If Dyani noticed the drops of pinkish sweat beading on her skin, she didn’t show any sign of it, but Pikawon’s nose easily picked up the faint scent of blood.
He cursed himself for letting that formless through his defenses. He’d held back enough mana for a single use of Sundering Claw in case of an emergency, but that had led to that very same emergency.
All their preparation for leaving Root Perch had been predicated on traveling through the wilds between cities, not this half-real, magical dimension nonsense.
When Dyani, Nymin, and he had resolved to traverse the mana node, he’d seen it as a clean break from all of their problems. What issues could follow them into an entirely new dimension? Sure, he’d done some general grumbling, but it hadn’t meant anything. He’d complain even if they were going to a dimension of carefree vacations, where monsters never spawned and experience flowed like water.
He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. If they hadn’t been so rushed, he would’ve realized that such a place would have problems of its own, problems that had no qualms about jumping on them before they got their bearings.
The only potentially good news was the native that had greeted them upon their arrival. Curious Seeker of the Hidden had proven a reliable, if frustrating, guide, happy to answer their questions as long as they worded them correctly.
Pikawon was more wary of them than anything else. At least the formless were easy to disperse and up front about attacking them. An enemy wiley enough to worm its way into their trust could do far more damage, especially since it clearly considered itself superior to the formless, which were already proving themselves to be a major problem.
There was only one thing to do, get stronger, strong enough that no one could hurt him or his friend. She was strong too, arguably stronger even than him with the versatility her talent gave her. He had no problem admitting that, especially after watching her light up that Evolved False Hydra like a candelabra.
But she was far too trusting. They’d barely been here a few hours and she was already treating Curious as part of the team. Pikawon told himself he wasn’t jealous. Sure, Dyani was his only friend, and she and her mother were the only people he’d any significant interactions with after he escaped the Tree Beast Lord and took up residence in the city sewers. And as aloof and sarcastic as he acted, he would be devastated to lose her.
But none of those were the issue at hand. That was Dyani’s overly trusting nature. Even if Curious didn’t become a concern, they were sure to meet others who would be, people who she’d invite easily into her life or their team, heedless of his concerns.
He would just have to advance enough that any betrayal would do little to no damage before he exacted his retribution.
With his goals in mind, his next step was obvious, but that didn’t mean he liked it.
Pikawon pulled off his own backpack, opening an outer pouch which squelched unpleasantly. He stared down at the collection of monster meat, everything that had appeared halfway edible in the splattered mess of Evolved False Hydra that had coated the site of their arrival.
Dyani was already filled to the brim with experience after slaying that monster, but Pikawon wasn’t, thanks to his level 2 talent.
* Name: Pikawon Billbrook
* Level: 3.1
* Experience: 46%
* Attributes:
* Mana Capacity: 0
* Mana Regeneration: 0
* Magic Power: 0
* Strength: 1
* Speed: 1
* Endurance: 0
* Vitality: 0
* Mind: 1
* Toughness: 1
* Perception: 0
* Talents:
1. Any skills you absorb are altered to make you the perfect predator. Your body is altered based on absorbed skills.
2. You can absorb experience by consuming the flesh of defeated creatures. Experience gained is dramatically reduced if you did not participate in the creature’s defeat. You cannot absorb experience from any other source.
* Talent Skills:
* None
* Skill Slots:
* Bestial Instincts (Unique)
* (Transformed from Enhancing Hearing)
* Type: Passive, Perception
* Affinity: Beast, Mental
* Range: Self
* Cost: None
* Effect: Provides a small, passive boost to all senses. Increases the strength and clarity of predatory instincts. The effects of this skill scale with Perception.
* Sundering Claw (Unique)
* (Transformed from Slash)
* Type: Attack, Melee
* Affinity: Beast, Blade
* Range: Self
* Cost: Low Mana
* Effect: Concentrates cutting energy around any part of the user’s body that is naturally sharp.
* Twin Fang Cauldron (Unique)
* (Transformed from Acid Spray)
* Type: Crafting, Affliction, Poison
* Affinity: Beast, Poison
* Range: Self
* Cost: Variable Stamina
* Effect: Allows the cultivation of alchemical substances within your body. You are immune to any toxins you produce.
Pikawon had largely overcome his aversion to eating monster meat, but there was a distinct difference between a properly prepared steak and this mess, which was so damaged it was nearly liquid. The only reason he was even willing to consider eating this was that any of the sewage that had gone through the node with them had been absorbed directly into the subdomain, likely because it aligned so closely to its decay affinity.
That, and the fact that keeping himself and Dyani alive would likely take more power than he currently had.
“What is that?” Curious asked, leaning over to get a better look.
“Never you mind.” Pikawon leaned away, giving the spirit a warning look. “Keep an eye on Dyani and tell me if anything changes.”
“Anything?”
“Anything that would be cause for concern. And let me know if her order levels drop below half of what they were when we met.” Pikawon could already tell that having to word everything so exactly was going to get old fast.
***
On the whole, Curious was enjoying themselves. They’d learned a number of new things from these humans.
Some of their behaviors appeared contradictory, such as the concept of asking questions that you weren’t supposed to answer versus other questions that required more information than what was strictly requested, but they were sure they would figure out the nuances in time.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Curious didn’t think that mostly human Pikawon wanted to talk to them right now. He was busy eating bits of the snake flesh that had been transported alongside them. Curious wasn’t an export on human facial expressions and body language by any means, but given the sheer amount of facial movements and full body shudders were any indication, he was really enjoying it.
Eating was not so foreign a concept to a spirit as some humans might assume. After all, the evolving formless was consuming energy to grow stronger right now, which was similar in principle, but with less mashing, swallowing, and internal acids.
Some more advanced spirits could and did eat, most notably those from the subdomain of hunger, somewhere Curious had never seen, and didn’t plan to.
Then again, they hadn’t been planning on being here either. The mission they’d been assigned by their Sovereign, Anthology, had come as a complete surprise, and even after receiving it, Decay hadn’t been an expected waypoint.
They turned their attention to human Dyani, who appeared to be having a much easier time directing the release of her order into the feeding formless than she had sealing it off entirely.
Curious had never seen this type of unorganized, wild evolution occur, but if it worked as theirs had, soon the chrysalis would hatch and release some form of lesser spirit.
The Life domain was notoriously messy, nothing like this would’ve been allowed to happen amidst the rigid organization of the Knowledge Domain. Spirits like Curious Seeker of the Hidden were gathered from formless energy, forged according to standardized blueprints by master soul smiths, and sent to their assignments. Anything as untidy as a naturally forming spirit would be carefully studied and categorized, before being recycled into some less unseemly that served a specific purpose..
Curious had been created to serve the Allmind, a massive construct of interlocking spirits that served as the receptacle of the sum total of the domain’s knowledge. For countless cycles, they had experienced unmoving, blissful communion with their siblings, each of their tendril transmitting information to and from a different spirit.
The news that they were being reassigned to gather intelligence alone, in the Fire Domain of all places, had been so shocking they’d nearly injured themselves with their spasm of horror.
As for the knowledge they were sent to gather, it was vital beyond all reason and more precious than any jewel.
And they had no idea what it was.
Curious flexed the knotted tendrils that held the severed tangle that lay protected in the center of their mass.
They wriggled in remembered pain at the memory of the blade of burning energy, slicing off those precious tendrils, cutting off all access to the memories they contained. Whether by supreme skill, or luck, the fire domain’s guards had removed the exact tendrils that contained the information Curious had been sent to gather.
They’d escaped their pursuers, for now, and had even managed to hold on to their missing pieces, but the details of their mission, and whatever they’d uncovered were lost to them.
Curious didn’t even remember what route they’d taken across the fundament from the knowledge to the fire domain, or how they were supposed to get back.
So far they’d traveled from fire to air via the subdomain of smoke, then from air to life via the subdomain of breath. They’d had a couple close calls with their pursuers various fire spirits, but not since they’d entered the chaotic mess that was the life domain.
Instead of having a sensible number of subdomains like knowledge, life had dozens, and their influence reached out to connect with every other domain, serving as a useful, if chaotic, crossroads to the fundament.
So far, Curious’s gambit had paid off, but they were still cautious. They didn’t dare travel through the easiest border crossing where knowledge met life directly. If there was anywhere enemy agents would be waiting for them, it would be there.
No, they would take a more circuitous route. As for which, that entirely depended on how susceptible human Dyani and mostly human Pikawon were to suggestion.
***
Dyani was the first to notice the formless finish its evolution, being the closest and most tangled with its energies. The first sign was when the creature stopped accepting the flow of order she was directing to it. The next was something everybody noticed. The blue-white chrysalis crackled as spiderweb cracks ran all over its surface.
Pikawon and Curious rushed over to her, the human leaping and the spirit slithering like a many tailed snake. She noticed a smear of blood at the corner of Pikawon’s mouth, but didn’t have a chance to ask about it before Curious confirmed what was happening.
“The spirit has completed its evolution. It will emerge shortly.”
“Finally,” Dyani said, sagging back in relief.
“Will it be dangerous?” Pikawon asked.
“The formless is evolving into a lesser spirit. It will not have the intelligence of a named spirit, such as myself.”
“But will it be dangerous? Animals might not be as smart as people, but a wolf can still tear out your throat.” Pikawon made a clawing motion to illustrate the point.
“I cannot accurately predict the spirit’s form or abilities. Undirected evolution such as this is determined by a number of factors, such as the source material, nature of the provided order and ambient mana conditions.”
Dyani wasn’t too worried. Curious had been honest and helpful so far. If they were in any real danger, they would warn them. And assuming the formless evolved into something like a non-magical animal, like the ongoing argument suggested, she had faith they could handle it, even without mana.
She let her gaze drift over the smooth, white walls of the cave. For the first time, she noticed another round hole, like the one they’d entered through, but leading only to a craggy wall of dark stone. Below the symmetrical holes were a set of two, smaller holes close together, and even further down the white stone was segmented into a row of what looked to be…
“Teeth?” Dyani muttered, not loud enough to interrupt Curious and Pikawon’s argument. Like one of hidden picture puzzles, as soon as she realized what she was looking at, it was impossible to see anything else. They were camped in an enormous, humanoid skull.
She shivered, hoping that it was merely something generated by the subdomain, and not a real skull from an actual living thing. She was all for unusual and interesting sights, but the idea of towering figures the size of the Mountain Oak squashing her like a bug without even noticing was firmly outside her comfort zone.
She resolved to ask Curious about it, but now was not the time, as the last of the chrysalis fell away to reveal the monster that the formless had evolved into.
***
“Ahhhh,” Dyani cooed. She held the small blue bear cub into her chest, any and all worry over camping in a skull banished from her thoughts.
“Don’t hold it. Get rid of it,” Piakown said, reaching for the bear.
She slapped his hand away.
“Don’t you dare. This is the best thing to happen since we got here.”
Curious wriggled in affront, then suspiciously took Pikawon’s side, despite the ongoing argument they’d been having until that point.
“Pikawon is correct. The spirit may still be dangerous. You should remove it from the cave, or throw it through the mana node.”
Dyani looked down at the new life in her arms. While the spirit’s form was closest to a bear cub, it had no hair, and its body was divided into interlocking segments, like an articulated children’s toy. Its body was a deeper blue than the crystallis had been, with closed eyes and a pair of rounded ears, and no other facial features. Instead of pliable, warm flesh, its body was made of something like hard, cool stone, though it was lighter than any stone she knew of.
The cub stirred, rolling in Dyani’s grip. It blinked open large, black, pupil-less eyes, which stared up at her.
“We can’t keep it,” Pikawon said, preempting Dyani’s next words.
“But it's so precious. We can even teach it to fight.” Dyani demonstrated this by setting the spirit in her lap and moving each of its arms in a few punching motions, with accompanying sound effects.
“It is unlikely this spirit will provide any notable assistance in combat.” Curious reached out its tendrils to take the cub, but Dyani was having none of that. She batted them away.
“Is it too dangerous or not dangerous enough? Because it can’t be both.”
That caught Curious up short, and they leaned back and began to hum in consideration.
Pikawon wasn’t so easily dissuaded by anything so banal as logic. He crouched down in front of her and the cub and glared down at it.
“Dyani, we’re far from home, in a foreign environment, with no idea how to get back our world, let alone anywhere specific. We can’t just-”
The bear cub reached out and touched Pikawon’s nose, halting him in his tracks.
They locked gazes. Pikawon’s expression shifted through concern, irritation, then eventually, tired resignation. The cub didn’t so much as blink.
“Shatter you,” Pikawon swore at the thing, pulling away, rising to his feet and kicking a rock, which bounced off the bone wall of the skull cave, forcing him to dodge. He muttered to himself too quietly for Dyani to hear, but she assumed most of it was swearing, so she covered the cub’s ears.
It turned out that Curious’s hearing was better than hers.
“I do not know many of these words.”
“That’s probably for the best.”