Having just escaped from the Bishop and discovering the waddling figures of the elderly rats, I cannot help but throw up my arms. ‘How!? I cannot comprehend how I barely escaped from that fiendish man, only to discover the elderly rats here leisurely strolling away! They are the ones responsible for leading me into that horrid place!’

While I am glaring at the five, the elderly rat at the rear glances down into the water, where it finds the reflection of my violet eyes and flame.

He freezes and spins around, “Squeak!” it shrieks.

Without hesitation, he abandons the brown box in his arms and points with a half-opened mouth. A tattered gown that seems to have been stuck to the top of the box drifts down slowly, covering his face.

“Wa-Squeak!” he cries as the dress meets his muzzle.

He flings the gown to the ground with the fury of a man on fire. Once more, he shrieks and sprints in a circle with arms flailing. Having completed three circles, he breaks from his pattern and dashes after the other four elderly rats. Despite having watched his antics, it is only after he runs toward them that the other four elderly rats react. The other four rats do not understand what is befalling them, but that does not prevent them from joining in their companion’s cacophony.

“““Wa-Squeeeeak!””” they scream collectively.

Tottering away at a slightly elevated pace, their heads face the ceiling swinging wildly from side to side. Despite this, they do not drop their boxes. Their cries continue to reverberate as they fade into the distance.

‘They are not the sharpest needle in the pincushion, are they?’ I shake my head. ‘All I wanted to do was to find somewhere green and not full of human waste to live! Yet, somehow, I achieved naught but being attacked by a lunatic and a squid, like some kind of horrible fever dream.’

Through the crack in the wall, I can hear the building continue to collapse, but something else is bothering me much more.

‘I am absolutely famished!’ My hand moves to my belly, slipping through unhindered. ‘It-it hurts!’

Gazing at my body, the haze has thinned dramatically, to the extent I am entirely see-through. Still vaguely visible in the darkness, the elderly rats look incredibly delicious. Checking my Erysichthon value, it sits at around 80/100.

‘This body is not especially efficient. It’s constantly leaking haze, causing my Erysichthon value to rise. If I was in a strong wind storm, would I just blow away? Not to mention how much haze I lost in that horrible place… But presently, I do not care, I just want to find something to eat, or I shall go mad! I need to simply move on and find food!’

+1 Fortitude

7 Stat Points Remaining

I disregard the Cosmic System, and instead, my attention falls onto the box that reads ‘Survival Ration Cracker.’

‘What is this anyway? Survival? Is it food? What else would rats be concerned with other than food?’

Drifting toward the brown box, I feel it with my hands and find it seems relatively thin and flimsy, so I raise the cattail and strike it. One side of the box burst open, and six bright metal containers spill out. Grasping one of the containers with the cattail and shaking it, something beats against the inside.

‘Food? Pray thee, be food!’

Finding a dry area and placing one of the containers on its side, I raise the cattail and strike it with a loud bang. The outside flexes and the container jumps into the air before coming to a rest with no sign of damage. This frustrates my aching body, so I repeat the process several more times before coming to my senses and searching for the brick I had left behind.

Now with the brick engulfed within the cattail, I strike the container a few times, and eventually, I hear a popping sound and find that a hole has appeared. Once again, I strike it, and the hole widens as something crunches in the container. Dropping the brick and running the cattail through the hole, I grip onto something waxy and try to yank it through the hole. At first, it refuses to come out, so I smash the crumbly things inside and try again, this time successfully. What comes out is a white waxy paper-like substance with something crumbly inside that reminds me of a wafer or bread crumbs. Rubbing the waxy paper against the ground, it inevitably splits, and the tendrils invade, allowing the cattail to engulf the crumbly substance.

What I believe is a salty flavor spreads through my body as the crumbly stuff turns into a brown haze and enters the shell. Noticing the haze thickening, I feel a bit of relief wash over my body. However, the method is slow, so my eyes fall onto the tattered dress.

‘A small meal before I open the remaining wafers. I can eat it, right? Indubitably, I am certain of it! So hungry!’

Absorbing the dress, I find it mostly tasteless and does not invoke much feeling. Therefore, I do not dwell on it long and continue absorbing everything in the bag until the metal container is empty.

Earl Interface:

Absorbed ‘Raggedy Bridal Ball Gown’ (Non-Magical)

Absorbed ‘6 LB Stale Cracker Crumbs’ (Non-Magical)

Reduced Erysichthon value by 15

Essence value negligible.

0.0 Refinable Nebula

0.1 Refinable Vitrum

Upon completing my meal, Earl’s wall appears.

‘A bridal ball gown? I am not particularly fond of the implications of such a thing being found in such a terrible place.’ I perish the thought and instead focus on the numbers given to me by Earl. ‘Only fifteen Erysichthon and nothing else?’ Looking back at the box, I can see at least five more containers of this crumbly wafer stuff. ‘Who knows how long it would take to find normal rats, and this is at least guaranteed food.’

Hence I lay out all five containers and repeat the process five more times. Smash, crush, yank, open, and absorb five more times until my Erysichthon value hits zero with only a small amount of the crumbly stuff termed ‘crackers’ left… though I would still deem them wafers myself.

Earl’s wall vanishes, and a blue one replaces it.

+1 Strength

6 Stat Points Remaining

‘Ah, a stat point is a splendid bonus. The wafers were not as good as the rats, but there were a lot of them… that had to have been nearly thirty pounds of the stuff, and I also feel a bit light-headed like when Earl refined the Nebula and Vitrum. Is it Mana loss again? Is my body infusing the material with mana, perchance?... Though, before resuming that line of thinking… Earl, are there any adaptations to help with my Erysichthon value?’

Earl Interface:

Warning: Using essence will decrease the time the user has to plant tower seed, assuming the user does not harvest essence from other sources. If essence drops under the 5 Essence line, the user will likely enter a frenzied state of mindless harvesting. It is recommended that the user avoids this dangerous state at all costs. If the user reaches 0, their flame will be snuffed.

Particulate Form Embryo Tier Adaptations

Available Armament ‘Cattail’ Adaptations

Further Armament ‘Cattail’ Adaptations Currently Unavailable.

Available Skin/Dress Adaptations

Condensed Haze

Increase the density of your particles, making them heavier. Makes it more difficult for them to be blown away but also makes it more difficult to float above water or fall from high distances. Additionally, if haze is knocked away by force, the higher density of the haze will have large increases in Erysichthon.

[Cost: 29 Essence + 2 Refined Nebula]

Rarefied Haze

Keep the bare minimum of haze deployed at a time and store excess within the shell. This prevents larger single losses when attacked but also makes it easier for atmospheric haze loss.

[Cost: 31 Essence + 2.3 Refined Nebula]

Comrade Cracker

(Recent Meal 30LB Survival Crackers; Recent Meal Bridal Ball Gown)

Place a thin layer of porous haze around the outside of your body, reducing atmospheric loss by 20% but also causes your body to darken and sharpen somewhat, making it easier for you to be discovered.

[Cost: 42 Essence + 2.3 Refined Nebula]

Available Miscellaneous Adaptations

Itching Sphear

(Recent Meal Fleas)

Form a thin outer layer of bouncing haze that surrounds your form. The ‘body’ will become slightly more obstructed, and your haze may spring toward those that approach too closely. Itching Sphear may be used to augment any lost haze.

[Cost: 53 Essence + 3.1 Refined Nebula]

Essence Available: 53 [R = 90%]

Refined Nebula Available: 2.5 (2.8)

Refined Vitrum Available: 5 (0.9)

Refined Unknown Superacid: 0.5 (0.0)

As before, a sizable purple wall appears. ‘Strange, I cannot select anything for the cattail at this time. Still, there are more adaptations than expected. Let’s see…’

Several times over, I study the list provided to me by Earl.

‘If I am, to be honest, I do not fully understand some things, but I can at least deduce the benefits and disadvantages. The first one is out immediately, my largest losses have been from something destroying my head and taking my arms, and I would also lose my float advantage. The second is also not very practical, in my opinion, unless I plan to never leave somewhere protected like the chamber pot tunnels. The final one seems problematic and does not seem to offer much protection from the wind. Never being able to approach anyone without worry that the haze purposely hopping to them! Nay! I also shall ignore that I seemingly ate fleas without even knowing it.’

My attention turns toward my available resources.

‘Yet, something else odd is my Essence has not been dropping? Perhaps, it does not drop as quickly as Earl made it sound... Hmm, anyway, the last adaptation only leaves me eleven Essence and very little Nebula.’

I shake my head pitifully.

‘I shall take a day to consider it; seeing that the purple wall says “recent meal” that makes me believe it will disappear eventually, so I should not wait too long. Also, if I choose an adaptation, my Essence will drop precariously close to the “mindless frenzied state,” so I should wait until I am nearly ready to leave. Wait… my stomach distracted me from something important.’

Turning around, I can see the red glow of the burning building faintly through the crack.

‘!!!’

As fast as my haze can take me, I start retreating deep into the chamber pot tunnels.

‘How did I allow my appetite to distract me?! It was just so painful and thought consuming! Speaking of which, is the Bishop going to be coming after me? All I have been worried about is my stomach, but he seemed furious. I-I need to plant my tower and get stronger! That will eventually help my Essence problem if Earl is to be believed…!’

Rounding a corner, I place my head in my hands.

‘This merely gets me back from whence I began, where to plant!? I have actually once considered the chamber pot tunnels, but when the thought arose, my instincts screamed out, “Nay! Nay! Wrong!” just like the time, it refused to submerge the haze in water. That tells me forcing it could be disastrous… besides, I do not want to live down here! I just need to get out of this place and find somewhere secluded!’

Thus, rushing through the tunnels, I note several metal plate locations and wait for nightfall.

Before coming up, I wait at each location for minimal sound before pushing the metal plate away. Every time I come up, I only get more and more bewildered by events, but I do not even care anymore, so I only stay at each location for a few moments.

The first location had a nearly unclothed man playing the lute as women shouted and cheered for him, screaming, “I love Wonderwall.” At the second location, there was a store with lines of people standing outside, curious, I read the sign “butt boosting jeans,” I departed promptly. The third location had a red and a blue monster chatting with one another. The blue monster would simply yell “cookies” as powerfully as possible while the red monster just repeated “I love you” and then giggled sadistically. It was at this location I made my first significant discovery, a row of trees running along the black rock, which I am assuming is something akin to a road for the people ‘rides’. I did not tarry long, though, as I was afraid to be discovered by yet more monsters.

The fourth location was my favorite when I appeared in an alley full of mousers. There were dozens of them! Dozens! I really wished to pet them, and my heart hurt having to leave. I made certain to retain this location in case I ever wanted to return.

Finally, I arrive at the fifth location, which seems particularly quiet, so I push the metal plate right away and raise myself. The first thing that catches my attention is the ray of the morning sun and little snowflakes that have begun falling. However, something else makes me absolutely delighted.

‘Verily, Trees! Something I understand!’

In the distance, there is a treeline, and my mood soars. I lift my arms in victory, spreading them wide in triumph… but I realize it is curiously quiet, much more so than anywhere else I have been thus far.

‘Odd. Everyplace until now has been ridiculously noisy.’

Tilting my head, I slowly turn to scan the area, where I am greeted by a group of nuns and a priest surrounding a flower wreath praying, seemingly in someone’s memory. My eyes glide to the right where a family, consisting of a mother and three children, stands holding a man’s picture. We simply watch one another for what feels like minutes yet is likely closer to seconds.

'I... I loathe nuns.' Lowering my arms while never breaking eye contact, I release the ladder and slowly drift back downward. ‘I shall return at a later time.’

The cries of nuns and children reverberate through the chamber pot tunnels.