Nori cursed as she trudged down the final hill in the Playground. Every one of the other variant fighting goblins were useless. Only one of them had managed to come back from the dungeon, meaning she still needed one more Elite to leave this damn place for good.

She shaded her eyes from the light of the sky-ocean and the spawning pods came into view. Many of them were bubbling and broiling as though they would could spawn at any time. That was good. She just needed to nab a few and toss them in the dungeon until they got Elite status.

A figure resting against the cliff made her stop. It was an otter. The sight of another otter made her scars around her missing arm itch and she glanced in the sky for any annoying dragonflies. She didn't hate Gi since he was the sucker that gifted her an opportunity, but that damn dragonfly...

"These are mine," the otter said. She grabbed a mace that seemed to made from a thin branch and a jagged rock. It was crude, but it gave her reach. With both arms, Nori was confident she could take her. With just one, she might get injured doing it.

"It's rude to spawn camp, you know," Nori said, shifting to a different tactic.

"I'm not. Like I said, these are mine." With that, the first of the broiling monsters spawned and every single one of them were a brown furred otter wearing a simple grey robe. They all looked slightly different, but Nori could tell that this was the beginning of Gi's clan. That idiot.

***

Tiria had been fighting off the Pikes for weeks ever since she'd first spawned. She'd been trying to claim the spot where the river met the forest, but the Dragon Pikes refused to make it easy for her. After her clanmates spawned though, she had all the resources she needed.

It only took a few days to kill off one of their lizard fish elites and for her claim on the area to take hold. Afterwards, the clan took to the forest and used branches to form simple walls that would slow any monster other than the Fighting Drakes down.

As the last wall was completed, a prompt appeared letting her know that it was time for her to ascend. She smiled. It was finally time for her to meet her Progenitor.

***

At the bottom of the lake bed surrounded by dome buildings and dead Pikes, Gi drowned. Otters could hold their breath a long time, but the Dragon Pike Progenitor's quicksilver essence had invaded his entire body. It burrowed into him, trying to expunge his very being.

Danna... He prayed again. There was no response. He couldn't accept that. She'd never let him down before even if she thought he was a failure. He just needed-

That was it. He tried to gather his internal energy, but it was immediately swept up into the torrent of pain and liquid that had invaded him. Somehow, it wasn't just physical anymore. It's assault made gathering his energy feel impossible, but he had to do it.

Straining all the metaphorical muscles he gained from training his skills, he pushed his energy against the oppressive tide of the quicksilver. As it rotated, he felt some relief but it didn't slow his desperation. With a final shove, he rammed the energy into the spot for [Danna's Conduit].

Unlike when he'd tested it before, this time it thrummed to life and Gi felt a tiny spark alight within his soul.

Make the power yours... That was Danna! That was her voice. It wasn't an image of some parable this time. She was speaking directly to him, but he didn't understand.

H-how? Even his thoughts were sluggish as he tried to hold on against the overwhelming pain.

Devour it...

Devour? He didn't know how to do that. Before he could ask for more, his internal energy was broken like a tsunami against a dam and it washed away his skill. Only a dim light remained.

She was still with him. Watching him.

He had to succeed.

A vague memory of his first battles as a slime came to him and he focused on that feeling. He rallied his will, his internal energy, his very soul - whatever parts of him would obey his command- and he flexed. The torrent of quicksilver in his body slowed for the first time and he felt like this had to be what Danna had wanted him to do.

So he compressed just as he had when he was a slime. Every millimeter that he could push it, the slower the quicksilver became. It fought against him, unwilling to be taken down by him for even a moment. If Gi focused on the parts of it in his lungs, then it burst out from his blood instead. It refused to be controlled, but Gi would not be denied.

He was the master. He had the ruthlessness of the Father and the blessing of Danna. He could not fail. Not even aware that he was screaming, he gave one final push that commanded the quicksilver to a stop. As soon as it did, that previous torrent compressed fully into ever fiber of his being.

A pulse of light shot from the small seed of light inside of him. The quicksilver shivered once and then suddenly he didn't need to hold it down any longer. The quicksilver was a part of him now just as much as his skin and muscles were part of him.

A gasp of air with [Merfolk's Blessing] made his eyes shoot open.

Another prompt came through but Gi was busy taking in the sweet nectar of life from the muddied waters around him. Elizabeth floated off to the side, simply watching him through the gore that she'd caused killing so many of the Pikes after she'd defended his opportunity.

Good work. Elizabeth's dull inflection rang through his mind. You might just be able to pay me back before you die now.

Gi touched his paw to his face and tried to swim upward, but a lancing pain in his leg stopped him. He looked down to see the claw mark from fighting the Dragon Pike Progenitor. It didn't look as bad as he remembered, but a groove still carved down his leg and dribbled blood out into the water.

I can stem the bleeding for another silver. Gi looked over at Elizabeth in exasperation, but as greedy as she was, he didn't have a choice. It would be stupid to die from blood loss after that. After a nod, Elizabeth drifted over and touched it with her finger. Ice caked over it and it stopped the small cloud of blood that had been escaping. His robe kept off the chill and he was glad he still had it.

As he caught his breath thinking he could relax, his whole body suddenly constricted. His paws locked in a rictus and his back arched unnaturally. Vaguely through the renewed pain, he saw Elizabeth swim backwards. The quicksilver that he thought he'd conquered twisted. Even though he didn't move from his locked position, his entire body and soul were wrung out like dirty dish rag and filth ejected from every pore on his skin.

Deep black and yellow filth poured out of him, much of it not even being filtered into the water, and simply sliding or sticking to his fur. He still breathed somehow in the water, but it was not a blessing. The small bit that did filter in the water tasted foul and he immediately coughed causing another round of pain in his locked body.

Just as he didn't think his body could handle any more, it did one final squeeze and his body relaxed. The pain was gone. He felt... good. In fact, he felt better than good. He swam away from the filth and his body felt lighter and more flexible. It only took a single shimmy to swim further than he had before. What had happened? His prompts appeared, answered his unconscious thought.

You've developed a Unique Constitution!

You've gained: Quicksilver Body

Aspect: Water

You've unlocked insight into the Divine Mirror!

A unique Constitution? He did feel different, but he hadn't expected this. Was this what he could expect from a Unique Opportunity? He tried to examine his body visually, but he was still covered in filth. Pulling out his rock, he scrubbed his entire body down, moving periodically to get the rest of the filth off. Elizabeth simply moved away from him and started to investigate the crystal in the center of the encampment.

Once he'd gotten himself fairly clean, he looked again and was astonished. His fur now had streaks of silver at various points around his body, but his arm that had been ruined by the rampant Eldritch energies in the Child Stage was completely silver and that streak ran all the way up his shoulder and onto the bottom of his cheek. A quick check of his stats didn't show anything different, but he felt more agile and even a bit stronger he thought. He didn't have a good way to check the latter though.

What else did his new Quicksilver Body entail? What was a Water Aspect? Also what the hell was the Divine Mirror? Elizabeth had mentioned that before as well. He took a deep breath, pushing water out forcefully. Before he did anything else or checked his other prompts, he needed to give proper thanks to Danna. As he drifted there, he churned internal energy into [Danna's Conduit], took his Focus necklace in his paw, and prayed.

Danna. You've saved me again and gifted me such a great boon because of it. Thank you. I'll strive to be a monster that you can be proud of. I'll be as strong and ruthless to my enemies as I am compassionate towards my clan. Praise be to Danna.

He hovered there continuing to send internal energy to [Danna's Conduit], but she didn't respond - not that he expected her to. Still, it felt right to do it. After roughly five minutes had passed, he finally let the energy still. A glance told him Elizabeth hadn't stopped her inspection of the crystal, but Gi figured that she'd more than earned whatever else she wanted from here. Instead, he checked the prompts he'd missed.

Through slaughter, you've cleaved another's path from the looms of fate. Its broken followers now hunt you for their shattered potential, but that potential is now your own.

Foundational Event Task complete!

100 Soul Orbs rewarded. Current Soul Orbs: 109.

Having defeated the leader of an encampment, you can claim their encampment as your own. Would you like to claim it?

Gi didn't really understand what benefit an encampment would have nor if it meant the domed buildings here, but it was always better to have more, right?

Yes.

The crystal at the center of the encampment pulsed. As it passed through him, he felt a resonance seep into his body and he shivered, feeling like all his secrets were laid bare.

Adjusting environment for new encampment leader...

A thick beam of light shot out from the crystal in a tight sphere. This time as it did, it dragged all of the water with it. The blood, bodies, and filth from his upgraded constitution all shot past him until a dome of air blossomed all around the short buildings. Both the water and the light passed harmlessly through Gi and Elizabeth. The two of them dropped the short distance to the bricked floor of the encampment. Elizabeth turned a sour look towards him.

"I made the price too cheap."

"Sorry?," Gi said, realizing that he could talk now.

"I'm looting the buildings."

Gi didn't argue with her, taking it as a small price to prevent her from murdering him and taking his new encampment. As he marveled at the rich red of the buildings, he wondered how he could bring Poe here. Would his [Merfolk's Blessing] work? As he checked it, his eyes grew wide. It had been upgraded! As far as he could tell, it worked the exact same, but it was completely passive now. He didn't need to activate it to breathe underwater. What else had changed? He pulled up his full sheet.

Name: Gi

Race: Gang Otter (Head Priest - E)

Job: Cleric

Level: 0

Stats

Strength - F+

Agility - D (Capped)

Vitality - E

Wisdom - D (Capped)

Traits:

Intelligence(Inherited)

Rally

Trait Skills:

* Bishop (D)

* Danna's Conduit (D)

* Concealing Light (D)

* Celerity (E+)

* Divine Bolt (E)

* Merfolk's Blessing (E+)

Skills

* Religion (E)

* Light Armor (E)

* Persuasion (E)

Nothing else looked different, but Merfolk's Blessing had gone up a half grade. Even his stats hadn't changed, though he knew that he was both faster and stronger. What did that mean? Was it something to do with the Divine Reflection? He tried to decide if it was worth whatever Elizabeth would charge him, but he put the mystery aside for now. He wanted to explore his encampment starting with the crystal.