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The air hung heavy with the metallic tang of blood and something sharper, more unnatural. I turned my hand over, flexing the fingers experimentally. Everything looked normal—skin, nails, flesh—but it didn’t feel right.
Whoa… I really need to use this essence with caution.
So what I know about this power or essence…hmm… I got this essence from the overlord at the lizard's monster's den and that fucker did transformed too…
Remembering the flesh and bone horror the overlord transformed himself into, I shuddered at the thought I may become like that.
Yeah no messing around with this essence till I figure this out…
"Fuu," I muttered, clenching my left hand into a fist. The motion was smooth, natural even, but unease prickled at the edges of my thoughts. I opened and closed it again, twisting my wrist. The damn thing was perfect like nothing had ever happened.
And yet…
“This essence is terrifying,” I said aloud, my voice barely breaking the oppressive silence around me.
That surge of power wasn’t just energy. The memory of my hand reshaping into a claw, bone grinding, and sinew twisting, sent a shiver down my spine.
“Damn it,” I hissed, dragging my palm down my face as if I could wipe the lingering feeling away.
I’d tapped into the essence to crush the parasite, but it hadn’t been intentional. My hand had shifted not because I wanted it to, but because I’d envisioned it—a claw, perfect for ripping and tearing.
What if it hadn’t shifted back?
The thought hung there, heavy and suffocating. If I’d held onto that form a second longer, would my body have been permanently warped? Would I even still be human?
I exhaled sharply, snatching my journal from the ring and flipping to a blank page.
Writing has always helped me sort through the chaos, and right now, I needed clarity more than ever. Pencil in hand, I scrawled down the essentials:
> Journal Entry
>
> Something transforming related essence
>
> Info - body-altering energy, reacts to focus and imagination.
>
> Temporary but risky - longer use could lead to permanent changes for now the extent of change and the power is unknown.
>
> Source - The Lizard overlord at the Den.
>
> Note - Avoid use until I get more information.
I stared at the words, the weight of them pressing down on me. this essence wasn’t just dangerous—it was a Pandora’s box, one I couldn’t afford to leave unopened.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Shoving the journal back into my ring, I forced myself to my feet. The air was too still, the oppressive silence amplifying every rustle of leaves, every creak of the twisted forest. The parasite’s body lay sprawled on the ground, its translucent form glinting faintly in the weak sunlight that filtered through the canopy.
I crouched beside it, channeling Exira as a precaution. No movement. No life. It was dead, but I wasn’t about to take chances.
“Alrighty, you slimy mf,” I muttered, drawing my knife and using it to flip the thing over.
The creature’s body was snake-like, but its head—or what passed for a head—resembled a claw, complete with jagged teeth where the palm would have been. The translucent flesh revealed a faintly glowing orb embedded deep within its core.
“The hell is that?” I wondered aloud, leaning closer. The orb pulsed faintly, like a dying ember, radiating a strange, subdued energy.
This wasn’t essence—not the kind I recognized, anyway. It felt more… alchemical. Using my gloves, I carefully lifted the remains, avoiding direct contact with the orb. Whatever it was, I wasn’t poking it without knowing more.
“Into the ring you go,” I muttered, isolating it in a separate atmosphere.
Straightening, I turned my attention to the larger corpse—the bone-like abomination that had erupted from the tree during the fight. Its twisted form lay in a heap, massive legs splayed at awkward angles. I approached cautiously, the memory of its scythe-like claws too fresh to dismiss.
The thing’s body was encased in chitinous armor, its surface polished to a smooth, eerie sheen. I ran my knife along it, noting how the blade left only a faint scratch.
“Hmmm” I murmured. “ Tough Exoskeleton but its physical strength was weaker than expected… it's more of an ambush predator”
Crouching beside the chest cavity, I inspected the ribcage. The jagged bones had snapped open during the fight, leaving a gaping hole that revealed its internal structure. The sight made my skin crawl. No organs. No heart, lungs, or intestines. Just rows of jagged teeth and a fleshy sack that pulsed faintly.
“Oh, that’s just lovely,” I muttered, grimacing as I sliced into the sack.
The stench hit me immediately, a nauseating mix of rot and sweetness. I gagged, covering my nose with my sleeve as I examined the contents. The sack was lined with more teeth—hundreds of them, curved inward like a grinder.
“So that’s how you eat,” I said, shaking my head in disgust. “Teeth on the outside, teeth on the inside. A walking nightmare.”
I used my knife to pry out a piece of the chitin, testing its strength. It was lightweight yet incredibly durable—a perfect material for crafting, if I could refine it. Satisfied, I stored the remains in my ring. Whatever I couldn’t analyze here, I’d deal with later.
A faint rustling in the underbrush drew my attention. I froze, hand instinctively moving to my side. My eyes scanned the shadows, searching for any sign of movement.
Nothing.
Still, I wasn’t taking any chances.
“Smart move running off,” I muttered, thinking of the deer-like creature that had fled earlier. “I’d do the same if I could.”
That reminds me … seeing the reaction of the deer… these things must be common or something the deer occasionally run into…
ughh yeah no…Exira doesn’t work well on them and I’m sure as hell not using the essence…
I turned back toward the river. The sound of rushing water was faint but steady, a lifeline in this twisted forest and some open area. Following it was the safest option—relatively speaking, anyway.
As I moved, the weight of the fight lingered. The monsters here weren’t just dangerous—they were wrong, twisted in ways that defied logic. The Overlord’s mutation essence, the parasite’s core, the bone creature’s teeth-lined sack… It all pointed to something deeper, something far worse than what I’d faced so far.
The air grew heavier with each step, the shadows deeper. My hand tightened around the hilt of my knife as I navigated the gnarled roots and uneven ground. The forest seemed alive, its branches reaching like skeletal fingers, its canopy blocking out all but the faintest light.
“Yeah, no thanks,” I muttered, stepping carefully over a particularly large root. “Not in the mood to meet whatever’s worse than you guys.”
The sound of the river grew louder, a steady reassurance in the otherwise stifling silence. My thoughts shifted to the next steps—analyzing the orb, refining the chitin, and experimenting with mutation essence. Whatever this forest held, I needed to be ready.
“One step at a time, Lexi,” I said, more to myself than anything else.
This place was hell, but I wasn’t about to let it break me. Not yet.
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