Chapter 8: Chapter 8: A Gaze of Flame

A flame-gaze bad-thing lumbered out of the tunnel. Every step that it took vibrated the stone underneath me, forcing the ground to tremble. It forced me to tremble as well; my scale-flesh shivered in fear. It was not the first time that I had seen one - I hoped that it would be the last.

The behemoth was large, dwarfing the mother Aridae entirely. It would not even have needed to notice me to crush my form to a pulp; a single one of its claws matched me in length. A single one of its feet could grind me down. It ducked its head as it walked, stepping forward with a hunched posture. Little bits of stone protruded from its shoulders, forming a shell of earth over its upper back, where it couldn’t reach. Its arms dangled from its sides, heavily muscled things that were as thick around as the mother Aridae herself.

An orange glow spilled from its large, single eye, interrupting the brilliant hues of blue and purple that had previously covered the cavern. The pupil was a horizontal bar of black; I knew from experience how quickly that could change.

I had seen a flame-gaze bad-thing fight, once. It had lumbered about, smashing other bad-things to the side carelessly. Each step of its enormous feet had flattened the smaller bad-things; the larger had suffered a far worse death, their limbs torn off by its heavily clawed hands and feasted upon.

Yet, of all of the bad-things it had fought, it had been a group of Coreless that had faced its true capabilities. They had pushed it to the edge, impaling it with needles of ore-flesh fangs that cut into its thick hide. Droplets of red had mixed with the off-white spittle that dripped from its uneven teeth, running carelessly down the flame-gaze bad-thing’s mouth.

It was in the next moment that it had earned its name. A Coreless, confident in its victory, had pressed too close. Giant hands snatched the overconfident thing up, holding it up to its face. The Coreless had struggled and thrashed, impaling a set of ore-flesh fangs into the powerful hands. Crimson dripped down the flame-gazed bad-things, fingers, running between the gaps.

It did not let go.

From my vantage in the wall-cracks, I had seen what happened next. The horizontal slit of its eye had shifted, vibrating with a growing intensity. Then, it moved. The pupil turned vertical; the orange light of the bad-thing’s eye grew.

The Coreless screamed in terror.

I think it had known what would come next.

A ball of flame burst from its eye, smashing into the struggling Coreless. The Coreless’ head exploded under the heat; boiling crimson fluid splashed outwards, causing the remaining Coreless to scream in turn.

They ran, leaving the corpse of their fellow behind. The flame-gaze bad-thing didn’t follow. It ignored them, savoring its newest meal.

I could still remember the smell.

While I had no love for the evil Coreless, the memory had stuck with me. I had fled through the wall-cracks, seeking the safety of the Great Core. Seeking the comfort that it had provided. Fleeing from the flame-gazed bad-thing.

They weren’t a common sight; I only saw them once or twice before. I wasn’t sure which Dungeon had created them, nor was I sure what this one was doing in the mana-water cavern.

Still, its presence could be used.

There was one thing that I had noticed in the few times that I had seen flame-gazed bad-things before: they couldn’t hear. Because of that, they relied heavily on the view provided by their glowing orange eye. An eye that could only look in one direction.

I doubted that the Aridae would be foolish enough to attack the lumbering bad-thing. They had been foolish enough to insult the Great Core, but that was a different kind of foolishness. It was the foolishness of blasphemers, of those who could not see the truth of the world. Attacking the flame-gaze bad-thing was the foolishness of the suicidal, of those who simply wished to die.

No, I would be safe under its giant shadow.

I slithered behind it, secure in the knowledge that the Great Core was with me. The time that I had spent increasing my abilities had left me far closer to death than I might have hoped. I could feel my mouth attempting to water as it tasted the mana-water during my approach. Despite that, I was too dried out. Even the scouting slithers around the cavern had been done with great difficulty; it had only been my desire to avoid a repeat of my previous mistakes that had kept me from rushing to the succor that I knew the mana-water could provide.

My scale-flesh was slowed by my growing weakness; it was an uncomfortable reminder of the slow-venom’s effects. Still, I tried to stay alert. My previous death had revealed the danger of being lax. I needed to pay attention. I strained my hearing as I slithered behind the flame-gazed bad-thing, moving in the wake of its cavern-trembling steps. It was only between the strides that I could hear them.

The skittering of many legs against stone; the faint rustling of the shimmering threads above, thrumming slightly under the weight of the Aridae among them. I stopped for a moment, tilting my head upwards. The purple light of the glow-cap forest pressed into my eyes, but still I looked.

Yes, I could see them.

I hissed in anger, feeling my hatred rage against my common sense. I wanted to twine my way up the greatest of the stone-spikes, those that jutted all the way from the floor to the network of threads above. I wanted to bite, to envenom, to consume those who had insulted the Great Core. Those who had killed me.

My common sense won out. I couldn’t let them insult the Great Core again so easily; attacking them so directly would be exactly that. I could see them gathering above me, looking down at me from the safety of their threads. I was safe in the shadows of the flame-gaze bad-thing. They knew better than to challenge it. I would not be safe if I invaded their home.

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I hissed again, slithering quickly to catch up to the behemoth’s lumbering steps. It soon reached the mana-water, bending down and plunging its great head into the depths. Bits of steam, still colored that brilliant blue of the mana-water, began to rise from the surface as the pool started to boil. I slithered beside it, taking quick gulps while it was unable to see me.

The mana-water was hot, burning as it spilled down my throat. Despite that, I could feel myself growing stronger as I recovered from my overwhelming thirst. I could feel myself growing stronger as the mana-water shifted, losing its sense of solidity and traveling to the tip of my head-scales. It still had that same heady aroma as before, heightened slightly by my great need. I drank and drank, not knowing when I would next be able to return to the mana-water. The presence of the flame-gaze bad-thing had given me an opportunity; I would not waste it. I couldn’t afford to be weak when I challenged the Great Core’s enemies.

I could not afford to lose, even if the Great Core could bring me back.

To do so would be to insult the Great Core.

Lines of energy drifted from my stomach, transformed mana-water that winded its way across my length. A building pressure began to bud, flowering into a growing pain. Still, I drank. The flame-gaze bad-thing had not stopped, so neither would I.

The mana-water had begun to boil fiercely, bubbling and popping under the strain of the flame-gaze bad-thing’s presence. Still, I drank.

It poured down my open throat in great torrents, filling me to the brim before shifting and leaving me empty once more. It burned my length, growing more intense by the second. Still, I drank.

The pain grew overwhelming.

Something changed.

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Gained Minor Title.

Minor Title: [Lesser Mana Core]

Description: By consuming a vast quantity of mana-water imbued with the mana of a greater being, a minor mana core has formed. Gained the Lesser Core Skill: [Mana Manipulation I].

Name: Paradox

Species: Snake, Ouroboros

Major Title: [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail]

Minor Titles: [Minor Mana Core]

Innate Traits: [Venomous II]

Blooded Traits: None

Resistances: [Piercing Resistance - Basic II] [Venom Resistance - Basic III]

Level: 0

Trait Points: 0

Core Skills: [The Endless Cycle]

Lesser Core Skills: [Mana Manipulation I]

Description: A nascent Ouroboros, symbol of the eternal.

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