The return to my usual nest was a sluggish process without not-Needle to carry me; my scale-flesh felt heavy, weighed down by my thoughts. I slithered by the Coreless of the many-nest in a listless daze, hardly paying any attention to my surroundings. The shouts and cries of the Coreless’ day-to-day activities flowed past my ears unnoticed.

Eventually, I heard a familiar voice.

“Little Guardian! Little Guardian, it’s you!”

I broke from my daze, finding myself within a different section of the many-nest than I had expected. A quick glance was all I needed; I came here often. I knew it well, but it was not in the direction I had intended to go. A large number of my tiny Coreless lived near these nests.

Why was I here, again?

A tiny face dropped down in front of me, teeth bared wide. Eyes met my own, sparkling with the same excitement that I could sense from their owner’s Totem. A hand lowered itself slowly, somehow enthusiastic and hesitant all at once.

Oh, that’s why.

I flicked out my tongue, its tip lightly touching the tiny Coreless’ hand. It tasted faintly of salt. The Coreless giggled, amusement - it had taken far too long to understand that was what the strange, repeating noises the Coreless made indicated - flowing through her Totem. I latched onto it, letting the emotions I sensed flow over me and wash away my own.

“Do you want to come visit Miss Triss with me?” the tiny Coreless jabbered happily, the noise turning upwards in a questioning lilt. Her voice lowered, but her voice kept going on and on. “I think she’d be really happy to see you. I told her about you and gave her a [Little Guardian’s Totem] and she doesn’t seem as sad anymore and...” Her eyes went wide.

“Did you scare her monsters away, too?” she whispered, a hint of awe in her eyes and Totem.

I hissed, unsure what was going on. Whatever the reason, her praise was helping to settle my mood. The tiny Coreless bared her teeth again, even wider than before, and reached a little further.

I went along with it, twining my way up her offered hand and allowing her to pull me away.

The tiny Coreless moved past a moving-wall, pushing it aside with an ease that once again demonstrated the obstacles’ utter uselessness and only served to increase my confusion about their existence. If even the tiniest of Coreless could break through them so easily, what were they for?

While I struggled with the unnerving question, the tiny Coreless continued to chatter, just as she had done for the entire journey.

“...and Sasha said that Mister Erik could beat more monsters than Miss Valera could, but I know that’s not true because Miss Valera can move really, really fast and…” The words just kept coming, spilling from her mouth in a neverending torrent, but I didn’t mind that. It was a welcome distraction, even if I couldn’t make fang or tail of any of it.

I curled around the tiny Coreless’ arm again, twisting idly. She giggled again, the tinkling sound somehow gratifying.

“That tickles!” she said, still giggling.

“Anna, is that you laughing over there?” another voice called out from somewhere further in the nest. A cluster of [Little Guardian’s Totem]s were in the direction of the voice, and I twisted myself back around to take a look, setting the tiny Coreless off again.

“Yes, it’s me!” she called out between breaths.

We traveled through the darkness of the nest, its interior lit sparsely by glowing orbs of mana that rested at set locations. The weak light was just barely enough to see by, but the tiny Coreless moved through the many obstacles with a speed that spoke of practice, stepping past row upon row of haphazard sleeping-piles that hid themselves within the shadows.

At the back of the nest, huddled under the light of a glowing orb, a number of tiny Coreless - and a single larger, adult one - were gathered. With a start, I realized that the larger Coreless was one that I recognized. She bared her teeth when she saw me, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Oh, I see you brought our Little Guardian with you,” she said, her voice taking on a sweet tone - a far cry from the panic and terror that had once filled it. Something about that was pleasing. “And right on time for tonight’s stories, too.”

My tiny Coreless nodded vigorously, her teeth bared wide. “Yeah! I found him and asked if he wanted to visit you!”

A few of the other tiny Coreless erupted into murmurs and mumbles, all wide eyes and bared teeth, while the older Coreless gestured toward an unoccupied pile of soft-skins near the other small Coreless. “That was very nice of you, sweetie. Why don’t you take a seat and we can start?”

I found myself moving again, carried along as my current Coreless took a cross-legged seat. She held her arm up, giving my head-scales a small scratch while the other Coreless looked on with wide eyes. Meanwhile, the Coreless-that-had-once-been-trapped began to speak.

Her words went on and on, the meanings behind them passing me by. Instead, I focused on the distractions that the Coreless provided, sinking my fangs into the nearby Totems and floating on the waves of emotion. It was peaceful; more peaceful by far than thoughts of my own bitter failure.

I hissed languidly, my tongue flicking out. A scent-taste caught my attention, spurring me to slowly untwine myself from the tiny Coreless’ arm to a chorus of delighted giggles. A few slithers brought me to the source of the scent-taste.

Blood fell in tiny droplets from the little Coreless’ skinned knee, hardly even a wound worth noticing. Still, I could see that he noticed. It was small, but it wasn’t quite nothing.

Before I could question what I was doing, I dipped into the calm of my mind-nest. One by one, drops of mana became something new.

The drops of life essence gathered within my mana core, distinct from the familiar mana that otherwise filled it. I pulled at those drops with [Life Essence Manipulation I]; the tiny drops moved in fits and starts, fighting against my attempts to direct them more smoothly.

Even now, without the pressure of before, I wasn’t able to create a better ability than I already had.

I hissed in frustration, letting the life essence fall dormant. It dribbled back down, spilling into the pool of mana that filled my mana core. The two energies, one familiar and one new, ran against one another; the first a brilliant blue, the second a glimmering gold.

I could feel the golden energy’s power, even still. It made me feel full; full of both life and potential.

Wasted potential; I couldn’t figure out how to use it the way that I wanted. The way that I knew it could be.

All I was able to do was what I had already managed: causing the collected life essence to drip down the hollows of my fangs. It was still crude and unfocused. It wasn’t what I wanted.

I had a feeling that [Life Essence Manipulation] would need to increase before I could use anything better than [Life - Invigorating Bite]. If [Life Essence Manipulation] grew strong enough, I might be able to narrow down some of the effects that I had already observed in [Life - Invigorating Bite], focusing the life essence on specifically boosting strength, or speed, or healing.

I hissed again, reluctantly pulling at a few drops of life essence and sending them through my fangs with a careful push. I opened my mouth wide, freezing just above the Coreless’ damaged flesh. The smallest of the Great Core’s disciples did not handle pain well; they were young, not yet used to the injuries of real battle - and so I did not bite down.

Drop after drop of life essence spilled down my fangs, falling from my open mouth. They splattered onto the small Coreless’ even smaller wound; insignificant as the injury was, I didn’t miss the way that the young Coreless’ body relaxed, nor the way that his mouth split wide as the wound disappeared.

He took me up in his hands, holding me near his bright and lively eyes.

It wasn’t anything, really. Just a small wound that was hardly worth notice. [Life - Invigorating Bite] still wasn’t at the level that I wanted, or even the ability that I truly needed. Not if I was going to fulfill my duties as the Great Core’s Champion. Not if I was going to succeed in punishing Tiamat for her blasphemy.

Still, looking in those eyes, I began to feel a little better. I may have failed once, but I would improve. I just had to start small, and work my way from there.

Just like I always had. Just like I always would.

The thought-light flickered as another drop of glimmering gold fell from my fangs, splattering itself against the tiny Coreless’ flesh.

Lesser Core Skill: [Life - Invigorating Bite I] Increased.

[Life - Invigorating Bite II] Acquired.