My throat warped and shifted, becoming something new. My flesh ripped and knit itself anew under the Great Core’s power, becoming something better. Somewhere else, something formed in my body that I couldn’t identify, sculpting itself in time with the reshaping of my throat-flesh.

I hissed, and the sound slipped strangely from my tongue - and then, somehow, I made it move. I couldn’t see it, but I knew that it had moved from the way that the hiss shifted and appeared somewhere to my left. I hissed again, and this time I somehow pushed it to the right. The-female-who-was-not-Needle jerked her head at the sound, halting abruptly and peering out to the side before turning back towards me.

“Was that you?” she asked, her voice lilting upwards in the way that the Coreless did when they wanted a response.

I hissed back, instinctively managing to shape the sound into a blunt wave that was far louder than it should have been. She flinched, forcing me to cut it short when I realized that her ears were probably hurting far more than mine were. I bobbed my head in apology, and received a light scratch on my head-scales in turn.

Then, just like that, we were moving again.

While not-Needle dashed through the battleground with speed that forced wind to brush across my scale-flesh, I turned my thoughts inward. As far as I could tell, [Sound Shaping] was the ability that allowed the Shrieking Bats to make such horrible, painful noises. It didn’t seem like I could make a sound nearly as painful and debilitating as they could, but I could change that.

I could change that easily - so I did, pushing my intentions at the thought-light and waiting for its response.

Available Trait Points: 13

Use Trait Points To Upgrade A Trait?

It made sense to use my stored trait points now, especially if the Coreless were providing the Shrieking Bats as offerings. In order to get the trait as powerful as possible, it was best to increase its power through trait points earlier on, and only then would it be better to increase it through consuming more of the Shrieking Bats.

Not only that, but [Sound Shaping] would hopefully work as a resource to use in battles that did not dwindle as fast as my venom or mana. While strong, both of those disappeared far too quickly, and there was not much that I could do once they were gone. If a bad-thing was small enough, I might be able to tear at it with my fangs, but it was unlikely.

Instead, if I could use [Sound Shaping] similarly to the Shrieking Bats, causing harsh noise that worked to debilitate an enemy and force it off-balance, the Coreless could do my work for me. In a way, they were just fangs that worked independently from me; they were the weapons that had allowed me to defeat the Lesser Core before, and now they would be the fangs that pierced my enemies again.

Hopefully.

I pushed at the thought-light again, committing to the change.

10 Trait Points Required For Upgrade of [Sound Shaping I] to [Sound Shaping V].

Upgrade Successful.

My throat-flesh shifted again, warping along with the secondary structure that [Sound Shaping] had created.

I opened my mouth wide, ready to test the trait’s new strength level and discover how it worked. Just as I began to hiss, another corpse was shoved down my throat.

For a moment, I panicked; the latest Shrieking Bat caught in my throat, one wing shoved awkwardly down my throat and the other jamming my mouth open painfully. A silent war raged on as I tried to force the damn thing down, my newly-warped throat muscles convulsing and pulsating desperately in the attempt. It shifted, but only a little. Luckily, even with my throat entirely filled by the massive thing, I could still breathe. Still, the corpse was jammed in tight, and its claws were beginning to cut and pierce through my throat-flesh.

I looked at the source of the offering with pleading eyes as she dashed through the tunnel, swiping at another Shrieking Bat before it could descend on the weaker Coreless that crowded nearby us. It fell from its flight in a bloody heap, her hand shifting into a blur of motion as she caught the edge of a wing against the grip of one of her fangs, three fingers firmly pressing it tight.

She turned towards me, ready with another offering, and finally met my eyes. Her own widened in panic.

“Oh shit, sorry!”

The bad-thing’s corpse ripped free from my throat, slashing it slightly as it exited; a moment later, it had been chopped into quarters with a few swift slices, and was thrown down my open mouth again. It hurt a little, with my flesh as tattered as it was, but at least it went down fully, unlike before.

Level 10 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 1/10.

The next one went far better, as it was far smaller anyway and not-Needle provided the offering more carefully this time.

Level 3 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 2/10.

It felt a little strange, like I was a hatchling kept fed by the mangled remains of my elders’ kills, but I couldn’t find it in myself to complain despite the fairly rough treatment.

No - I couldn’t complain about how things were going at all.

Level 6 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 3/10.

...

Level 5 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 10/10.

Blooded Trait: [Sound Shaping V] Increased.

[Sound Shaping VI] Acquired.

Progress Towards Next Upgrade: 0/20.

If I had been by myself, the Shrieking Bats would have been dangerous opponents; their ability to fly, combined with my inability to reach them easily, would have let them flap in the air around me, taunting me and swooping in to strike from angles that I couldn’t quite reach. Yet, with the help of my Coreless, the Shrieking Bats found themselves outmatched and my newly acquired [Sound Shaping] was quickly growing more powerful by the moment.

Level 3 Shrieking Bat Consumed.

Transferred to Core.

Blooded Trait Acquisition Progress: 6/20.

I looked behind us, catching a glimpse of the Staring One as he somehow caught a Shrieking Bat out of the air in his free hand, crushing its bones between his powerful fingers. Despite that, I could see that he was a little dazed; crimson blood leaked from his ears, and his steps were less sure than they had been. The other Coreless were in similar spots, with Needle being the most obviously affected; her needle-spitter was a weapon that required accuracy and timing, and both of those had been thrown off by the piercing sounds that the Shrieking Bats made.

We were winning, yes, but my Coreless were hurt and dazed - and, from the sounds that I could still hear ahead of us, the Shrieking Bats weren’t the only enemies that we would have to face. They were simply the ones that had been able to push past the most dangerous section of the battlefield, with their ability to swoop across the high ceiling of the tunnel.

I hissed, experimenting with my new ability. It was odd; I found that I could control the sounds that I made to an overly extreme degree, shifting its direction or altering its pitch. I could make the noise louder. I could make it quieter.

More importantly, I realized when another Shrieking Bat flew closer in the midst of my tests, I was sure that I could mimic the attacks of the Shrieking Bats themselves.

I hissed as the bad-thing flew closer, pushing [Sound Shaping VI] to its limit. My throat-flesh painfully pulsed as I bent the noise to my will; the sound shifted from a furious hiss to something more dangerous.

The-female-who-was-not-Needle cried out as the noise - close as I was to her already-damaged ears - pierced into her, causing her to stagger slightly and forcing me to hold tight with [Clinging Grasp] before I realized my mistake.

My throat-flesh tightened as I narrowed the sound, giving it direction. Pointing it towards the approaching bad-thing.

It shrieked in turn, but - for once - it was not a battlecry. It was a shriek of pain.

The bad-thing’s wings flapped unsteadily, and it plummeted into the crowd of Coreless nearby. Before it could regain its senses, it had already been trampled underfoot.

Experience Gained! Reduced Due To Assistance Received.