Chapter 3

I spent my time following an unwitting [Grey Blob] around.

In the currents of the [Beyond], these things just floated around doing nothing like a jellyfish. Now that I can finally [see], I found out that these [Grey Blobs] absolutely covered the [Beyond], no matter what direction you are facing you can always find at least one.

Or two.

Or dozens.

If I didn’t know how I bumped into one, now I know.

Aside from the [Grey Blobs], there are these larger variants that were coloured red, which I named [Red Blob]. They are much less common, but are quite a bit “bigger” and more… aggressive. They didn’t have a uniformed size, but I once spied one was actually bigger than me which I wisely decided not to tangle with.

I would say that the [Red Blobs] were higher up the food chain that I’m now part of than the [Grey Blobs]. Instead of floating around, they seemed to be actively [Tugging] around the [Beyond], where they would zoom in on any [Grey Blobs], stick to it before draining it dry eventually.

How, I had no idea but that wasn't not the point.

My discovery immediate made me realise that whatever these things are, they are aggressive and eats things. That meant that there could be things even bigger, somewhere out in the [Beyond].

What exactly am I? Why am I now a fish? Is this magic?

…

Should I be… hunting then?

Living beings need food to power themselves, repair their cells and grow.

You aren’t exactly alive, aren't you Elisa?

Probably. I did feel… stronger, after eating the motes of a [Grey Blob].

Focusing on the oblivious [Grey Blob] in front of me again, I mustered myself. I was perhaps not a violent person, but I wasn’t particularly afraid of nasty stuffs.

I did rip out my oxygen tube and puked enough for several lifetime’s worths.

Come on Elisa. Its a blob of tastiness. Just get on with it.

Sighing, I reached out with my face-tentacles. The [Grey Blob] once again exploded when I applied any force on it, shattering into fragments. I [tugged] on the pieces and sucked it in, motes zooming into my mouth as if I’ve put a straw to them. Now that I’ve gotten over the shock of tasting something for the first time in months, the crazy taste I experienced the first time I ate the motes had mellowed into a more manageable taste, like a sugar cube instead of the elixir of life it seemed then.

This is inefficient… and messy, I thought to myself as I picked up the pieces, I should try to see if I can eat the entire thing at once, as a fish would do.

With that in mind, I swam over to the other nearest [Grey Blob], easily outpacing the crude being. Instead of using my [feelers], I opened my mouth as wide as it allows and attempted swallowed the blob, my jaw clamping above and over the blob. I mean, since my “true self” is the [Soul Stone], this body is just a shell… no need to get too queasy, right?

When the [Grey Blob] hit the roof of my mouth, it once again scattered into pieces. However, since it was contained within my faux-jaws, I had no issue just devouring the thing. Plus, the flavour seemed more concentrated.

That's certainly quicker.

With having eaten the [Grey Blob], I once again felt that trickle of solidness entering me. I focused upon the sensation tracking its path — and discovered that it had formed a layer of aqua-coloured “thing” above my [Soul Stone].

When humans eat food, the body breaks it down into usable parts before rebuilding it. Perhaps, this strange deposit can be used to [Self-Mould] then, instead of just stretching out what I was like I did originally?

Here’s to hoping that this is not “fat” or “toxins” build up.

Whatever. The amount of deposit I had wasn’t that much anyway. These [Grey Blobs] are quite small after all.

I spied several other [Grey Blobs] near me, so I went and gobbled them up as well, watching as they break down and reformed into a layer of [deposit]. I continued to do so until I was satisfied with having a nice ring around my [Soul Stone] of the same approximate thickness as my [feelers].

Watching my reserves closely, I attempted to do something I thought I should do since I encountered the [Red Blobs], which was to increase my size. Once again, I imagined myself swelling up but keeping the density of my body the same. With the perfect image of myself that was granted, I easily pictured me, the body, slowly enlarging over time, with a [Grey Blob] for scale. The [deposit] I had quickly dwindled as it was spent, but I had succeeded in my goal.

My size didn’t increase much, but I was definitely larger than before.

Hey, it works. The [Deposit] is actually useful and not mysterious soul poison, wow.

However, I was concerned with the fact that these [Grey Blobs] really don’t give much. However, since the [Red Blobs] do devour [Grey Blobs] routinely, does that mean that they got more — what should I call it — [Essence]?

[Grey Blobs] really don’t do much on their own. It takes around… five of them to even show any effect on the [Deposit].

I hesitated with the thought of tangling with a clearly predatory being, but then, there are ones that are just about the same size of a large [Grey Blob], so maybe…? They don’t seem any sturdier, the same jelly-ish consistency…

Sure. Let's give it a go.

It’s not like I can’t outswim it.

Casting my mono-eye around, I quickly found a small [Red Blob] chasing a [Grey Blob] that was caught in a current in the distance.

Paddling away, I made a bee-line for the unsuspecting predator, gulping down any [Grey Blobs] I came across.

By the time I arrived, the [Red Blob] had already popped the lesser blob, slowly eating its fragment by letting the motes dissolve in its gaseous body.

Huh, now what?

I realised that I had yet to make a battle plan. I wouldn’t want to bite on it or swallow it whole, for what if it survives in my mouth? Wouldn’t that mean it would be uncomfortably close to my [Soul Stone]?

I guess I should whip it with my [feeler] and see how it goes?

Here goes nothing, I guess.

Warily, I approached the idling blob.

However, as soon as I arrived within its own sensing radius, it suddenly did a strange jittery spasm, before abruptly trying to [tug] away as fast as it could.

Oy! Why are you running?

Did I scare it away? How did it know that I’m very much intending on attacking it?

I, of course, didn’t let it get away. With a few tail thrusts, I’ve easily gone within whipping distance.

My two [feelers] lashed out, hitting the [Red Blob] on both sides.

It popped unceremoniously before dispersing into motes.

That… was underwhelming.

While it was certainly a bit tougher than the basically air [Grey Blobs], the small upgrade from vacuum to water vapour toughness did not increase its odds of survival against my mighty [feelers].

Fear before my {lash}! Elisa comes for you! I cheered in my mind.

I [tugged] onto the resulting mess without further ado, opening my mouth wide and sucked in it.

To my surprise, the [Red Motes] tasted quite different from the fruity-flavour I’ve come to associate with [Grey Blobs]. Instead, they tasted quite a bit more… gamy. Like chicken. Along with the welcoming change of flavour, the amount of [Essence] it gave was much, much higher, almost five times the amount a [Grey Blob] gives!

If the [Red Blobs]’s consistency doesn’t change, then the hunt for more [Essence] become easier.

Also, now that I’ve given it some thought, I should probably create a stomach. Humans have innards for reason, how surprising. Along with the few [Grey Blobs], I snacked on while I was on the hunt, I should have enough [Essence] in my [Deposit] for me to make this modification.

After casting a quick survey around me to make sure I’m in a safe place, I allowed myself to focus my thoughts unto myself once more. This time, I imagined the pathway down my throat — I followed it, diverting the path away from the [Soul Stone] as it was originally linked to. Instead, I created a cavity, lined with the same crystalline structure of compressed [Essence] my [Soul Stone was made out of. I recalled the idea of food filling the stomach, thinking of the acid — or spikes instead since I don’t want free-floating harmful liquid in me, the way that the harmless liquid can be absorbed by the body.

The tingling sensation came as I [Self-Mould]. The [Essence] that once filled the cavity was recycled into the crystalline surface, allowing me to refund a large amount of previously spent [Essence], my [Deposit] draining away to fuel my image.

It did not take long before the project was complete.

Strangely enough, other than the familiar feeling of an empty stomach, I don’t really feel too different. Within me, I could sense the hard walls of my stomach, of the numerous spiked tendrils within that would rip anything that enters apart.

Yup. No [Red Blobs] can survive that.

With this, my hunt on [Red Blobs] can probably be hastened too. Obviously, some are still way too big for me to actually swallow, I suppose I’ll need to use some kind of hit and run tactics.

Well, I suppose that I can go ahead and hunt then, I thought excitedly.

Sometime later.

[Red Blobs] did not prove to be much of a challenge, since most of them would actively run away as soon as I came within range. That did not save them from me, however, since I am much faster then they were.

I did a test trial on a smaller [Red Blob] to see if my [Stomach] works. The blob was swallowed in its entirety, travelling straight down my gullet. Normally, I would be quite nervous from having this foreign… thing so close to my [Soul Stone], but I’m confident that my [Stomach] can take care of it.

True enough, the moment it reached the [Stomach], it was immediate whacked to pieces from the [Stomach: Mashers], the smaller chunks splattered across the crystalline wall.

The [Red Blobs: Big], however, proved to be more of a challenge. Maybe perhaps with their size, they thought that stand a chance instead of running away.

Since their sizes were on par with me, I resorted to whacking them at a distance with my [Feelers], taking out bits at a time. Curious enough, most of them could take a few hits before realising that they can not harm me.

Some attempted to [tug] on me, which seemed pretty ineffective as it’s pull was much less than the literal soul-wrenching pull I experienced when I was… awakened?

Every time I used [Lash] on them and ripped out a piece, I would devour them. It seemed that if they lose about half of their mass, the rest of their [Essence] will start cascading out of their wounds, which made hunting them much easier since I can let them bleed out.

I’ve snatched a total of seven [Red Blobs], two [Red Blobs: Big] and countless [Grey Blobs] since I started hunting. Their donated [Essence] was a welcome addition to my depleted [deposit], with it I could expand my size again and again. However, the price for expanding my size seemed to exponential, which was logical — since I need more mass every time I grow.

Eventually, I’ve reached a size that would is approximately double that of a [Large Red Blob], at which they too started running away — slowly.

After approximately devouring ten or more [Red Blobs: Big], their [Essence] began to be insufficient for me to expand. I did not know how long I’ve been hunting, but the immediate area around me was completely devoid of [Red Blobs].

Aw, did I over-hunt?

I learned from some biology textbook that said ecosystems require an equilibrium in the amount of prey and predators in order to function — which I seem to have broken spectacularly.

Hold on, how on earth do the blobs repopulate themselves?

I took a glance around me, which gave me nothing. The [Grey Blob] that I had stalk— followed earlier did not show any signs of having undergone mitosis — the process of which a cell split and become two. So where the heck do these things come from?

…

Oi, there are more [Grey Blobs] than before, wasn’t there?

There… certainly seemed to have more [Grey Blobs] than there should be, seeing that I’ve hunted everything nearby.

I watched as the [Grey Blobs] multiply right in front of me, appearing to be popping out from nowhere, literally.

There! In the corner of my eye, I saw a bit of the [Beyond] suddenly congeal, a small vortex of something swirling together. With a shudder, the congealed bit something collapsed into a blob.

A [Grey Blob].

What?

Do these things literally appear from nowhere? Does the [Beyond] fart them out or grow them like zits or what? What about the [Red Blobs] then?

I waited for a bit, bidding my time.

And waited for a bit more.

…

Not [Red Blobs] then?

Did they go extinct? I thought to myself, uncomfortable with the idea of having destroyed an ecosystem.

Then, in a far away [Tunnel], being washed it was a familiar red form. It flailed around for a bit, disorientated, then promptly launched itself towards a nearby [Grey Blob].

So they are not extinct then, I was stupidly relieved with that thought, Oh, so the [Tunnels] lead somewhere else too then? New areas?

Surveying the [Beyond] and how empty it is, I contemplated moving away from this area. On one hand, it’s safe — nothing here can harm me. On the other hand, I’m also going nowhere.

I don’t have a “home” to go to, nor do I have a goal beyond staying “alive” as much as I can.

Speaking of staying alive, I reflected upon the fact I am definitely not trying to kill myself, What a surprise. I’m in a different situation now. Life is not hopeless. I don’t have legs, but it’s fine. I’m in a situation where it’s not dependant on me being basically a vegetable previously.

It’s just freaking weird.

…

Just get on with it Elisa. Move!

Sighing to myself again, I managed to convince myself to explore. I need more motes, and information, if I’m going to survive.

And so, reluctantly, I headed for the [Tunnels].