A wild kaleidoscope of multicolored light whirled through David's mind for long moments before it finally began to recede and the wetlands came back into focus. Claire still sat a few yards away from him, alert and pointedly staring at him with her jaws slightly apart, and the nictitating membrane firmly over her eyes. It retracted as she stood before stomping a bit closer to sniff at him, and David felt his fur ruffle with the force of her inhalations as she snorted and shook her head.

–Received: Corruptor Bloodline A: Ancestral memory of venomous shadow-stalkers that move with preternatural swiftness, unseen. Afflictions you inflict fester and intensify. Provides intrinsic affliction delivery mechanisms.–

“Sooo, how was it?" Claire rasped as David blinked rapidly in the sudden light, “I would have warned you but I thought it might interfere with the process… and that you wouldn't believe me.”

David’s head snapped onto her almost mechanically, and he found himself at a loss for words as a storm of information flooded his mind at the sight of her. He finally noticed the way she could purposely close her own nostrils, making her snout a poor target. The nictitating membrane similarly made her eyes a poor target, and the armored nature of her body left him with few suitable options other than–

Breathe, David. She's your friend, get a grip on yourself. We don't hurt friends, and she's never going to be a threat, or prey. I just need to…

David tilted his head, the motion unsettling even to him before he suddenly darted sideways, flinging himself clear as Claire froze in surprise. His large, leathery wings shivered, and the silvery patterns shimmered slightly as they caught the light while they shed dusk powder. The Gloom gathered in the folds between his elongated fingers, and with a powerful beat of his enormous wings, he thrust them forward. The gust blasted the Gloom ahead in a choking cloud that wafted into air for quite a distance before being snatched by the wind and carried away into the swamp grass downwind of them. As the wing-beat propelled the Gloom forward, it flung David backward, and he landed deftly on clawed feet before darting back to his original position in front of Claire.

The entire maneuver had taken scant few seconds, and it was such a simple way to utilize Gloom that David felt a bit stupid for never considering it.

“I would make a joke, but I just absolutely had to smash something after I came out of it." Claire rumbled carefully as she remained still, “Thanks for aiming it away?"

“Yeah…sorry, that was a bit overwhelming for a second." David hissed as he shook himself roughly. His talons dug into the fertile earth below him as the shake took on a mind of its own, his lips flapping around in time with his ears before he finally stopped.

“Your wings are different." Claire observed curiously, “A lot of the whatever-it-is sunk into your wings but uh…a lot of it sucked back down your throat. How you feelin’?”

David swiveled his ears to face her, “Down my throat?"

“Yeah, you puked a bunch of it like normal but then about half of it just kinda…crawled back in. Was really gross, I was worried you'd drown in it for a second." Claire clacked her jaws anxiously, “You still didn't answer the question."

“I'm fine, just got a flash-education on all sorts of status effects in…” David paused to consider, "Three minutes, I guess. Did you basically have a hallucination too?”

"Yeah, I did.” She agreed before slowly settling back down and folding her legs beneath her, "Front row seats to a couple hundred knock-down, drag out fights.”

David stretched out his wings carefully as he examined them, "Ambushes for me, bunch of poor critters getting nailed before they had a chance to do anything most of the time.”

To his surprise his wings were changed more than he'd originally anticipated. His thin fingers were now much sturdier, his wingspan had tapered in width but increased in length, and in addition to the talons on the ‘top’ of his hand he'd grown more. Studying closely he observed that at the end of each wing-tip was a viciously pointed talon, and he experimentally gave the ground a hard poke with the end of his right wing. Despite the awkward angle of the strike, the increased strength and flexibility of his new wings made it trivial, and the increased wingspan gave him a deceptively long reach. He nodded happily and worked each finger individually in a facsimile of a wave, causing Claire to shudder and David to roll his eyes in response.

“Oh like you weren't purposely walking straight through little trees just to see if you could feel it anymore right after you used your Bloodline." David growled at her good naturedly.

“I guess…” Claire grumbled as she scratched idly at her neck with a powerful leg. Every few seconds one of the sturdy claws on her feet caught her armor plating with a hideous scraping sound that set David's teeth on edge.

“Well, the new wings are nice. Look at the bottom edge." David chattered as he held a wing out for inspection, "It's all raggedy looking, but I don't make any noise when I flap them anymore. Check it out."

After giving her a moment to inspect the tattered looking bottoms of his wings he did just that, flapping a few times without the usual snap that accompanied the movement. Claire snorted, acting suitably impressed despite the fact David could tell she didn't understand why it was important. He shrugged, the motion now much more fluid looking as he furled his wings and grinned.

Stolen novel; please report.

“You should try spitting, the boss could spit." Claire rumbled as she cocked her head in birdlike curiosity, “Maybe that's what all the rainbow goop did."

“Pfft, I can't even blow a raspberry remember? Last time I tried, all that happened was I shot my tongue out like a chameleon." David laughed as he extended his freakishly long tongue to demonstrate. He then sucked it back in comically loudly before flexing his neck and firing a dart of saliva into the ground forcefully enough to send up a puff of dirt up around it.

Their laughter died instantly as they both stared at the divot in the soil blankly, a thin string of drool dangling from the end of David's snout and wobbling in the air. Claire looked between David and the slimy wad of spit that slowly soaked into the bottom of the hole several times with mild disgust.

“Dude." She rumbled, “That was supposed to be a joke."

David quickly called up his Status and began to read in confusion.

User: David Fisher

Species: Twilight Corruptor Ω

Rank: E

Health: 190/190

Stamina: 425/425 (++)

Level: 11

Exp: 1172/1750

Special: Echolocation D

Traits: 4/4

Nocturnal E: +12% Damage, Stam Regen, Exp Gain at night.

[3/10]

Echolocation D: Manipulate high-frequency sound waves to see with more than just your eyes. Multi-stage ability: Repeated uses against the same enemy builds Combat Expertise, and may trigger an Echo.

[7/10]

Flight D: Allows for flight and gliding. Mild Stamina drain. (stam+)

[4/10]

Small: Your form is small, weighing no more than 115lbs. (stam+)

[n/a]

Abilities: 4/4

Screech E: You emit a loud screech, damaging enemies in a cone. Low Stam consumption.

[5/10]

Moonsong F: A soothing melody that adds a greatly increased Regeneration rate to yourself and your allies for a short time. Moderate Stam consumption.

[5/10]

Gloom C: Your wingbeats spread Dusk powder with every flap. Enemies under the effect of Gloom are inflicted with visual hallucinations. Stacks up to 8 times.

[7/10]

Nocturnal Strike C: A quick, lunging attack that steals a small percentage of the target's Stamina.

[6/10]

Mutagens: 5/5

Ancestral Terror Mutagen C: Your body deepens its primal bond, fortifying your strength and weakening the resolve of enemies that can perceive you. Your gaze may trap enemies in instinctive Terror.

Soporalytic Mutagen E: Your attacks have a moderate chance to inflict paralytic sedation, inducing muscle spasms and rendering targets unconscious.

Secretive Mutagen E: You become more elusive, making you harder to track and detect.

Apical Mutagen C: Assert your dominance, add bonus effects to Abilities dictated by Ability Type. [Control: Drain a small percentage of Enemy Health and Stamina] [Offense: Sunders a percentage of Enemy Defenses]

Corruptor Bloodline A: Ancestral memory of venomous shadow-stalkers that move with preternatural swiftness, unseen. Afflictions you inflict fester and intensify. Provides intrinsic affliction delivery mechanisms.

“It doesn't say anything about that!" David squeaked as he wiped away the slobber self-consciously, “All it says is ‘Provides intrinsic’ blah blah blah! I thought it meant the thing I did with Gloom!"

“Hah! I'm so glad the Crusher couldn't do anything gross like that!" Claire’s snicker sounded like a lawnmower failing to turn over as she continued to laugh.

"Oh my God, laugh it up. If this counts as an ‘attack’ it'll probably work with my Soporalytic Mutagen.” David desperately justified his disgusting new talent, "Why does this never have enough information?!”

Claire’s side-eye was positively mischievous as she shoveled a bit of dirt over the small hole with her snout before speaking.

"Yeah, I agree. You should write a letter, ‘Dear Mr Omega’.” She guffawed as she thumped her tail against the ground with a loud rustle of grass and a hollow sound as the knot of bone impacted.

"More like”, David cleared his throat before he intoned sassily in a forceful voice.

“I would like to submit a bug report to Overseer Omega. The information provided by the Status Screen is insufficient, and its descriptions are unclear, making it impossible to even understand your own capabilities.”

–Critical Error: Insufficient Privileges for...–

–Accepted. Feedback sent to recipient: Ω–

David's eyes bulged as the first notification popped up before blinking several times and vanishing, and a strangled squeal crawled out of his throat when it finally resolved into an entirely different line of text. Claire tilted her head in amusement before playing along, miming a great deal of frustration by opening her jaws to their fullest extent and dramatically sagging over as if defeated.

–Report received–

“I think I fucked up." David choked out in a very tiny voice, causing Claire to instantly surge back upright at the tone of his voice. He froze completely in place, barely even daring to breathe as his mane bristled in response to his anxiety, and Spooky ran and hid in the depths of his subconscious.

–You have 1 Message–

“I definitely fucked up."