Vitmori POV

'Oururu? Hey there little buddy, what's going on?' I'm getting a little worried, and it's been like half an hour since I noticed he had just been sitting there in a daze. However, when I look closer at him, I'm fascinated by what I see.

He's circulating the mana throughout his body in a way that a warrior would, but taking advantage of his unique shape, the mana is instead acting like a mana ring. He's efficiently using what he has with little waste, but what is he using it for?

Almost suddenly, Oururu stirs, shaking his head and blinking a few times as if collecting himself. It's only then that I realize he was more here than he was moments ago.

'Finally! Hey there buddy, what's up? Everything alright?' I ask him with proper concern.

Upon hearing my voice in his mind, I watched him jump with surprise. I almost feel a little bad, but he makes such an amusing-looking confused expression with the end of his tail hanging limply out of his mouth. He then looked up at me, surprisingly not at my core, but directly where my perspective was on him. 'Oh? Can you see me then? Neat, now how about you tell me what you've been burning your mana for.' I ask, a small smile on my imaginary face as I watch him patiently.

Oururu gazed intently at me with his serpentine eyes, and I could feel the thoughts swirling around in an anxious tangle as he watched me. I shift my perspective back around my core as I look down at him again. Oururu, in turn, followed me as he moved around before settling in a loose coil and flicking his tongue in contemplation. After a few more moments, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, and in moments I saw impressions of memories and images flickering around my imaginary mind.

'Hm… For a homebody who prefers to stay around my chamber rather than be out and about, you've sure been busy.' Spiders, bogs, and monsters in the basement? Don't threaten me with a good time.

So there are more things to worry about than just my mountain and the Haven. It seems the list is just growing day by day, and it hasn't even been a month yet. I'm still not exactly sure what I'm doing here, but I think I'm doing good enough just figuring things out. You would think there would be some kind of tutori-

Ping! Ping! Ping! Pin-

Almost suddenly, it's like my senses are overwhelmed as numbers and screens, panels, and notifications flood my field of view. No matter where I look, there's something to look at. It's almost like turning on your phone after being spammed with texts, yet much more invasive since I can't turn it off for some reason.

Welco-

Congra-

Vassal obt-

Territory lv-

Set Tra-

Vassal obt-

Mold eart-

Carve sto-

Aspect Devel-

Souls Devou-

Gem gro-

Metallu-

Mana manip-

Soul manip-

Core lv-

Souls Devou-

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Aspec-

Before I could start reading all the stuff as it appeared before me, it all suddenly disappeared. I can't help but take a metaphorical step back after that overload and then the sudden absence of information as I look around again. In the next moment, a single screen appears before me as text rolls out on it.

Good work so far Candidate; you've excelled beyond predicted expectations.

I can hear a familiar voice echoing within my mind, speaking as the text appeared. 'It's certainly been a while since I've heard you.' I responded, not exactly sure what was happening right now.

The screen goes blank as more words come down. A system would only serve as shackles for someone as intuitive as you. Keep growing, keep learning, and keep surviving.

'Oh? Well, thanks, I guess?'

The screen blanks again before continuing. For your efforts, I'll grant you some information.

'Alright, I certainly won't say no to that.'

The screen refreshes once more as the voice echoes within me. You are the only one from your world here, but you are not the only candidate.

'I see; okay, that doesn't really affect me right now; what else?'

Yet again, the screen clears as more text slides on in. There are only four years until the first calamity. Make sure you are ready for it.

'Well, shit… That's annoyingly vague, but I appreciate the warning.'

The screen vanishes, and I think it's almost over before I hear the voice resound within me, and it feels decidedly more feminine than earlier. I'll keep checking in on you. In the end, you will never be alone here.

They say that, but I do feel a strange emptiness that wasn't noticeable before once our connection was severed. Though in the next moment, I hear a concerned hissing sound, and I realize I must've been totally zoned out with all that weird stuff that just happened.

'Ah, sorry about that, Oururu. My mind was suddenly elsewhere for a while there. Now then, what did you want to do about all this?' I asked as I looked down at him.

He was still watching me curiously, and his head tilted ever so slightly at a perfect 45° angle while his tongue flicked a couple of times.

'Oh, don't give me that. You were zoned out for over an hour, and you're telling me I can't do it for a few minutes?' I retort with some vague amusement.

Despite lacking shoulders, Oururu just gave me a shrug as he watched me. Though I could feel his mind whirling with ideas and thoughts as he gazed intently at me.

'I see, so you encountered resistance with that sight of yours, and you want to go kick its ass? Fine, you have my permission. Go for it, little buddy.' If he wants to step up to the plate, I have no problem with it.

Oururu flicks his tongue once more before offering a scaly smile of thanks as he slips away. He seemingly hesitates at the entrance to my chamber before slithering forward with a hardened resolve.

Oururu POV

He made his way down the mountain like he's done many times before. But instead of hunting for a meal, he's out here slithering for a fight. Though he was already regretting telling Vitmori he wanted to go by himself to deal with the issue, and he also knew he couldn't just turn around after a declaration like that.

Through all his internal fretting, Oururu didn't even realize he was already in front of the cave entrance towards where the threat was. It… It looked bigger when he was right in front of it. Even if he was a whole seven feet of scales and muscle, he really only lifted his head a couple of feet off the ground. Taking a deep breath, he lets out a slow, hissing sigh before slithering forward again. He had someone to take down, and he wasn't about to let Basti take the spotlight again.

The caverns were eerily silent, devoid of even natural life. It was almost as if every last ounce of mana and vital energy was drained from this place. Oururu flicked his tongue into the air, tasting only stale rot as he approached the threshold Basti had crossed before.

He felt… Well, he felt anxious for one. To his eyes, there was a physical barrier that dripped with noxious purple fumes. With another flick of his tongue, Oururu could taste that this place was where death came to be forgotten.

With a shiver, he pushed forward and crossed the threshold. A chill was sent down the length of his body as he made his way through. It wasn't until the very tip of his tail crossed that he felt a sinking feeling within his very soul, his connection to Vitmori being cut off as he felt utterly alone, but only for a moment. All too suddenly, the air was suffocating to his senses; the total weight of the presence stopping his sight from peering into here earlier was now watching his every move.

Oururu pushed on, and the more the presence watched him, the more Oururu could tell that it wasn't the source of the stale mana that hung in the air.

Crossing the room with the skeleton storm Basti battled, he could see that there was no change or even attempt to restore this room to what it once was. The room, like the rest of this place, was just dead.

It isn't long until he's slithering through the next passageway, this way much longer and even winding as he begins descending deeper below the earth from where he entered. The pathway was littered with traps, dangers, and snares, yet there was no danger. At some point, Oururu even went out of his way to trigger and set off these traps, yet all he could sense were the wisps of their intent, dull clicks of mechanisms, and the final whither of the cords of snares as they failed to perform their only duty.

Finally, he entered into a new chamber, the stench of filth and decay ravaging his tongue and nose as he flinched after slithering fully into the room.

The moment he entered, the room shifted, and he could feel hundreds of presences writhe in response. In the next instant, hundreds of eyes turn to look at him, their gleams of purplish reflective eyes looking him over, and he recognizes the distinct feeling behind each of them.

"They… Hunger."

After eternity passes in a moment, a mound of flesh rises from the far side of the room. It pushes up, standing on its hind legs as Oururu looks it over. The words to describe it suddenly form in his mind.

The Wretched Brood-Mother.

A throaty rumble echoes from the massive figure, and a voice that has not been heard by anyone now living calls out.

"Feeed Usss…"

With that humble request, the rats move forward in a single wave of pestilent flesh and swarm over and around Oururu, dozens of teeth become hundreds as they tear each other apart to consume him. The scent of his own flesh and blood intermingle with the rot of the rats as his body burns through his mana to recover and rebuild himself.

His senses are drowned under the overwhelming desperation of the rodents. Their hunger invades his mind and leaves no other room for thought. He knows this feeling. It was one that has haunted him since birth, and only recently has he forgotten it. Yet here he was, being consumed by it once again, though from the outside instead of within.

That's right… He's Oururu, the serpent with the hunger to consume the world. In that instant of realization, he lashes out, snatching the first rat and devouring it while it destroys him. Then it was the next rat, and the next one, and the next one, and the next.

He'll take all their hunger as his own, and he won't feed them anymore; they shall feed him!

Hours go by as the cycle repeats, again and again, consume, be consumed, consume some more, and be stripped down to the bones before devouring the next. Consume until the only hunger that could be felt was his own.

Now there was nothing left of the serpent that came in here. Oururu is a whole new being, fresh, new, and reborn in devouring the hunger of others. He rises high and tall, the length of his body now just over fifteen feet, as he looks down at the Brood Mother, who has now been dwarfed by the being of hunger before her.

She doesn't retaliate, and she doesn't even flinch. Instead, she looks up at Oururu before lowering her head in utter gratitude. Slowly taking a raspy breath, she speaks out for a final time. "Thank you for the meal." She says ever so softly before being met by Oururu's maw as he also takes on her hunger.