The stranger's eyes widened in shock as the dagger struck him in the stomach.
There was a silence—a fraction of a second.
Then—the illusion dissolved.
The stranger's body rippled, his skin turning black like ink spreading in water. His mouth dropped open and remained that way without a sound as his body began to dissolve onto the surface of the mirror.
Leo, his mind still spinning from the agony, stumbled forward, trying to pull himself loose from the mirror's grasp. The air around him pulsed like a heartbeat, thick and oppressive, as though the cave itself was alive. His skin crawled with the presence of a thousand unseen eyes on him.
The instant he pulled loose, he collapsed onto the cave floor, gasping for air.
His vision whirled. The world tipped around him, the stone floor more like the deck of a sinking ship. His body complained, muscles on fire, mind in a fog that refused to lift. But even through the haze, he could feel it—something was changed.
He raised his right arm slowly. His breath froze.
The black mud from the mirror clung to his skin.
It pulsed like a living entity, flowing and rippling across his arm in inhuman waves. It didn't have the dampness of it, nor did it flow like ink. Instead, it clung to him like a second skin, an appendage of something much greater than his understanding.
Leo gritted his teeth and sat up, shaking his head to clear the daze. His headache was fading, but the experience had left him reeling and bewildered.
He glanced in the direction of the mirror, expecting the stranger to reappear. But the corridor was vacant now. The only residue was the dagger, now blackened with a strange, gritty grime.
Leo's hand closed around the knife, tightening his grip.
The mirror had tried to pull him in.
The stranger—whoever he had been—was part of it. Maybe even a victim of it.
And now, somehow, the black goo was sticking to him.
Leo's breathing was slow and controlled, but his mind raced with possibilities.
What if it spreads? What if I'm already infected?
A shiver of fear struck his chest, but he forced himself to relax. Panicking will get him killed. He needed to think this through, attempt to figure out what had happened, and—more importantly—what the black stuff was.
He examined the dagger. The substance was still smeared on it, but unlike before, it didn't seem to be breaking down or dissipating. That meant the goo wasn't just some magic of the mirror's doing. It was real.
And it was all over his hand.
Leo took a deep breath and, hesitantly, reached out and touched the black substance with his other hand.
The instant his fingers touched it, a jolt of sharp, electric pain coursed through his arm.
Leo recoiled with a hiss. It wasn't pain—not quite. It was more of… recognition.
As if the goo had recognized his touch.
He swallowed hard.
This wasn't some weird residue from the mirror.
It was alive.
The find sent a fresh wave of terror through him, but he forced himself to focus. If it was poisonous, it would have poisoned him by now. Instead, it clung to him, bonding itself to his arm like an extension of his own flesh.
Leo clenched his fist.
Maybe this wasn't a curse. Maybe it was something else.
Something useful.
But there was only one way to find out.
Leo glanced again at the dagger, then his arm.
Time to see how it works.
He took a deep breath, struggling to calm himself down, and focused on the black stuff.
The moment he did, it reacted.
The black stuff began to shift, flowing further up his arm in slow, controlled movements. It was. cold, yet somehow comforting, like it was expecting him to notice.
Leo furrowed his eyes.
It's reacting to my brain.
Carefully, he tried something different—he imagined it unwinding back to size, withdrawing from whence it first appeared.
Instantly, the goo obeyed.
Leo's heart pounded. This isn't just some parasite.
It seemed more like a symbiotic device.
A cunning grin spread across his face.
Maybe he hadn't just endured the mirror's attack.
Maybe he'd gained something in return.
But if so, then he had another test to conduct.
Leo took a deep breath again and focused harder.
This time, instead of wanting the goo back, he wanted it to grow.
And it did.
The black substance ballooned ahead, stretching up his arm like a living shadow. It moved with an inhuman elegance, rippling out like a claw.
Leo's smile widened further.
I think I just found my new weapon.
And he was just getting started.