A wave of fire-pain pressed against my scale-flesh, centering itself on the Great Core’s likeness upon my head-scales. I twisted and writhed, slithering painfully away from the edges of the gathered bad-things.

My grip on [Illusion Spark] flickered and flared with the pain - one moment disappearing entirely, the next forming a blazing beacon.

Alerted by the flashing light, a few of the bad-things turned. They clicked their mandibles together, still dripping the molten stone that was a near permanent fixture on their hard-flesh bodies.

The three Flame Formicans attacked, scurrying towards me on their many legs.

And still, my transformation was not completed. The Great Core was not done with me.

I gave up my attempts to hide, loosening my grip on [Illusion Spark] entirely. Pained as I was, it was doing more harm than good, forcing my scale-flesh to flare with uncontrolled bursts of light. The fire-pain was too much and, unlike real fire, I could not absorb it through my scale-flesh.

My length coiled tightly in preparation, my scale-flesh bunching together. Soon, the nearest of the bad-things was upon me.

I struck, uncoiling in a blur of motion.

The Great Core had created me for this; it had formed me with quick strikes and decisive first blows in mind - and, as always, it had not failed.

Before the bad-thing could react, I had already pierced my fangs through its hard-flesh. Its outer shell resisted the attack, fighting against the purchase of my fangs, but the speed of my strike was enough to puncture through. I twisted and thrashed, turning the bad-thing in the air before it could strike with its own molten mandibles.

I could already feel the heat that they held; I pulled furiously at it, dimming the resulting fire-pain by pulling it into the reservoirs within my scale-flesh. Still, I could only do so much. A gout of flame lashed from my scales as another bad-thing approached, aiming for its eyes.

As the second bad-thing flinched back, I pushed venom furiously through the hollows in my fangs. Knowing that I needed to be quick and as pained as I felt, I was less than careful. My stores began to deplete, but so did the bad-thing’s resistance.

In the end, one disappeared far faster than the other.

Experience Gained!

The thought-light flickered, celebrating my victory. This time, my enemy had been uninjured by the Coreless and other bad-things, allowing me to receive my full reward - though I doubted that it amounted to much, given the likely level difference between the two of us.

Regardless, I had little time to think about that. The second bad-thing had already recovered, and the third was upon me as well.

I reared back again - yet, just as I was about to strike, another wave of fire-pain flashed through me. My length spasmed as my form continued to change, ephemeral blue fire lashing across my scale-flesh. It pulled back as I slumped, finding its place again within my head-scales.

The bad-things bit down, crushing my scale-flesh between their mandibles.

My blood boiled at their touch, the poisonous black fluid wisping into the air- and the bad-things flinched again. Both of them let go at once, staggering backwards on unsteady limbs.

I hissed in relief, thanking the Great Core for its mercy. I had actually forgotten about the poisonous blood that I had received for defeating the Aridae. It hadn’t been useful yet, beyond admonishing the female-who-was-not-Needle. Now, it served its purpose, despite how painful the bites had been.

It gave enough time for the Great Core to finish its work. Later, I would heal. For now though, I simply changed.

The blue flames hollowed out my flesh, forming a new organ. I could feel the fire-pain as it heated my insides, searing the flesh that surrounded it. I focused, drawing away the heat that escaped it. It warmed my scale-flesh, beginning to fill the reservoirs that [Illusion Spark] had created.

My fangs began to drip with fire-pain, the molten liquid pulling itself from an ever-heating organ that rested beside my venom sacs. It was becoming a little cramped in that area, which was slightly concerning, but I put off the thought for now.

The thought-light flickered, confirming what I already knew.

Blooded Trait: [Molten Bite I] Acquired.

I opened my mouth in a defiant hiss, displaying my transformed fangs. Little drops of molten liquid uncontrollably slipped through the hollows of my fangs, searing the lower flesh of my mouth with uncomfortable fire-pain.

Again, I desperately pulled that heat away, shifting it towards my reservoirs before it could burn me entirely. A moment later, I pushed it, firing a gout of flame towards the bad-things as they began to recover.

The little flame glanced off of their hard-flesh. They barely reacted. Unlike their eyes, the rest of them seemed to resist the heat. In fact, they probably had some form of Flame Resistance, given the way they constantly dripped with heat. It would do little more than startle them.

In that moment, I wished for some form of Flame Resistance, myself. [Illusion Spark] was a good stopgap measure, preventing my newly acquired trait from burning me in the flames of fire-pain entirely, but it pulled my focus away from the fight and required periodic emptying.

Still, gaining a new resistance was extremely difficult. The Great Core had created me with the beginnings of Piercing Resistance and Venom Resistance, two things that had served me greatly. I was thankful for that, but I wished I had received a few more.

I banished the thought.

The Great Core made no mistakes - I had received enough.

I lashed out with a second gout of flame, whipping it towards the wobbling bad-thing that approached me. This time, I aimed for its eyes.

It flinched back and, in that moment, I struck.

My fangs, their piercing capability increased by [Molten Bite], punctured the creature’s hard-flesh far more easily than before. My venom flowed.

Another bad-thing died.

Experience Gained!

Its death didn’t go unpunished, however. My scale-flesh trembled once again as the final bad-thing crushed it between its mandibles. My blood boiled under the heat, despite my attempts to seal the fire-pain within the reservoirs of my scale-flesh.

I twisted my length, baring my fangs at the attacker.

I didn’t need to.

It was already dead, the strength of my poisonous blood too much for it to handle. The thought-light flickered, announcing the Great Core’s victory over the bad-things.

Experience Gained!

Blood still seeped from my sides, spilling from the wounds within my scale-flesh. Fire-pain licked at my scales, its bite lessened by [Illusion Spark] but not gone entirely. Above it all though, I was elated.

I was victorious.

Before the lesser Core could begin to reclaim the corpses of my defeated foes, I shielded myself under the concealing colors of [Illusion Spark] again. Now that I wasn’t wracked with the fire-pain of my transformation, it came far easier. My scales shifted slightly, moving away from their natural all-consuming darkness to something more closely resembling the black of the stone below me.

As I unhinged my jaw, beginning to swallow my most recently defeated foe, I expanded my reach. The bad-thing shifted as well, becoming harder to notice should any of the bad-things that were attacking the Coreless decide to turn around.

I doubted that they would, mindless as they were, but I didn’t want my meals to go interrupted.

One by one, I swallowed them all. Each time, they shifted states and traveled to the Great Core’s likeness upon my head-scales. Each time, I felt a wave of pleasure at the reminder of my victory. Each time, I grew closer to what the Great Core wished me to be.

Blooded Trait Upgrade Progress: 3/10

I hissed before coiling inwards, twisting to grab the end of my tail, and making sure to keep my eyes pointed towards where the battle continued to rage on. My wounds itched and scratched as [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] took effect.

It burned a little more than before, nearly causing me to shrink back as the molten fire-pain that now dripped from my fangs touched the scale-flesh of my tail. I pulled what I could from it with [Illusion Spark], blunting its bite, but a portion of [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail]’s healing still went towards repairing the damage that I was doing towards my own scale-flesh.

Still, it was manageable.

I shifted my attention towards the battle, watching the Coreless that the Great Core had entrusted to me. The mountain of corpses that surrounded them made my own victory feel hollow - and yet, more bad-things still came. Here and there, I could see faint wisps of mana-light as corpses began to disappear, returning to the lesser Core that had spawned them.

I released my tail - I had done enough healing. I needed to move.

Those corpses belonged to the Great Core.

They belonged to me.