The heart of corruption is... pretty weak. (OPEN)

The moment Erbia spoke, the girl let out a yelp and jumped in surprise from her stump, which in turn allowed the purple flesh to surge towards the newcomer with a ferocity that bordered upon ravenous. Maws screeched and roared as eyes glowed and talons formed, a wall of flesh and mass surging up and towering above the heran- before it let out a weaker screech and lurched back as if tugged, as Phakk regained control.  The purple mass began to rapidly shrink and fade away into black mist as she trembled, human arm out and eyes closed as she concentrated. Sweat beaded at her forehead as the girl shuddered with the effort, but was able to rapidly withdraw the majority of the corruption with a lot of wasted effort. "I-I-" She starts, shaking with the effort of restraining her magic. It was so... so angry.  There was a rage she couldn't even begin to tap, and a pain, and a  sort of... sweetness to it. Tantalising and insidious, it whispered at the back of Phakk's mind whenever she used her powers. It was that sweetness that scared her the most. It behaved as if it were not her, as if it was something... else. What, she wasn't sure. She wasn't even sure if it was actually there or she was just imagining it. But the fear it instilled was real.

"I'm sorry-" She groans, the tide receding some more until all that was left was the bubbling and toothy stump, the previously corrupted blades of grass healed by her to their former state. "I... it's hard to focus on. Like...  like wrangling a wild animal.  Just... Okay. I think I have it for now." Opening her eyes, Phakk looks towards the Heran, swallowing as she attempted to split her focus. "I... don't knew who you are, but if you want to help I'll gladly take any you can offer. My-" A wince. "My name is Phakk. I'm sure my father would pay you handsomely, if you're able to help me out with learning the controls. P-... Please." This person looked and felt strong. That was good. That meant they could handle any mishaps, right?

Unfortunately, Phakk's new impromptu teacher would most likely be sorely disappointed in her initial reply. As Erbia began to teach her, Phakk's response to his first question was to simply tilt her head. "W-...what's a slave?" She asks out of the corner of her mouth, still focusing on reigning in the animalistic corruption. While there had been plenty of kings and queens and princesses in her video games, she'd never heard of a slave. And yet even at the time of her asking, it was as if her mind filled in the blanks. Or... a memory she had never undergone came back. Was this part of beig a shinjin? She wasn't sure, but the girl rapidly caught up by the time of the second question. "Personality?" She manages to get out with a gasp, the stump slowly beginning to revert to normal at the very base of it. Purple flesh receded, instead replaced by vibrant green moss. 

No. It seemed she was wrong. Instinct. The purple began to creep back as doubt entered into Phakk's mind, but it quickly came to a stop when the girl focused again. She listened, as this stranger spoke. About a natural order, and something that certainly seemed obvious, now that he finally pointed it out. The animals had fled, which leant credence to what they spoke of, and they were right in every regard when it came to the way the basic fundamentals of life seemed to work. Even she knew that, despite never encountering it. Wait... how did she... never mind. It didn't matter. Swallowing, Phakk listened some more, her pointed ears twitching as she nodded slightly.

"I..." She swallows again, as the many mouths of the stump screeched out in rage and a madness that whispered at the minds of all that could hear. An insidious sweetness. Tempting. A break from the rigours of reality- "NO!" She snaps, for the first time as half of the mouths were reduced to nothing, swallowed back by her will as more of the stump was revealed in its base form. The eyes, orange and maddening, rolled in their sockets with a speed unattainable by regular mortals. Flesh snapped and crackled, as Phakk did her best to listen to what this stranger had to say. She didn't want  to be a slave. She didn't want to hurt anyone. But it was so hard. Every second it fought against her. Every single time it tried something new, and if she slipped up even once, it took an inch and made it a mile. 

It was hard going. And it wasn't perfect. Despite her best attempts, and despite the rest of the flesh slowly beginning to recede, culminating with its disappearance entirely, Phakk knew she hadn't won. Merely drawn it to a stalemate. But... for once... it seemed... less. The whispers, which she hadn't noticed before, were quieter. Not as deafening. How had she not heard them earlier? No matter. Right now she had someone to thank.

"Thank... you..." She breathes towards this orange haired stranger, body shaking with the effort of what transpired. "I... you helped." At her fingers, scratch arks in the wood could be seen from where she had been gripping it so tightly. "Usually I need someone to hurt it before I could... do that." 

Phakk glanced over as Erbia grew closer, the petite Shinjin still panting with exhaustion from the effort of reigning in her own magic, both mental and physical. "I... I'm glad. Last time it got free, it went... haywire. I needed help putting it back." She murmurs, throat dry all of a sudden. Or perhaps it had been for a while, and she was only just noticing? Either way, her voice was raspy and she needed to clear her throat. "Thank you, um...?" She trails off, not having learned the alien's name despite giving away hers. It was rapidly clear that this was no normal earthling, and yet unfortunately Phakk's lack of knowledge of the more exotic alien races had her drawing a blank on the species that now looked down upon her. "What you said, it... it helped. Made thing seem... clearer. Before it was like trying to tie a rope with my eyes closed. Now... at least I can see that it's a chain, not a rope?" It was hard for the girl to properly describe what it felt like, and she huffed in annoyance. "Well. Anyway. Thank you." 

As the finger was poked into her chest, Phakk would let out a small yip and lean away, not feeling any pride of the sort unfortunately. Despite her accomplishment, it was only relief and worry that filled her mind at the moment, with pride's turn being ages away. Of course, she was both seated and small, so despite having leaned away the Heran was more than capable of ruffling her soft purple hair, which resulted in a small reddening of her cheeks as she too the patting. She supposed that it was okay, since this stranger had gone out of their way to provide assistance to her. "I'll... I'll keep it in mind. Thank you. Viewing it as a pet may be better than just seeing it like how I was before. Just.. hard to control magic." The shinjin pauses, before sighing. "And um... sorry. I'm sure I distracted you from the reason you came to this forest. I um... didn't mean to." 

"O-oh! Well, it's n-n-nice to meet you, Erbia! A-and thank you, again, for the help." Phakk blinks as she was given a name, giving the Heran her best smile. Wait... How did she know he was a Heran? ...Must have... seen them before somewhere with her family. "Well if you want a fight, I might know a few people that like to do that sort of thing. My family all like it, but..." There was a brief pause as Phakk remembered their... somewhat omnicidal tendencies and belief in mortal inferiority. "They may not be the right ones to ask... I know a friend of mine called Ward? He's trained in fighting for the last hundred or so years so he's probably super strong!" Phakk herself wasn't sure just how powerful her fellow Shinjin was, but he was definitely better than her at least!

"W-why are you looking for a fight, anyways?" This time the girl, feeling less and less afraid the more she spoke and the more time went on, tilts her head in confusion and curiosity. She had encountered a lot of people that have said they were looking for something to brawl with, or were open to violence, and at the end of the day it... confused Phakk. Being hit... well, it hurts. A-and she wasn't sure why they seemed so... obsessed was too strong a word, but keen on finding a proper opponent? Perhaps it was an honour thing? Or something more related to the mortals that her family and Ward might have caught on to.

"W-well, um..." Phakk blinks at Erbia's surprise as to his age, and couldn't help the slight want to... brag? Clarify? She wasn't sure. Looking around conspiratorially, she leans in to whisper. "I'm older than that, I t-think. A-according to my dads. I'm... not sure how much, but apparently it's a lot." In retrospect, maybe saying as much was something of a... mistake. With everything that just happened, her head wasn't entirely in the game, as tired as she was. But it was still something interesting, right? And she... did want to seem interesting. Erbia had helped her, after all, and Phakk was in the business of befriending all the nice people that help her learn about the world! 

She watched as he made his way over towards a nearby rock, the girl plopping herself down on the ground as opposed to the nearby tree stump and crossing her legs to look up at him as the Heran spoke, nodding along. It was pretty exciting! A dragon! Phakk had to find this Slayg person after this, for sure! She loved dragons! They were so cool... even if she did need to kill them 99% of times in her games. Yet she continued to listen, tilting her head. A warrior race. How... "Dull." She murmurs, eyes flickering orange for a second. "You define yourself and your people by your ability to slam yourselves into one another the best? All hail the king with the least brain damage?"

There was something... odd. Phakk felt an alien level of... not anger. Not hostility. It felt... sad? She wasn't sure. She hadn't felt it before. "I'm sorry, I don't want to offend. Just... at least in my opinion, the person that strives for peace despite being surrounded by those who worship violence... they sound like the strong ones to me. To stand against a tide, against their supposed very nature and yet still try." Pretty hypocritical, she had to admit, given the own company she keeps. She pauses... before continuing. "Did you know that every single species is a 'warrior race'? No creature on this planet, in this fabric of reality, ever got where it was through peace. And yet there are those that choose to overcome their base, animalistic nature. If you're looking for a fight, I can't really think of a better one that conquering nature itself." 

There is a pause, before an invisible string snaps, and she quickly begins waving her hands about i shame. "O-o-oh, I-I mean, I'm sorry! Sorry! I just got all caught up and I d-didn't mean to ay you were wrong because of course people can like things and I just-" She ducks her head, cringing in fear of reprisal.  

There was an 'eep!' from Phakk at the moment of contact, but as Erbia ruffled her hair instead of... you know, smashing her into the ground, Phakk eventually looked up towards him, blinking in surprise at the lack of anger. She wasn't entirely ure where to start with his response, nodding her head meekly as it seemed that whatever had taken a hold of her earlier wasn't returning. "W-what's a... Konatsian?" She blinks, tilting her head at the Heran. She'd never heard of that race before. Or Saiyans, really, but... that seemed to be common knowledge and she didn't want to be embarrassed. Perhaps they were a lookalike species? Or a mortal branch of her own? "N-no, I'm a Shinjin." She responds, still blinking, before realising that from what Ward had told her that probably didn't mean much to Erbia. 

"W-we're like... angels, I guess? Usually we're not from this dimension. Most Shinjin live in a place called Heaven in the Otherworld, which serves as the afterlife for the mortal races, like your own." Then, there was a pause as Phakk debated continuing. It seemed as if Erbia was nice... And yet for once the dark was silent, as if holding its breath to see what she would do. Keep going, or back down? Silently, Phakk comes to a decision. "I... Well, I-... I've been around for a while. Apparently. I... don't remember much of it, if I'm honest, but according to my parents I'm at least four thousand." It was debateable as to if she was around at or before the dawn of the universe around them, but from the way the Dark hissed in pride... Phakk had an idea as to the answer.

She did have a few things she wanted to say in reply to the details given on Warrior races, but as her mouth opened to continue, the woman felt... nothing come forward. Mouth opening and closing like some sort of  fish, she eventually speaks. "S-so... Do you want to get something to eat?  I'm... hungry."