Basti POV

'Weak… They're all so damn weak! Will nobody stand in my way?!' She bellowed a roar as she slashed at the air, a wave of shadows darker than darkness itself cutting through the air as it shattered another wave of bone.

The danger was overstated, though the horde of skeletons soon became an indistinguishable mass of bones. The creaking, clattering cacophony of calcium crashing around the cavern filled Basti's ears.

But it didn't matter to her; the bones bounced harmlessly against the cowl of shadows that oozed off of her with her stride.

While she was not getting tired, she was getting annoyed. Smashing everything was not working fast enough. She also wasn't getting any more mana after destroying the few undead despite how many skulls of the skeletons that have been crushed beneath her formidable paws and claws.

Basti slowed to a stop, standing in the center of the cavernous room. She took a moment and examined the situation. Though as she stood there, all the scattered bones began clattering and shifting. The sea of off-white being swept up and tossed into the air, the world's worst army of thundering xylophones violating her ears as she got into a defensive stance.

In moments she found herself in the eye of a maelstrom of calcium. Her eyes darted side to side as she tried to find an opening. Suddenly, she noticed a gleam of purple in all the white, and she knew she had found what she was looking for.

'You're mine!' She roared out over the deafening rattling echoing in her ears. She crouched low, body shifting and morphing back down to her previous smaller, sleeker build. However, the viscous shadows did not leave her yet as they trailed up her back and shoulders, unfurling into a pair of ebony wings that dripped with contempt as she charged forward. Taking up into the air, she hopped, lunged, and pounced over the storm of bones with ease she's never known.

In the next instant, she snatched a skull out of the storm. Its glimmering purple eyes stared blankly ahead as Basti cracked it with her teeth, but it did not shatter. The bones stopped dead in the air before rattling the final notes of their chorus as they crashed down to the ground in defeat.

With a flap of her wings of shadow, she descends with natural grace, touching down with a slow walk as she holds the skull of the one controlling this room. With a deep breath her wings melted into nothingness as she processed her share of the mana it let off, and in doing so, she absorbed a flash of its memories, getting to reflect in its final moments.… Though she couldn't help but feel confused. In its final moments, all she could tell was that it was grateful to her?

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Vitmori POV

Those memories I got from that skull were so odd, in that there were only two notable things in recent memory. First was seeing the teens Isaak and Trisha, and then next was the fight with Basti. But as for anything beyond that? Nothing, nothing but the empty darkness of waiting for any stimulus for a stretch of time I couldn't quite comprehend.

Regardless, the second room has been cleared for the moment, and after removing all the bones, the chamber was totally empty. For now, we'll keep an eye on things; if the room repopulates, I'll have to devise some countermeasures. If they don't, I'll be sending in a scouting team further inside to probe the other dangers within.

In other news, Basti has some new tricks! I couldn't watch the fight myself once she passed some kind of threshold, but I caught the lasting impressions from the memories of the skull that commanded that room. I'm consistently blown away by her growth and in awe at how she rises to every challenge I put before her. It's moments like this that I'm thankful she wandered into this worthless pebble's life.

For her accomplishment, I decided that she could freely determine what should be done with the mana she gathered today.

Even as Basti sat reverently before my core, she couldn't help but cast an anxious glance back at her cubs, who were once again watching the outside with eagerness.

In the end, she respectfully requests the mana be divided amongst her cubs so that they'd be more able to defend themselves in case anything were to happen.

I couldn't fault her caution; after all, it kept me alive through the worst situations in my old life.

I call the cubs over, the four bumbling over each other with eagerness. They're so adorable as they do their very best to mimic their mother while sitting at attention. However, the red-furred and blue-furred cubs, in particular, couldn't sit still to save their lives as they fidgeted in anticipation.

'Now, boys and girls, your Momma has worked hard to keep us safe. Now, it's time for you to start on the path of your development. With this gift of mana, you'll be able to start heading outside, so make sure you're all on your best behavior.' Despite my stern warning, I can't help but let my amusement and adoration for these feline munchkins show in my voice.

The cubs, in response, are all now fidgeting and murring with enthusiasm as the anticipation of finally getting to go out just hit them like a bolt of lightning. Even Basti couldn't help but chuff with approval and amusement at their energy.

The mana I had gotten from that one skull gave me a ring of mana swirling around within my core. Now I managed to portion it out among the cubs, slowly filling their bodies with the mana as I watched it fill them and course through their veins like blood. Soon enough, it gathered and ignited their manahearts, taking the faint glimmers that were there before and giving them each a vibrant little flame that glowed with the energy of their youth.

Now what was once an energetic bundle of cubs became a sleepy cuddle pile as their bodies worked hard to adjust to the influx of mana.

Basti came over to affectionately nose each of them before carrying them off to the sleeping area and lying with them as they got ready to grow up.