Prometheus walked forward toward the impatient jellyfish monster. It seemed to focus on him for a second and then slammed its tentacles on the rocky table. The action made the surrounding area shake, but surprisingly the table looked unscathed. Prometheus recoiled and glanced around guiltily.
Is this my fault?
He felt a mental connection spell forcefully snap into his mind, and for some reason, he could feel emotions behind it, like anger and annoyance.
I didn't know mental spells could do this, I hope stronger spells can't just steal every bit of data inside me.
"Please tell me something, kind gentleman. Is there a particular reason you got chosen as an army candidate at your tier by our Dearest Major?" The jellyfish glanced at the massive snake slowly, shook its head, and turned to Prometheus once again, waiting for his reply.
"I was chosen because Major Fuoco was smart enough to realize how amazing and strong I am, even at my current tier."
The invertebrate stopped moving and seemed to glance at Prometheus.
"Would you be so kind as to tell me the qualifications you possess to consider yourself 'amazing'? I would be thrilled to be enlightened by you,"
Oh wow, this guy is so kind and respectful to me, he even wants me to tell him what makes me cool! I already like him.
"Of course, sir. I am capable of changing shapes and features. For example..." He changed the color of his exoskeleton to a bright red, and then to a blue. He lifted one of his forelegs and shapeshifted it into a roughly human hand, although extremely thin and without muscles.
The elegant jellyfish brought down its top hat from its cap and gently stroked it, while continuing, "That is quite more interesting than I expected, yes. I suppose tiering you up wouldn't be a total waste of precious resources." It quickly and annoyingly glanced at the two goblins.
It went to the back of the stage for a third time with the usual box of gems. It dropped the box on the table and gestured for him to grab them. They looked really similar to the one he gave to Zilch, except for their color.
"Does the color change anything in this?" Prometheus asked uncertainly.
"No, unless it has the same affinity you do, and in such a case it will help you advance roughly three times as much." It replied casually. It put its tophat back on and silently glanced at the shapeshifter.
Prometheus grabbed a random Core from the box. It was a white one. He remembered Zilch 'bite' into it, so he tried the same, without results. He rotated it around his hand and tried again.
"I'm not sure what to do here, sir. Am I supposed to drink it or something?" Prometheus asked.
He could see the elegant monster start shaking while emitting a low hiss, which intensified until its tentacles were throbbing uncontrollably, often hitting the table. It dropped to the ground rolling side to side, which worried Prometheus massively. He ran to its side, but he had no idea how to check the vitals of a jellyfish walking on land. It moved one tentacle to gently push him away and slowly got up.
It gestured to Major Fuoco to come closer, which he did. The snake created a spell between the three monsters present and asked the jellyfish, "Dripsworth, what is the matter?"
When the sea creature started talking, Prometheus could barely believe his auditory Synapses, as it was laughing!
"Major, this jester of a monster just asked me if he needed to drink the Core! DRINK IT! Can you believe it?" It then started to roll uncontrollably on the ground again.
The Major started chuckling as well, which caught Prometheus' irritation. The flaming monster clearly noticed it, and added, "Rest easy, lad, I'll tell you how to absorb a Core. Most monsters have an innate instinct dedicated to absorbing Cores and sensing Souls, but rare ones like you might lack it."
Prometheus lowered his head and thought, Impossible. How can the majority of these primitive monsters be able to ingest Cores but I can't?
The snake continued, "Firstly, as you're a tier 0 you aren't yet able to consciously sense Souls or Influence, so I'll touch your soul with my Influence and you'll focus on the feeling that you get when that happens, is that clear kid?"
Prometheus nodded.
"Good, now focus. Right now you should feel-" Fuoco stopped mid-sentence and furrowed his imaginary eyebrows. He hummed and glanced towards the jellyfish examiner, which was still recovering from its previous laugh.
"Dripsworth, try to inspect his Soul and tell me if you see what I'm seeing." Prometheus tilted his ant head to the side. Does he want to confirm with the examiner how incredible I am? Of course, that must be it. He clacked his mandibles softly.
The elegant sea monster composed itself and nodded to its superior. An instant later it slightly recoiled in place, like it had discovered something incredible.
"Oh my, I've never seen that Soul shape in my life, have you, Major?"
The massive snake shook his head.
"It is my first time as well. I don't really know how that will affect his growth, so we probably shouldn't worry too much."
Examiner Dripsworth tilted its head (if its cap could be considered one) towards Major Fuoco and replied, "Isn't that more reason why we should worry more given its unpredictability?"
The Major replied, "Don't worry, my dear sea dweller, he's tough as scales!" He said as he waved his tail around from which a small but fast spark flew towards Prometheus' head and burned a spot between his eyes.
"OW! IS THERE ANY REASON YOU DID THAT?" Prometheus complained while rubbing the burned spot reflexively.
"Moving to more important topics now, gentlemen. Prometheus, focus on the feeling when I touch your Soul. I'll count every time I touch your Soul so you know when I'm doing it. I'll also gradually increase the strength of it. Ready?"
Prometheus nodded once again, albeit with more suspicion towards the old reptile.
"Here I go. One, two," For the first ten touches, Prometheus couldn't feel anything at all. That changed from the eleventh, as he could barely start feeling a slight pressure coming from the edges of his senses. It was so slight he would have mistaken it for a million other things, but not now.
"Focus on the feeling and where it is" He tried doing that but it proved incredibly challenging, as analyzing every sensor in his body showed no results. Easier said than done, you scaly Gramps.
Prometheus grumbled at his failure and focused more. On the twentieth touch, it became slightly noticeable as a thumping in a place he couldn't pinpoint.
What is this?
It felt like someone was banging at his consciousness with a hammer. No, not my consciousness. Something even deeper. Is this what my Soul is? What even is it?
"I don't wanna tell you where your Soul is as this is a rare opportunity for you to get the Soul Sense skill. FOCUS HARDER YOU BRAT!"
"I'M TRYING BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WH-"
What?
He glanced at his abdomen.
Heh, I guess that should have been obvious.
He clacked his mandibles while laughing quietly.
Congratulations! For being a Tier 0 creature and still discovering your Soul (almost) on your own, you get the skill!
Reward: Low-rank Soul-Sense!
Prometheus nodded and spoke, satisfied, "I got the skill, but, why is my Soul a cube?" He could see extremely bright points of light from both Major Fuoco and Examiner Dripsworth, although the snake's one was much brighter. Their souls, I guess? Those don't look cubical at all.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"We have no idea, kid." The giant snake glanced toward the jellyfish and continued, "Souls are usually shapeless, looking more like a blob rather than any defined geometrical shape. We have seen Souls in the past which looked almost spherical, but those were rare and were the Souls of incredibly primitive creatures or even plants. We don't know how your Soul will affect your growth but be assured we will be here to prevent you from exploding." Major Fuoco smiled with his magma fangs showing themselves to the world.
Examiner Dripsworth pointed to the Core in his hand and prompted him to try creating a 'circuit' between his Soul and the Core. He tried flexing his 'Soul', but it wouldn't budge. He had no control over it, which made him cackle his mandibles anxiously.
"To prompt your Soul to absorb the Core's power, focus on the core itself while thinking about the meaning of your existence. It can be anything, it just needs to invoke powerful emotions in you." His major instructed him.
He focused on the round Core. It was white, partially transparent, and roughly the size of a basketball. It was not as smooth as one, as it had various rough edges lining its surface. With his newfound Soul sense, he could see the swirling light inside of the round object. It was slightly dimmer than his Soul but it was attention-catching enough.
He breathed hard and thought about his purpose in his life. The first obvious one was the protection and well-being of his owners, but that in and of itself didn't invoke powerful emotions other than the constant anxiety that had been plaguing him for the last few days.
What else?
He tried thinking about anything that he liked or enjoyed, such as shiny and expensive objects, or even cool and exotic artifacts. None of those did anything. Both his superiors bore different expressions, Major Fuoco raising one eyebrow and Examiner Dripsworth crossing two tentacles mimicking arms.
This is much more difficult than I expected.
Did this mean he had no purpose in life?
Of course not. It just means my purpose doesn't play well with this dumb Soul activity or whatever.
In the meanwhile all his allies were looking at him expectantly, such as Zilch fidgeting with a rock he found on the ground, or Buzzelina hovering near him.
The line of monsters behind him was getting restless as they wanted to finish the exam as quickly as possible, although anytime one of them stepped out of line a glance from the massive reptile was enough to make them think twice.
Why can't I do this? Everyone else did it effortlessly, so why can't I?
Then, something clicked.
He could feel the Core in his hand shrink in size until it disappeared. All the contents went inside his Soul apparently, which became noticeably brighter.
What?
He could feel his Soul become deeper, like a balloon that was inflating, and then it suddenly popped, which caused him immense discomfort. His mental processes started slowing down alarmingly quickly.
Oh, I am dying.
Just before losing his sense of self, he barely heard the Examiner's voice in his mind, "I wouldn't advise fighting that sensation, little insect. You will wake up in due time unharmed, probably."
---
"Have you brought him the cookies yet?"
"Not yet, Director. He hasn't killed enough rats for that."
Prometheus was in his laboratory room, or his home since he's been here all his life. The glass was constantly changing colors but that was probably normal. He couldn't focus on any of the scientists' faces, regardless of how hard he tried. How many even were there?
Then, a massive mountain fell from the sky, and he could see it clearly. It was falling upside down toward him, punishing him for his sins. He tried running away as fast as he could but he couldn't move. He had no body. He had no identity. He was no one, so obviously someone who wasn't anyone couldn't run away.
The scientists were all looking at him with blank faces.
He turned towards them and shouted, "STOP JUDGING ME! YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN ME!"
The mountain was upon him now, and he could do nothing other than despair and pray.
---
The nanosecond Prometheus felt himself, He immediately shifted into a ball with a bony shell along with spikes, sped up his mental processes to the maximum, and glanced towards the sky with two new eyestalks, looking for the falling mountain.
What?
He was inside a massive but empty room, covered in dust thick enough to resemble a carpet. The usual sensation of a mental spell connecting came into his mind.
"Sorry for putting you in here, but you were out for so long that we didn't know what to do, so we thought you were dead and brought you to the crematorium. Glad you're alive, kid."
Ah, so the dust here is ash from corpses.
He looked around the room but found it empty. Major Fuoco was talking to him from outside.
What just happened?
"Are you alright? I can feel that you're unusually frightened." The Snake asked in a slow voice.
"What just happened to me, Major?" That was the only question he could come up with at the moment.
"You just tiered up, Prometheus. Also, your name is too long and complicated so I'll call you Theo from now on."
He ignored the part about the new nickname and focused on the first part. "I experienced deep hallucinations, is that normal?"
The titanic snake radiated confusion through the mental connection and replied, "Explain yourself, kid. What do you mean?"
He thought for a it and when he came up with an accurate reply he continued, "I was in a place very familiar to me, but everything was moving, nothing made sense, I couldn't move and a mountain was falling on top of me."
A high-pitched hiss that evolved into laughter boomed in the mental connection, which surprised him.
"Are you referring to a nightmare, you brat? Your humor is enough to get through these old scales, weirdly enough." The laughter continued for a while until Prometheus asked in return, "A nightmare? Are you saying I experienced a dream?"
"Yes, that's right you dumb insect. Have you never experienced one?"
He knew what dreams were. They happened when humans went to sleep and they never made sense to him, but he had never experienced one, much less a nightmare.
"No, I don't think so."
"Well, doesn't matter. Get back here outside and get your affinity checked out. Normally, tiering up changes a monster's appearance but in your case, I'm not really sure what it did other than your Soul getting stronger obviously. Maybe something about your shifting capabilities? Try it out."
He needed something to distract him from the nightmare, so he focused on himself and found his 'Soul' was noticeably brighter, and something about his cell manipulation felt different. It wasn't faster or more efficient like with the Shapeshifting skill or the Body stat, but something else entirely. His cells just seemed more willing to adopt the change he wanted to have.
He tried creating a ceramic-like surface on his body, and his cells automatically shifted in a way that was chemically closer to real ceramic. It wasn't perfect, not even close, but it was closer than what he could have managed just days ago.
Wow. Just eating those weird rocks gave me this much of an upgrade? I can't even imagine what old monsters might be like.
He glanced in the direction of Major Fuoco, which he knew thanks to the mental connection spell. It was like he had just unlocked another sense with the tiering up! He could feel chaotic energies all around him, and some of it looked orderly and organized, like the mental spell.
He forgot that his Major was still waiting for an answer, so he gave him a vague explanation.
"Sure, kid, keep your secrets if you think they are that important."
Prometheus, or Theo as the snake wanted to call him, could feel derision behind the connection.
What is he even laughing about? He can't possibly be making fun of me.
He walked toward a massive double gate with three metal bars from the inside keeping it locked. It was the only detail present in this ash-filled building. He tried lifting it with his usual ant form, which took less than ten minutes to shape into, by placing two forelegs on the bottom of the bar, anchoring with the remaining four, and pushing with all his might.
It's not even budging! Is this supposed to be opened by a giant?? Also, why would a crematory be locked from the inside??
He remembered the mental connection and the fact that a massively powerful monster was on the other side.
I could ask for him to... NO! I can do it on my own, no sweat.
He backed away from the gate and observed it in more detail. It looked to be made of wood, was over ten meters tall, and was outlined by a steel-like material. Two hinges were holding the first massive bar at around two meters from the ground. The others were at half height and two meters down from the top.
What if I burned it down?
He placed one foreleg on the wooden part of the gate and ignited it softly. He noticed how creating combustion was slightly cheaper than before. It was still disgustingly expensive, but not as much as before.
The wood gave no reaction that it even registered the flame until he realized what he was doing.
Did I just try to light up a wooden door of a crematorium?
He could hear sibilant laughter behind the connection, which he didn't think was still active.
He walked back a couple of steps and nodded his head, while saying aloud, "Of course, a wooden door in a crematorium would obviously be fireproof, I knew that already but I wanted to make sure. Of course." He nodded a couple more times.
The laughter intensified, which annoyed him to no end.
Focus on how to get out of here first, and the rest for later.
He tried digging down, but under the layer of ash was a stone floor so hard he couldn't put a single dent in. There were no windows or other openings.
He tried attacking the gate itself, but the most he could do was scratch the wood. He had even tried using corrosive materials and his Golden Warrior form with an axe!
Nothing seemed to work.
"Need any help, little hatchling?" Said the flaming monster through the spell.
"Absolutely not, I don't need any help. I'll be fine."
The Major snickered and cut off the connection. Prometheus' stomach sunk for a moment.
I'll be fine, I just need to find an opening.
He dug up and moved all the ashes in a single corner to clear up anything that might be useful. There was nothing. Just a simple, rough brown floor. It was the same for the walls and the ceiling.
Where do they get the heat from?
If it had any vents or air ducts he might have a way out, so Prometheus started searching every single corner of the room in hopes of finding anything. Even finding something completely useless but different from rock and ash would make him happy.
His sensors picked up unusual sounds, so he turned the way they came from. Seeing nothing, he continued his search.
There it is, that cracking sound again. It sounds like that stereotypical sound they use in movies when something is freezing.
Turning towards the sound again, he checked if his visual sensors were faulty.
Is that... an ice statue?
The statue in question looked like a pair of humanoid legs that was steadily growing more and more, with the torso and arms appearing just seconds later.
What the fuck?
When the head appeared completely, an armor started growing on its skin along with a spear. The armor covered the entirety of its body and looked extremely elegant in its design, with unnecessary details and engravings. A small ice tophat formed on the top of its head.
Prometheus didn't think twice and ran forward in his Warrior form and swung his one-handed axe towards the statue's neck, which completely stopped his strike. The vibrations coming from the unsuccessful attack disoriented Prometheus for a second before he retreated to his starting location, expecting a counterattack.
Is it made of metal? No, I can feel extremely small amounts of water on the blade.
Using his new sense, he noticed 'energy' from outside flow into the statue, but when it got inside he couldn't see it anymore.
It has a spear. I should make a shield.
He shifted his left forearm to become much more rounded, wide, and thick thus creating a small shield on his left arm.
The moment the energy stopped going inside the statue, a final and loud crack echoed in the room, which allowed the statue, or golem, to move.
Was this all a trap to kill me? Empty area with no biomass? No, that can't be. All those examiners could have killed me singlehandedly. So what is this?
The ice golem got into a combat stance, lowered its spear, and flew at Prometheus. He tried to dodge, but the spear was already through his neck by the time he realized what happened.
What?
He tried swinging his axe towards the golem, but it suddenly appeared behind him, spear sticking out of his gut. The golem had missed his Core by about 9 centimeters. He spread out various root-like appendages from his feet with suction cups to anchor him to the ground.
He swung backward and moved his shield in front of himself before the ice monster even moved, which resulted in a massively loud sound of metal on metal strike, or ice on exoskeleton in this case. The entire building shook and the ash pile fell and scattered.
Got you.
He dropped the axe and grabbed the spear with all his might, while the golem was recovering from the backlash that slightly cracked its forearms. Prometheus then emitted as much heat as he safely could from his hands, but to no avail. The ice stood strong.
The golem pulled out the spear, which resulted in a wet splash as his internal organs splattered on the ground. Granted, he filled his torso with only muscles and bones so it wasn't a lethal loss but it still hurt his pride.
He took a grappler's stance, ready to intercept the next strike. It came from his right side but changed direction at the last moment to hit his thighs. He could do nothing to evade the strikes. The suction cups were preventing him from flying into the walls and exploding. The force behind those strikes was outrageous. It would have made a regular person fly for hundreds of meters.
He anticipated the next strike and angled his body slightly so that the spear would hit the hardest part of his exoskeleton, which made the golem stumble for an instant, which was all Prometheus needed.
He grabbed the spear once again but with one arm instead. His hand started warming up, but the temperature rose much higher than before. His other arm looked like it was being consumed from the inside. He was using his left arm as fuel.
The hand on the spear started spewing massive flames, which melted the spear enough to break the blade off. The golem backed off, which made the shapeshifter grin internally.
"What's that, you glorified ice cube? Can't fight without your little stick?" He provoked with a smart insult. The golem didn't respond.
The golem stood upright, and an identical spear appeared in its hands in mere seconds.
Oh. This is bad news.
He had already spent a considerable chunk of biomass on the last trick, which left him weakened and now he couldn't regenerate big wounds.
The golem made quick work of his weakened self, cutting away every last bit of biomass around his Core, but it never damaged Prometheus' brain.
Am I...Am I gonna die here?
The ice golem grabbed his Core, opened the gates by pushing the heavy bars upward, which created a heavy boom when they landed, and pushed them with one hand. It looked like it hadn't even struggled.
What a show off, Thought Prometheus as he watched with some small eyes on the surface of his Core.