I set up an Isolation Array in the heart of the temple, guarding the living map that gurgled with our Kami’s rising power. Finishing quickly, I lingered a bit longer to observe the effect. Although it remained an essential, living piece of the broader energy flow falling from the sky into the land, it didn’t burn so brightly in my awareness any longer.
With the main vulnerability somewhat screened, I made a second Isolation Array to store the Corrupted River Opal. I had, very intelligently and purposefully, handled the gem with muddy squirrel fingers, so it just appeared to be a dull stone. I patted, almost in chastisement. No need to leave this wafting zombie invitation just sitting around in our territory.
Your Skill (Species) Monstrous Array Knowledge has grown to Level 4.
Afterward, I departed the Kami’s Temple and refocused, considering my next steps. The night deepened around me, but I wasn’t heading to bed. Tomorrow at noon, Mookt would likely be taken off the mission to reclaim the Mantle pilfered by the geckos. I would shoulder the responsibility in its place. I would need to head South into unexplored territory to recover it.
Truth be told, I was a much better choice than Mookt; my Innate Mana Attunement meant that I would be able to follow the flows of life energy pretty directly and discover its location. But for the journey, I would need-
“Tomorrow morning, I need to have the talk with Sage,” I glanced over at the wings, which I had stored in our stump. Despite the lack of light, they still glittered with an inner liveliness.
For a moment I felt a flash of pleasure, but that quickly faded as I considered the rift between us. It had hurt more than I expected that she hadn’t attended the Kami meeting. My emotions were messy and strangely shaped, so I could feel how poignant and pure my desire to apologize, my exasperation with her, my annoyance, and my worries, etc., were-- yet none of them seemed to fit together to create a coherent message.
If I had to choose between pieces together emotions and legos…
I walked out of the stump and stared up at the sky. I remembered a similar sense of loss and lack of direction I had felt the first night on the wetlands and Nightshade had come to talk me through my funk.
Tonight, I was alone. And pesky clouds screened the moon. My solitude in the kingdom of mud and damp was absolute.
I sighed. “What would Mimi say…? Should I apologize or not?”
Obviously, Mimi didn’t answer. But I felt suddenly uncomfortable. As though, from worlds away and through the veil, she glared at my back. I threw my squirrel hands in the air. “I’m not psychic, ghost Mimi! But sure, I’m going to talk to her tomorrow. I’ll… figure it out.”
In the distance, clouds rumbled with thunder. I wondered how well blight reacted to rain.
All it took was a thought for my concerns to ease back, making way for the rather (surprising) calming pleasure of considering my construction. I had to acknowledge that creating a home here in the wetlands, even the laborious toil involved, had become a secure space for me. Yet I resisted it for a bit longer.
For the first time in a while, I opened up my full Quest Screen.
Current Quests:
Mundane(x5): Integrate seventy-five body parts 32/75
Interesting(x5): Evolve your Second Blessing again
Notable(x1): Reach a maximum Mana of 350 before Level 25 309/350
Epic: ???
Wondrous: Reach Level 25 in Advanced Array Knowledge and Perfect your Core Formation
Divine: Become a half-step Kami
I hummed my way through all the Quests, just so I would be aware of them, moving forward. Epic remained a mystery and Wondrous and Divine were far beyond me. Although I did wonder if the addition of ‘Monstrous’ in my Array Knowledge made a difference. The Mundane Quest could be brute forced, but I didn’t have a body part I would be will to lose in order to do it.
The Interesting Quest would come with time, but it was Notable that I earmarked as next. With Exalted’s Due, I’d probably reach the 350 mark very quickly.
Following that, I looked at my full Status.
Name: Tallum Frost (Awakened)
Species: Experimental Chimera Core
Level: 22
Health: 225/225
Anima: 161
Kami Allegiance: (III) To and Fro the River Wanders [(???) Seep Blessed Oils 92/150][(Core) Launch Clay 53/150]
Mana: 287/309
Integrated Body Parts(10/10):
[Azure and Emerald Dual Core: Mana +30, Wisdom +5, Insight +5]
[Redacted I]
-[Stained Fang of the Pestilence Count- Attack +5, Poise +2, Insight +2, Malignance +8]
-[Bitter Heart of the (*) Bog Heron- +2 Agility, +4 Constitution, +7 Poise, and +8 Malignance]
-[Mysterious Sac of the Pestilence Count- +6 Recovery and +8 Malignance]
[Armored Spine of the Insomniac Wetland Armadillo Bruiser- Constitution+3, Strength +5, and Defense +7]
[Fat Stomach of the Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise- Strength +2, Recovery +5, and Constitution +1]
[Holy Paw Set of the PIous Squirrel- Mana +10, Wisdom +2, Faith +2]
[Four Legs of the Sleepy Swirlback Tortoise- Strength +4, Defense +2, and Agility+1]
[Focused Eyes of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron- +7 Perception]
[Reliable Tail of the Unlucky Albino Python Baron- Constitution +3, Poise +4, and Agility +4]
Stats:
-(Temp) Perception: 7 -(Temp) Poise: 13 -(Temp) Recovery: 11
-(Temp) Attack: 5 -(Temp) Agility: 7 -(Temp) Constitution: 11
-(Temp) Strength: 11 -(Temp) Defense: 9 -(Temp) Faith: 2
-Wisdom: 43 -[Redacted] Malignance: 31 -Insight: 25
Skills: (Species) Absorb Anima Lvl 40, (Species) Integrate Body Part Lvl 33, (Species) Interstitial Body Structure Lvl 27, (Species) Contemplate Flesh Lvl 14, (Species) Monstrous Array Knowledge Lvl 4
[10/10] (Earned) Innate Mana Attunement Lvl 13, (Earned) Detection Lvl 25(+25), (Earned) Body Manipulation Lvl 25(+19), (Earned) Monster’s Wisdom Lvl 25(+33), (Earned) Mutinous Grit Lvl 24, (Earned) Field Butchery Lvl 25(+2), (Earned) Short-Term Prediction Lvl 25(+1), (Earned) Unnatural Adrenaline Rush Lvl 7, (Earned) Minor Realm Step Lvl 10, (Earned) Exalted’s Due Lvl 14
(Temp) Mana Feed Lvl 18, (Temp) Weak Secretions Lvl 25
(Language) Bestial Comprehension Lvl MAX(+4)
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“I’ve grown,” I said to my Status Screen. Which, based upon the Levels I had accumulated over my weeks as a monster, was definitely true. But honestly… it was the patterns I had begun to see in the Skills that seemed the most poignant underwriter of that Statement.
Integration, contemplation, monstrous knowledge.
Mana Attunement, Mutinous Grit, Monster’s Wisdom.
Bestial Comprehension.
In my second life, I had begun to get my bearings. This time… my values and desires would align.
After feeling affirmed, I began to work. I moved in the darkness, clearing out more reeds and laying the groundwork for the paving. Twice I even inserted the weak necrotic seeds into the ground and then later removed them, finishing the road from the stump to the central square I had planned.
The movements, the tangible improvements in the environment, helped silence the voice of my anxiety. At the moment, I was wholly involved in the process.
Your Skill (Earned) Detection has grown to Level 25(+26)
As dawn approached, I looked up sharply. The rather unreliable Detection gave me a firm ping. Once I knew it was worth looking, I found the source of the disturbance easily: a vicious specter cut through the sky, right underneath the low layer of clouds that had drifted closer and had continued to rumble, but had never broken into rain.
“I’ll kill you all!” Old Anta screeched as he swooped through the sky.
A few seconds later, I heard the noise of reeds being trampled. A thick, ugly, grudge-holding catfish squirmed through the mud after him.
I sighed. “Just another day in my life.”
When dawn arrived, I paused in my labors. I considered the rising sun. I thanked the universe for this second chance, for the possibilities it created. Then I rubbed my temples for a few seconds.
After I had steadied myself, I went to the stump and retrieved the wings. Then, almost refusing to think about what exactly was about to happen, I walked down to find Sage’s base.
Halfway through the journey, I forced myself to stop and take several deep breaths. My thoughts raced around my head so quickly I felt very much approaching the tipping point of stress I had reached in my last life, the cusp of another brain aneurysm.
I just didn’t know how to react. I was hurt, but also I was so, so afraid that this might be the end of one of the most important bond I had ever felt. Even thinking about it-
I looked down at my shaking squirrel hands.
For a bit, I simply looked at the sun. The distant star (probably celestial forces still had a scientific explanation even in fantasy world) climbed up the sky, blithely ignorant of my rampaging feelings. I took a few more breaths.
During the second half of the journey, I tried to distract myself by firing of my Launch Clay Blessing, clipping the wings of a few chirpers and dragonflies that occasionally passed overhead. I also tried to use my new Mana Attunement to have a better sense of how the alternate activation of the Blessing worked.
Yet I was too distracted. I earned a few points of proficiency, but that was really all. Further improvements would require a focus I didn’t currently possess.
My stomach boiling over with simmering acid, I stood outside of Sage’s base. The woven reed structure fluttered in the wind. Feathers glinted in the sun where they had been tucked into the frame. I used my squirrel hands to keep a delicate hold on the dragonfly wings; definitely, definitely, she would like the wings.
Right? I shifted nervously from one tortoise leg to another.
I actually don’t know how long I would have stood, waiting for my emotions to choose a consistent talking point (alternating between anxiety, irritation, and sadness), if I hadn’t heard Sage’s wail coming from within.
“He hates me! Was there any choice but to resent me?!”
I stilled.
“Mistress,” Detection, barely, could detect one of Sage’s cronies shifting closer to her beyond the fluttering wall. Based on its dull tone, she had been consumed by this monologue for quite some time. “Please-”
“A bond precious beyond measure and I squandered it, through a capricious heart. At the whiff of loss’s shadow, I become shrill and overwrought.” Sage released a long cry that gradually turned into an exaggerated sigh as she exhaled and had no breath left to make noise. She began to mutter “Yet can any muster surprise? Who am I, but one who has always been doomed to be too passionate for the world to withstand?!”
I twitched, torn between amusement and exasperation. Okay, Sage. Kinda losing the thread.
After a few more sniffles, Sage finally addressed her cronies. “When I recover my emotional faculties, I will take you to him and offer your pathetic lives as proof of my genuine remorse.”
The cronies shuffled. One coughed lightly. “Perhaps this is an instance where your passion is driving us away?”
“Perhaps,” Sage blew out a long sigh. “But you two matter so much less than Tallum.”
I found myself stepping through the front flap of the temple without even thinking about it. In a way, my name summoned me.
“Tallum!” Sage leapt to her feet. She had been sprawled out on the ground, her tails listlessly draped across the dirt. Those tails now swept up her two minions, seizing them and tossing them to the side. “What an unexpected- uh, d-did you happen to hear my-- ahem, these two were filling my time with the story of their lives. And it was simply so tragic I’m a bit emotional. But now you are here!”
I had a moment of perfect clarity, looking at Sage and feeling the nervous pulses of her jelly. A truth so large and fiery it rivaled a sun opened inside of me. All of the anxiety that I had carried with me the past two days practically melted. All the worries that lingered after evaporated. I felt dry and cleansed and warm with affection.
Of course I couldn’t just think my way out of the fault line in our relationship, I reflected. Just like energy and Kami’s, just like all of the monsters living in the wetlands…. We are connected. What I felt I was not feeling alone. I shared those moments of hurt with my adopted sister in this life.
Isn’t that what family should be? The bonds tied so deeply to your identity that their existence is never in doubt. Because all it takes to begin mending them-
“Hey Sage,” I said, knowing the words were inadequate but not knowing how else to begin.
“Greetings, Brother Tallum,” She flicked her tails awkwardly. And even if our words trailed off there, our posture and jelly continued to communicate.
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.
No, you were right.
I was afraid.
Me too.
I missed you.
I missed you.
Even as I began to hum with relief, I pulled the dragonfly wings from behind my back and offered them to Sage. “I saw these and thought of you.”
“Tallum!” Sage shrieked, suddenly forgetting her contrition and getting lost in excitement. As I had expected, her tails began to frantically beat around her body. “How unexpected and chivalrous. For me? You shouldn’t have!”
You tell me I shouldn’t, while simultaneously swiping the gift out of my hands, I chuckled. Capricious and passionate she might be, but she was also my sister. As she cooed, ripped down her own dwelling around us, and then admired the glittering colors of the wings in the sun, I tried to carve this moment, and the turbulent emotions that had led to to this point into my heart.
“How do I look?” Sage said shyly after she had integrated the body part. As expected, the two wings fluttered from her behind, refashioned from their original purpose into fashionable tails.
“Truly spectacular,” I said. I already knew the game that would follow, and the relief of our reconciliation made me very willing to play.
“Tsk, Brother, your compliments are insufferable. You must cease this; does any of us derive any enjoyment from statements we both know are obvious?”
“Even just as you move, the way they flow behind you is the pinnacle of grace.”
“Pah, these stuffy movements? You are too much. Your honeyed tongue falls on deaf ears.”
“I don’t know which I would look at: you in motion or a sunset.”
“Tallum!” Sage froze. Her tails, quicker than I could follow, slithered forward and wrapped around me. She shook me a little bit; inwardly, I couldn’t help but wonder how high her Stats had reached. “You are a genius! The only way to truly appreciate this gift is for us to incorporate movement: we must immediately dance.”
“Uh-” Suddenly I became aware that Sage’s cronies had used the distraction of my compliments to slip away. I felt a sinking feeling in my chest as I remembered Sage merrily carrying around Nightshade while teaching him to ‘lead’. “Maybe now isn’t the best time. At the Kami meeting last night, we were actually given a mission. Mookt failed to subdue the Southern Kami, so at noon we will need to fix the issue.”
Sage gave me a reproachful look. “Doesn’t that mean we have until noon to sharpen our abilities? Tallum, you might not know this, but the Toad Broodmother has passed the Second Growth Threshold. We cannot afford to coast on our natural talent.”
You are such a hypocrite, I thought, looking at my sister, the relief at the conciliation finally being eaten away by exasperation. When it comes to activities with you, you forget so quickly you chastised me for giving too much of myself!
I considered arguing further, but honestly?
I felt a bit of the same imperative to improve, after seeing Lady Gymellicka. So I agreed to spend the rest of the morning practicing dancing. We moved to a small field nearby, which had clearly been used for this purpose in the past.
I tried not to read too deeply into the many feathers scattered about the area, as though this had been the site of a violent feather-stuffed pillow fight.
Sage smiled at me as her tails undulated toward me. “You can lead. But I’ll guide your movements from behind. You need more flexibility and life in your steps, Tallum. It’s really best if you feel it first-”
I suffered through her teaching, trying to listen to her words as she essentially carried around in a whirling waltz of reunion.
Your Skill (Earned) Minor Realm Step has grown to Level 11.
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 25(+20).
…
Your Skill (Earned) Short Term Prediction has grown to Level 25(+2).
Your Skill (Earned) Body Manipulation has grown to Level 25(+21).
Your Skill (Species) Interstitial Body Structure has grown to Level 28.
…
Your Skill (Earned) Minor Realm Step has grown to Level 12.
Your Skill (Earned) Unnatural Adrenaline Rush has grown to Level 8.
Your Skill (Earned) Minor Realm Step has grown to Level 13.