I could feel the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s [excitement] grow as we came ever closer to the large nest my Coreless had pointed out earlier. The others were more subdued, tinges of [worry] pinning down any [excitement] that they may have had.

The nest itself was holding up well compared to many of the others. Whereas many of the nearby nests had been damaged or broken by roots and debris, this one still stood tall and proud, unbroken by the Lesser Core’s efforts. I could still spot places where that wasn’t true; a carving here that had been roughened away into oblivion, a column there that had been covered in a teeming mass of vines. Despite that, the nest still seemed to hold onto itself, and to what it had once been.

The walls were lined with a row of stone towers in the shapes of trees, the fake-branches reaching upwards in order to support the eaves above. Fake-leaves, each carved with such delicacy as to appear almost real despite their stone constitution, bent and curled around one another, while vines - real ones, this time - hung from many of the gaps that remained. They formed thick sheets of plant-flesh, swaying slightly in a way that made me somewhat nervous; if the nest directly behind them hadn’t been made nearly entirely from darkwood, I might have spit out a breath of [Mana Fire].

Instead, I just hoped that my Coreless would stay wary. They might have been normal vines; they also might not have been.

While I looked over the section of the nest closest to the moving-walls, my Coreless stepped closer to the pool of mana-water out front, carefully peering into its depths. Now that we were near, I could see that the pool had been created by Coreless rather than the World Dungeon itself, the stones at its edges adorned with recreations of more plant-flesh than I had ever seen, each reflecting the brilliant blue of the mana-water itself; from large darkwood trees and outstretched branches, to fruits and grains, to leaves and flowers.

“Go ahead and fill any empty canteens while we have the chance. Make sure that you know which ones you fill; it looks clean enough, but we should probably still boil the water before drinking it just to be safe. You never know what might have fallen in,” Will said to the others.

They all gave quiet nods and hisses of assent, reaching back to unclasp the large skin-mouths at their backs. I slithered down from the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s shoulder, taking a few mouthfuls from the mana-water that waited below, letting it help to replenish the reserves of my mana core. I didn’t need much; my Coreless had done most of the work since we had arrived in the ruined many-nest.

By the time my Coreless were ready to move again, my mana reserves were completely full. I wrapped around the-female-who-was-not-Needle’s shoulder, bringing my coils all the way about. With a brief flex of my will, a few drops of mana twisted upon themselves with [Mana-Life Conversion], shifting into glimmering gold.

My fangs pierced scale-flesh, but [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] brushed away any pain within moments. I held on for a short while, my scale-flesh itching as each minor ache and pain was soothed away, and released the drops of life essence that I had gathered.

[Life - Invigorating Bite] activated as gold dripped through my fangs, warming the muscles of my scale-flesh. With any damage having been already healed by [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail], the life essence devoted itself almost entirely to its other aspects; my coils tightened as my strength increased, and my perception subtly altered as my speed and vision both sharpened.

I quickly twisted a few more droplets of mana into life essence, holding them steady as we advanced on the nest at last. My Coreless, just as suspicious as I was, took the time to destroy any vines near the nest’s moving-wall. A few strands seemed to twitch, but it might have been my imagination. Without having hurt them myself, the thought-light couldn’t tell me whether they had been alive.

We pushed past one of the two moving-walls with little difficulty - another sign of their complete uselessness as a means of defense - and entered the nest. The Unrepentant One, taking up the back of the group, let it shut slowly, careful to dampen any sound that it might have made.

Unlike the rest of the ruined many-nest, the inside of the giant nest was dark; with the moving-wall closed, we had shut ourselves away from the light of the glow-caps that sprouted from near every surface outside. Instead, there was only the light of our glowing ore-flesh to illuminate the darkness. The faint blue glow cast wavering shadows on the nearby wall with each shift of my Coreless’ stances, revealing the carvings of fake-leaves and plant-flesh that covered its surface. I could just barely make out a line of pillars like stone-spikes that spanned across the room, each ridged and intricately carved. The ceiling above was shrouded in darkness, and I curled myself in protectively.

There was a slight rustling to my side, followed by the sound of shattering darkwood; I turned away from the void that rested high above, noting that Needle had pulled something free. She held it in front of me, and I heard a light hiss directly beside me.

“Fire?” it asked. I recognized that word, and recognized the need for it.

A tendril of [Mana Fire] spilled from my jaws, setting the darkwood rod alight. The sticky, smokeless flames held fast where they landed, right at the rod’s edge.

There was another hiss, and I found a flash of [gratitude] paired alongside it.

The light of [Mana Fire] began to break the darkness around us, though it was far from enough. Still, my Coreless began to move forward, eyes roving and watchful. Something whistled in the darkness, and I found myself thrown to the side.

My ore-flesh scraped across the ground with a high-pitched shriek as not-Needle rolled, almost entirely masking the sizzling sound from somewhere behind us. I coiled tighter, desperately hanging on as she came to her feet again.

“Get behind me!” Will cried out.

We moved again, this time clustering behind a raised wall of ore-flesh. Something splashed off of it, throwing droplets into the air in a fine mist. Someone cried out, radiating [pain]. Something sizzled.

I followed the connection in my mind, bunching my coils and leaping towards the injured Coreless. One painful landing later, and I sunk my fangs beside bubbling hand-flesh. Golden drops slid down my fangs, followed by more as I converted a greater amount of mana with [Mana-Life Conversion].

The sizzling stopped and the Coreless - the guide, I realized - let out a sigh of [relief].

The thought-light flickered.

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

[Life - Invigorating Bite IX] Acquired.

Another splash of what I now realized was acid hit Will’s defenses, the resulting vapor causing the light of [Mana Fire] to pull backwards as Needle flinched away. There was a flash of [alarm] from her [Little Guardian’s Totem], followed by a spurt of [annoyance] before she peered out from behind Will’s wall of ore-flesh and sent the [Mana Fire]-lit darkwood skittering across the stone floor.

It bounced and slid, breaking through the darkness that surrounded it, before finally shining its light on the bad-thing that was attacking us. The bad-thing rested on a large slab of darkwood, placed at the very edge of the room beside a small number of fake-pedestals. It rose from its own personal mound of earth, surrounded on all sides by carefully-painted stone. Leaves of green burst from its lower body, running down the sides of its enclosure, while a sturdy stem led to a wide-open maw.

It reared back, stem engorging itself visibly, and sent another glob of acid our way. My Coreless jerked away again, Will managing to block the acid unscathed, as Needle’s [annoyance] grew.

Finally, it seemed that she couldn’t take it anymore, her [annoyance] reaching its peak.

“A potted plant? Are you fucking kidding me?”