As a whole, the lake of the leviathans was a craggy mess of weathered stone and neverending mana-water; at its edges, in the places where not even a real shore was formed, the walls rose like the steepest of cliff faces, the sheer surfaces broken only by an occasional wall-crack that cut across the stone. Those sheer walls dipped downwards for the length of many leviathans stretched from head to fin, sometimes reaching depths that I would hesitate to travel. Even with the Pufferquill’s [Enhanced Lungs] and the most recent increase in lung size itself, I could still suffocate.

It would just take far longer.

In other places, massive stone-spikes jutted upwards from the lakebed, gargantuan spires reaching for the surface. And though many - most - failed, there were a few that were large enough to span the distance, forming tiny outcrops of rock that just barely made themselves known above the swirling surface of the lake.

And yet, even if the tips of the stone-spikes, just barely reaching past the surface, seemed small…that was only at the very edge. Any stone-spike that could reach the surface was a giant among stone-spikes, a leviathan of the earth in the same way that the bad-things of the lake were leviathans of the depths.

And that meant that they were very, very heavy.

I twisted about, letting my scale-flesh rub harshly against stone. I had thought long and hard about the best way to defeat a leviathan; even at a little more than three not-Needles in length, I couldn’t wrap my body around them. [Constriction VII], despite all of the Trait Points that I had used to enhance it, was useless against them. A massive injection of [Mana Venom] could work, using the mana-water of the lake itself to greatly increase my death-venom’s effects, but that was dangerous too; it meant that I would have to come close to a leviathan, and I wasn’t eager to risk ending my life yet. Not when there was a way to defeat a leviathan more safely.

One that took advantage of my newfound [Size], even if I stayed away from the leviathan itself. One that helped keep more of the experience for myself.

Because a stone-spike was not alive to receive it, even if it did all of the damage.

I twisted again, letting my coiled mass rub against stone. The smooth surface morphed at my touch, the first aspect of [The Golem’s Fading Heart] already beginning to take hold. The stone beside me smoothed, weakened, and then pulled free in a plume of liquefied earth that was quickly washed away.

A hollow groove, matching the shape of my scale-flesh, was left behind in the stone’s place. On and on I went, dragging my length around the massive stone-spike, slowly coiling towards its core with the remnants of The Golem’s power.

Not far below, a battle of leviathans raged; my remaining four spore-puppets and the final leviathan of the lake that remained. The last enemy that I would defeat before moving on.

Even as I watched, peering downwards at the end of every new furrow I formed in the massive stone-spike above it, its panic was apparent. My leviathans, injured though they were, greatly outnumbered it. They hemmed it in at the sides, forcing it to cower at the base of the towering stone-spike, using the safety it provided to keep my spore-puppets at bay. Every time they lurched forward, the enemy bad-thing was ready and able to react, aggressively snapping in their direction. Keeping my spore-puppets back.

Of course, that was exactly what I wanted. I didn’t want any of the experience to be stolen; I didn’t want my spore-puppets to hurt it.

It just didn’t know that.

Then, with a final twist of [The Golem’s Fading Heart]-imbued scale-flesh, the stone-spike lurched. Broke. Fell.

I pushed at it, guiding the broken piece downwards, and sent out a thought-hiss to handle the rest. My spore-puppets rushed forward, using their bodies to hold the final leviathan in place. The lake filled with blood, my spore-puppets’ flesh rent and torn by the panicking bad-thing.

The broken stone-spike landed quickly, its full weight bearing down on the bad-thing. Leviathan of the earth met four leviathans of flesh, and the thought-light flickered.

Experience Gained!

Level up!

1 Trait Point Gained.

Experience Gained! Reduced Due To Assistance Received.

Experience Gained! Reduced Due To Assistance Received.

Experience Gained! Reduced Due To Assistance Received.

Level up!

1 Trait Point Gained.

As I swam towards the lake’s surface, I let the thought-light wash over me one more time, revealing the changes that clearing the bad-things of the lake had brought me.

Name: Paradox

Species: Snake, Ouroboros

Major Title: [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] [Little Guardian]

Minor Titles: [Minor Mana Core] [Venomous Retribution] [Touched By Fire] [Ascended Seeker]

Innate Traits: [Venomous II]

Blooded Traits: [Paralyzing Venom IV] [Poisonous Blood III] [Illusion Spark IV] [Clinging Grasp III] [Sound Shaping VII] [Chains Of The Creator I] [Anticoagulant IV] [Constriction VII] [Spore Puppeteer VI] [Ascended Sense I] [Ambusher’s Vision IV] [Sting IV] [Streamlined Scales V] [Enhanced Lungs VI] [Razorflesh I]

Resistances: [Piercing Resistance - Intermediate II] [Venom Resistance - Intermediate II]

Level: 67

Trait Points: 11

Core Skills: [The Endless Cycle] [Chrono Fire] [Verdure Parasite] [The Golem’s Fading Heart]

Lesser Core Skills: [Mana Manipulation XI] [Mana Venom XII] [Mana Fire VII] [Little Guardian’s Totem MAX] [Life Essence Manipulation VII] [Life - Invigorating Bite XI] [Life - Vitality XIII] [Life - Vigor III] [Life - Vigorous Spores VII] [Little Guardian’s Focus XI]

Level Rewards: [Traveler] [Mana-Life Conversion] [Size] [Size II] [Size III]

Description: A growing Ouroboros, symbol of the eternal.

Fighting the bad-things of the lake had done more for my levels than anything bar defeating The Golem; whatever the mana-water’s source was, it must have been near at least one Core. There were too many bad-things falling down into the lake for anything else. Unfortunately, swimming upwards wasn’t something that I could do, and there was no telling how far the mana-water’s source was.

Either way, I was thankful for what it gave me. The lake was rife with bad-things, letting the leviathans grow more powerful than anything I had faced besides The Golem - and, with their death, that power had gone to me.

As I broke the surface of the lake, taking in a breath of air, I sent another request to the thought-light.

Available Trait Points: 11

Use Trait Points To Upgrade A Trait?

7 Trait Points Required For Upgrade of [Constriction VII] to [Constriction VIII].

Upgrade Successful.

My scale-flesh spasmed briefly, dipping me back underwater as [Constriction] grew in power. Just like [Size], I had decided early on to focus on it. The two went together well, even if the combination had been next to useless against the leviathans of the lake.

I doubted that I would run into many things of their size anytime soon.

Though, there was one more Trait that I had recently gotten, stolen from a type of bad-thing that had been difficult to find. Razorfins, a type of bad-thing that had been hunted mercilessly by the other bad-things of the lake. One with, unsurprisingly, razor-sharp fins.

I was certain their Trait would work well in my current life.

Available Trait Points: 4

Use Trait Points To Upgrade A Trait?

3 Trait Points Required For Upgrade of [Razorflesh I] to [Razorflesh III].

Upgrade Successful.

The edges of my scale-flesh sharpened, [Razorflesh] undoing some of [Streamlined Scales]'s efforts to smooth my scale-flesh and increase my swimming speed. I slowed a little, bits of mana-water beginning to catch on my scales, causing my undulating form to stutter and stall.

In the end, the delay didn’t matter. The lake was empty and barren; there was no need to swim quickly anymore. Nothing to run from. Nothing to chase. I made it back to the shore where my remaining Darkweavers waited with no trouble at all, and readied myself to move on again.

I made sure to leave another [Little Guardian’s Focus] to mark the Great Core’s victory over the leviathans. With my increased size, I was able to make it even larger than before.

Then, finally, with a hiss of satisfaction, I slithered away - there was another tunnel that branched out from the other side of the lake, one that I had forced myself to ignore while I challenged the bad-things of the lake. One that I was eager to explore, even if I was already fairly certain of what I would find.

A few moments at its entrance had been more than enough for me to guess at where it led. After all, the scent-taste of a Lesser Core, even one so faint and far away, was hard to mistake.

I could only hope that defeating the leviathans had made me powerful enough to challenge it - but if it didn’t, I would just try again. The Great Core would eventually prevail.

It always would.