenly he is in a thick forest, surrounded by trees, under an open sky.
"Freedom," Tara thinks. "I'm free. I'm out of that horrible place."
He activates Dash again, aiming forward, but something goes wrong. The dash doesn't go where he expects. Instead of moving forward smoothly, he finds himself colliding with a tree trunk.
*Thunk.*
"Ow," Tara thinks, though he doesn't actually feel pain. "That's... that's a tree. I just dashed into a tree."
He tries again. Dash. *Thunk.* Another tree.
"Okay, so aiming is harder than I thought," Tara thinks. "I need to actually visualize the path I'm taking and the destination, not just activate the ability and hope for the best."
Dash. *Thunk.* Tree again.
"Seems like 31 years of not dashing is showing its effect!" Tara thinks.
*Thunk.* *Thunk.* *Thunk.* *Thunk.*
"I'm basically playing pyramid pinball with the forest. This is not how I imagined my great escape," Tara thinks.
Dash. This time, he focuses harder, visualizing the space ahead, the path between trees, the distance of dash. And... success! He dashes forward, actually moving in the right direction, only slightly grazing the trees.
"YES!" Tara thinks, triumphant. "I can change the distance of the dash, but the maximum is 10m. Smaller dashes cost the same amount, so that's a bummer."
He continues practicing, dashing through the forest. Some dashes hit trees, some succeed. But gradually, he's getting better. He's learning to aim, to visualize his path, to control the ability.
After several minutes of practice—and many more tree collisions—Tara finally gets the hang of it. He's dashing smoothly now, moving between trees, putting distance between himself and Tejran's hideout.
"I just quit my job as a demon's heart," Tara thinks with grim satisfaction. "No two-week notice, no exit interview, no 'sorry for the inconvenience.' Just straight-up ghosted my evil employer. Is this what job satisfaction feels like?"
As he dashes through the forest, Tara thinks about the other abilities he's seen. Demonic Fission sounds interesting—dividing into multiple parts. That could be useful. Claw will let him attack. Fear Aura, Shadow Step, Energy Blast, Devour, Corruption Touch—all options, all possibilities.
The forest stretches ahead, and Tara keeps dashing towards his freedom.
