The living boulder squelched and squirmed as it tumbled after Nic, and Nic had no intention of stopping to learn what it was like to be run over by a truckful of worms.

He vented poison as he ran, trying to force the beast to run through so many clouds of black smog that it was melted from within, but nothing seemed to slow it down. He turned a corner and slammed his axe into the walls, tearing open the construction of leaves and hardened spittle to crawl outside.

The hydra-ball tumbled past.

Nic dropped back in, sweeping his axe down. The blow cleaved heads from the hydra, leaving behind thrashing, leaking stumps.

But as it rolled to a halt the severed stumps just swelled up and split in two.

“I don’t know what I was expecting…” Nic hissed.

The boulder rolled to a halt a dozen feet forward and began to turn, rolling backwards, picking up steam.

Nic channeled all his power into his hands and spread adhesive aura thickly across the floor, creating a glittering field of slimy glue as he backed up.

In the instant before the beast slammed into his glue-trap it made a violently disgusting noise and spat out waves of yellow toxin. The poisonous aura ate away the adhesive, letting it roll forward even as the leaf tunnel began to blacken and tear apart.

More jets shot forward and splashed against Nic’s skin, burning violently before he could use Poison Devouring to drain the aura and potency.

Nic cursed and began to run. He pushed aura desperately into his legs and only just managed to stay ahead, running at random down corridors, through empty hallways-

The beast spat a sticky blob of something at his feet, trying to slow him down. Nic dodged by running up the tunnel walls and laughed, feeling confident, feeling cocky-

Until he slammed into a dead end.

With a grunt of effort he swung his axe down, cutting away the ground behind him. A huge hole into open sky was ripped into the leaf-tunnel. As the beast rumbled forward Nic had no choice but to brace himself, ready and hoping the beast would fall to its doom.

It didn’t.

Instead, the hectic pinball of rolling wormflesh veered up the walls, clinging on via sticky mucus as it rolled against gravity and came crashing back down. Nic had no choice. He flung himself through the only exit left- the hole in the ground. His scarf shot out, caught the edge, and swung him up to cling on to the bottom of the tunnel.

He clung on as the leaf-funnel shook violently with the rolling boulder slamming into the dead end and slowly, sluggishly, rolling back the other way.

“Is this thing just me?” Nic croaked in frustration.

“Spits poison? Regenerates? Sticky like snot? Yes. Yes it’s just you.” Inkspur agreed, crawling out onto Nic’s shoulder and taking the time to pluck something off his head.

It was a tiny worm, formed from a chunk of flesh that flew away when he cut off the heads.

Nic crawled upwards until he was perched atop the tunnels rather than below them. He couldn’t kill it by hacking away, and he couldn’t drop it into the sky. He needed a plan.

Reaching into his pack, Nic took out several long, straight branches he’d planned to use for spears and other weapons. He began to work, feeling the wind against his skin as he shaved the points down to make wooden spikes.

Dropping back down, Nic set up his trap. Spikes on the tunnel walls, facing forward. He loaded the tip of one spike on each side with a pyre-lob, ready to burst if the creature slammed into it. Then he carefully cut several tears on the floor, but concealed each one by sticking it fast with adhesive.

If it came straight, it would fall. If it went to the side, he’d see how its regeneration fared against an explosive detonating within its heart.

All he needed was to summon the beast.

Figuring it could only hunt via vibration - no eyes, no ears, no sensory organs to speak of - Nic began to drum against the tunnel walls with the back of his axe. One blow after another shook the palace of leaves, until he began to feel an answering rumble running down the walls towards him.

The worm was coming.

Nic backed up as it tumbled into view and twisted sharply - using adhesive grip to pivot smoothly on the ground - to roll straight towards him. Nic brace for impact as it slammed into the weakened segment of the floor and-

The tunnel gave way.

For a split second it started to tumble, before the heads on its upper portion spat out long, sticky threads of adhesive to cling to the walls and ceiling. It hovered there, hanging in a web of goo. Nic scowled. He’d really rather not waste the grenades.

But a thought did occur to him…

It was alive, and he couldn’t see how it could harm him in its current state. Hanging from the walls and writhing helplessly, it couldn’t pick up momentum. A few jets of poison shot towards him, but he easily stepped aside.

With a grimace Nic dropped onto the top of the writhing sphere. Immediately, toothless mouths began to spit acidic poison across his skin, but he hacked them away, cutting through the slimy flesh with ease. His cultivation drained the strength from the poison and his regeneration replenished the chunks of skin it had burned through.

Axe in hand he swept and cut, holding down the regrowing heads while he ripped deeper and deeper into the central mass.

Until he found what he was looking for.

His axe cracked against something solid within the mire of squirming flesh and he drew back. Inside a grotesque pocket full of yellow bile, three glittering Shards were arranged like the petals of a flower. He reached down and pried them out, fingers burning with acid, and the beast began to truly shake and thrash. The cords of adhesive holding them to the leaf-castle started to break away as its cultivation base was severed. Pale white fires blossomed each time Nic tore away a Shard, formed from the Essence that leaked free as he ripped open the connection between Shard and flesh.

His scarf snapped backwards and caught the floor, hauling himself up again as the worm-hydra’s broken body tumbled away, shrinking as it fell towards the distant ground.

Nic hoped there was nobody below.

He shuddered. A half-ton of worms falling on you was one of the worse deaths he could imagine.

Nic shook the thought off and opened his hand.

Two of the Shards he’d come away with were complete trash. They had dissolved into fragments and glittering dust. The high cost of Primaries made sense if this was the failure rate for extracting them.

But sitting in the dust of two ruined Shards was a third.

Nic hiccuped out a laugh. It was ironic. The first Primary Shard he’d harvested…

Poison Mist. F-Class // Primary. This shard contains purest Essence attuned to the concepts of venom and dark skies. It allows the wielder to pour out deadly poisons from their mouths and hands, filling the air with mist that burns away flesh and rots life. Well suited to forming a Rot Core, an Mire Core, or a Plague Core.

Was also the first one he’d earned.

Still, he could be proud of the fight. He’d beaten an enemy with his own strengths through nothing but the clever application of bastardry.

Wandering through the leaf palace, Nic made no secret of what he was doing. If there were treasures to plunder he’d gladly do so- and blame it on the worm-beast. The ants had gotten his help only because it was more convenient and practical than wiping them out.

Nic wondered if he was getting colder.

Probably not, considering the lengths he’d gone for strangers and friends he’d met once. But at the same time he was definitely closing his circle. Those on the inside he defended to the death. Those outside…

Beasts and humans went for his throat every day. If he couldn’t steel himself and deal with them in brutal fashion, he wouldn’t survive.

His wandering led him to a central chamber with walls lined by small, hexagonal compartments of wax. A few still had white-skinned larvae inside - but the majority had been ripped open by the wormbeast, the children within devoured. Nic winced at the sight of slaughter.

At the center of the room was a bubbling pit. Bitter fragrances filled the air as steam boiled up from the crater, but Nic could instantly tell the liquid within was packed with dense, powerful Essence. This must have been the ‘birthing pool’ that created the Myrmidons.

“Is it weird I want to take a dip in that?” Nic asked.

“Actually, I think that would be an excellent idea. This pool was made from countless sacrificed ants to forge a single protector. It probably has enormous body strengthening properties. Especially if you combine it with your find the other day.”

“Probably?”

“Nicolas, this is one of those times it would be better for you not to weigh the odds. Submerging yourself into sacred or poison pools is just part of cultivation.”

“Uh-huh. Remind me again, who was on my case for being unnecessarily reckless?” He stripped off his bag and set his belt aside, pausing to dig out the Petrified Heartstone. He didn’t have the time or the resources to make a medicine from it- but one nice thing about being a monster was the ability to consume nearly any treasure.

With a gulp he forced the heavy stone down his throat and dropped into the pool.

Instantly, Nic feared he’d made a mistake. The waters singed against his skin and sent burning threads of energy into his body. To say it hurt was an understatement. His flesh was actively being torn apart, and he desperately pushed his cultivation to break down the invading, rampaging powers that filled his veins, scattering them into sparks.

He began to understand what was happening as those sparks collected and formed burning runic marks, like the golden runes that had filled him in the valley’s fountain pool. With each wave of energy, his flesh was being torn and tenderized- but as he scattered that energy and it reformed into runic seals, those runes caused his body to be reforged, sinking into his bones and muscles to strengthen them.

It was a process of destruction and renewal.

And it was about to get worse.

The Heartstone he’d swallowed erupted, becoming a fountain of cold, ancient energy in his gut. It swept outwards and began to clash violently with the fiery powers of the pool, forming strange and ancient seals. Having two sources fighting within him was hideously painful- but the way they ground each other down allowed him to relax, saving him the effort of manually breaking up the energy with his cultivation.

So he floated there.

Half-burning. Half-freezing. His whole body twisting under waves of conflicting forces.

---

Bubbles surged from Nic’s mouth and he shot up to the top of the pool.

His body ached violently, but it was a good, powerful burn like having just exercised. His muscles felt more powerful than ever as he surged out of the pool, and stepped onto solid ground.

A brief glance at his cultivation map confirmed it.

‘VII Physical Strength.’

He had broken through to the next level. He experimentally stomped his foot down, rotating cultivation into the blow, and the whole leaf palace shook violently with the impact. “Nice.”

“Indeed. As they say, nice.”

Nic couldn’t help but laugh at how awkward she was, when she tried to be human. “Alright, let’s go talk to some ants and tell them to clear off. And if they don’t listen this time, well…” His fist clenched. He was more than ready to test this new strength.