The Coreless turned to look at as one, taking in the splendor of my accomplishnt. I glowed with mana-light, my scale-flesh covered in the sa shades as the ore-flesh around which I wrapped.
They each made their own noises of what I assud to be praise and astonishnt. Wait...that wasnt right. They could see . I was supposed to be blending in.
I twisted about myself, examining my scale-flesh.
It looked as I expected it to; I was tinged a shade of gray that matched the ore-flesh around , with the sa mana-glow the female Coreless ore-flesh held.
And then I realized the problem.
It was obvious, once I saw it. It was also extrely, extrely frustrating. The parts of myself that were not wrapped around the ore-flesh were even easier to pick out in the darkness, glowing with false mana-light that drew the eye.
Using [Illusion Spark] to hide myself would be harder than I thought. It wouldnt be too bad if I was still, and if I was able to make sure my scale-flesh stayed pressed against what I was concealing myself against.
But the mont that I moved away from what I was copying, I beca much easier to see.
Which led to now. My head, bobbing happily in the air as it had been, was highlighted against the darkness of the tunnel behind . That needed to change.
I focused, drawing away the light around my head-scales, shifting it back to a smooth black while matching the rest of my scale-flesh with the ore-flesh upon which I twined.
That was a little harder, managing multiple sections and colorations at once, but I managed.
As long as I didnt move too much, anyway.
Still, it was better than nothing. More importantly, I could improve. The Great Core had shown the way. Next ti, I would do better.
With the Great Cores aid and protection, there would always be a next ti.
As long as I proved worthy of it.
My thoughts were broken by the babbles of the Coreless once more. Only the other sounds that I had begun to hear prevented from hissing in response.
The bubbling of fire-water, and the distinctive hiss that it gave off as it pressed against cooler stone.
The click-clacking of mandibles that whispered from the small-tunnels around us.
The Fla Formicans had taken another route - and they were catching up.
It didnt take long for the Coreless to co to so sort of agreent. I may not have been able to understand the way that they jabbered back and forth, but I certainly understood when they picked up the pace trendously. Whereas before we had moved at a far more leisurely speed, relying on the longer legs of the Coreless to break away from the pursuing bad-things, that thod had proven a failure - not because they had moved too slowly, but because they did not have access to the small-tunnel shortcuts that the bad-things had been able to take.
Whereas our path had been a series of curves and winding tunnels, I knew that the pervasive small-tunnels of the World Dungeon could offer far better alternatives - especially for sothing that was familiar with them in the way that the Fla Formicans would be.
It was almost enough to tempt to abandon the Coreless here, to forge my own path through the wall-cracks and small-tunnels. More than likely, the bad-things would be drawn to the Coreless first, allowing to escape. With my increasing grasp on [Illusion Spark], it might be an even easier task than I expected.
I stared at the Coreless as we ran, my vision bouncing along with the stride of the female-who-was-not-Needle. Ahead of us, the remaining male Coreless ran, eating the distance with his massive legs in a way that my slithers never could.
Still, it might not be enough. The sounds were getting louder.
The temptation grew.
My scale-flesh began to slowly lose its grip on the female Coreless shoulder as my resolve wavered, my urge to flee growing greater. It hissed at to hide within the wall-cracks, to cower away and make the Coreless the sacrifices that ensured my own safety.
It filled my mind with images of warring bad-things, mories of when it was just the Great Core and I, back when I was a powerless little snake that shivered within the wall-cracks that were all I knew. It painted a scene of blood and battle far beyond what I could handle, of behemoths that raged in the dim light of the World Dungeon.
It told that I would not last long in that battle.
Not yet. Not as I was. And yet, sacrificing the Coreless might give enough ti to prepare.
It might give enough ti to do more than cower. I had grown far stronger in the ti since then, in ways that I had never imagined. I had obtained the ability to manipulate mana, to imbue it into my venom. I had gained a second type of venom, one that had once been the death of . I had turned my blood to poison. I was learning to bend light and heat to my will.
In such a short ti, I had beco sothing far greater. How much more could I gain, if I bought myself so more?
All I had to do was leave the Coreless - to let them die without .
And that was it, I realized.
Despite everything, I was desperate to not die again.
Despite all of my praise towards the Great Core, I still harbored doubts. Maybe I always would.
It was hard to forget my final monts. It was impossible to obliterate the sensation of those constricting threads - of the way that they wrapped tight against my scales, dripping red with my blood. Of the way that I had despaired. Of the way that it felt to die.
In the end, I just didnt want to die again.
My scale-flesh loosened further.
A hand reached out, holding tight as we ran.
Are you scared, little guy? the female Coreless hissed, the sounds coming out even more stilted than usual as the run began to take its toll. I am, too. Eriks gone, and Im terrified that well be next. I dont know if you can really understand , but if we dont make it...Im sorry that we tried to take your Core.
It was one of the few tis that I felt like I could grasp what she was trying to tell . Not with her failed attempt at hisses - as always, they made want to bash my head-scales in frustration with just how wrong they were.
Instead, it was her eyes. Specifically, it was where they were looking - staring directly forward, watching the male Coreless that ran in front of us.
And when I followed her gaze, I saw what I needed to see.
I saw a hint of my own dead scale-flesh as the skin-mouth at his side began to empty its stomach.
More importantly, I saw the Great Cores light that it carried with it.
At that mont, I knew.
She was reminding to have faith. My scale-flesh nearly shivered at the thought, caught in the odd middle ground between horror and delight.
I was horrified that a Coreless would have greater faith than I.
I was delighted that a Coreless would have faith at all.
I steeled my resolve. I wouldnt abandon the Coreless just yet. Not until I knew that there was no hope.
And with the Great Core on my side, there was always hope. I wouldnt repeat my mistakes - not again. Ti and ti again, the Great Core had stayed by my side, despite my failures.
Even when I had thought myself abandoned, there in my prison of red threads, it had never left .
Even now, I knew that it was with . I would not accept death willingly, but neither would I cower. I would slither proudly into battle, writing the Great Cores na in the blood of the bad-things that challenged it - or even my own, should it be necessary.
I would just have to trust that it would always bring back.
The thought ca not a mont too soon. A bad-thing broke the surface ahead of us: a Fla Formican larger than any other that I had seen. With it ca an army, smaller than before but still large enough in size to force the Coreless to a halt.
My scale-flesh shivered - not with fear this ti, though there was more than enough of that.
Instead, it quivered in anticipation.
This ti, I was willing to see what the Great Core had planned.
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