“Arigold, huh? Never thought he was capable of something like that…” Alvoc says, as he lets me decorate his hair. My old friends would have been so jealous…

Demi - “Yeah, I guess you’d be surprised. I mean, that was my first time ever even meeting the guy, but you know…”

“Well, I actually got to meet him once, when I was three. He saved my life.” He continues, as I look back on how he completely uprooted and changed mine… I’d say he ruined it, but then I would have never gotten to see the world so early… But then again, mother would still be alive…

Demi - “What’d he do?”

“Brought me to Volcarus.” He answers, surprising me…

Demi - “Yeah, fair enough… I guess you might have been much worse off without him… He hurt me, and my family, so I just don’t like him…”

“Hey, it’s fine. I probably wouldn’t like him either.” He says, as I release his hair, and he looks at his reflection on my surface. “Not bad, man. I think I like it.” He says, puffing it with his hand, before walking up to a vendor. “I’m hungry.” He says, surprising the guy-

“Oh, Prince Alvocus. Here you go.” He says, handing the kid a bag-

Demi - “What’cha get?”

I jump onto his shoulder, surprising him and the Vendor as I look in the bag. “What is that?” The guy asks, as he points at me. “Sorry Mister Zisk, it’s just my uh, friend.” He says, pulling out what looks to be very similar to a muffin.

Demi - “I’m Demitallis, the puddle kid.”

“Right, she just finished styling my hair. What do you think?” He asks, as he shows it off. “O-Oh. It looks great, your highness.” He says, pleasing both of us.

Demi - “I’m glad you think so, I used to have this side-gig as a hair stylist before I-”

They stare at me as I mentally berate myself for nearly letting my secret slip again. “Before what, kid?” Zisk asks, he’s another Demihuman, aquatic, probably part whale or something- “Yeah, what happened?” Alvoc asks, as he leans against a support beam.

Demi - “Nothing, it’s personal. Do not ask, please.”

He frowns and folds his arms. “Fine, whatever. Let’s go see if my dad’s finished yet, come on.” He says, waving off the townsfolk as we pass by, and finally return to Volcarus.

“Dad! You finish lookin’ yet?!” He asks, as the big guy sits up again, and looks at us. “Yes… It’s incomplete, but it may yet be usable…” He says, spitting it out of his mouth, and I catch it. It’s old and worm, and if memory serves me correctly, the plans don’t quite match up with the current city.

Demi - “It’s the best I have to go on, thanks Volcarus. Alvoc, you wanna come with me for this one too?”

He shrugs. “Fine, I guess it’s pretty neat having you on my shoulder like this.” He says, before we head off again.

-√C-

“Arc- Arc, wake up.” I say, and so she does, yawning as she looks at me and rubs her head into my chin. “Yeah, alright.” I say, as I stand up and she jumps down. “You hungry? Let’s get you something to eat.” I say, as she climbs onto my shoulder, her claws barely piercing through my cloak.

“So you really just brought in a kitten?” Vexalan asks, as she folds her arm and stares at me. “Yes. Is there something wrong with that?” I ask, and she walks up. “No, she’s very cute.” She says, but Arc hisses at her- “That’s my sister, Arc.” I say, and she stops, allowing Vexalan to pet her.

“I don’t know how I feel about you letting this kid in our territory, Lex.” She says, as she rubs Arc’s little head. “Although…” She says, as she really begins to get into it- “You wanna’ hold her?” I chuckle, and her arm shoots back- “N-No… Thanks anyways, Lex.” She says, walking away…

I arrive at the top of the Blue Walrus, the wind blowing against my cloak, as I walk up next to Vilstrous. “Hey dude, you still reeling from finding out your abilities are useless against overwhelming might?” I ask, and he looks up at me…

“Shut up, you.” He says, as I sit next to him. “What are you up to?” He asks, as he leans away. “Sucks, right? You’re as useless in combat as I am, right now.” I chuckle, as Arc jumps down onto my lap, and lies down again.

“I was pretty strong at home, but then it turns out there’s so many people who are many times more powerful than even Slade…” I say, surprising him. “What? Were you living under a rock?” He asks, and I kind of nod. “Might as well have, my mom never actually told me much about the outside world, unless I asked.” I say, as he folds his arms.

“Fair enough. I guess I didn’t know much either, before I finally made it out of the arena.” He says, surprising me. “Arena?” I ask, and he nods. “Yeah… You see, when my brothers and I were born, we’re taken and left in a dark arena to fend for ourselves.” He says, as I continue to listen.

“I got lucky, finding a drawing on the cave wall that taught me my powers.” He says, surprising me. “What… So the wall just taught you it?” I ask, but he shakes his head. “No, it just inspired me, as it did for my ancestors, teaching them the power to wield the darkness.” He says, as tendrils crawl out of his cloak.

“It’s a combination of mythical, inverse, and conditional magic.” He says, as a small tendril appears in mid air. “As you can see, I can form them anywhere, where there is a lack of light… Pulling the darkness together to form even tiny weak needles.” He continues, ejecting a much larger and darker one from his sleeve.

“Anyways, it’s with this power we are taught to escape… Right into an ichor field…” He says, as I stare in confusion… “It’s another form of mana that normal people like you and I can’t control. There’s other forms like ether, plasma, and essence. I don’t know much more beyond that, though.” He says, gesturing with hands for some reason.

“I was four when I finally broke out of there, then came the torture and the enhancements.” He continues, pulling up his sleeve to show off lines of physical scars… “Jeez… I can barely believe it…” I say, as he covers up the scars again…

“I’m glad syringes don’t leave scars, I can’t imagine how many of those I would have…” He says, as he rubs his arm. “The scars stin a little when exposed to air…” He adds, as I just stare at him… “Seriously, dude… That needs to stop…” I say, and he nods…

“Yeah, that’s what your sister says. My dad… He’s a very powerful man, and I’m just a kid…” He says, placing his head in his hands, as I sit back- “You okay?” I ask, but he just sits there… “At what point did you get the idea I was okay?” He asks… “Touche…” I simply say.

“So you literally just brought a cat with you.” He asks. “Yeh.” I shrug.

-√A-

“There were three people in here, we’re looking at time dilation, and from the recess in this stone, a massive one was sitting here…” Calbdin says, scaring me a little… “The metal here is shiny, it was made recently.” He says, rubbing his hand against the metal bars sticking into the wall.

“Furthermore, there was a portal opened in that spot multiple times…” He says, sniffing around… “I can smell at least five different locations, one of which smells very off…” He says, as we continue to stare at him…

Demi - “How does anyone hide ANYTHING from you?...”

He laughs. “You can’t.” He says, and Alvoc takes a step back. “So what’s your verdict?” He asks, folding his arms… “I’m not sure… I can’t tell you what happened here, and tracking the scents would just lead me into that wall.” He says, as Alvoc places his hands in his pockets.

Demi - “Can you look around? Tell me if you recognize these scents anywhere else. You said something smelled off?”

“Right… I could mostly smell civilizations and forests… But one scent of a cave, and one scent of rot… I’m not entirely certain if they’re associated, but I’m going to assume they are.” He says, surprising me as it connects-

Demi - “A hideout! Someone’s been using a portal to get around… I don’t know many people who use portals…”

“Can you name all of them?” Alvoc asks, as I put a mental list together…

Demi - “Demistar, maybe Vilstrous, Liyoxis, Arigold, Steriya, and… Ling…”

“That makes too much sense, especially that other goal he was talking about…” Alvoc says, as he pulls up the stream and we watch the race… Yeah, my team is still safe.

Demi - “Ling was so nice, though… Maybe it WAS Vilstrous… I really thought I was starting to get through to him… I guess it only makes sense that my trust gets betrayed like this at some point, though.”

They stare at me, as I continue to work it all out in my head. “Are you sure Ling is so perfect? I mean, I wouldn’t put it past Vilstrous to be absolutely horrible… But still, he really looked like he was starting to turn himself around…” Calbdin says, making me feel bad… But then I would have to admit that Ling wasn’t what I thought he was…

But that doesn’t matter, considering that it’s either I’m right or I’m wrong about them… It’s not up to me… I have to stay impartial, protect everyone, and punish those who chose to hurt others for their own gain…

Demi - “I need to return. Thanks, Calbdin, bye Alvoc.”

They’re surprised, but I jump and return to the Blue Walrus. There’s no way it’s coincidental, I need to watch over the race- “Big-Coat! There you are! One of our members went missing!” Zephyr says, staring down at me…

Demi - “Already?! I was investigating Tauseht Town… Who went missing?”

“Smorska, I’ve been looking everywhere for her… You don’t think she ran off too, did you?” He asks, as I climb out of my nest.

Demi - “So far… Probably not. I’m too unsure at the moment, but I can’t assume she just got up and left, until I can confirm that she did.”

He stares at me in surprise, then folds his arms… “You’re right. She was so excited to win, there’s no way she’d run off like that… Somebody must have gotten to her…” He says, as I build up my size again, yes, with my tarp.

Demi - “Come on, we should head up. Did you tell anyone else about this?”

“Yeah.” He says, as we head over to the elevator again. “I made sure to tell Ling.” He says, as I feared… We arrive at the top, and there he is. “There you are. Yeah, it seems she decided to leave. It’s against the rules, so I can’t show you the clip.” He says, shutting off the screen as everyone stares at him…

“Are you serious? She didn’t even want to say goodbye to her friends?” Vilstrous asks, as he stares up at him- “What do you care?” Ling asks, as they both fold their arms. “I don’t pretend to, but I still know better than that.” He says, as Ling turns around and returns to Origami.

“There’s no way she just left without a word, something happened. If you’re half the host you say you are, you’ll figure out what’s going on.” Vilstrous continues, making Ling pause as he places his hand on the moon…

His eye stares at him, until Ling finally sighs. “You’re right. I’ll look into it, and try to figure out what’s happening.” He says, finally climbing on and shooting into the sky.

Demi - “Thanks, Vilstrous, I never thought of it that way… Zephyr, let’s return to the League, I’ve got an idea on how we’ll investigate.”

-√G-

“Why do you keep inviting people onto our kart?” I ask, inquiring about this horrendous tactical misstep… “Hey, Slade. Meet Stussy, she’ll be joining our team in the next race.” Fullbrim says, and I look at her. “You know I’m going to win no matter what, right?” I ask, and she nods.

“I know, I’m just participating anyway. Besides, I’m not allowed home right now.” She says, as I fold my arms. “Is Serif doing that shit again?” I ask, and the others cringe. “Dude, she’s like seven.” Alton says, reminding me he’s here.

“You got any honey?” I ask. “I’m seven and a half.” She interrupts- “Sure.” Alton says, pulling out one of his jars, for me to eat. “There we go.” I say, as I dump the contents into my open maw. “Do I win anything?” He asks, and I fold my arms again. “Sure. I owe you a favor or something.” I say, turning to look at the girl again.

“What purpose does she serve? MY goals OR yours?” I ask, and he shrugs. “She says Big-Coat is lying about taking out our team. Not sure how well I believe her, though. So we’re just chilling.” He says, and she gives me a thumbs up, the look on her face reminding me too much of how I feel…

“Besides, I could do with another human on the team, Vultrym wasn’t the only one feeling lonely.” He says, reminding me of her leaving… I’m still suspicious on that point, I can’t imagine Ling would just lie to me. “I have work to do, make sure the vehicle doesn’t get tampered with.” I tell him, before jumping through one of the many vents.

After a hot-minute of travel, I arrived at the top again. “Ling! Come down here, you snail!” I shout, offending snails everywhere. “Here, Slade! What’cha need?” He asks, opening a portal behind me. “Are you hiding things from me again? I heard about what you said during the recap.” I say, as the cameras shut off around us.

He sits down. “Yeah. Kind of. What did you expect?” He asks, as I fold my arms. “Right… Ling, it’s this shit that got us locked up.” I say, as I clench my fist… “What are you doing THIS time?” I ask, and he folds his arms.

“You know I can’t tell you.” He says, as I glare at him, before sighing and rolling my eyes. “Whatever. Just don’t drag my name through the mud.” I say, as his moon-thing flies off with him on it. I bet I could hit it, if I threw my sword at it…

“Hey, Slade!” Fullbrim calls out, walking onto the roof and over to me. “I was thinking we would do another performance, like the other day. The others are ready. Show the whole world what you mutants can do.” He says, and I nod. This’ll benefit our more peaceful movement.

He grins, kicks a plank, making it spin on a hinge until it smacks a button into his elbow, surprising me- I feel the ground alter below me and I jump away, watching as an entire stage rises from below, with our entire team on it…

The stage is made of two ascending rows of stands, with a large tube-shaped stand and Horonva on it… The song starts slow, and I begin tapping my hoof to the beat, until Fullbrim hands me the mic… “Under the light…” I sing, reminding the others that yes, I can sing.

“You thrive, but the mutants… We were thrown to the wayside.” I continue, as the others begin to alter the beat my song. “There’s a wall that’s towering over us, but with your help we could climb!” I continue, as I spot Alton on the controls…

He waves and I smile… “It’s up to you to accept them, it is their right to succeed.” Fullbrim sings, as he leans against his piano. “It’ll be okay, they are symbiotic, not apocalyptic.” He continues, as Foozy uses his runes to create dancing constructs.

“Are you certain?” I ask, surprising him. “Usually it takes a remedy, here we fight with our melody. Can we really let it go?” I sing, as Vivan appears behind Fullbrim and I, in front of the main stage. “Small, free, could you love me too?” He sings, staring at the main camera.

“There’s no venom, I know you’re aware of what the world is missing.” He continues, glancing between Fullbrim and I as we give him a thumbs up. “If you give us a chance, we’ll score your respect, we know you’re good natured.” He sings on, as Foozy begins to struggle with keeping the dance to the music.

“We’re not setting a trap…” Horonva sings, her singing voice putting ours’ to shame… “You may say I’ve seen it all, from Mariejoi, to Venin’s Forest, to Fullbrim’s Garden, to World’s Edge… So many great places… I only wish to love this big wide world…” She slows, as the music comes to a stop.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

She stands up, and Alton kicks up the music! “Everything we do is to impress you!” She loudly sings- “We’re not trying to hurt you, we just love to sing!” She continues, as she gestures her arms, while I can’t help but imagine the views we’re pulling in…

“Upon the tree…” She takes a knee- “Where we became crystal clear…” She continues, giving me more hope that this may just work… “I think it’s time for a change, a new way, a light that burns so bright!” She stands again, holding the mic-stand to her mouth!

“So don’t be afraid, we held back, but now it’s open wide, be electrified!” She sings, as we perform all day and night and onward until we finally take first place!

-√A-

“Do you hear singing?” Zephyr asks, and I shoot a hole through the roof-

Demi - “Yeah, actually. You’ve got good ears, Zephyr.”

“And a hole through multiple floors of the Endless-League.” He adds, folding his arms.

Demi - “What? You can fix it, can’t you?”

He sighs, pressing his fingers against his head… “Yes. I can, but that’s still not okay.” He says, and I roll my nonexistent eyes.

Demi - “I’m going to check it out, in case it might be dangerous. Come on.”

I jumped on top of him- “What the heck are you?!” He asks, as I crawl over to the hole, and jump to the top, spitting him out again-

Demi - “A special creature you’re not going to tell anyone about.”

He nods, and we look over to spot the Brown Boar’s crew singing and dancing on top of it. “Another performance?” Zephyr asks, reminding me of the recap where we got to see the first one.

Demi - “I’m surprised they’re doing another one. It seems like they’re really making a peaceful effort towards changing the world’s opinion on mutants like us.”

He’s surprised. “You’re a mutant?” He asks, looking at me, as the wind blows his amazing afro backwards.

Demi - “You couldn’t tell? I was made in a lab like you guys, or I think I was… I know my species can’t be NATURAL, if anything.”

“Seriously? I guess you’re some type of slime?” He asks, as I ponder how the hell Puddle Kids were even made.

Demi - “I figured as much. Anyways, we should gather our thoughts. What do we know so far?”

He nods, and folds his arms. “Right, Smorska’s gone missing in the middle of the race, and there was a large hole in the vehicle… It appeared out of nowhere, at one point we were pulling back behind the Blue Walrus…” He says, as he looks at me.

“Then the next thing I know, my team is screaming about a giant hole.” He says, before one of MY teammates lands on the League’s vehicle- “Hey, they started singing again.” He says, it’s Vilstrous.

“Yeah, I think the bravery to so willingly free-style sing in front of millions is admirable.” Zephyr says, making me for one, happy. “I dunno’ how I feel about it, myself. My team seems to like it a lot, though.” Vilstrous says, pointing his thumb at my car.

Can you imagine how the world would react, if they found I was a puddle kid, and what my ancestors had done?

Dude, we’d be lynched!

Lynching doesn’t work on us.

The choppin’ block!

We’d survive that.

Electric Chair!

We’re already insulated.

Firing line!

We can catch bullets well before they reach us.

Iron Maiden!

Pointy, but no dice.

Boiled in oil!

That one might actually work on us…

Burned alive!

That just sounds painful.

“Hey, fearless leader, you there?” Vilstrous asks, patting my coat.

Demi - “Yeah, I was just thinking of torture methods.”

“You too?! I think about that all the time! Torture buddies!” He says, holding his hand out for a high-five and I slap it with a water-whip!

Demi - “Hell yeah!”

Zephyr just stares at us in distaste, as we deeply bond over such jovial activities! “I think I might rather investigate on my own…” He says, surprising me.

Demi - “Dude, we’re just joking. We hate torture.”

I say, surprising him, as Vilstrous stares at me again. “Yeah! We were joking! I’ve been tortured myself, you know. They used to inject so much stuff into my veins, they grow three sizes one day.” He says, making Zephyr and I back away in discomfort…

He turns around, and we look at the sun as it begins to set. “You know, my abilities are practically super charged at night, more so when Yin's pylon shines upon Orion.” He says, as the moons come into view, the purple one pointing in the general direction of Orion.

“I’d offer to move our Blue-Walrus to the front, Coat, but I heard that was cheating.” He says, and Zephyr nods. “Yeah, it is, sadly. I guess it would kind of suck if everyone just teleported to the front, though.” Zephyr says, as he places his hands in his pockets again.

“So what’s up with you, Afro? Lose anymore teammates?” Vilstrous asks, making him frown. “No. No I have not.” He says, making Vilstrous laugh. “Sucks to be you, my team is super loyal. We would never jump out on each other… Still though, there’s something going on here.” He says, his chuckle growing more serious.

Demi - “You got that right. Vilstrous, go check on the Polar Dominion, see if you can’t get any more information out of them.”

“That’s a good idea… Fine, y’all are boring anyways.” He says, before teleporting away anyways, as if you remember, the rules do not state you can’t teleport to a place you’ve already been.

-√G2-

Ling… That was the name they gave me when I was first born, and now I don’t really know what I am… I’m a green slime creature who can regenerate from almost anything, as long as my core is never damaged, or my regeneration isn’t inhibited…

The seams have already disappeared, but still… He didn’t even hit me that hard, if I knew it was coming, I would have hardened beforehand. The biggest problem is my inability to just pick up my lost pieces. THAT would be helpful.

Anyways, we’re reaching thirty million watchers… It’s daunting, the idea that so many people are watching, but it makes sense, considering that there exists trillions of sentient creatures, with humanity taking up about thirty percent of that number. Which is why they’re the most common species…

Well, I guess I should get going… It took him a while, but Zumo just won this race for the rest of his team- I open a portal to the finish line, as Origami came to a stop, allowing me to step through.

“Zumo! We’ve got more powers to grab!” I call out, and he looks at me… “Of course… Who’s next?” He asks, as I stare at him with my hands behind my back. “Solstice! His ability will be very useful!” I say, as I open another portal.

“Solstice doesn’t get around too quickly, you see.” I say, as we walk through and find ourselves at Owneyt again. “He’s here?...” He asks, walking slowly and looking around as his clothes obscure his massive body. “Yeah. I’m going to need you to stop time and REALLY look around.” I tell him, and his eyes narrow again.

“I cannot… Using it is risky enough as is… She may notice, Ling…” He says, as I fold my arms. “I’m not paying you to make excuses, Zumo. Get looking.” I say, after leaning against an abandoned building. “You don’t pay me at all…” He says, and I harden my arm, before using Vultrym’s ability to fire a crystal nail at his face-

It hits him, knocking his head back and making him grab it in pain- “Agh! Why?!” He shouts, as I fire another at his shoulder. “Don’t be a baby, I’ve gotta try these cool new techniques on SOMEONE. Now either you get shit done, or I get to practice my aim on a live target.” I say, and he disappears-

I turn around, and there he is… “I found him… Are you happy?” He asks, visibly exhausted… “See? That took you no time at all… Now where is he?” I ask, and he sits down. “Two miles that way…” He says, pointing in the direction.

I tear open a portal into a large rocky plane. “Come on, I’ll need your help. He might be slow, but he fights damn hard.” I say, before we head through, and Zumo guides me over to where Solstice has been staying.

He turns around to look at me, his faceplate raising as he swipes away his holographic monitor. “Ling! I’m disappointed in you… I thought you were my friend.” He says, as I moderately harden my hand, and snap my fingers.

“You know what to do Zumo.” I say, before hardening my other arm, and firing a volley of crystal shots at him- He spins around, seemingly knocking himself over, only to slam the back of his arm into the ground, and pull out a layer of the stone with it…

He uses the shield to block my attacks, then points it behind himself to stop Zumo’s attack- “What are you doing?! Just hit him while he can’t move!” I shout, but he shakes his head. “No, that hurts too much…” He says, before disappearing again…

“Time manipulation… I should have known… It was as my brother said… You were never my friends…” Solstice says, as bullets surround him and he pulls a stone barrier from the ground to block the attacks, only for Zumo to appear above him in mid air and slam his giant fist straight through it…

“Solstice… I’m sorry… I don’t have a choice…” Zumo says, as the dust settles and he moves the rubble, while I slide down the incline to inspect the body- My eye spins around and I spot him having burst from the ground behind me! “Ling!!!” He shouts, a giant war-hammer in his hand…

I try to harden, but he brings it down on me, aiming for my core, only for it to narrowly miss and take off half of my body… I reform my mass into a smaller body, and wait for my cloth to reform as he rushes me, only to stop and swing his hammer to the left and slam it into Zumo’s freight-train of a fist…

“I can’t let you kill him, Solstice… I’ll be killed…” He says, after slapping Solstice away from me… “That will never excuse your sins, Zumo.” Solstice says, making the monster look away… I laugh and activate my special ability, making him drop his hammer and his guard.

“He can’t hear us, Zumo. Beat him until he can’t move anymore.” I say, before he proceeds to finally finish this fight for us, as I open a portal and he carries him through. “What was that?” Zumo asks, but I shake my head. “Can’t say, it’s a deep secret.” I say, before building a new chrysalis.

“I don’t wanna’ just give away all of my secrets.” I say, as the chrysalis finishes, and I can feel his power becoming mine. “Is it done?” Zumo asks, as I place my hand on the floor, and build a stone gauntlet, inspired by Solstice of course.

“Nah, it takes about a month before the chrysalis finishes digesting. Bone can take a little longer, but they’re usually dead by then.” I answer, before I tear open another portal to an open field, and then two more leading to our specific destinations.

I land back on Origami and we sail off again.

-√A-

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful until we got to the finish line, and finally arrived at Thrayd, driving out onto the large beach, showing me how high up the beaches the tides must go.

I jump down to the front, landing next to Vascula and I think either Lex or Vexalan- It was Lex, you can tell by the design on his mask, and the cat ears that bulge under his hood. “So this is Thrayd, huh?” Vascula asks, as we look at the tropical forest.

“Well, using the finish line as evidence, I’d say yes.” Lex says, making her awkwardly fold her arms. “Funny. Anyways, let’s just go ahead and have fun.” She says, as he looks at her.

Demi - “This beach is huge.”

They flinch in surprise, their eyes landing on me- “Demi- You surprised me.” Vascula says. “When did you get here?” Lex asks, as he’s reminded how sneaky I can be. And maybe so am I.

Demi - “Just now, landed behind you guys while you were talking betwixt yourselves.”

Lex kneels onto the ground, and picks up a pile of sand. It falls between his fingers. “You ever try burrowing below the ground, Demi? I bet even at full size, you’d have an easy time.” Lex says, as I consider, then try it. After a moment, I decided it was too hard, and created another mind that could process this stuff without me having to worry about it.

Thanks to that, I can now swim through the ground like a chimp in her jungle! I surface under my cloak again, and grow my size back up a little, for no particular reason.

Demi - “I’m gonna go check out the city. Bye.”

They stare at me, before I shoot a thread into a tree and use it to fly away. I land in the city and look around, opening the holographic window to watch the stream. If you ever wondered where they come from, it’s thanks to Ling’s drones flying around, and all the tech he had set up beforehand.

“Say hello to the mayor of Thrayd, everyone.” Ling says, gesturing to the mayor of Thrayd. Hello mayor of Thrayd. She’s a golden-retriever demihuman, wearing a suit and a top hat. “Greetings, everyone. I am Altoviansora. But most people know me as Alto or Altov.” She calmly says.

She lies back, and twirls her cane. “So… Let’s get it out of the way. What’s going on with the missing contestants?” She asks, way to layed back on that question. “Well… I’m not entirely sure.” He says, a little contradictory.

“I mean, I tried to make sure they felt welcome, but I guess Smorska and Vultrym just couldn’t stay…” Ling says, a little less contradictory… “Well… Most people suspect it might have had something to do with what you said after the first round.” She says, pointing at him with her palm faced up, as her cane hangs from her thumb.

He stares at her in surprise as she kicks up her feet. “What did you expect? I’m surprised the majority of your contestants haven’t already dropped out.” She says, before he can speak up… “I guess I should… Add… That…. Um… Well, you see…” He says, stumbling on his words…

“Get on with it, man.” She says, and he rubs his slimy forehead. “I’m still looking into it, alright? I don’t want to lie to anyone.” He says, as she gives her cane a little twirl and raises her eyebrow. “I think one of my staff might be behind this…” He says, surprising me.

“You see, I’m worried that a contestant or two might have paid one of them off.” Ling says, as he holds his hands together, only for the slime to mix- He then hardens them in response. “So is hardening all you can do?” She asks, staring at his hands.

“Ah- Oh- I… Guess? I never actually tried transforming it beyond that.” He says, altering the consistency back and forth, until some of it pours off of him into a green puddle… “Well, I guess I’m even TINIER now.” He says, folding his now crystalized arms.

“Well it was worth a shot.” She says, swiveling on her chair. “Anyways, let’s move onto the recap.” Ling says, and I finally decide to look away and actually check out Thrayd- Oh, looks like Zumo came in first, and pretty early… On a course that took half a day for our vehicles to traverse…

“How DOES he keep doing it?” Altov asks, as Ling rubs the back of his head. “He must be really good at running.” He says, as she stares while he lies back again. The video suddenly shuts off, and it returns to Ling and Altov. “Oh, it cuts off right here… What’s up with that?” Altov asks, as she looks at him again.

“I’m not sure, maybe… Zumo is the cheater?” Ling asks, and she nods. “I could see that.” She says, but he shakes his head. “No, I think it’s more likely that someone was trying to set him up. They must be aware that we’re suspicious.” Ling surprisingly says, as I consider what benefit Zumo might actually obtain from turning off the camera AFTER he won.

I decide to look away, deciding that I would NOW get back to what I was doing, while I listen to the recap in the background. I attach a thread to one of the high rises and look around… The city lines the beach it’s built on, and it’s about three times the size of everessence.

I guess this is what Everessence used to look like. Maybe a little different? I find it hard to say, since these two places are so far apart. From the map, it looks like Fosyde will be even farther away from Thrayd than it was from Tauseht. Anyways, I jump back down and notice a large stage.

“Burger eating contest for participants of the Wishling-Chase!” A tall centaur calls out, as multiple people sign up, even Slade surprisingly… This’ll be too easy…

I jump onto the stage, activating IDM! “GIMME DA’ BURGS!!!” I scream, surprising everyone! “You’re in!” Centaur-dude calls out, pointing at me while reminiscing how much I enjoyed the burgers I shared with my colleagues in my past life...

Slade walks up and sits down, looking at me. “I didn’t think you could talk.” He says, as I jump onto the table next to him. “Yeah, it’s just super exhausting.” I say, as the rest of the participants take their seats. “But these burgers give you an excuse to talk with your own voice.” He says, and I look at them.

“Yeah, pretty much.” I say, before expanding until I’m sure I could crush all the burgs at once. “So what’s the prize anyways?” I ask, and he shrugs. “I dunno’. I’m just in it for the food. It builds muscle.” He says, as the buzzer sounds and we begin!

He shovels them in at blinding speed, but I just jump onto mine and crush them instantly, before pushing the plate back out. “Are you kidding me?” He asks, as everyone looks over at my light work of the burgers. “You know what they say…” I say, and he raises an eyebrow.

“No. What could anyone have to say about this-” He says, but I interrupt him- “Big coats come with even BIGGER appetites!” I shout, as I steal the next plate of burgers and break down that too! And for an hour, try as they might, my advantage is just too good for someone even like Slade. I feel something kick in as I finish another plate, one burger off…

I eat the last burger and jump from the stand, aiming a bearing shot at the ground and instantly creating a crater in the middle of the city! “Hey! What’s the meaning of this?!” The centaur asks, as I land inside of it…

Demi - “Sorry, I need to get to sleep. I’m going through Metamorphosis.”

He stares at me surprised, and I freeze my outer layer before shooting a wave of fire to super heat and solidify the dirt and stone around me. I feel my exhaustion grow, but I shoot a wave of frost magic so my quick-pool won’t hurt me…

And with that, I’m out like a rock, or I guess a small pond-

I awake to find that everyone has shrunk- I’m bigger, my body must have grown on its own, but thankfully my tarp was able to keep me hidden. “Hey, kid! Ling’s here! You’ve been out for hours!” Slade says, as I begin to shrink my size.

I find my minimum size has grown a little, but I jump out anyway, larger than I usually like to be. “Eyup. I was just getting to the next stage of my life. Didn’t think it would be so soon, if I’m honest.” I say, feeling more comfortable with my IDM.

“I had no idea you could get so big.” Ling says, as he looks at my large crater, that I had originally filled out. “Yeah, and what’s with all the water you were pushing out of it? What’s with that?” Slade asks, surprising me, before I realize my crater was too small.

Demi - “Let me check.”

And with that, everyone backs away as I begin to grow larger and larger, until I can no longer fit inside the large plaza inside of this city. “What the hell are you?! An Ancient’s baby?!” Ling asks, as he stares up at me in shock.

Demi - “I admit I could get bigger, but if I did, I might break something. Of which being large… You guys ever seen a monster movie?”

“Get down here!” Ling calls out, and so I do, quickly consuming my core as I pull my essence from it. “How powerful ARE you?” He asks, as I just sit here and consider it.

Demi - “Not sure. I bet if we were in the ocean, I could lift this whole city over my head!”

Everyone continues to obviously stare at the prospect of my immense power. “Jeez, kid. You’ve been holding out on me.” Slade says, as he places his hands in his pocket.

Demi - “Oh yeah, she was basically at my mercy. I bet I could crush cities under my weight now, if I jumped around at max size.”

Ling walks up to me and sits down. “You almost gave me a heart attack, man. I thought you died or something, I was called out of the middle of the recap.” He says, as people begin to walk away.

The Centaur guy walks up, surprising me. “Hey, your prize.” He says, giving me a metal box. It’s got gears and shapes sticking out of it. “Hey, I’m here!” Altovia says, as she walks up to us. “Hey! We could continue the recap right here!” Ling calls out, as Slade walks away.

“You wanna’ join in?” Altov asks, as she looks down at me.

Demi - “Sure, I can be the table.”

“That’s a terrible idea.” Ling says. “HELL yeah…” Alto however says, pointing finger-guns at me.

End of Chapter: 48√ACG2 “Dimming light.”

Thank you for reading.

“Hey, thanks for reading!”

“Heck yeah, thanks guys….”

“Right, thanks.”