The forest was dark and Nic could no longer see the sky. Instead, luminous blue veins with a disturbingly fleshy texture wove from tree to tree, forming a net that glowed like starlight between their branches. The bark of the trees were broken by flowers with the same color and eerie light.

The first creature he met was like a fox with moss-colored fur, twigs and roots woven into its light green hide. It ran on the branches above and tried to steal eggs from a bird’s nest, only for the owner to leap from a higher bough, lashing at it with wing and claw until the unfortunate scavenger fell from its perch.

And landed dead in front of Nicolas.

It twisted up onto all fours immediately, but the impact had obviously stunned it. Although its sleek, quick body resembled a fox it had the banded mask-face of a raccoon. Its eyes met Nic’s gaze.

Without even pausing to think Nic’s mouth opened and he spat out a blob of poison mist. The resulting ‘bullet’ only managed to wobble a few feet and then dissolve into the air, but it instantly frightened the bandit fox into retreating, scampering up a tree trunk before Nicolas could follow.

He was left alone again. And he paused, unsatisfied.

Clearly the skill wasn’t meant to be used as a projectile. Instead, Nic tried to project forward a beam of poisonous smoke, ‘pushing’ the forward point outwards by creating more and more smog behind it. The result was a toxic spray that managed to burst out to the length of his spear before dissolving.

It was good enough to head deeper.

Unfortunately the first thing Nic learned was that the humans were closer than he thought. A huge carcass of a long-necked turtle lay on the ground, overturned and hacked at by blades to pry away its Shards. The dark eyes stared blindly up, flies swarming over them.

“I guess you were a person, once.” Nicolas swung his spear through the buzzing masses, sending them flying away for a moment. “I can’t really promise to avenge you. Or to tell your family what happened. Actually… there’s not a damn thing I can do for you.”

“But I’m sorry it ended this way.” It was a shitty prayer for the dead but somebody had to say something.

The blood was fresh on the ground. There were no scavengers bigger than insects. This had happened recently, maybe minutes ago. Looking to the trees he could see where the humans had hacked their way through the lower branches and left a trail of destruction coming from the east.

“And I’m avoiding you like my life depends on it. Because it does.” Croaking to himself in his newty voice, Nicolas slithered away on all fours.

---

There were more of the long-necked turtles. They stomped between the tree eating the luminous flowers with their curved beaks, and their shells glittered with twin Shards. Judging by how they stuck close together in a pack, whatever Shards they’d been given functioned best in combination. The one who’d been torn apart had simply wandered too far from his fellows.

They watched Nicolas with wary eyes, dark beady gazes set into deep wrinkles. Just the sight of that cautious watchfulness reminded him they were people too.

There was no point trying to communicate. Even if Nic understood the series of squawks and croaks he spoke in perfectly, they were a totally different language than the Cosmic All-Tongue spoken in d23. Logos had simply ripped one language out of his brain and replaced it with a new one. In the process, the fodder monsters had lost the ability to communicate and cooperate.

He was glad that hadn’t turned them into bloodthirsty maniacs. Yet.

Numerous pearly barriers surrounded medicinal herbs, but other patches were torn up already. The only time the turtles showed outright hostility was when he tried to approach a patch of brightly-shielded fruit trees they were protecting. Instantly, lightning began to arc across their shells, and Nic hurriedly retreated until they ceased charging up.

As for the luminous flowers they appeared to be the same Unranked class of medicine as the berries he’d eaten. Containing trace Essences, but so weak that Logos didn’t consider them worth protecting. Instead, Nicolas was warned off by the fact that several of the turtles had glowing blue veins beneath their skin.

Clearly, there were side effects.

As he was investigating a small pool of water in the roots of an oak tree, admiring a small lizard that resembled his new form, disaster struck.

Barely an instant before the shadow fell from above he saw it reflected in the pool. A serpent’s open mouth, bright pink, outstretched to catch him with its fangs.

Nicolas flung himself back and the serpent crashed into the pool, sending water flying and churning up mud as it spun rightways up and came darting after him.

It was a feathered snake, with a long fan of blue-yellow feathers that extended from just beneath its neck and tapered down its body. Two long claws covered in insect chitin like the hands of a praying mantis folded beneath its body.

It flung itself forward and Nicolas jabbed out with its spear. The flashing fangs moved effortlessly to dodge, coiling around the spear to crush it to splinters, but the flint arrowhead at the point flashed with green light.

A spear of stone erupted from the earth and struck the snake across the side of its face. It unraveled instantly, kicking back with a force that flung Nicolas to the earth. He scrambled back onto his feet as the snake regained its composure. The two stared each other down.

In the distance, the elephant turtles snorted and stamped. “Any chance you’ll help me out?” Nic called, glancing away from the serpent for as long as he dared to give one of the beasts a direct stare. It turned away, guilty but unwilling to do anything.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance and prepared to go down fighting.

The snake lunged again, keeping its body low to the ground now, maneuverable and agile. As his spear shot forward it twisted, and as the earth burst upwards into a stone spike it twisted again, leaping past his defenses to lunge for Nic.

His mouth dropped open and he spat a gust of poison mist across its eyes and open mouth.

The beast reeled back in a shock of pain. Much of the damage was instant; the beast’s left eye was completely gone as half its face sizzled and dissolved. The real danger was the poison working its way deeper within. If it didn’t kill Nicolas in moments, he’d finish it without having to raise a finger.

It knew the exact same thing. With a hiss of pain and anger it made a desperate final attack, and Nic had a stroke of brilliance. Grasping his spear in both hands he darted forward, using the creature’s blind left side against it. He jammed the spear sideways into its jaws, preventing the snake’s mouth from closing and sinking its dripping fangs into his arm. Adhesive aura covered the haft and stuck the beast’s mouth open.

With a final surge of strength Nicolas ripped the snake forward in the same instant he conjured a last spike of earth from below. The hit was clean. The beast’s head tore away in a spray of gore.

As he lay panting and exhausted, soaked in blood by the kill, Nicolas was dimly aware of a shadow falling over him. With barely-conscious strength he flung himself out of the way as a turtle’s leg crashed down into the earth where he’d been.

It wanted his kill. As it loomed over him, lightning began to flash along the beast’s shell. It was probably only trying to scare him. Probably.

He stared it down, conjuring poison mist from his skin until the air around him boiled with sickly dark fumes.

For the longest moment they stared each other down. Then another tortoise called out, speaking to the first one. Two more joined in. Under the pressure of the herd, the bully relented and the lightning crackling on its shell released, lifting up into the air as a rising spiral of purple-white sparks. It stepped back.

Nicolas snatched up his spear with the snake’s head still attached, seized the long body, and shot for the heaviest patch of undergrowth he could find.

He was shaking from his head to the stub of his tail. It had been a bluff.

He had nothing left.

---

Nicolas crouched in a hollow cavern formed by a tree’s roots falling over a small hillock. He cut the snake’s body apart and chewed it down, swallow by toothless swallow. He was going to miss being able to chew.

And he was going to miss the city. This new world was hauntingly beautiful, full of small moments of wonder that touched his soul and made him hurt, thinking of all the years he’d wasted in a prison city of concrete and brick. Even now, a green-shelled centipede was crawling up the roots. Its upper armor was shiny and full of pearly rainbows, while its gross, slimy limbs were a slick red like a living tongue. Long blue antenna trailed from its head.

It was beautiful. A million things were beautiful here.

And sooner or later, when he was full of beauty, he’d be sick of it too. He’d miss being able to eat a meal he hadn’t killed with his own hands. Being able to sleep without keeping one eye open. He’d miss Tarquin.

It was coming.

But for now? Right now the rush of power was intoxicating. Every swallow filled his Essence by several dozen. The mere act of eating a foe had caused another passive modifier to activate and raise his resting cultivation higher than ever.

He circulated his cultivation base and the rogue sparks of the snake’s Essence were drawn into his own, consumed and drowned by the power roaring in his chest. Essence from the air gathered around his skin, restoring his aura.

The rate at which he actually gained Essence barely budged as he cultivated in silence, but that didn’t really bother Nicolas. He’d already figured out that the ‘cost’ of such a monstrously high passive rate was likely that he’d gain no benefit from actively cultivating. Everything came at a price.

Likely that price would hurt more at higher stages, when humans would have access to powerful cultivating techniques. For now it was almost entirely a benefit not to have to sit around and meditate.

“Essence pool.”

Essence 1743.2 / 5,000

+ 6.37 per Minute

(1.062 Base)

300% Local Modifier

+ Devoured an F-Class enemy (200%)

+ Consumed a G-Class treasure (100%)

+ Rested in toxic environment (100%)

Selecting his Physical Strength, Nic poured his newfound Essence into the diagram the System provided. Unlike the contained, exhilarating fury of enhancing his Petroglyphs, this was a full-body ride. Every muscle and fibre of his being contracted violently, sending him to the ground, writhing in pain and sudden, dizzying strength. The contractions took on a rhythmic pattern like the beat of a drum, and a single resonating note sounded through his head each time his body spasmed.

Until his fist punched the earth and Nic rose up, stronger than ever. Gasping in pain. Dizzy with excitement. Already he could feel his muscles responding more easily to his demands, moving like he was weightless.

Even if it was only two or three percent- An athlete might spend a year working for an edge of two or three percent, and battles were won or lost on smaller margins. The rush of receiving the fruit of all that effort in a single moment…

Calling it ‘addictive’ would be wrong. It was religious.

“Cultivation map.”

Essence 743.2 / 5,000

+ 6.37 per Minute

(1.062 Base)

300% Local Modifier

+ Devoured an F-Class enemy (200%)

+ Consumed a G-Class treasure (100%)

+ Rested in toxic environment (100%)

Cultivation Base (Unranked)

II Physical Strength (0/1,500)

Mental Acuity (48/500)

Spiritual Clarity (0/500)

Poison Mist Shard (F)

Creates and controls poisonous mist from Aura.

Base Enhancement (470/5,000)

Poison Devouring (0/10,000)

Mist Armor (0/50,000)

Secondary Slot (0/50,000)

Adhesive Touch (G)

Creates adhesive threads of pure Aura.

Base Enhancement (22/1,000)

Secondary Slot (0/10,000)

Permanency (0/10,000)

Toxic Binding (0/50,000)

Hunter-Gatherer Petroglyphs (G)

Creates crude tools from bone, rock, and wood, using Essence to bind them.

II Base Enhancement (126/1,500)

Secondary Slot (0/10,000)

Metallurgy (0/100,000)

All his skills were progressing, with the sole exception of Spiritual Clarity. Every time he fought, every time he pushed his abilities to the limit, the act of exertion drilled his Essence base deeper within his chest. The individual cores of the Shards soaked up his life and death essence like manna.

The dumbest thing right now would be to listen to his body, his base instinct.

Because his instincts wanted to fight until there was no fight left in his body, or he had reached the top.

At that moment-

Cutting through the battle-hunger haze in Nic’s head-

An announcement sounded.

An Invader has been slain. Rewards will be distributed.

For fifteen minutes, all Essence bounties will be doubled in this Sub-Zone.

In addition, be aware that two more Invaders are badly wounded and defenseless.

Such is the will of the High Sept and the Low Tomb.