Chapter 9: 9. Ascending the tower

There was a thickness to the essence in the air as I slithered higher, up onto the next floor. Golden flowers, the same as the ones I'd seen upon entering the tree lined the walls. They were guarded by a single weevil, one that was barely half the size of the first giant weevil I saw. And while that was still massive for a bug, to me it looked like nothing more than a light snack. 

I dispatched the weevil with ease, skewering it with my new spear before it could even react. However, rather than killing it, I again watched as it faded away: becoming one with the tree in the form of more golden flowers. 

While watching the magical sight, I meditated. Taking meaning from it, allowing myself to see the cycle before me. 

There was something beautiful about it. A duality that I couldn't put into words that was so familiar to me. But, unlike the flower and the snake or the rose and the hand; this was real. Not a vision or just a display. It was life turning to death and death back to life, in a cycle that resonated with me. It spoke to me, singing with a voice that I couldn't hear with my actual ears. 

From it I learned something new. I saw the essence in its purest form for a fleeting moment that felt like it lasted only a second. When in reality it lasted even shorter than that. It was only a fraction of a moment. And in that moment I saw the essence change shape and form to become something new. 

And I tried to replicate it. 

Emphasis on tried, as my first attempt was anything but successful. Trying my hardest, I absorbed the nearby essence. Instead of using it to temper my body, though, I tried to make a flower out of it. Just like how I had seen. Unfortunately making a flower out of essence was much harder than it looked and the essence forcefully returned to where it belonged. In the air around me. 

But after two more attempts, I managed to partially succeed. While I didn't make a flower, I did manage to create a ball of red energy. It floated an inch above the palm of my hand and could be moved by my thoughts. 

It was also painful to touch. I figured that out... By touching it, a burn on my fingers left as a reminder till it healed over. Then I started experimenting with the ball, seeing how far it could be moved. How fast it could move and more. The results were promising, if only because they were the beginning of something more. 

As for the ball itself, though, I probably wouldn't be using it in a fight any time soon. It would require too much effort, and in a life or death situation that could get me killed. 

So, for now, I let the ball fade away and slithered up to the next floor. After eating all the golden flowers I could find, of course. The miniature feast gave me a massive boost of energy, the essence within each flower thumping through my veins. It was almost addicting, close but not quite, just dancing on that edge, the only keeping it from going over my self control. 

Self control that I almost lost upon cresting the next floor. 

It was covered with flowers. They lined the walls and covered the ground in a field of green and gold. Almost reflexively, I slithered forward. Only to stop myself: in the corner of my vision I saw a group of weevils coming this way. They were about as big as a car each, and the biggest of them was almost the size of a bus. 

The ground shook every time it took a step, and so to did I. My breasts clapped against each other, my belly jumped up and down, and the length of my tail wobbled vigorously. I placed a nervous hand on my hip and retreated back a few slithers. 

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Which didn't help all too much. The weevils were headed in my direction, no doubt to check on the floor below. Gripping my spear tightly, I prepared to attack them as soon as they got close. And when they finally did, I launched forward like a spring propelled rocket. 

My spear bit into the hard exoskeleton of the largest weevil and before it could react I wrapped my length around it. Squeezing tight with my coils and unleashing my thorns. It struggled against me, its strength already fading as thorny vines ravaged it's body. The weevils at its sides, however, charged. 

They practically threw themselves at me in their attempt to skewer me. I was forced to let go of the big weevil and move. Barely getting away before one of the smaller ones managed to build up momentum for a proper charge. Instead of hitting me it hit the big one. A mistake its brethren did not repeat. 

They charged at me, covering the between us frighteningly quick. Reacting just as quickly, I struck out with my spear. The spider leg scoring a cut across one of the weevils as I moved to the side, out of the way. 

It wasn't enough. I was too big to completely get out of the way and only fast enough to turn certain implement into a nasty gash. So I switched up my strategy, Instead of trying to avoid damage I decided to deal out as much as possible. 

I let my length cover the ground beneath us like a haphazard vine or root that the weevils had to step around and climb over. It slowed them down, more importantly it allowed me to attack from below. With all the suddenness of a cobra my coils rose up around the weevils and bound them. Crushing a leg here, pinning another there, and dragging one close. My length so great that I could cover a small field around myself like a dangerous plant spreading its roots. 

The small weevils were thrown into disarray and dispatched quickly. As for the largest one, it was dying a slow death. My poisonous vines covered its body and sapped it of strength. All it could do was weakly roar at me before I finished it off. 

Then, I ate. 

And once all the golden flowers - the weevils too - had been packed into my stomach, I tempered my body with all the essence. Which, again, had the peculiar effect of ramping up my digestion to a ridiculous degree. By the time I was done my serpentine half had plumped up quite a bit, and gained a number of feet in length. Which isn't to say that only my human upper-half hadn't seen any increase. My boobs were now officially pumpkin sized and my belly stuck out a bit farther. 

I didn't let the sudden gain in size bother me, in fact I welcomed it. Ever since becoming a Naga I had found getting bigger to be an enjoyable experience. It was satisfying in a way that I couldn't explain. Nor would I try to. 

Instead, I continued my ascent. Once again making it to the floor I fell from. But, rather than leaving the tree I continued upward. Eating whatever flowers, and weevils, I came across. 

Until I eventually reached the top, and came face to face with the weevil queen. 

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