Itching was the first sign of my rebirth, that now-familiar sensation of scale-flesh too tight for comfort scraping against new flesh. I twisted and thrashed, sloughing off the dead and welcoming the new. Cool air brushed against my length as an opening formed.

I broke free; the thought-light welcomed me, as brilliant as it always had been. Offering me the chance to choose again. Offering me the chance to move in another direction, to test more of the blessings that the Great Core could provide.

As powerful as the combination of [The Golem’s Echo] and [Guardian Link] were, I had already made the decision to try something new in every life. I might not get another chance to do so. With the most recent use of [The Endless Cycle] protecting me from permanent mistakes, not trying new things would have been a mistake.

I focused on the rewards that the thought-light presented.

Revealing Possible Rewards Unlocked Through Species: Snake And Its Interactions…

In a flurry of decision, surprise, and decision again, I made my choices. The thought-light flickered in acceptance, and I began to change.

It was uncomfortable, perhaps the most uncomfortable I had ever been. Like my flesh was bloated, overstuffed and fit to burst. Like I was too dense, too heavy for my form.

The Great Core’s newest blessing rushed through me in a torrent of pure change, altering flesh and scale and blood and bone.

I grew, my body responding to the first of my chosen blessings.

Size: Your body mass increases greatly, with all of the increase in strength and health that comes with a greater size. (Provided by: Snake)

Reward Chosen: Size.

[Size] Acquired.

Ribs flexed outwards, stretching across the expanded confines of my length. Fangs elongated. Flesh thickened. Lines of pressure, like vice-like coils mercilessly wrapped around my underside, bloomed against my scale-flesh.

And then, when the growth finally stopped, my second chosen blessing activated, the source of my earlier surprise. A new reward - or the same one, just offered once more.

Reward Chosen: Size II.

[Size II] Acquired.

I probably should have expected it, with any thought. If I had been a lesser snake, without the potential that the Great Core had blessed me with, [Size] might have been the only reward that I could receive. If it could be received only once, a normal snake’s progress would stop there. Growing in levels would amount to almost nothing, without the leaps in power that the rewards at every tenth level provided, and without access to Blooded Traits to use Trait Points on.

Instead, [Size] was a repeating option. With that in mind, I couldn’t help but pick it twice. I had already decided to test [Size] in this life. It would be a waste to not continue on that path.

Again, my body shifted under a torrent of power, bones flexing to make way for new growth. My mind basked in images of glory, of a body the size of a leviathan, crushing bad-things with every slither.

Even the pain of the transformation could hardly distract me from my dreams of power, despite the fact that, more and more with every passing moment, burning lines squeezed across my underside, making it hard to breathe and it hurt and what was happening -

Something snapped, and the horrible pressure abruptly vanished. Ore-flesh clinked against the ground, slipping from my scale-flesh.

Oh.

In hindsight, it was obvious. The ore-flesh couldn’t grow with me, and it had been made for my smaller self to wear. I turned to look at it, my body still rapidly warping, and noted that it didn’t look as small beside me as I’d hoped. I clearly wasn’t going to be a leviathan any time soon.

That was depressing.

As the transformation completed, I noted that I was quite a bit bigger, however. Big enough that, with how far my jaws could unhinge, I could swallow a Core with ease. All told, I had grown to a little more than six times my previous size, stretching a slither more than a not-Needle in length.

…and now I had to change how much distance a slither measured in my mind. My measurement was wrong. I was an old slither more than a not-Needle in length. My slithers were no longer the same slithers.

Another depressing realization. It was pure chaos. Madness. After a moment of reflection, I decided to ignore it. Slithers would always be slithers, no matter how they changed in length.

The perfect measurement.

Pushing thoughts of slithers aside, I began my preparations for what was to come. With the increase in size, other things had increased as well; just like how the Echo-Focus’ size caused [Illusion Spark]‘s reservoirs to deepen, so too did my own size. Not to anywhere near the same degree, of course - I wasn’t even close to the Echo-Focus’ size. Even so, it was enough that I set to work, absorbing the light of my discarded ore-flesh and plunging myself into darkness. The reservoirs, with their increased size, filled far more slowly.

My stores of slow-venom and death-venom had also grown larger, a welcome benefit to my increase in size. They wouldn’t be any stronger, and certainly wouldn’t be enough to defeat something like one of the leviathans, but I wouldn’t complain about the change.

And finally, there was the change - besides the obvious increase in size of my body - that was most helpful; the spores provided by [Spore Puppeteer] had increased in number alongside my body’s capacity to hold them.

Before much longer, I would likely use them all. With my rebirth, the many-legged bad-things were reborn as well. Already, the first of them would be closing in, disgusting legs tip-tapping and click-clacking against the stone. Creeping on me, hoping to bind me in their threads - which I had realized in my most recent false-life came from unmentionable places.

Another horror that I desperately wished to wipe from my mind. Could a bad-thing really be so repulsive?

Apparently so.

With a flash, the thought-light appeared in my mind.

Name: Paradox

Species: Snake, Ouroboros

Major Title: [The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail] [Little Guardian]

Minor Titles: [Minor Mana Core] [Venomous Retribution] [Touched By Fire] [Ascended Seeker]

Innate Traits: [Venomous II]

Blooded Traits: [Paralyzing Venom IV] [Poisonous Blood III] [Illusion Spark IV] [Clinging Grasp III] [Sound Shaping VII] [Chains Of The Creator I] [Anticoagulant IV] [Constriction I] [Spore Puppeteer VI] [Ascended Sense I]

Resistances: [Piercing Resistance - Intermediate I] [Venom Resistance - Intermediate II]

Level: 55

Trait Points: 23

Core Skills: [The Endless Cycle] [Chrono Fire] [Verdure Parasite] [The Golem’s Fading Heart]

Lesser Core Skills: [Mana Manipulation XI] [Mana Venom XI] [Mana Fire VII] [Little Guardian’s Totem MAX] [Life Essence Manipulation VI] [Life - Invigorating Bite XI] [Life - Vitality X] [Life - Vigor III] [Life - Vigorous Spores IV] [Little Guardian’s Focus XI]

Level Rewards: [Traveler] [Mana-Life Conversion] [Size] [Size II]

Description: A growing Ouroboros, symbol of the eternal.

I had 23 Trait Points to spare. Last life, I had spent them on [Ascended Sense] in a bid to ensure that no more of Tiamat’s Ascended were skulking around. Given that [Ascended Sense VII] had failed to find anything nearby, I decided that it wasn’t worth slithering along the same path in this life. Some, while expensive, would always be good choices. [Spore Puppeteer] had more than proven its worth. [Illusion Spark] had done the same. Even [Sound Shaping] could be powerful in the right situation.

I didn’t pick any of them. Instead, I picked something that would most take advantage of my newfound size. Like the last, I didn’t expect this life to be permanent. Especially since I hadn’t grown to the size of a leviathan as I’d hoped I would. With that in mind, I decided to try out something that I would never be able to use properly at my normal size.

Available Trait Points: 23

Use Trait Points To Upgrade A Trait?

21 Trait Points Required For Upgrade of [Constriction I] to [Constriction VII].

Upgrade Successful.

In yet another painful transition, my scale-flesh twisted and contorted as the Trait grew in power. Muscles itched and tingled below, causing me to writhe about in a futile attempt to make it go away. I could feel them grow stronger, thicker and denser with every moment, more able to flex and constrict and bind.

Before the transition completed, the first of the many-legged bad-things neared. The click-clack of legs against stone would have been just barely audible to an unsuspecting victim. Even in my distraction, I was far from that.

In my most recent false-life, I had hunted down the many-legged bad-things, tracking them to their nest with [The Golem’s Echo] slithering alongside me. In those moments, I had been safe. They stood little chance against the power of [The Golem’s Echo].

Instead, it was in the moments when I was alone that I found myself in danger. These particular many-legged bad-things were cowards, I had learned, preferring ambushes, traps, and overwhelming numbers to defeat the enemy - none of which mattered against [The Golem’s Echo].

They had, however, mattered against me. More than once, bad-things creeping in the dark had caught me by surprise. They liked to lurk in the darkness and hide in the shadows. Even their nests followed that same rule.

By that same token, they feared the light.

And in the last short while, I had been gathering quite a bit of it.

My scale-flesh pulsed.