I thrashed, doing my best to dislodge the bad-thing that had ambushed me. Its fangs loosened, and it skittered to the side. I could feel a cool sensation spreading through me, starting from where the thing’s fangs had cut through my scales. Already, I could feel myself beginning to slightly slow, my reactions impeded by whatever venom had been injected into me.

I twisted to the side, baring my fangs at the bad-thing with all of the threat that I could muster. I hissed, gathering a glob of venom in the back of my mouth.

Fortunately, the many-legged bad-thing that had ambushed me was not very large. Though it was similar in size to me, I knew that some bad-things were so large as to be able to swallow hundreds of me in one gigantic gulp. I felt a breath of relief that this was not one of those, thanking the Great Core for its continued blessings.

The many-legged bad-thing found its legs once more, skittering towards me. It reared back, fangs exposed and dripping with a dark green fluid.

I spit venom into one of the largest of its many eyes.

The bad-thing shrieked as its eyes began to burn. I could taste the acrid aroma of melting eye-flesh in the air; a satisfying taste, like the feeling when I had bitten into the arm of the female Coreless - though far more effective, in this case.

The many-legged bad-thing stumbled into the mana-water’s edge, before throwing itself in with great force. It hit with a splash, sending a cascade of brilliant blue into the air as little droplets of light.

I had no time to appreciate the sight, however, as it soon emerged.

The bad-thing was dripping with mana-water, soaked in shades of blue that tumbled down its many fine hairs. The envenomed eyes were injured fragments of what they had once been, melted away and sticking slightly to the fur that had surrounded them. However, the smaller sets of eyes lying directly above had no such trouble.

They stared at me with a venom that was an equal to my own; they hated with a fervor built upon indignant pain.

The bad-thing attacked. It leapt, soaring through the air quicker than I had thought possible without the aid of the sacred fast-spots. I reared my head back slightly, baring my fangs once more. I was too slow; its initial attack had done much to slow my ability to react with any form of speed.

It landed upon my head-scales, and sunk its fangs deep. Once more, I felt a sense of coolness invade my length. The world slowed down, as if I had found myself within a slow-spot without warning.

Yet, this was certainly not that.

The slow-spots were the creation of the Great Core; as annoying as they might sometimes have been, they would never seek to harm me. No - this was not that.

The many-legged bad-thing’s venom coursed through me, causing my scale-flesh to shiver and shake. Already, the tip of my tail was beginning to numb. I could barely move it, as affected as I was.

But I would not give up so easily.

I was the only creation of the Great Core; I was formed for greatness, I was given greatness. The many-legged bad-thing was nothing before me, and less than nothing before the Great Core. I just needed some more time to prove it.

I thrashed once more, this time aiming to throw the bad-thing back into the mana-water. Though my lower end was becoming more and more numb, that had little effect on my ability to do so. The many-legged bad-thing flew through the air, its fangs unable to keep their hold upon my head-scales.

It hit the glowing mana-water with another crash, sending a second wave of brilliant droplets into the air. I ignored them, moving closer to the mana-water’s edge rather than allowing myself to be distracted like I had been previously.

I reared my head back, my eyes narrowing. The mana-water was clear and bright; that meant that the many-legged bad-thing was easy to track. As soon as it tried to pull itself to the shoreline, I struck.

My fangs bit into the bad-thing’s sodden form. It had difficulty swimming, I could tell, and was growing more and more sluggish as the mana-water coated it further. A rush of venom coursed through my fangs, driving their way into the bad-thing’s flesh.

It twitched and thrashed, trying to pull away from me. It was a lost cause, only allowing my fangs to tear their way through its soft flesh. Just as it gave up on that, rearing its head back to bite in retaliation and inject its venom once more, I whipped my head forward with all of my might.

I let it go.

The many-legged bad-thing, already rearing back in preparation to strike, found itself sent even further backwards - back towards the brilliant light of the mana-water. This time, I didn’t wait for it to land.

I slithered past the water’s edge, plunging my body into its depths. Though I had never slithered through mana-water before, my body seemed to know what to do. It moved in side-to-side, wavelike motions, drawing crescents in the mana-water’s depths. My lower half was still slowed, and the slow-venom was creeping up my length. Were it not for that, I felt as if I would have cut through the water like fangs through flesh.

Yet, it was not that. The lower half of my length fought against me, struggling to move.

Looking at the troubles of the many-legged bad-thing, I knew that it didn’t matter. It frantically thrashed against the water, propelling it steadily towards the shore. Steadily towards me. It was drenched, coated in water and fighting to stay on the surface.

Here, I knew that it couldn’t jump away. Here, I knew that I had the greatest advantage.

I opened my mouth wide, preparing more of the venom that I had stored.

I lunged forward.

My fangs pierced its flesh.

My venom filled its body.

A moment later, I let go, swimming away faster than it could follow. Its own speed of swimming decreased even more, slowed - not by slow-venom as I was, but by the death-venom that I carried in my fangs. It had not been enough to stop the female Coreless, but it was more than enough to deal with the many-legged bad-thing.

Trying to flee, it began to ignore me, continuing to head to shore rather than attempting to follow me through the mana-water’s depths. I came up from underneath it, mouth spread wide, jaws fully unhinged.

This time, it was unable to put up enough resistance.

I swallowed the many-legged bad-thing whole, gulping it down with a rush of mana-water that only helped to send it plummeting down my length.

It felt wonderful. It was the first proof of the Great Core’s wisdom in becoming one with me, in trusting that I would be strong enough to keep us both safe. It was a delicious victory, accented by the slight warmth of mana-water.

The thought-light flickered.

Experience Gained!

Level Up!

1 Trait Point Gained.

Even the thought-light was cheering on my newfound strength. It was only a matter of time, I knew, before I was able to repay the Coreless for their assault upon the Great Core.

As the many-legged bad-thing entered my stomach, something happened. The bad-thing changed in the same way that the Great Core and the mana-water had, shifting into something far less solid and far more warm. It traveled its way up my length, combating the chill of the slow-venom to a small degree, before settling at the same spot upon my head-scales that the Great Core had.

I felt powerful, proud of my achievement.

The thought-light flickered again.

Level 0 Infant Aridae Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 1/5.

I slithered through the water, mulling over the thought-light’s knowledge. Even now, my length was becoming more unresponsive; it was becoming harder and harder to swim with any degree of speed. I pulled myself onto the shore in small little wriggles, my muscles exhausted from the aftereffects of the great battle and the slow-venom.

It was just an infant? A Level 0?

I was sure that didn’t mean anything.

After all, I had also been a level 0 Ouroboros, the greatest and only creation of the Great Core. I was sure that the many-legged bad-thing, which the thought-light taught me was called an Aridae, was also an exceptional creation of a Dungeon Core that was simply less Great than the Great Core.

It was likely one of a kind, just as I was.

I wasn’t sure what the Blooded Trait Progress was about; I only knew that my swallowing of the Aridae was connected to it. Hopefully I would learn more, given time.

For now, I wearily slithered towards a nearby alcove, resting within the shadows just outside of the glow-cap forest that surrounded the mana-water. Little white threads hung from the stone-spikes on the ceiling, attaching them to one another with their glimmering lengths.

I stilled further, the slow-venom wearing away at my upper length as well.

Just as I found that I could move no longer, something descended from above, slowly dropping down on a shimmering white thread. The shadow of its giant, monstrous form fell upon me, covering me in its cooling embrace.

I was starting to think that the Aridae might not have been one of a kind.

I was starting to think that the Aridae might have had a mother.

I was also starting to think that she was not happy with me.