The battle with the wolfbears didn't last long. Not a single spirit beast took a step on the grave grounds. Beaks kited and stunned the wolfbears while I shot them with Snowpiercer. Any stray predators were killed by my water mana or sword. The sword kills I could count on one hand.

"This is getting too easy," Beaks said after finishing off the last two wolfbears with a mind flash and talon strike, slicing through the heavy fur without resistance. It was a smooth, deadly motion.

I nodded in agreement. The dungeon and the beasts within have lost any type of challenge they posed before. The only area of the dungeon we had left to explore was the vast darkness at the entrance. Even that was proving to add a little challenge. The lack of physical challenges, though, was made up for by the mental strain I'd been putting on myself. Condensing oceans and creating castles took a lot of work. "After I get some protection, I think I'll be ready to leave the forest for a while."

"Oh…" Beaks landed lightly on my shoulder. He shook out his body, did some feather maintenance, and then jumped off my shoulder, landing on a stack of wolfbears so that he almost stood at eye level. "Where are we going?"

"What do you know about bloodsuckers?" I asked as I cut out a couple cores from the spirit beast from a different pile than where Beaks perched.

"I hate them. The leeches can burn." Beaks' body shook, causing him to extend a wing to maintain balance.

"They're actually quite resistant to flames."

"You just need more wood. Which reminds me, what do you remember about Purity?"

I stopped processing the cores for a moment to consider the word. My hands looked extra red.

"It's a flawed concept." For the third time, I scrubbed my hands in a floating orb of water and summoned a new orb to wash the five superior-ranked cores I had harvested with water razors.

"Not the idea of purity—Purity the person. She did a number on you during one of your recursions. Maybe she could be the new challenge. Fighting her would be much better than dealing with swamp suckers."

Purity must've been one of the cultivators I saw fighting in the loop I'd forgotten. That whole loop remained hazy, and I'd been too busy to think much about it.

"Do you know where she's at?" I asked.

"No, but she seems to be drawn by fire."

"Hmm… She seems pretentious but that's no reason to fight her. Also, vamps avoid swamps at all costs. Why would they go to swamps? No one parties at swamps, and if no one is partying, vamps aren't sticking around... I'm starting to think you don't know the vamps as well as you think you do.

"Why do you keep saying vamps? What the hell is a vamp?"

"Vampires."

"Oh…" Beaks paused from plucking his plumage and stared at me side-eyed. His exaggerated blinks were noted. "And what is a vampire?"

"Bloody abyss. Did your world not have the bloodsuckers?"

"We had our fair share of leeches, but they were never invited to parties."

"Not leeches. Vampires are bloodsuckers."

"So are leeches."

"It's different."

"Sounds the same."

"Vampires have a code."

"And?"

"That puts them miles ahead of leeches in the societal ladder… and most people."

"Why do you know so much about these vampires? Should I be worried? I did notice when I latched onto your face you got—" Beaks paused dramatically, narrowing his birdy eyes "—toothy."

It was my turn to blink slowly. Which I did. Three times.

"You were molesting my face. Of course, I got toothy. That doesn't make me a vampire. And don't say that out loud. People might be listening.

"Like who?" Beaks waved a wing, motioning to the mounds of wolfbears. "Everything is dead."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

"That Purity lady. Seems like burning me at a stake at a mere accusation is right up her alley." I pointed to my frozen corpse. "She wouldn't need to travel far to find a stake… or even have to stake me. She would just have to light a match and…" I'm cut off mid-sentence by images of a burning forest flashing through my mind. "Ao's jewels. She's a smoker."

"You seem to know much about someone you claim to not know."

"Aren't you putting the images in my mind?"

"You told me to stop messing with your mind. And I am standing in front of you. How could I be putting thoughts in your head if I am not in your head?"

"We're linked."

"You know nothing."

"Call it a hunch."

"I can not." The bird eyed me with a burning intensity. It felt like Beaks wanted nothing more than to swoop out of the sky and mess up my 'ish. "It does not work like that. Even if I wanted to, you have your mind wrapped so tight that I would need more than just a connection. I would need to break you."

Beaks launched from his mound with one powerful leap. His talons stretched out as he hit me with a flash. The mind blast hit me without the stunning effect. I swung an ice-enhanced fist at the bird, who barreled under my swing. I froze the air, stalling the flayen in the air.

"Cheater."

"You are in my domain. Don't forget." I closed my hand, shattering the water falcon. Less than a breath later, Cal's presence landed in my mind. My head rattled from the parasite, trying to break my mind. The nature of the fight was unexpected—more aggressive and possibly consequential... That was on me.

I reinforced my dome, made sure my ice armor was in top shape, closed my eyes, and entered the battle of my mind.

In my mindscape, I landed on the outer gate of my castle walls. A solid ocean surrounded the castle, creating my first barrier of defense. Sentinels of all shapes patrolled the walls and spaces between the dome and the castle. They gave me no impression of a threat inside the dome. A few minutes later, it became clear Squids was still on the outside.

A leviathan with many tentacles descended from above. As the monster dived, its body grew in size. He was six times larger than my barrier. Bloody pits. The leviathan opened its massive toothy mouth and bit down on my shell.

As my barrier cracked I sent the command and flames hot as the sun melted the predator's mouth. Before Calypso could retreat, a legion of sentinels charged into the beast's mouth. Each one started the size as me; as they entered the beast, they grew and morphed, becoming massive choking hazards. Half of the hazards exploded deep into the scaled shark's mouth; the others have expanded in the throat, sinking their deep spikes into the fleshy tunnel, sowing significant discomfort. The other half swam deep into Cal's belly, morphed one more time, and then caused more havoc.

At the end of the day, sharks were more or less throats disguised as fish, and like all esophagi, it was best to plug and burn.

While the octi-shark battled its insides, I made several clones of myself. I tried to hide my smile while doing so but failed miserably. Mind battles were so much fun! Rules, logic, and fairness didn't belong here. All that mattered was who had the stronger will. That became clear as soon as I saw the massive shark grow. But this was too easy. If I had all the power, Calypso wouldn't have attacked using an obvious method.

As the shark burned and its body fell, the water outside my barrier turned violent. Mountain-sized funnels formed and spun violently. The shark was shredded in seconds; it remained tossed into my shell. The vortexes spun faster, moving closer to my shell. The collision rocked the entire ocean. My walls shook, and the barrier cracked.

I raised my hand and stopped the raging ocean. The water stilled, and the tornadoes settled. Another wave of my hand sealed my barrier. One more wave added another coat of protection. An eerie presence alerted me to a danger at my back. My own sentinels were charging me with wicked blades in their hands. Giants, monsters, and warriors were dispelled without even a gesture.

"I see you have grasped the basics of mind fortification," Calypso said, his voice booming from every direction. I didn't bother to look for him. "I am impressed you gleaned this all from my opening attack. However, as you have deciphered, that was only a soft probe—an appetizer. Now you will see what it is like to fight a god. You will see how far you pale in comparison.

The ocean roared and shook anew. Lightning crashed, striking newly formed tornados and turning them into an electrical spinning disaster. My remaining sentinels shifted into twenty-foot-tall flayens, clad in heavy armor and holding exotic weapons. Leviathans bashed into my shell, causing broken chunks to rain.

I raised my hand to calm my thoughts. Before I issued the command, a mighty presence arrived at my side. Cal's power felt like the entire ocean had fallen on me, burying me in its depths.

"You think you have power because we are in your mind," Cal said with a laugh. "Your mind is now mine. I will show you the power of—"

"A god?" I cut him off. Without raising my hand, the storm calmed, and the flayen giants collapsed.

Calypso wore a regal golden robe, a pair of turquoise-shelled pauldrons, and a matching helm that glowed as he manifested before me. Large bird wings stretched from his back, and his tentacle beard looked to be braided. Lighting coursed around his body, and his fists were blazing flames. He looked godly.

I stepped up to the god and started punching. First, a jab with my left, an ice hook with my right, and as the flayen reeled back, I crushed him with ice fists from my abyss. The flayen managed to stay on his feet a second longer than he should've. I made him pay for it by delivering a massive ice haymaker to the back of his head.

The god landed face first at my feet, where I imprisoned him in a cell of water and ice. I couldn't kill Calypso, and at this point, I didn't want to, but I could keep him trapped in my prison. I used the same technique to create my sanctuary to seal the parasite.

Basic trapping fundamentals. The more you made the trapper wait, the more their patience broke down. Any trapper could watch their bait get toyed with for a few minutes. Several months to years tested the best of trappers. My parasite was no trapper, and each nibble wore on his desire to spring his carefully laid plans. I was still unsure if he needed my mind to be reforged to take over or only defeat me in my mindscape. If that was the case, why didn't he fight me before? I would have answers to my questions soon enough.

As I waited for Cal to recover, I reflected on the fight. I felt safe for the first time since my encounter with the flayen.