Singing Mountain.

We contemplate the decision we reached to muzzle the system from giving us easy answers to earn them ourselves. It still feels right even if the system’s lack of presence is felt keenly, nevertheless. There should be a solution that will satisfy us regardless. The more we sift through even the limited access we have to the system, the more the [Enlightenment] feels like a pale echo.

There were paths to power, enhancements, and spells, but it was so limited in application. The murmurs of millions of conversations that took place within our arteries, veins and hollowed out cavities never had the depth of nuance that our short exposure here has provided. We need something like our own mind delving into its mysteries.

We meditate for a purpose, heedless of deadlines in that grove. Watched by those without will, without threat yet burdened by mind. We focus our shifting thoughts, shaping our directive and keeping in mind all those snippets of conversation, the background hum of knowledge we were privy to, alongside the instincts in us that drive us from beyond our point of views. All the while our body continues to amass greater size and our skeleton shifts to better protect our new temple organ.

The thought, when it crosses our minds, causes us to ensure that there are proper acoustics within that space. Our full body may never be appropriate for a bee’s dance, but we could learn some sinuous rhythms with our necks to emulate something translatable. And the delightful pun of a temple organ offering complimentary music to our choir is something we cannot pass up.

It is in that relaxed and joyful state that our task is completed. We feel it locked into place and only after it does, as we are coming back to ourselves that we notice how time has passed. We have spent days here, almost as unmoving as those statues of false corpses.

[Sapience (Multithreading), Gobble, and Host linked node: Deep Mind Acquired! Ponder]

And it is with that completion and acknowledgement from the system that we get our first answer, far faster than we expected, but spells are merely stable forms that the system expresses, and part of us knew this all along. {Statues bound by chains of fate. Brought to life yet denied freedom. False prisons collapse without their guest. The tour is complete.}

The sweeping tide of euphoria and rage nearly blinded us with its intensity. Any careful slowness we were taking in growing ourselves lost in the tsunami of hydrenaline that cascaded through us with our [Deep Mind]’s revelation. But we are not a hatchling, nor a beast, nor a man; we are a monster contained and controlled by our monumental will.

An orchestral breath settles us as we turn to look once more upon those lost souls, those newborns in this pitiless infinity, cursed by fate to be cast away, unknown by any but us. At our attention, they begin to stir, roused from their pallid stupor, “{No. You will not be forgotten. Not be cast aside by some quirk of your creation.} I- I- I {gave you life! And we shall ensure you get your fair chance.}”

With our body yet visibly growing from the overflow of the aimless chemicals raging through us, we call upon the pillars of our new foundation. Deep Mind to conduct the information from the abyss, Graveflesh to anchor our physicality and numb us to the rapid changes, Temple of Sinew to focus our angle of defiance, Fog of Breathlessness to reconnect with that moment of creation- that choice we made.

One with Nature harmonizes us with this changed land, Devouring Cycle then siphons yet more energy into the mix, until it culminates, and we unleash Call of the Damned to blanket our will upon the world. Words are pulled from within us unbidden alongside the quiet yet resonating support of the hive within us.

“{It’s a lemon tree melody that’s life.

Trying to make tunnels meet,

But you’re chained in the darkness till you die.

We’ll take you down the only rivers we’ve sailed down.

You know the one that takes you the cities

Where all the waters blend, yeah.}”

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“{Hey~ You~! Sun’s come up and there’s work to do.

The Light shines upon all that’s mine.

May it scour away all not divine.

Everybody sing, Hey~ You~!

Monsters swarming from down below.

You’d better run away and not be slow.

Because We’re Light’s final hammer blow.}”

We keep singing and as we do we see cracks form in the sky from the system barrier that surrounded this place when we first awoke. They expand and writhe within a stillness we cannot yet comprehend, and which hurts us to witness. When it feels as though we’d break from just one more moment of being subjected to whatever is happening above and all around us, we feel a clink within ourselves.

A not sound like a clock having had its final piece assembled and activated, now ticking away with uncanny precision and inexorable purpose. And with that as a buoy for us in these final moments, the crescendo sails forth and the cracks in the walls blink. They bend and fold behind where they used to be, as if they never were.

Yet the change is as obvious as it is momentous. A new quality to the creatures in this place, to the land upon which they roam, the trees and plants where they make their homes and hunting grounds. The very air itself has transformed.

[Firstborn Mantle, Undeath, Sapience (Multithreading), and Host linked node: Elysian Fields Acquired! Peaceful afterlife]

[New Quest available: [Domain.] Manifest Destiny]

[Domain quest progress: Tranquil Glades established. Welcome home]

[Tutorial quest progress: 2 of 2; Attain your species’ tier! Your juice has fermented. Go forth]

The gravity of the events crashes into us, the burden on our psyche we couldn’t fully articulate until our Deep Mind could speak has finally eased. Yet there is more strain on us, the open wound that was [Will Beyond Death] surely having triggered in those moments before our success. Having access to a skill with that sort of power is like brawling with a mirror beast, it leaves wounds in its wake, win or lose.

Deep breaths of the newly enriched air go a long way to easing our weary minds and soothing our aching body. The subtle scents of sweet decay, and the beginning of a new cycle of strange growth are almost intoxicating in their complexity. {Beginning sensory filtration. Domain connection overwhelming ordinary processing.}

We can focus once more. We first notice that the heaps of once still bodies have mostly cleared out. There are still a few that seem to have chosen this as their nest, but most of the creatures have left. We direct our examination towards a bear that chose to stay, shaping our intent more carefully this time.

[Noble Zombear; tier 2 monster, moderate threat; G: Nirvana]

We rumble our pleasure at the discovery of new information. This creature has been drastically changed yet again. Now classified as something noble with a more suitable Guide than the bindings of the tutorial. Also rather interesting, it is no longer described as a ‘base’ creature, we suppose that could mean it too has ripened.

Also, and most importantly, it is once again classifying as some modulation of threat. Some of the raw information we can sift through from our Domain tells us of the devotion this ursine has of us, but the system now recognizes them as independent.

Satisfied by the apparent success our of project and content to rest for a time to give our soul an opportunity to recover, we peruse our own changes. We’ve grown larger once more, closer in mass to a moose we encountered back in our initial shakedown foray. To us, there is still a noticeable humpback where the hive has mostly relocated, but the layers of bone and hide feel adequate now. Sure, solid goring or a piercing charge could rupture and damage the honeycomb, but they chose to make their home within a war beast. The various airway sphincters seem to be working and a sub-lung seems to have formed to aid in ventilation.

{Hydra biology and kinesthesia unnatural. Spontaneous growth and adaptation illogical.} Hmm, those are interesting annotations. The flood of information we can immerse ourselves in from [Elysian Fields] mostly consists of outer awarenesses. Even if we dive more deeply into an individual experience, they seem extraordinarily unaware of their personal details.

We will have to keep in mind the possible disconnect other beings may have with themselves… and the likelihood that would be further exasperated in communication. Our musings are redirected as we taste a chill in the air, a different flavor from the touch of the grave now so prevalent in this place.

We ping a query to our Deep Mind and it responds quickly, {Multiple unaffiliated creatures on approach. Six in total- Correction: five. Vast majority of presence from trailing member. No hostility detected.} So, brother wolf has found themselves a pack then? Good for him.

“{Neice Bear. Darling Queen. We are soon to have some guests from our old life. It is our hope that things may proceed smoother than they did back then, but your lives are more important. Defend yourselves proudly, while we shall endeavor to promote a better outcome.}”

After our pronouncement, the noble zombear raises herself up into a seated position from the relaxed sprawl she was in before. Still calm, but now ready to choose between fighting or flight if necessary. The gander she gave us when she moved had significantly more depth than we would have expected from an animal. The changes we’ve wrought are far-reaching indeed.