I hissed in rage as another Coreless fell. My scale-flesh quivered with the strength of it, and a drip of venom spilled from my fangs as my control loosened. I pulled back against it, holding the rest of it tight. My venom wanted to flow free with my rage, to run in rivers from my fangs as the bad-thing ripped through the Coreless around me, but I managed to keep it back - if only barely.

The lonely drop of venom that I had released glowed slightly as it spilled its way down the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s skin of ore-flesh, the darker light of the mana-infused venom standing out against the brighter glow of her ore-flesh skin. My venom was as prepared as it could be; I had spent my rage-filled days within the Coreless’ many-nest steeping it with all of the mana that I could gather. That wasn’t much - not even compared to the amount that I had gained from guzzling mana-water, and certainly far less than the mana that had come from consuming the mana cores of the flame-gaze bad-things. Those times, I had strained myself, filling my own mana core with mana that came from somewhere else.

In the many-nest, I had only been able to use my own, depending on the slow regeneration of my mana over time. Still, I had spent days preparing it; the venom had been meant to destroy the remnants of the deceiving Aridae, and maybe as a slight punishment for the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s previous betrayal, but now I had a new target.

Another shrieking-winged bad-thing came near, opening its mouth wide. I flinched, reaching for my tail to prepare for what I knew would come next. The shriek slammed into me in an invisible wave.

I vibrated painfully as the sound gouged at my insides and forced my vision to sway, [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] already working to repair the damage. Beside me, not-Needle flinched, blood running from her open ears. It dripped down her face and dropped onto my scale-flesh; she wobbled slightly, regaining her balance just in time to meet the shrieking-winged bad-thing with the edge of an ore-flesh fang.

Its flesh separated, splitting into two halves that fell to the floor in a satisfying squelch. She kicked at its corpse, and I wished that I could do the same.

My ears hurt.

Part of me wanted to take the time to consume the bad-thing, but there was too much danger. The Coreless were rushing by like Festering Rats, heedless of what they ran into - or ran over.

I knew that I would have to wait until later if I didn’t want to get trampled underfoot.

The tingling that filled my ears disappeared as [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] finished its work, though it wouldn’t be long before they were damaged again.

As if called by the thought, another shrieking-winged bad-thing swooped down from the darkness above. Unlike the other, this one waited, trying to get as close as possible before assaulting us with its agonizing shriek. It was smaller than the other; maybe it had to get closer to achieve the same debilitating effect.

It waited too long.

Just as it opened its mouth, I lunged forward, holding onto the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s shoulder with the tip of my tail through a quick application of [Clinging Grasp]. My scale-flesh stuck unnaturally to her ore-flesh, allowing me to reach far beyond what I should have been able to. Not-Needle’s offering of ore-flesh accelerated my strike, doubling my speed with the tiny fast-spot that it provided.

My vision blurred again - this time with motion rather than damage. Ready fangs sunk into the bad-thing’s flesh. The horrible thing tried to shriek in its final moments, but a fang full of overcharged venom ended it quickly. I reeled myself backwards as my scale-flesh strained, the added weight of the bad-thing in my mouth fighting against the sticking effect of [Clinging Grasp].

Experience Gained!

Level Up!

1 Trait Point Gained.

The thought-light congratulated me on my victory over the bad-thing as I finally leveled again. I hadn’t leveled up in my battle against the Aridae in the many-nest - for some reason, they were all extremely weak, so even the huge number of them that I defeated hadn’t been enough to allow me to level - but I was reminded that I still had a large number of trait points stored up that I still wasn’t sure how I wanted to use.

Pushing away the thought for the moment, I tilted my head back and forced the corpse down my throat.

Level 6 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 1/5.

As the thought-light flickered again, a brief sense of elation filled me, washing away the frustration of my time within the many-nest. Maybe it was the feeling of freedom. Maybe it was the feeling of battle, of victory, or of danger. Maybe it was the knowledge that these Coreless would not have been touched by the deceptions of the Aridae, that they were free for the Great Core to claim.

Maybe it was just the pleasure of growing stronger.

Either way, I found myself hissing in delight despite the way that the screams and the shrieks around me grated at my ears and pierced at my brain. This was what I had needed. Progress.

The-female-who-was-not-Needle’s ore-flesh fang thrust through the air, and a Shrieking Bat slid down its length. She swayed slightly, reaching over to pull the corpse from where it had been impaled on her fang. Before she could throw it away, I used [Illusion Spark], pulling from the reserves of light that I had been gathering from our glowing skins of ore-flesh.

She hesitated for a second, brows furrowed, before finally realizing what I needed.

And then, for the second time that day, the-female-who-was-not-Needle provided me with a worthy offering.

Level 8 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 2/5.

She yelled something out to the others, causing my ears to ring again with the force of her shout. “Throw me the corpses for the little guy! We’ll need everything that we can get if we want these people to make it out!”

And then something wonderful happened. A Shrieking Bat flew through the air, rushing towards us - but it was already dead. My Coreless - my wonderful, soon-to-be forgiven Coreless - caught the mangled corpse with one hand, forcing it down my open mouth.

I shivered with delight as the bad-thing shifted into pure energy, pulled towards the Core upon my head-scales. The thought-light flickered again.

Level 5 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 3/5.

We pushed forward again, cutting through the opening at the crowd of Coreless’ side. The dark shapes of many bad-things slipped through the air ahead of us, swooping back and forth as the Great Core’s future disciples continued to die. They fell in fits and spurts, dropped by sharp fang and terrible sound, but even these weak Coreless did not go quietly.

They screamed in rage and pain, clawing at the bad-things and pulling them to the ground. They stomped them underfoot. They foughtback.

The sight made me proud; the Great Core’s Coreless could never be truly weak. Not once they had been chosen. And they were not. There was a strength there - of resolve, if nothing else.

They might have been wounded. They might have screamed. They might have died - but the enemy died with them.

I was proud.

At the same time, I was enraged, a possessive part of me unwilling to accept their deaths. Yet, in the end, there was little I could do. There were too many enemies, and they were too far away.

The-female-who-was-not-Needle cut down another bad-thing, and I feasted yet again.

Level 4 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 4/5.

Before the thought-light had even disappeared, I felt another corpse drop down my still-open mouth. I forced it down quickly, eager to meet the thought-light again.

Eager to see my reward.

The thought-light flickered one last time.

Level 7 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 5/5.

Analyzing Blooded Trait…

Acquiring Blooded Trait: [Sound Shaping I]